Sitka

September 14, 2017

Clarice here: decided an update from my perspective is in order.

We celebrated a quiet 41^st anniversary with dinner in town. Norman had asked the locals for recommendations, the response to which was, “I’ve heard so and so is good but I’ve never eaten there”. It appears the locals do not eat out much, if at all. We don’t as a rule either but decided to do something to celebrate 41 years of being together through thick and thin. We went to a local hotel, expecting “hotel fare”, and were so surprised. We had a halibut dish that was absolutely fantastic and decided we had made another good choice.

Being stationary is different. We see the same sights each day as we head out for multiple daily walks, however, because the weather is so variable, it is not routine or boring. We try to do some small projects each day if we don’t have a big one planned and the days absolutely fly by.

I’ve got the pieces for a quilt top cut out and will work on piecing it on a rainy day. There’s always vacuuming, dishes, cleaning boat, etc. that needs to be done on a routine basis. We got a visitor library card so my next endeavor is to learn to make bread with a chewy crust and soft interior, but not too soft. I checked some books out to assist me with learning this skill. I did make English muffins for the first time, and despite not cutting them the correct size, they turned out fantastic. Yes, another item off the check list of goals to achieve.

I planted a small container garden and today noticed that the lettuces and spinach are up.   I wasn’t sure it was possible, but voila, it is. I’m hoping that the back enclosure will allow light and keep the temperatures such that I can grow rotating crops for a few fresh greens besides sprouts. Yes, there are greens available, but I’m looking forward to more long term cruising and exploring all the options available towards being self-sufficient in the future.

Container garden in the cockpit at the back of the boat

Yesterday we returned from an overnight outing to the end of one of the bays near Sitka. Alas my fishing skills were not up to the task to snag one of the lovely creatures jumping all around me, so we had to make due for dinner. It appears that this is a continual scenario for me, but persistence will win some day!! The stars were phenomenal that night. We actually had a clear non moonlit night and could see the Milky Way, etc. without the light pollution of town. It was beautiful. Hoped to see the aurora, but that wasn’t up for the scenery that night. There are a few more local bays that look hopeful for anchoring in for the occasional good weather get out of town days.

We met a woman at the local Ham radio fish fry and managed to connect with her and her husband at their home on one of the many islands near town. We had an enjoyable afternoon visiting and getting to know one another. I enjoy meeting the local people on their terms and we seem to have similarities so that made it that much more enjoyable.  

We keep marveling at the scenery. It is easy to see why people come to Alaska and stay. We won’t be those individuals but will absolutely enjoy every minute we get here.

Our evening was spent at a very moving event for the community. When we had first arrived we noticed a small flier in a store about a Chilkat Robe being returned to the community and that everyone was invited to attend the event. We finally located the hall that this would take place in and decided this was an opportunity to not be missed. We were not disappointed. A Chilkat robe had somehow found its way to a family on the east coast of the U. S. A. for four generations. The current owners decided they felt the robe needed to be returned to its rightful owners. The local museum worked with the family and the local clans to bring the robe back to Sitka and opted to have it returned in a very moving ceremony. We saw rarely used Tlingit ceremonial robes and head pieces (one of the robes had a musket ball hole in it from the Tlingit uprising against the Russians 150 years ago), heard sacred songs that are not usually heard by those outside the native peoples and witnessed joyful dancing performed by all ages of native clans people. You could feel and see the heartfelt joy and gratitude for the return of a robe that embodied the people’s ancestry. What was so meaningful to us, as non-native, was that the cultural meaning was explained by the master of ceremonies as the ceremony progressed. Since many of the Tlingit are Russian Orthodox, the ceremony began with the Lord’s Prayer sung in Tlingit. Much of the ceremony was spoken in Tlingit but then translated almost immediately to English. Ancestors are so important to the native culture that someone helps a person don the robes and head pieces (most robes are woven or sewn in a clan specific pattern). They explained that it was not the son, daughter, aunt or uncle helping you dress, but rather their ancestors. The mood went from one of solemnity to joy and it was very palpable in the room.

A note about Chilkat robes: They are very special robes with amazingly fine and detailed symbolism woven into the blankets. It was explained that you ask someone else to make a robe for you so that you do not boast about yourself.

