CRUISING TIP: Hudson Bay Start

When we set sail from Ventura Harbor bound south through the Line Islands and on towards New Zealand, we said our farewells and headed out to sea. Then, just a few hours later we came to anchor off the island of Anacapa. We stayed there for two days, recovering from the hustle of provisioning and leave taking. We spent the time organizing our provisions so they would be easier to find, putting away bits and pieces that hadn’t fit before hand. We also went through a mental checklist to be sure we had every vital supply on board before we actually set off across almost 3500 miles of ocean toward our first destination, Kiritmati Island. Anacapa was a perfect place for this respite because, should we really need to, we could have easily sailed back to Ventura or on to another southern California port before heading out. This is our usual practice when we are making a long ocean passage after spending more than a few months either on shore or doing coastal gunkholing. When we set off after this stock check, we are usually far more rested, the boat better organized than we would have otherwise been. One of our website readers told me the name for what we do, it’s called a Hudson Bay Start. It seems the trappers who used to take dogsleds out into the wilds of Canada, always set off late in the afternoon and stopped within a half dozen miles to set up camp for the night. This let them check over all their gear, get comfortable with any new footwear or clothing they were using, be sure their dogs were healthy and that nothing had been left behind. The wilds of sub-arctic Canada, the oceans of the world, going out across either of them requires much the same mindset. When you’ll be leaving to cross either you could have a far more enjoyable time if you spend a quiet night away from your departure port to insure you are truly ready to go.