So, due to the vagaries of the wood chip market we had to turn around and are heading back to Gray’s Harbor. We are now cruising south at 4 knots, because of Homeland Security rules dictate that we have to give 24 hours notice before re-entering the US. I assume that’s so that they can run a background check on us. Even though all the crew have had federal background checks already, and the vessel is federally registered - and we cross the Canadian border every week….
It’s nice and sunny and the water is fairly calm. Actually quite pleasant cruise. If only I didn’t have to wake up at 0330…. 
5000 tons of cargo in my hands and no damage done. We are delayed from going into port for 8 hours because of another vessel, and because the area here is clear of traffic and has lot’s of room, the captain allowed some time for training.
First I brought in the wire and slowed the barge down. I transitioned from towing to tied up alongside (hip up)
I was on the barge and radioed in all the command to the Mate who was at the helm of the tug. Of course the captain was right next to me, and at times I was parroting his advice, but I was making the calls. It was awesome. I got to apply a great deal of the verbal and book knowledge I have been absorbing over the last couple of years, but doing it makes all the difference. I am not ready to go solo, but it’s a big step for me.
Two more check boxes on my TOAR! 5 more to go.
So we hit weather coming back from Canada…so all night it was rockin and rolling — so no sleep - except at one point I did fall asleep and dreamed I was in a cafe with James, and we were in a restaurant….but I kept lurching out of my chair.
When we got to Aberdene, the tide was strong with and opposing wind. It took quite a while to get her docked.  The dock here has a system that’s hard to tie up to. We had to fish out the lines out of the water, and 6 inch water logged lines are heavy. That’s not so bad, but we had to do it several times as the wind shifted and we had to retry the attempt.
Docking took us till after dinner, so immediatly after getting tied up I had to make dinner, and managed to spill a quart of oil in the galley in the process. Ugh….
But all is secure now. We’ll be here for 24 hours with engines off. I still have to cook meals, but it’s almost like a day off.
Sitting in Nanaimo, CA offloading chips. Should be here for 24 hours. Unfortunatley we are so far from town it’s not worth getting off the boat. I may take a stroll tomorrow.
Trip is going great so far. Good crew, nice folks. The captain said we might be able to finish off the rest of my TOAR this trip. That would be superb.
Reporting from a dock in Grays Harbor. While waiting on the mill to load up our barge with chips, I thought I would describe sailing day. My job on sailing day is to run over to Safeway and get a load of provisions for the journey. This takes several hours just to ring up the order. Then I pile it all on the truck… then pile it all on a pallet….
Then we hoist it over to the dock. 
Well, normally, we would hoist to the boat….But sometimes our boat is tied beside a boat that’s tied to the dock.
In this case, our boat was getting fuel from the boat that was tied to the boat that was tied to the dock….so we had to cross two boats to get to ours. So we brought everything to the first boat 
Then staged all the boxes on the cap rail 
So we schlepped thru the galley of the second boat,
And then on to our boat… the Suiattle.
So, this takes a bunch of guys an hour or so.
Then I have to pull everything out of the boxes, find places for it and then break down the boxes. Then I had a bit of time to unpack my bags before I had to cook dinner - 
Battered and fried filet of sole with garlic sweet peas and brown rice.
Tomorrow I’ll write up my morning watch routine.
I am scheduled to sail again on tuesday or wednesday. Going on a chip run - so Alaska, Canada, California, Oregon and back to Washington - lather, rinse repeat. The port captain sez I can stay on the boat as long as I want, so I probably won’t be back in Seattle until May 6th. Classes start again May 7th.
I have 106 sea days so far.  By May 7th, I supposed to have 180. That means I am behind by 74 days. So…. if I sail from March 13th to May 6th - I’ll have 55 more and be only be 19 days behind.  I have never gone that long - so I might be a little goofy by the end.
On the last trip, I made about 5 batches of rolls. The last one was pretty good.  I made some for my house mates last week. Not perfect yet. Will work on it. Everyone has enjoyed them, but I haven’t gotten the “Oh boy, I just ate a cinnamon roll— I need to take a nap” effect that I am looking for.