Davenport Family presenting the blanket (photo credit Sitka Sentinel, James Poulson)

Norman's notes:

9/10/17

It’s been a week since we arrived in Sitka and we are just beginning to start to find our way around.  

Some highlights so far:

Riding our bikes to Sawmill Creek and oohing and aahing at the beauty of the bay at the end of the paved road with mountains and waterfalls when we look up and whale spouts when we look down.  The creek is full of salmon working their way up stream.

Tale of a Whale in Silver Bay

We keep being assured by locals that the rain storms that keep dousing us are not normal. On the other hand while our family in the Pacific Northwest has been enjoying record heat and dry they are tired of smoke and ash from forest fires.  (A bit of history – Clarice and I met in a forest fire camp.  My long time mild asthma has added forest fire/brush fire smoke as a trigger I suspect from that experience.  I think if we had stayed home I would have really had some problems – maybe rain isn’t so bad.)

When the rain is gone the scenery is absolutely amazing. There are many many little islands around Sitka on the seaward side and mountains on the inland side.  We have decided that when it isn’t raining (or its just drizzle then we will explore as there are lots of wet days for doing inside jobs.

We have been told that when our moorage agreement ends on the 20^th of this month that it cannot be extended as the boat that has a long term lease on this slip will be returning. This is sad as this has been a great location for us being close to town and shopping and having an indoor location for storing our bicycles.  The issue with the main city harbor authority is that they have a “sellers market” with multi-year waiting lists for slips. They would happily rent us a transient slip but if we left for an outing there would be no guarantee of a place to moor when we return.  At this point we believe we have a slip lined up right downtown at a private dock but no agreement has been reached.  If that doesn’t work out we will likely head back to Petersburg where there was space.

A Sea Otter visits us at our first moorage

Today we attended the local  service Episcopal and then went to choir practice.  They were excited to have a second male voice and Clarice enjoyed being in a small group.  The priest had sent out an email with a link to our blog so our face was familiar to some members of the parish already.

This evening we went to a fish fry sponsored by the local HAM radio club as a fundraiser.  We met several local folks and hope to get to know more.

St Peter's By-The-Sea Episcopal Church

This is a small community and already people are starting to recognize that we have been around too long to be from a cruise ship – at church a woman commented that she recognized us from the farmer’s market yesterday. We know from having lived in a small community that these connections are very important if we are to enjoy our winter here – otherwise we will get boat fever very quickly.  I always remember telling a German exchange student who stayed with us years ago that the local kids didn’t need him – he needed them.  If he was going to have a social network then he needed to stick his neck out because they had all known each other since grade school.  It is the same here – right now we are a curiosity but the town social circles don’t need us – we do need them.

I’m excited to say that one rainy day project involved tearing apart and then reconstructing another section of the pilot house instrument panel.  Previously 2 of the gauges with very limited viewing angles had been mounted where I had to practically get on my knees to see them clearly.  They also could not been seen at all from the pilot’s chair since they were literally around a corner.  They are now mounted higher and at an angle designed to work with the viewing angle issue on a totally new section of dash board.  Even without final finish work being done I’m really pleased with how this came out.

Gauge location before rebuild...

...gauge location after rebuild (the difference in readability is due to the location change not an artifact of photography).

We also replaced one of our engine room blowers with a Delta T brand blower.  I had replaced the original blower with a unit designed for engine room temperatures a couple of years ago when the earlier, cheaper, blowers kept failing. The newer style blower motors are very stout but the squirrel cage had moved on the shaft of one of them and was causing it to stop. Clarice picked up a subtle change in engine room temperatures and got me to looking closely at the two blowers.  I was able to fix the failing unit but now expect that they will fail at some point.  The Delta T moves a heck of a lot more air and seems to be a much more robust design.  In the mean time I have ordered some thrust bearings that may keep the remaining older blower in service and make the one I removed a more reliable spare.

We did final numbers for our trip up: 1157 nautical miles traveled; 395 gallons of diesel burned (2.92 nm/gal); main engine used for 176 hours.  We have since purchased 500 gallons of diesel to keep our tanks from getting condensation over the winter.

