SV Three Quarter Time

We have cut the umbilical cord that was Seattle and Tacoma.  We are finally traveling around Puget Sound and, when weather permits, we are honing our sailing skills.  We are currently updating and repairing some minor issues on the boat (thermostat, electronics, etc), but have been on the hook whenever we get the chance.  We've seen some cool wildlife to note, no whales yet, but several varieties of the feathered-kind. As we were fueling up at the Foss Harbor Marina, Grant (an employee there) was kind enough to offer water to this mother duck, whom has nested for two summers in a row here in this hanging flower basket.    Her eggs did not survive last summer, but we are hoping this years eggs will survive. We worked our way to Blakely Harbor, across from Seattle, and saw this eagle hanging out on shore foraging for food; he was quite the opportunist. After spending a night in Everett, we traveled north to Coupeville, then on towards A...

During the winter months, Paul took a job out-of-state to help pay for new sails, work on the hull, and other various upgrades.  Debbie and Sydney stayed on the boat and took care of TQT during the rainiest winter on record in Seattle.  We didn't have any updates during that time, but will be playing catch-up this week before we set sail on new adventures.  Stay tuned as we catch you up on pictures, accomplishments, and stories! Debbie, Paul, and Sydney

Hello All, Debbie and I had intended to write more often, however the lack of internet access has left us a little lazy.  I have a ton of stories stacked up inside my head waiting to get out.  Unfortunately without the instant gratification of posting the stories and receiving the feedback that every story teller craves, we have left those stories untold.  We are in a beautiful little harbor literally in downtown Seattle.  You would think that WiFi would be a given and to some extent it is.  It appears that a fluke with the harbors setup has left the system wanting.  As the tide lowers and rises, we go in and out of the WiFi repeaters range...strange no?  During the course of our travels, most of which has been in largely unpopulated Alaska/Canada, when we have stopped in we find that the WiFi is often available, but it has such a poor broadcast it rarely makes it out past the first few docks regardless of where we have been.  That is the long v...

Many of you are aware that our family experienced several losses after Paul and I began  our sailing adventure.  A grandson, a brother-in-law, and then on August 9th, my father Henry.  On the day he passed, I was out on the deck of TQT photographing humpback whales, one came extremely close during the moment my father left us.  I was able to fly back to the East coast to say good-bye to my dad (his burial was two weeks ago today) and be with family and friends.  I would like to share with you the eulogy I wrote for my dad. On behalf of Cora, Bernadette, and myself, I'd like to thank you all for coming out today to say our final good-bye to my dad. My dad was one of those guys that always appreciated a good joke, considered his friends as family, and knew the value of a hard days work. Many of you know that I moved to Alaska right after high school, so most of my fondest memories of my dad are from my childhood. There is a time period many of ...

During our travels we have learned many new skillsets, the least of which is becoming better weather diviners than those we have regularly become accustomed trusting for that info.  Weather is so far our biggest concern.  A close second is tides, however we will leave that for another day.  Weather from miles away can and does affect the waves, wind, and our general comfort.  The mountains, passes, and glaciers etc., all have cause and effect on our weather.  With a little practice, all of the different scenarios can be stitched together with the information gleaned from the “cough” “cough” experts, to give some idea of our daily and extended forecasts. The one thing that we cannot predict is the fog.  Not so much that it will be there, but in what form… I have dealt with fog in many different forms and scenarios in the past, but have recently discovered that fog is alive.  It can be impressive and terrible all at the same time.  One such i...

We left Valdez and motored-sailed non-stop, until we got to Yakutat 55 hours later. A big “Thank You” to Melissa and Kent Sonnek for the delicious wine and SeaSalt Caramel cheesecake! What a great send-off for the next segment of our journey.  No seasickness to report, or really bad weather either. Our only concern was that Sydney still isn't comfortable going “potty” on the boat. This led to not just one, but two beds with accidents on them, thus making it difficult for us to find a comfortable place to sleep during each “shift.” We had to settle on taking turns on the bench seat in the galley (main cabin). These shifts basically consisted of two hours of rest, not really sleep. So while Paul would take watch looking for other ships, debris, etc, I would lay down for two hours, 2.5 if he was able to let me sleep more and vice versa. We would then switch and then he would rest for 2 (+) hours while I kept watch. After a few of these shifts, I was reminded of the m...

To all of you following our misadventures, this is a sad one.  Most of you have realized that our initial launch to cross the Gulf of Alaska has hit a few speed bumps or, if you rather, big waves.  If you were following our progress on the Delorme map, you could probably tell that our progress during our crossing from the Hinchenbrook Narrows was beginning to get rather slow.  Our attempt was severely diminished by the natural current pushing directly on our nose, coupled with the 30 to 35 knots of wind directly on our nose.  There were extreme gusts getting up near the 40's and then there were the waves occasionally coming over the bow and pilot house.  To make matters worse, I had become sea sick for the first time in my life.  All of that is the normal part of the trip and was not the worst of it.  Allow me to back up a few days. The first issue that plagued us was a broken-down truck.  The abridged version is as follows: we borrowed my dads...