It's Tuesday on the week prior to school starting up and I'm home getting my head around what I'll need to pack for this next trip up to Seattle. School will consist of 3 weeks of navigation training and it has a reputation of being the toughest session during the entire program. I'm hoping that having a little bit of time on charts under my belt, will help ease the pain a bit. Either way, I love navigation, compass bearings, charts, etc., and look forward to soaking up as much as possible. We spent a few days on the topic during my Bareboat Charter class, plus we did a fair amount of navigation in the Navy. I know my way around a chart table pretty good, but definitely need to soak up more basics. I taught map and compass to groups back in college, but nautical applications vary a little.
This is also the last week home for at least 3 weeks, so I'm making sure things are dialed. The pool is in autopilot, the broken things are fixed and messes are cleaned up. This stint won't be as painful as the 9 week session before, but with all this great weather, I'm definitely going to dread heading north a little. This time, I'm bringing my mountain bike and plan to get out and explore the Northwest a little during the weekends. Dunlap has me scheduled for a 10-day Southeast Alaska trip sometime in July, so there's a small chance I may go straight to sea after this classroom phase, but for only 10 days. I'm also scheduled for a longer trip in August back out to the Southwest Alaska ports. Now that I have my AB ticket, I'm slightly more eager for the sea-time because of the potential for income. My first trip out, I sailed as a "cadet", non-union wages, and made a small stipend for my time, plus cargo pay. Full AB wages will help ease the school expense burden and lessen the stress back home a little.
So, it's pack time. Gotta figure out my Seattle clothing needs, now that it's warming up a little. If you're reading this and have info on mountain biking trails in the Seattle area, feel free to comment below and guide me towards the best rides.
Now, where did I put those duffels?
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