Two of my good friends headed for Alaska on their 49' Trawler in late
April. I thought that was too early, but they
planned to "poke along" and not return until August. Early to mid-July
is probably the best time to be in Alaska, and most people want to be
headed back south no later than mid-August or so. It's a short window.

He's in his early 80's, she's about 20 years younger.

They have had no end of challenges since setting out.
He hasn't been able to be very far from a doctor's office as a routine
blood test he takes a couple of times a year turned up a reading
worthy of concern. Their dog has been constantly sea sick. Mostof all,
they discovered at the north end of Vancouver Island that they aren't
as comfortable with blue water cruising as they would like to be.

They sent an email to everybody who has been following their exploit,
explaining that they were turning back and enumerating the reasons
why.

I say, "Bravo" for their decision. Most people, self included, set out
on a boat trip hoping to avoid situations that would test the extreme
limits of our skills or the capabilities of our boats. (This is
supposed to be fun, after all). My friends set out knowing full well
that they were likely to run into situations that would test those
limits, so the courage was in
setting out in the first place and the wisdom is in recognizing those
limits and turning back. They have had a great adventure and nothing
they have seen or experienced in the last couple of months is in any
way diminished by what they *didn't* accomplish.

Sort of like shooting for the moon and landing on a mountaintop, vs.
shooting for the ceiling and crash landing on the floor.