Prep for The Trip is complete. I sit comfortably in my den here in the Bay Area hatching final plans and emailing the crew.

It turned out that the port fuel injection pump only needed a good cleaning - not a full replacement. Now that that is done, I am within 50-75 RPMs of full unloaded and loaded which is a dramatic improvement and darn good enough. Also, after checking the riser, it turned out to be in better shape than originally thought and as such I now have a spare.

I finished most all of the outfitting and supplies purchasing. Due to a tip from TCY at Boatered who used to moor in the same marina with me, I hit Harbor Freight in Tacoma. Really cheap and really good tools were available in abundance. I also caved and decided to not use handlines, but to buy a couple of rods and reels and tackle to go after some Salmon on the way down.

I passed my vessel safety check with flying colors and found out that the Boat US online course that I took and passed is a qualifying new boater class. Also in the safety category I got the EPIRB accepting co-ordinates from the GPS which should speed a rescue if that was ever needed.

As I was packing my things to head to the airport, one of the Breakwater Marine guys operated my new Lectra/San for the first time. Very satisfying.

Breakwater has been beyond great. They stuck me in their boathouse and made me feel right at home while doing excellent work and doing it all for a great rate. If you need boat work in Tacoma, they are my favorite. I wish I would have found them sooner - lots of the issues I had been dealing with would be gone.

It looks like the crew is going to be Gary N., Spencer B., Elrod, Brett T., and me. I've been perusing the NOAA Coastal forecasts and the Navy FNMOC and NOAA Weatherfaxes and it looks like the weather is going to hold though the trip may end up being a little grey and drizzly. I'll take grey and wet in trade for low winds and small long period swells.

I'm really looking forward to it.