With some delay but just in time for prizegiving we arrived to Seattle. And that despite the broken rudder not in last place. In addition, everyone was unharmed with only a few minor injuries. But after 31 days at sea we were all very tired and felt relieved that we had finally arrived.

The stopover passed thus very quickly. First we had to finish the deep clean before carrying out our regular maintenance and the necessary repairs. Furthermore, we provisioned all non-perishable food until Washington meaning we had to stow all canned and dry food for more than 45 days on board. For 16 people that is quite a bit.

Thus we only had limited time to recover. I found some time to explore Seattle but did not manage to visit any of the surrounding national parks. At least this gives me a reason to come back. Only the prices for food and beverages could stop me. As if the prices shown aren’t enough, tax is added after. And if you don’t tip at least 20% you are looked at like an alien.

After about a week in Seattle we are now underway again with destination Panama and then Washington DC. As when coming into Seattle there was a 20h motor to get through the river right next to the shipping lanes for the big commercial vessels.  And it was the scenery with the big ships on one and the picturesque banks on the other side that made this passage worthwhile.

The race start then went alright. Just as all the other boats we hoisted our spinnaker quickly after the start. After its lengthy repair in Seattle the relief was huge when it accelerated our boat to up to 15 knots. After the tack strop failed in the early morning we had to drop and rehoist the spinnaker. Despite the surprise everyone worked quickly and the sail was back up after a short while.

In the afternoon we were less lucky. At first the spinnaker got wrapped around the forestay and it took us some time to get it free. Only then we saw a big tear along the luff. The repair done in Seattle had not held up. As big as the relief had been the day before was the disappointment now.

We managed to secure all the parts which should allow us to repair the sail yet again. But for the time being we are left with our strong wind spinnaker which moves us just a bit slower. But at least we have some downwind sailing after a long time which makes life on board much more enjoyable. And it takes us straight south. In a couple of days it should get significantly warmer and in just over a week it might be so warm that we wish ourselves back to some colder regions.