48 degrees and falling

Sept 5, 2011, 2pm
48° 19' N 124° 55' W <Link: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=48+19.8+-124+55.9>
Wind 3.6kt/SSW, Low swell, Heading SSW, 6.4kts, motoring
Baro 1018, Temp 60, Water Temp 55.4, Sky blue
Log 810.9, Engine Hours 1202.9, Batteries %100
I left Neah Bay this morning, this note is being written 'at sea'. I'll try to write a few of these, but by no means will there be one every day. If a week goes by without my next note, nobody should worry. Seriously. Also, I won't be editing these very heavily. They may be a little raw. Although this one is fine - I'm currently fully alert as I'm not yet sleep deprived. That will come...
I arrived at Neah Bay on Saturday evening, after a mixed motor/sail from Port Angeles (about half and half). Sunday I went to a store to pick up a few last minute things, ordered a pizza and ate half of it. I brought the other half back to the boat as leftovers and have just finished part of it. Yum. The rest of Sunday was spent preparing the boat and myself for the trip south. I deflated the dingy and stowed it in the garage (quarter berth), attached the inner forestay and yanked on the staysail, attached the trysail to the mast, hooked up the monitor wind vane, attached the boom jib preventers, got the series drogue ready and stowed so it is easy to access, hooked up my lee cloth so I can sleep on my port berth, fastened all the locker lids down, got my charts and instruments out on the cabin table and added shock cord to hold them in place and lastly installed the jack lines. I also baked some potatoes and pressure cooked some beans - some easy foods to prepare later. I read that baked potatoes are a good food for at sea - as when you're puking them out they come up easily. Just something to consider. This is research I failed to do while on land - picking the most easily puked foods. A gap in my preparation.
I also downloaded more weather information - it looks like light winds are expected around the Neah Bay region with stronger winds down south. This is what I'm experiencing so far. While it is attractive to wait for more wind so I can be a purest and sail the whole passage - waiting for wind can be a two edged sword. I might not get exactly the wind strength I hope for. So anyway - I'm away.
I left Neah Bay under motor and as I left the harbor there was around 12 knots or west wind - so I raised sails. I tacked back and forth, fighting a weak flood current and as I started my turn south the winds backed and weakened. I ended up with around 4.5 knots of wind and feeling that I should be making more progress out of all the shipping lanes while I have daylight - so I started motoring.
My destination remains San Francisco although this can change at any moment depending on what's going on here.
I'm looking forward to the next 7 to 10 days. I'm not expecting an easy passage, but it should be interesting.