Dennis Thank You on my cost estimates Having never made the trip from the Puget Sound area to San Francisco what boat preparations will you make. I read that the passage has some challenges to it base on swell size and overall water conditions. Your thoughts are much appreciated. also what are the things you find after leaving your boat for a few months in a port. What things do you anticipate doing when you get back. Thanks Jim Meader Jim, I will answer the second question first. WWIV will have been sitting at the dock for almost 8 months when we get back to her in Port Angeles. After putting all our stuff aboard we over heat the inside to get some of the moisture out. For some reason we have not had a problem with mold. WWIV was first launched in 2001, so she is getting a little old. My son and I and our wives clean everything. If my son is not with me I hire a diver to wash the bottom, check the zincs and scrap the props. Everything is checked and we install anything that we brought from home, start the engines and genset and check the electrical system. One trip to Walmart for oil, then Costco and a regular grocery store and we are ready to go in about two days. We left the boat two winters in Sydney BC and one winter the outside shower valve broke. Other than that we have had no freeze problems. WWIV has spent two winter on the hard in We made the trip south to San Francisco in 2004. Stopped overnight in Neah Bay and then went nonstop to Crescent City CA. The seas were high and all the inlets were closed because of high surf. WWIV goes down wind in large seas very easily, even under autopilot. Malcolm was right that you do need to have a big barn door rudder. We normally ran at 9-10 knts but surfed to 14-16. The ride was smooth enough to set a normal table. Waves were over 15ft at times. Almost ran into a whale. When we go down this next late Aug. we will again stage the trip from Neah Bay and look for NW-N mild winds. We considered stopping a few places but were afraid to get trapped. We left WWIV one winter on the hard in Washburn WI on the shore of Lake Superior. The temp went down to 30 below. Everything survived. It does take a lot of winterizing. I hope this is helpful. Dennis