After leaving the docks at 7:00pm we headed for our first port St. Helen's. We had been there before so we knew the docks and were over-ready for some breathing space. We just left the docks with 75 friends and family waving good-bye. We still could not believe we actually left on time!!! I was tired, sad, happy and excited. We took a couple of days getting to Astoria. It felt like we had all the time in the world, no schedules, no work, just the sailboat.

Getting into Astoria is a bit overwhelming. There are tons of boats and cargo barges. The Coast Guard always talking on the boat radio made all of this so real and we felt like a part of this new community of boat people. Boat people ... Who are they ?? Who were we now? Before we left, living on our boat and on the river made us a part of a very tight boating community. There was instant friends and support. I had the feeling a lot was said to each other without uttering a word. Now we were moving and traveling on the river to the ocean, we had a destination... Ireland. People on the new docks already started to ask us where we were from and where were we going? So we started sharing this information, " We are on our way to Ireland." It even sounded a little far fetched. We knew we were going to Ireland, but it did not feel like others thought we would ever get there.

Many boat people have life long dreams and plans of travel. Taking a boat anyplace requires money, goals, flexiblity, a safe boat, skill, dreams, more money. Many people start out to sail only to find out it is not the life for them. Relationships may not weather well on the water. Clothes feel wet most of the time. There is mildrew here, there and everywhere. You smell like diesel fuel in restaurants. Most of the time you are yearning for a long bubble bath. Your hair is stiff and straw like. Families start to wonder if you are making good choices. Boat people are a special group, the connection is strong and we were kindred spirits.

When we got to Astoria docks, Jim called on the radio for a slip assignment. We learn to have a pencil handy to write down this information, they talk way too fast for me on the radio. This is not a private conversation either. All boats can listen to the station you are talking on. It is like an old telephone party line. Most boaters try to sound very boatie. There is a whole other language for the radio you should know, one that I had not mastered yet. We figured the slip assignment out, Jim docked the boat and I jumped off and tied up Transcedence to the cleat on the docks. First things first: where is the shower and let's take a look around the town. More another time... Kay