9/20/17

Today started out with one of the first, if not the first, completely cloudless morning since we arrived in Sitka and it got better from there. My brother has tried for years to convince me that even I can catch fish.  I have been convinced that I have such a strong anti-fishing jinx that I can close down a fishery just by dropping a line in the water. Today one of the locals took us out in his boat and I managed to catch a very nice sized rock fish (Clarice caught two tiny rock fish, a small black bass, a tangle of old fishing line and a half of a scallop shell).  In any case just looking at the scenery around us was pretty amazing. After we stopped fishing Darryl took us to he and April’s island where he and she showed us around their tiny but spectacular little tree covered rock where they have a lovely house and several other buildings and gardens.  Once we left we motored back to our new moorage at the base of a park on the end of the main thoroughfare of downtown Sitka.  It’s a lovely location and should we or our landlord (waterlord?) change our minds, Darryl has found another dock near him where we could tie up our ship for the winter just a couple miles from town.

Sunrise heading to our fishing lesson

Looking back towards Mt. Edgecumbe

Looking back towards town

Arrowhead Mountain (we think - we are still learning place names)

Norman's Rockfish

Clarice's Scallop shell

Bear with Clarice's salmon

Darryl and April's Island

Heading home after the fishing trip

Hopefully the photos of Sitka can give a better feel for the place than I can in words.

Totem Park and Pioneer Home (our current moorage is a few steps from this park)

St Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral

"Spring" flowers in bloom 

Crescent Harbor

Salmon Jumping 

Young man very excited to have caught his first coho salmon

Russian Orthodox sanctuary (still a consecrated space) inside the Russian Bishop's House National Historical Site

Totem in Sitka National Park - a quiet place to walk about a mile away at the other end of town

Meeting people:

As mentioned previously we have recognized that if we are to enjoy the winter here we need to get a social network and so we are actively trying to meet local folks.  We had a couple of recent missteps only in that the people we met weren’t from Sitka but they were really nice folks to meet and told us a lot about Alaskan’s.

First we went to a local pizza place that was having a very busy Saturday night with a team of high-school cross country runners taking up 1/3 of their table space.  Since we nabbed a 4 person table I watched for the next couple to come in looking for a place to sit.  We ended up having a really nice conversation with a couple who had come up from Ketchikan with their kids for the cross country meet. They explained that going to a sporting event with another school often involves taking the whole team on an Alaska Airlines flight to the school where the event takes place (sometimes even as far as the lower 48).  Using the less expensive ferry option can make a 2 hour meet turn into a 5 day event as the ferries don’t run on daily schedules.  On one hand this leads to lots of fund raising frustration on the other they find that their kids develop great social skills as they stay with host families for most events.  They explained it is just part of the life and flavor of living in SE Alaska.

Next I was stopped by a woman as I walked back to the boat asking if I knew of a local B&B where she and her husband could stay for the night.  They had just parked their float plane on the dock next to ours and were eager to stretch their legs and then get some sleep before heading on the next leg of their journey after picking up their new plane in Washington as they headed home to Palmer (near Anchorage).  To make a long story short they accepted our offer to spend the night in our spare berth.  They were incredibly nice folks and it was great to hear their stories and learn about their joy of flying in this beautiful countryside.  The next morning they flew on and promised that some canned salmon would be heading our way in exchange for the warm place to sleep – if it never arrives we will consider the night of enjoyable conversation well worth the very minor difficulty of setting up the bed and making a breakfast for everyone.

Dog stuff:

There is a charity “Running of the Boots” next weekend that I had hoped to enter Jarvis in with his new snow boots but considering his first reaction to them we aren’t real sure he will make the run.  Before you watch the video and laugh at his antics or cry for his confusion an explanation is in order. Rubber boots (almost synonymous here with Xtratuf brand boots) are pretty much a fashion accessory equal to Nikes in Seattle.  We have watched high school girls walk about with teenage fashion requirements of leggings and, yes, Xtratuf boots.  The boots do come in feminine looks with such patterns as pale blue octopi on the inside liners which are then turned down like Bobbie socks. It is also perfectly in keeping with the local look to wear Grundens rain pants or today I saw a young lady on this sunny afternoon with jeans (with the requisite holes in the knees) with a Grudens belt. So the Running of the Boots is the local folks way of saying “good bye” to the cruise ship season and laughing at themselves as they move into Sitka town season. [9/21/17 - today Jarvis started out with two front boots then graduated to 4 boots for his morning walk - he does seem to be getting the hang of the boot thing.]

