September 5, 2023 | Leg 7 Day 4.
Port Townsend, Washington.

Today we left Tacoma, a place where we developed a deep connection and friendship with so many amazing people. The Washington communities have extended their aloha to us as they would their own ʻohana, and I’ll always treasure the lifetime connections we made.

The weather and water felt warm throughout the Puget Sound as we sailed to our next stop at the beautiful city of Port Townsend. We spent time practicing our oli and pule on board as seals and otters popped up to greet us occasionally. As we entered Port Townsend, we felt another connection being drawn as hundreds of people waited at the pier to welcome us, despite an earlier than scheduled arrival. A special mahalo to the Northwest Maritime Center for coordinating the event. The crew held canoe tours the rest of the afternoon to an engaged maritime community and then prepared for an early departure the next morning for our last stop in Washington, Neah Bay.

-Shoko Ogata