Land Ho!

Another long overdue post of Claire's thoughts during the Seattle, WA to Newport, OR leg. - Adam

We arrived in Newport! I've(Claire) been wanting to visit the aquarium in Newport since moving to Oregon four years ago.  It's about a 2 hour drive from Portland and I finally get here after sailing for 2 weeks....go figure.  Thanks to Rachel's advice this leg went much better.  I didn't get sick because I didn't take Dramamine after finding out it interacts with some medication I take.  We sailed 30 hours from Westport to Newport. We just returned from dinner where I ordered an appetizer, dinner, and dessert!  I am relatively exhausted after five shifts of 3 hours, but am still not ready to go to sleep and have the whole trip end.  The weather mostly cooperated.  Northwest winds in the beginning allowed us to head wing on wing downwind for 15 or so hours.  The waves were a little wild, some wanting to jump in the boat.  The wind switched south in the afternoon and then died, so we had to motor the last few hours.  Adam tried to fish for tuna and caught a seagull instead - oops (Adam notes that the seagull was set free and appeared to be in good condition - a relief as killing a gull at sea is bad juju given they house the souls of sailors lost at sea).  Kristin and Bryan (crew for the Newport, OR to San Francisco, CA leg) took the train and a bus from San Francisco. They are the next set to make the trek.  We are currently having fun drinking dark and stormies and getting to know each other.   

Claire

(crew from Seattle, WA to Newport, OR)

Nathan getting his morning coffee or breakfast dark 'n stormy (?) in the appropriate Lake Mendota mug (all 4 of us met sailing on this lake in Madison, WI). (Photo courtesy of Moments #1 crew member, Justin Cherniak, appropriately dressed for the chilly Pacific Northwest ocean weather - see below Nathan's photo)