Jarvis was totally confused (and not a happy dog) the first time he tried his new boots

Boat stuff:

For some time we have contemplated changing out the stuffing in our shaft seal.  A bit of background for the non-boating readers: where the propeller shaft exits the boat there needs to be a seal that allows the shaft to rotate and keeps the sea outside of the boat.  Traditionally (as in Salish Aire’s case) the shaft is wrapped with beeswax infused flax and a compression fitting of some kind is tightened up against the packing until it only drips a little (the drip cools and lubricates the seal while providing an oxygen source for the stainless steel).  In our case we didn’t know how long it had been since the packing was replaced (Clarice found recommendations for routine changes range from a year to years….) and since we were having to tighten it more and more to keep it dripping at a properly slow rate (there seems to be agreement that no matter how long the seal has been in that increasing dripping indicates the seal is worn out). From our reading we agreed that the old tried and true flax and wax would be our choice over the newer Teflon infused packing (its reported to last longer but can be damaging to the very expensive shaft if it overheats). We understood that we would need 3-4 rings of packing and the input from other owners of boats like ours was that it was most likely 7/16 inch material – wrong on both counts.  We also understood that it can be a challenge to pull out the old packing but it would come with the correct tool – it wasn’t until after we had broken two of the tools that Clarice read that the tools can themselves be a problem. In any case we did get the original packing out after much effort (and running next door to the marine hardware to get the second removal tool). The amount of water entering the boat was not overwhelming once the packing was removed and easily handled by the bilge pump.  After replacing the 5 rings of 7/16 packing equal to the number that we found in the original seal (instead of 3-4 we expected) we realized that the adjustment nuts were too far screwed on so we remeasured the original packing and found it to be ½ inch material.  After running to the marine hardware again the ½ inch packing was inserted.  Then there was no drip, nada, nothing even with no pressure at all on the packing.  Since Clarice read that sometimes it takes a while for natural packing to seat itself we ran the boat for a couple of hours while we toured some local islands. Sure enough some of the wax melted and oozed out into the bilge finally allowing the water to come through. Today the seal ran at a higher temperature than it has in the past but much cooler than our initial run.  We are beginning to believe that this is one of those traditional boat jobs that requires a bit of experience and patience before a person can just do it correctly the first time.

Ready to insert the new packing

9/21/17

Clarice and I are both advanced SCUBA divers.  We have our equipment and air tanks on the boat but haven’t taken the time until today to take a dive. We spoke to some local dive instructors who let us know that currents and other issues we dealt with in Puget Sound are much less of an issue here.  They also let us know that (as long as the herring aren’t spawning) visibility of 50 – 100 ft is common.  With these encouraging thoughts we decided to get wet again after having been out of the water far too long (meaning that we wanted an “easy” low risk dive to check ourselves and our equipment out).  We found a U shaped area between two local islets that had a bottom showing 40 ft on the charts and headed there, anchored and jumped in.  The dive was over a so-so bottom as far as things to look at but the visibility was 50 ft, water temperature 51 degrees F (which is “warm” for cold water diving) and it felt great to get back into the sport we really have enjoyed for many years.  The local guy who fills tanks just stopped by and picked up the tanks for us at the boat (woo hoo service – we had planned to take them on a dolly ½ mile up hill to his house). We are looking forward to more exploring under water as well as above with the many islets around Sitka Sound.

Shopping etc.:

• ·         Tourist shops are everywhere but many will be closing in the next week or so as the cruise ship season is coming to an end.
• ·         There are three local grocery stores – one of which is quite large.  Veggies have obviously travelled a ways to get here but generally they are well stocked.  Clarice notes that the prices are high even for staples like flour.  There is a guy who brings up fruit from Washington but he will only be here once more this season.
• ·         Amazon 2 day shipping is usually more like 5 days and I keep being surprised at what they will and wont ship to an Alaska address such as beeswax products (SnoSeal and waxed flax stuffing), yes to a radio with a rechargeable battery but no to an extra capacity battery for the radio.
• ·         Clarice did find shoes that are comfortable with her previously broken foot but I expect to have to order mine.
• ·         Clothing (with the exception of rain gear) is pretty limited as far as choices.
• ·         1 good marine hardware place but it looks like specialty parts need to be ordered out of Seattle
• ·         2 good hardware stores

