We're done heading south for a bit!

Sailboat BOB has been heading south for over a month. We've brought BOB (or more accurately - BOB brought us) safely to Bellingham, WA. The trip started 1034 miles north of us in Sitka September 15. The first leg was Sitka to Ketchikan through Rocky Pass, and across some new waters for us. The trip through British Columbia took 17 days and included one very long 102 mile leg from Shearwater to Pt. Hardy - to slip around Cape Caution before a gale came through. We managed to dodge several large fall storms, but saw a little bit of everything.

Our great friends Dave and Lisa joined us from Ketchikan. Dave is an open water swimmer and we really loved being his pace kayak.

And if we could, we would hire Lisa (our official BOB menu consultant) as head chef. This woman can flat make a crew happy.

The trip had some really long days, but we were able to stop in some interesting towns along the way. Hartley Bay and Alert Bay in BC, and English Bay NHP in the San Juan Islands were some of the highlights as fall just begun to show some color. This swimming black bear was a treat, but we kept hoping for more whales. Guess they are all up in Alaska.

Bellingham was the final destination for some work on the BOB. The boat yard lifted the mast off and the 40000 lb BOB (he's gained a little weight over the years) with the same crane that lowered him in to the water in 1998. We found the evidence at the base of the mast - this lucky nickel that had lost some shine, but made our day. We are relieved to know that we had coins to pay Charon, in order to cross the river Styx had we crossed into the afterlife recently.

It was an absolutely astounding year caught in pictures. We've placed most of our best photos in an album. Our sincerest thanks to all the folks that allowed us to be doing what we do in order to capture such fun and beauty. Please enjoy.

Even though the summer doesn't seem to be over, yet, we are quickly booking up for next season already. Please check into our open trips and give a shout if you are thinking of joining us in 2017. We even have some open Glacier Bay trips.... But call soon. (907) 887-9446 or send us an internet at capt.blain@soundsailing.com.

Our apologies to Namu, but we thought he needed a hat. The sunglasses were his idea, we swear.