Seattle to Neah Bay

We left Lake Union in Seattle where Amelie was docked at 11:30am on November 2nd with our crew of Stephen, Amy, Jonathan and Robin. Stephen, the previous owner of Amelie, graciously offered to be our Captain and sail Amelie with us to California; he brought his lovely friend Robin to join the adventure.

Taking this journey in November required careful attention to the weather. We decided to get as far northeast as possible and wait for a good weather window to open up to head into the North Pacific and south to San Diego. We needed to motor for 24 hours to Neah Bay.

Since Amelie was docked in Lake Union it required us to motor across the Lake Washington Ship Canal and through the Ballard Locks into Puget Sound. From here we traveled to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and on to Neah Bay. The Strait was a challenge with floating logs everywhere. After dark around 11pm we hit two logs within 15 minutes of each other, which prompted a crew wake-up and check with Robin at watch — all was OK. The remainder of the night was quiet.

We arrived to Neah Bay mid-morning on Monday and anchored in the cove next to the marina. Another weather check was completed and we decided the next window to head out was Friday, November 7th at 1am. After the first night on anchor we pulled Amelie into the marina and spent the next three nights in a slip where we had access to the facilities and walking! We worked on many projects during our time in Neah Bay.

At midnight on Friday our crew started preparations for departure.