The rain has returned

On to Baranof Island

9/2/17

It seems like a big deal to me to finally see and set foot on Baranof Island. First we have never seen it before.  When we came up this way in 2000 we stays to the east and travelled up to Juneau and then Skagway.  On this trip we are moving to the west to get to our planned new base of Sitka.  Yesterday we saw the island for the first time and were impressed – this is not a hilly little island but rather has glaciated mountains not far from the shore!  We arrived at Baranof Warm Springs after a long day of travel with the final couple of hours being through rough waters.  But I get ahead of myself!

In our last entry we were still in great weather in the northern arm of Behm Canal.  After that the weather started to deteriorate and we have had lots of rain and wind up until today. We got bumped about a bit in 25 kn winds until we worked our way into Meyer’s Chuck. Meyer’s Chuck is a very protected group of coves with a small community tied together with trails and boardwalks.  In 2000 when we were there I wondered if it was on the decline as the trail to the (fairly new) school was overgrown and we never did see any local residents.  The good news is that the community has been spruced up and even has a very nice new community dock.  It looked like most of the seasonal residents had left but there were a few hardy souls still in-chuck and I suspect they live there year round.

Meyer's Chuck

Meyer's Chuck panorama

From Meyer’s Chuck we travelled north through Zimovia Strait to Wrangell where we continued to get rained on. We spent a night in the marina and then headed out in rain and wind the next morning to head north through Wrangell Narrows. 

At the north end of Wrangell Narrows is the very Scandinavian town of Petersburg.  We have been to Petersburg twice, once in 2000 and then again in 2015 for the Nordhavn Rendezvous.  Since we have been giving a lot of consideration to staying in Petersburg both based on our experiences and the blog of Sweet T, a Nordhavn 40, who spent last winter there.  Our conversations with the harbormaster confirmed that they could accommodate us with reasonable rates and good electrical connections.  While we have decided to move on to Sitka for now, their very welcoming approach may well bring us back in the future.

Petersburg 

Petersburg 2

While we were in Petersburg we were able to confirm that we have a place to moor in Sitka and so we headed out into gray skies continuing to the west. We spent a long day on the water and pulled into the warm springs cove just before dusk.  The cove is again one of those places that represents the attraction of SE Alaska.  At the head of the cove is a huge waterfall with hundreds of salmon teaming at the bottom waiting for a chance to climb it.  The cabins in the cove are connected by a boardwalk that goes along the foreshore. On the boardwalk is a bath house with three tubs with warm springs water plumbed in for visitors to use.  We used the tubs with light provided by our kerosene lamp until we were warm to the core. When we were walking back to the boat the moon poked out from behind a cloud suggesting better weather for the morning.  We awoke this morning to clear blue skies with light winds.  A couple of black bears were checking out the stuff on the shore at the base of the falls.  After walking the dog and taking a lot of photos we headed north for the next leg of our journey to Sitka which is 20 miles due west or 90 miles by water so it will probably take us two days to get there via Peril Strait.

Our first look at Baranof Island

Baranof Bear

Waterfall and cabins Baranof Warm Springs

Bear checks out the breakfast options along the shore Baranof Warm Springs

One of three natural spring fed hot tubs available to the public

View from the public tubs

Hot tub house along the boardwalk

Very new dock (a bit of a challenge to land the boat due to the very strong current from the falls) 

Last look at our bear friend

Leaving Baranof Warm Springs to travel around the N end of the island to Sitka (only 20 miles away over those mountains)

