How Far is it to Seattle, Washington From Marathon, Florida?

I took this pic from the Ferry on the way over to Orca's Island, whoa, that could be us on Wand'rin Star.  It looks Mystical because it is!

Took this from Orca's, you can just see Sucia Island http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/?selectedpark=Sucia%20Island in the distance from this Very Special Spot

The front entrance to our new digs.

It is somewhere up there on the top floor where the sun is shining through....that means it has a view of Elliot Bay.

In this pic the Condo building is the third one back from the water front where I took the pic.

Also in walking distance to the Space Needle

This downtown Marina was one of my favorites till the Cruise ships messed up the Aura .

You can learn some interesting facts about the Octopus of Puget Sound at the Aquarium 

Had to put out all the Canvass to get as much shade as possible to complete the work on the deck of Wand'rin Star

I love my Drimmel Tool, it took only 6 hours to sand the entire caprail, about a third of the time it takes by hand.

About to start the touch up with Cetol Marine, then two complete coats of Cetol Gloss. The Black Pad is for my Knees, all of this is hands and knee work!

Took this from the Roof Top deck of our daughters condo building.....Spectacular Sunset  over South Puget Sound with the Cascades in the background. 

How Far is it to Seattle, Washington From Marathon, Florida?

We did not even consider this when we got news our daughter and son-in-law called and told us they were pregnant with their first child. We were so excited that we canceled the plans to continue up the East coast and set our course back to St. Petersburg to prepare to cross the Gulf and return to Corpus Christi, TX. 

Well our route took us 1133.7 Nautical Miles Sailing from Marathon Florida via St. Petersburg and across the Gulf of Mexico to Corpus Christi plus our upcoming 4 day 2600 Statute Miles from Corpus Christi to Seattle WA.Our cruise around the Gulf of Mexico totaled 2,673.3 NM and consumed 1yr. 4mo. 15days.

By the first week in August, after driving the Western half of the U.S. we will be moved in to our new digs in downtown Seattle. We are so excited to have this opportunity to move up there for an indefinite time to help them both as they enter parenthood and maintain their very busy professional lives. June and July in Corpus is filled with preparing to depart Texas and Wand’rin Star. We have successfully emptied most of our storage unit in Corpus and what remains will get to Seattle by the US Post or in the back of the Admirals car. We also put both of our vehicles in the shop, one to get ready for the road trip to Seattle and the Little Truck that Can needed a bit of work to meet Texas vehicle inspection requirements after it’s long trip to and from Florida. Both are now prepared to take on whatever comes next. 

I am taking advantage of all this rainless weather to do the bi-annual re-finish work on the wood, deck and topsides. Today I will have all the teak on the deck re-finished and then all I have left to do is get the topsides waxed. This will be about a 4-5 day job depending on my stamina in the 101- 108 heat indexed temps. After that it should be just the small stuff to do and Wand’rin Star will be good to go for a while.

We flew up to Seattle for an awesome Baby Shower in June and got lucky with a day trip over to Orca’s Island in the San Juan’s by rent car and Ferryboat. Being on beautiful Puget Sound has me biting at the bit to get Wand’rin Star up there to take advantage of the wonderful cruising grounds, but that will have to wait for a while so we can get up there and get our bearings on our new assignment as grandparents and caretakers for the newest family member. If we determine we will be in Seattle for more than two years then Wand’rin Star will ride back up their by truck. In the meantime I have an excellent Sailor and his wife along with friends on H Dock to keep an eye on Wand’rin Star. We will be back in Texas every few months for routine maintenance and Mexican Food!

I have already turned in my application to volunteer at the Center for Wooden Boats on Lake Union http://cwb.org/ . This lake is right downtown Seattle and in walking distance to the condo where we will be living. It is an awesome center for the local boating culture and I can’t wait to participate and learn from the craftsmen and sailors in this area. The Admiral is looking forward to volunteer at one of the various Museums in Downtown Seattle or possibly the Seattle Aquarium. We were lucky again as all of the family who made it to Seattle for the baby shower went together to the Aquarium as a pre-shower outing. We have been fortunate to see a lot of aquariums on our cruise around the Gulf Coast and we have seen some really great ones but the Seattle Aquarium is definitely different and very exciting with all the deep rich colors of the Pacific Northwest Sea Life. We are both shopping for some new walking shoes as walking will be our primary mode of transportation in our new very Urban neighborhood.

I still have three topics I intend to blog about left over from our time in St.Petersburg so I will get those done next. Of course the Road Trip to Seattle should be interesting enough to warrant a Mighty Fine Blog. I look forward to sharing our exploration of the Seattle area and the Pacific Northwest as we go forward in this new direction. We have 3,519 NM under our Keel since we first stepped aboard Wand’rin Star, she will rest for a while but I can’t help but wonder where she will sail next?

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