Oh lord your ocean is so big, and my boat is so small...

That's what the brass plaque reads in the wheelhouse of my boat. The Edith E may be small, but she's capable, and friendly, and most importantly: Home.

Friday started early. There was a light knock on my door at 5.15 AM, which set Fargo barking up a storm. I don't think there's a better alarm clock than the shrill yawp-yip of my heeler. I was up and dressed in minutes. I'd packed what I felt was necessary the night before so I piled into Gary's car with my bag and we were off. Almost. We swung by the office to grab his canoe so we could have an escape vehicle in case the Good Ship Edith came unhinged in the Big Blue.

By 6:25 we were in San Francisco. The still sleeping fisherman's wharf was our breakfast nook. After the proper ratio of hot-caffiene and carbohydrates had been purchased from the great Seattle-Evil-Empire we clambered down to the decks. We had brought with us an impressive amount of gear for a day's journey:
-Tools
-GPS
-Batteries
-Food
-Water
-Clothes
-Bedding
-More Tools
-Rope
-Tarp
-Battery Charger
-Plus all the stuff we'd bought from West Marine in the last 72 hours (bilge pumps, wiring, hoses, oil, anchor/chain/rope, etc...)

We were going to cross the San Francisco Bay by heading east behind Alcatraz and Angel Island and heading up past Marin and under the Richmond-Bay Bridge and across the thin but expansive San Pablo Bay into the mouth of the Petaluma River, then another series of twists and turns until we touched her nose at the dock at Foundry Wharf where she is to be berthed. All in all a trip of 6-10 hours non-stop depending on wind and tide, and the actual speed of our boat.

But first we had to get the Edith E prepped.

After breakfast Gary got to work wiring in the bilge pumps, and I did everything I could to dispel the nervous energy which had been building all week. A little aside: I love boats, especially wood ones, but I'm also prone to sea-sickness, and nether Gary nor I had really any experience piloting a boat out across one of the most challenging areas to sail in the US if not the world. Granted we weren't sailing, but that only meant we had no backup if our motor quit, or the rudder fell off, or...So I was nervous. Moving about and stowing gear, as well as getting more aquanted with the boat was a good thing. The time it took to find places for everything was a viceral reminder that we had thought of almost any forseeable consequence. So by 7:30 or so we were ready, but we had one problem: Fog.

The fog was so thick that we couldn't see the end of the lagoon much less any traffic on the bay, suffice to say we could hear fog horns going off all over the place. Did I mention our horn didn't work? Nor our running lights? So we stayed in dock and waited, and waited....To be continued.