Boat stuff (after passing the 1000 nm mark):  The boat continues to run well getting about 3 nm / gallon of diesel.  We have only used the generator twice – once to run the watermaker and once when we had issues with the main engine alternator regulator.  We have confirmed (and even have support from experts via the Nordhavn users group) that we can run using our build in regulator if need be without problem although we switched back to the external regulator yesterday after making some minor changes and it seems to be working reliably again.  We now have good data in our fancy electricity monitoring system and are learning how to understand it better which is leading to greater comfort with our energy budgeting strategies.  One thing that has helped a lot was learning to adjust our two inverter/battery chargers so that they draw a much more limited amount of power when we are plugged into low amperage shore connections. At the suggestion of a Nordhavn 40 owner we talked to who also has both hydraulic and passive stabilizers we have tried using the two systems together and are finding them very synergistic in dampening rough motion.  We have now started lowering our outrigger poles daily (as we note that most of the local fishing boats do) before we leave a protected harbor since being on the top deck in rough water is uncomfortable. We keep the paravane “fish” attached and find that we can easily launch them in rough conditions since we only need to go into the protected cockpit. We will need to figure out our longstanding issue with a leak in the upper 1/8^th of our large fresh water tank once we get settled in port and create a “permanent” seal for the base of the main radar. This is in addition to normal maintenance stuff after 1000+ nm.. We have been very pleased with most of our decisions such as buying the aluminum hull dingy, buying tough hulled kayaks, going to a newer inverter/charger, etc.. We are still learning to use our HF radio as we now get our weather forecast and some email over it on a regular basis when we are out of cellular range although we still have not been able to demonstrate the phone service connection we subscribe to.  When we were hiking in a cove after having only seen one boat for the day and knowing that no terrestrial radio signals were getting anywhere, I was glad that we have our satellite text option for emergencies.  All and all our planning and preparations have served us well thus far as has Salish Aire herself.

9/4/17

We anchored for one night between Baranof Warm Springs and Sitka in lovely weather. Yesterday we arrived about 11 AM and then took Jarvis on a walk after we figured out which slip is “ours”.  We turned around after walking to St Michael’s by the Sea Episcopal Church where we were able to meet the local priest and her husband and some of the parishioners as they were finishing up their after service social time.  By evening the rain had started to return.

Peril Strait anchorage

This morning it is raining and raining – there is no forest fire concern here as all of the normal rain that usually heads to BC and Washington this time of year is being steered north by the jet stream. So while they complain of hazy skies and too hot record temperatures with records numbers of days without rain we wade about when we walk with the dog or to the grocery store. 

View from last of passage to Sitka

Entering Sitka

Wet rain gear collection from morning walks

Our slip for the next few weeks at Fisherman's Quay

Eric's video

Thanks to Eric B for this video of the time we spent with he and Michelle in the Octopus Islands

Into the Mist (and Rain)

8/26/17

Clarice ended our last note with us crossing Dixon Entrance and re-entering the USA (Alaska) with fair seas and fairly nice weather.  Since we could see that our weather window was not likely to last more than a day we went ahead and went the full way into Ketchikan rather than making an intermediate stop as we had planned.

In 2000 when we started into the channel leading to Ketchikan we were greeted by a pod of Orca fishing and swimming directly off our bow.  This time it was a pod of humpback whales using a fishing technique where they swim in a circle and all jump half way out of the water at once.  I didn’t expect the jump and so got only the end of it on video (but I’m finally finding some less camera shy whales).  They put on a show for us for some time.

The past two nights we stayed at the Ketchikan Yacht Club docks.  I was excited to see the actual bell that is rung at the end of the R2AK race in the club house when we joined the group for burger night.  We have seen a couple of the boats that were in the race this year along the way but haven’t met any of the owners yet.  We did make a note-to-selves that we really need to emphasize when we call in for dock assignments that we are a BIG 46 ft boat.  This time we barely squeezed into the spot they had arranged for us but they have a flat $35/night rate including power which is a great deal for us.

On the maintenance side; Ketchikan is the first dock we have stayed in that were equipped with GFCI breakers on the dock electrical posts.  This revealed that somewhere on Salish Aire we have a fault that I haven’t found yet.  At first I thought it was an inverter issue but I’ve pretty much ruled that out.  I did find that one of our outlets had the neutral and hot wires reversed (3 years of ownership and I’d never checked all of the outlets with my handy dandy outlet checker – embarrassed).  Another outlet had corroded connections.  Bottom line is that I need to start working my way through the 120 V wiring and looking for (and correcting) issues as I find them.

