Finally on board

We drove from Seattle to LaConner yesterday, arriving at the Tomco Marine offices at 4:45, just at closing time (earlier entry). This morning, we re-visited so that we could rummage through our boxes that had been shipped earlier. We extracted much stuff and loaded the car down with gear for the next 2 weeks on Cinnamon Girl. The drive up to Bellingham was beautiful and the first thing we did on arrival was find a Starbucks for some Iced Chai...went down good. With new energy we headed to the waterfront to find San Juan Yachting. What a marina they have here. Tim Hoving was our "instructor" to check us out on the issues of navigation and the operation of the boat. It seemed like half of the questions we asked, he replied.."that's a good question" because he did not know the answer. He is not very familiar with the AT, but he sure knows a lot about seamanship. After about 3 hours, we had covered most everything, so then we retrieved our bags, unloaded them, and we collapsed with exhaustion. Then a short drive to CostCo for provisions. Great surprise is the chai tea concentrate (in Birmingham, it is only at Whole Foods on Trias). Beer, wine, milk, cereal, etc....now it's time to sleep. We head out tomorrow morning after we return the rental car and we remain a little nervous. While in LaConner, we talked to several captains about the currents in the canal there, and they sounded like only fools ventured thru the canal. The tides and currents charts are different than what I learned in the Vulcan Power Squadron, but are close enough for me to figure them out ( I think). Here at 8:00 at night, we are still finding things out that have not been discussed yet. For example, the ice-maker didn't work because our water pump breaker was off. No hot water was easy to solve....you need a water heater. The satellite TV worked after awhile...etc. But what a boat we are on! Chris has unpacked and put everything in "it's place", and we are ready to get some sleep. Our plans are to cruise to Anacortes in the AM, and then head south to the Seattle downtown area...probably to the Bay Front Marina. We will cruise the Ship Canal to Union Lake and Lake Washington also. The adventure begins...