So wait, what's happening?
The Zodiac is a 1924 wooden built gaff rigged schooner, built and sailed originally by the Johnson and Johnson Bro's (baby powder, soap and things, ya know, those guys). For the last, I dunno, 30 years or so she has been taking people into Washington's San Juan Islands on amazing overnight sailing adventures. She has the largest Main Sail on the west coast. She has 26 bunks (we can squeeze in a few more, especially the littles). Some of the bunks are in state rooms, but most are in the main salon, cabin style. All beds are quite cozy. Below decks it is quite big, the galley is large, plenty of space for chilling out. This is an all inclusive trip. The food is amazing. The crew is amazing. The captain has been sailing these waters his entire life, and has other large ocean going ships under his sea legs as well. We are in the hands of one of the saltiest captains afloat. He knows his ship and his ship knows him. If you are a little bit nervous about a sea based adventure, you can take great comfort in the leadership of this ship. You will learn about traditional sailing. She also has a great big diesel, in case you were wondering. Plenty of power on board, wind and otherwise.The boat also has plenty of toilets and showers. Quite the luxury schooner, and bigger than the photos let on.The Sea?
The San Juans are an island system in WA, very near British Colombia, in The Salish Sea. Most places are quite protected from the open ocean swell, and combining that with August weather, it is not likely that we are going to see big waves. It can be quite lake-like. Add to that the sheer size of the ship, and you will find she is quite stable. Sea sickness is most often staved off by the stability of the ship. In my experience working aboard, only the most sea sick prone folks in the world have felt a bit off and are usually fine with over the counter medications. I can't say it will be flat calm the whole time as the wind and sea will do as it wishes, but my experience aboard tells me that you will be fine. She is a big ship, she will treat you right. Sleeping aboard while she is at anchor is a favorite.What are we going to do?
When we get on board, the mate will assign everybody a sailing station (Main, Fore, Stay, Jib) and a crew member in charge of that sail. The Main and Fore Sails will require all of our help to raise them, which means hauling on lines and being all sailory. When we are under sail, at any point the Captain will call, "Sailing Stations", and we are expected to meet our crew member at our assigned post and help maneuver the ship's sails. Fun! Also, we will all be assigned to a watch schedule while we are under way. This means that there will be 30 minute rotations where you can be the lookout on the Bow, can rotate through to a chart station with a crew member who will teach you about traditional navigation, and then rotate back to take your turn on the helm, actually steering the ship with the captain and crew by your side giving you pointers. FUN! I kind of made that sound like it is work, but there is plenty of down time also. Games, cards, knot tying, reading, napping, choose your adventure. We will also have opportunity to go ashore on some lesser traveled islands. This may include lighthouse visits and treasure chests. We will also be keeping our eyes out for orcas and other sea life.So what's the deal?
We are driving up to Bellingham from Bend on Monday the 14th of August. For those that would like to caravan, please join us. We are able to sleep on board while the ship is docked the night before we set sail if you like. This is is a good option for anyone who doesn't want to get a hotel in Bellingham and we pulled some strings in order to be able to do that. (not the ships usual M.O.) We will be setting sail on Tuesday morning, the 15th. It is an 8 hour drive from Bend. Depending on where you are going after the trip, you may want to find a hotel for the night of the 17th.So to make this work for everyone's wallet, we need to fill the 26 bunks with adults and share the cost equally. This will mean we have an all inclusive sailing adventure for $380 each.
You can't get a hotel plus food and adventures for that, we are pretty excited for the discount. As I said, we could squeeze maybe about 4 more on which would make it even cheaper. For kids, they are easier to fit and they will have a blast in the kid sized bunks. If you are interested in bringing your kids let us know asap and we will tally up all the kids interested to see how it will all fit together. We are sending out round 1 invites to family only and we will see how full the boat gets, if we have bunks left to fill after family RSVP's, then Shannon and I will invite some close friends.
We need to pay a deposit due on Jan 30th, so we need RSVP's by Jan 20th.
We are really excited about this and hope that we have provided enough lead time for you to make your summer plans. If you can make it to Bend for the wedding on August 12th and then follow us up to Bellingham, it will be a northwest adventure to remember. If you can't make it to both but can make it to one or the other, great! We will be stoked to see you however it works for you. Please RSVP in the email link that led you here, and don't hesitate to ask clarification questions by email. Jordaniswalking@gmail.com, or an82rosy@gmail.com.
And go check out the Z's website!