Ketchikan is showing signs that they are likely to blow their all-time rain record out of the water. Just saying that our new rain gear purchased in Prince Rupert (with Canadian dollars J ) are getting well tested.  We giggled at the cruise ship passengers with their freebie ponchos that didn’t look like they were much help at all.  We were amazed to see four ships in town at once with a steady parade as soon as one left another arrived.

Entering Ketchikan

For many years I have been fascinated by the idea of circumnavigating Revillagigedo Island.  Now that we have time and fuel to do so we are going for it.  We left this morning in low clouds and rain heading for an anchorage in Misty Fiords National Monument.

8/28/17

Last night the rain stopped and we anchored in a truly idyllic setting in a very protected cove behind an island.   The island has a forest service cabin on it where two middle age guys were just setting up housekeeping after being dropped off with their kayaks by a guide service.  We kayaked over and visited with them for a bit and checked out the cabin – a very cozy and critter proof place in an incredible setting.  It comes with bunks for 4, a wood stove (wood), a deck with a bench, an outdoor fire circle, and a priceless view and solitude.

FS Cabin

Anchorage from cabin deck

A proper outhouse

Campfire circle

We kayaked around the bay and walked Jarvis on the shore (where he almost got a bit too curious about a small porcupine!)

Today we took a side trip up Rudyerd Bay which is rated as one of the prettiest in Misty Fiords NM.  All we can say is “WOW” and thanks to the folks who worked to preserve this place. I’m hoping that of the many, many photos I’ve been taking today that some of them will show the majesty of the place.  Think of Yosemite in a fiord instead of a valley with the only tourists being those who fly or boat in. (We’ve only seen one other boat today exiting the bay and a number of float planes that either do fly-throughs or fly-in and land on the water for 20 minutes before departing back to Ketchikan.)  We have had a dry day with broken clouds and glass smooth water.  A truly awesome experience.

Porthole view of our world

New Eddystone Rock (the remains of a volcanic intrusion)

8/29/17

It looks like we will have internet access before the day so I will try to catch up on notes.   After we left Rudyerd Bay another cruising boat contacted us on the VHF radio and recommended the mooring buoy in Walker Bay (which we had planned to skip) – MV Pleasant if you read this – Thank you, Thank you for the recommendation.  Again we travelled through a fiord that challenged Yosemite for spectacular scenery. 

The buoy was in the end of the bay next to a small creek outlet.  It still seems unsettling to us to be so close to shore and then realize that the depth sounder at the buoy shows 50 feet of water under the keel.  We had never caught a mooring ball with this boat before and were a bit concerned about how to accomplish the task without a crew member falling overboard.  We figured out years ago that it is much easier to catch the ball from the aft section of the boat and often shake our heads watching people hanging off the bow trying to reach the mooring below them.  Instead we take a long line from the bow back to where the boat has a low gunnel and then threat the line through the loop on the ball and take it back to the bow and tie it off.  Salish Aire doesn’t have any really low spots for reaching over except through the side doors.  The plan was that I would try to stop the 60,000 lb boat dead in the water a foot from the buoy within the space of an 18 inch doorway.  I came close enough on the first try that Clarice was able to get the line through the loop.  (We have now done this twice and are feeling pretty sure of ourselves – guaranteeing that the next time will be a total foul-up.)

We did have a bit of cloud cover that night so the stars were occluded but that was a pretty minor complaint when you consider we had this amazing place entirely to ourselves.  The next morning we could see blue sky above us but fog all around the boat as the morning mist rose from the water. We took the camera in the kayaks and got some pretty cool photos as the morning fog moved around the basin.  We kayaked up the creek a ways and saw a few spawned-out salmon barely alive or dead in the water.

I had hoped that Bell Island Hot Springs Resort would have been resurrected as it is reported to be under new ownership.  Alas it is in terrible shape with the only new construction being “no trespassing” signs.  So we moved on to Bailey Bay and spent our second night on a FS mooring ball (Thank you Forest Service!!).  We walked a short distance up a trail that was supposed to lead to a lake and a hot springs but decided we were ill prepared as the trail got rougher wearing our rubber boat boots and not carrying any emergency supplies when we were in a very remote location so we turned back about ½ mile in.  We then kayaked around the bay before heading back to the boat for dinner.  The only negative thing was Jarvis decided he needed to disguise his scent by rubbing in some poo he found on the path – this is a new behavior for him and one we hope he doesn’t repeat.

