We must have been quite a sight that summer that we towed a 25 foot Fiberform boat behind the old, borrowed station wagon. It was crazy, but we had this dream to see the Inside Passage and we wanted to do it in our own boat. However, we kept building boats and, consequently, never quite had one ready when the cruising time was proper. This year, Bill suggested that we buy a small, suitable boat and trail it to Anacortes, Washington and then go up the Insisde Passage.
We'd already had years of boating experience off the West Coast of California and also the expertise to fix or diagnose almost anything that went wrong on a boat. Early in the spring, we found a 25 foot Fiberform, called a Baja 24, which had been abandoned at the marina. We made arrangements to pay the storage and bank fees and fix it up. We alread had the basic maps required in the two spiral bound map books. More detailed navigation maps would be purchased as needed.
We borrowed the car from Bill's son-in-law and his grandson did a mod on the windshield washers so that they spurted water on the engine to keep it cool. As we would be climbing over several passes towing a boat in the summer, we knew we would need any cooling we could get. Finally, in late June, we were ready. The boat was secured on its trailer and was filled with supplies we would need. The plan was to camp in the boat at rest stops along the way and to launch at Anacortes. Bill and I and our cat, Persephone, started out.
We headed up through Santa Barbara and then the Santa Ynez valley and up to north of San Francisco to Tiburon. The first stop would be at Bill's youngest daughter's home. But, how would we get the boat up the steep hill to her place? I fretted about the logistics while Bill refused to worry at all. Our cat fretted at first but stopped complaining when she could see us. At the very back of the station wagon was a litter box for her comfort.
As I recall, the first day we did get all the way to Tiburon. But, as we neared our destination, we realized that the fuse for headlights had gone. We parked in the nearest spot, Blackie's Pasture, and managed to contact Bill's daughter. Meanwhile, she had called the Tiburon authorities to gain approval for parking and they said, "Anywhere but Blackie's Pasture." She had to call and explain that not only had we lost our lights but we discovered that we had a problem with one of the tires and thus would be there until everything could be fixed. We went with Sue to dinner and then, as it was dark, went back to check on the boat. We could not believe what we saw. A man hoisting his small child into the boat. "He wants to see the boat." We were flabbergasted and told him in no uncertain terms that while the child might want to see the boat, he was an adult and should know better. As a result, Bill spent the night (illegally, per Tiburon city orders) on the boat.
Finally we were off for Oregon. But, before we could get there, we had to cross the Ashland Pass and it was hot. I'm sure that everyone who saw us wondered why on earth we had the windshield wipers going. Well, underneath the hood, the windshield washers were spraying on the engine and, as I recall, we had to keep the wipers going. I do recall it was a crazy sight. We were using so much water that about every hour we had to stop and refill the wiper reservoir. That, and cool off ourselves. We stopped near Shasta to stretch and also give the cat a brief run on her leash. She almost got away and, for an instant, I wondered if I should chase her. She hadn't liked the travel so far and had been vocalizing her displeasure. But, I nabbed the leash and we were again on our way. Miraculously, she was wonderful as a traveller after that and really added to the pleasure of our trip.