Alanui, Wayward Wind and Paloma are all in the Pacific ocean off Umatilla reef at 17:00 today. Seas are calm, really calm with a smooth 4' swell from the south. Wayward Wind is bound for Southern CA, while Alanui and Paloma plan a stop in Astoria and other locations on the coast. This is a big day of firsts for the crew of Alanui. First time in the Pacific as husband and wife alone in the boat. First time we have left our children, home (don't own one any more), families and friends behind. Boat systems are working just great. Weather outlook is for continued calm seas for at least 24 hours. A low is moving in on Monday which will give us a nice excuse to see Astoria. Mike Maurice has been kind enough to provide bar crossing advice and I'm confident the trip will be uneventful. The boats are two Nordhavn 43's and my 40 mark II. A purse seiner is off my stbd beam and there are pelicans flying around. I don't ever remember seeing pelicans in WA but I must be mistaken, perhaps they are as common as seagulls, but for some reason it caught me by surprise. We have also seen at least one whale and a half dozen purposeeses (or purpoi?). I'll be posting more detail on www.alanui.talkspot.com Thanks! Scott Bulger, Alanui, N40II, Off the WA coast