Last night I woke up about 2 AM and walked out on deck to a display of stars such I have not seen since my youth when there was less light pollution.  WOW!

Today we will return to heading north once we exit Behm Canal. We have been told that anyone who gets one day of good weather in this area is really lucky – we have had three very nice days with anywhere from scattered clouds to clear skies.  I only wish I had a chance to take a float plane trip over the Misty Fiords NM as I expect that the views would be very different and very spectacular.

I think we are both beginning to emotionally accept that we really aren’t on a schedule and can stop when we want or move on when we want.  I think we will try to get on to Sitka within the next few days so we can at least figure out if we will stay the winter there or if we need to look at other options.

Clarice's notes:

August 26^,  2017

Last night the Ketchikan Yacht Club ( who’s docks were have been moored at for the last couple days) offered a hamburger dinner for a donation. We like to support the yacht clubs if we can as they usually offer very affordable rates. There is no reciprocal moorage available at the Ketchikan Yacht Club..you are requested to fly your burgee and if you fail to pay, they will charge your yacht club the fees you’ve incurred. Not quite how it usually works, but since they were pretty inexpensive so be it. Our slip was interesting in that Norman managed to squeeze us in a very tight slip. I had told the moorage coordinator the size of our boat, but as he was assisting with tying the boat up upon arrival his comment was “ Wow, that’s a really big boat”. My thought is “and that’s why I told you multiple times our size and requested clarification if there was a slip that was adequate for us. The awesome pilot that Norman is made it all work and we were quite snug in our temporary quarters.

After a couple of very rainy days in Ketchikan we opted to explore Misty Fjords National Monument and escape what even the locals thought were extremely rainy days ( the bus driver told us 10 inches of rain in two days). We headed out in a mild breeze that gradually built to 14 or so knots. The crossing over the end of Revilligegedo Island was a little sloppy  ( I videoed the slop but not sure if it really explains what it is to those of you who are not boaters) but we finally put out the paravanes and that calmed it out nicely. The breeze finally came off our stern and so we chugged happily along viewing lush emerald green forests that come right down to the sea.

I put out my salmon fishing rig and must have had something on it, however the line was old and snapped. Lost all the rigging on it (bummer) but found some replacements in my sorry pile of fishing gear so will try it out tomorrow. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment, but would love some Salmon or Halibut. Tried the halibut rig but not really deep enough where we are anchored tonight.

We entered the bay we were going to anchor in and managed to fit over the 8 ft ( more like 7 feet in reality) shallow spot that was part way into the entry and anchored just off the USFS bouy and near the USFS cabin. Shortly after we got the boat secured two men in kayaks headed over to the USFS cabin. We launched our kayaks and headed over to the beach. I chatted with the men while Norman and Jarvis explored the area. The men graciously allowed us to check out the cabin. It is quite new and very lovely…and what a lovely setting.

We could use the buoy however we are usually reluctant to use them due to our boats weight ( she’s a svelte 60000 pounds). We kayaked by the buoy and it’s extremely stout and looks very secure. Since many of the anchorages are quite deep and not the best seabed to set an anchor, we may try one out. We discussed how we would hook the buoy since we’ve not been able to use one with this boat before. It might be a bit of a challenge but it would be great to try it out.

We headed back to the boat eventually for dinner and our evening down time. I took a shower and took a picture to share of my view from the shower. I opened the port as it’s not raining and quite warm outside. Pretty awesome to have this wonderful view while you shower.

Sounds like the weather will be a little better for a few days so we are excited to explore the fjords and see what they have to offer.

Leaving Prince Rupert

August 24,2017

Oh happy Day we are on our way…again. After 5 days exploring all the wonders of Prince Rupert and having buckets of rain wash our deck as clean as can be, we are ready to continue northward.

We did enjoy the museum in PR – small but packed with so much information and items to see. Had some really nice long walks which is always a bonus when cruising. I found a fabric store that is just opening so added a couple of pieces of fabric for my “ Far North Quilt” that I’ll work on this winter. 

We’ve met some other Nordhavn owners…some with more experience, some with less but we all have something to share.

Evidently we are not the only ones enjoying a somewhat sunny and very calm Dixon Inlet transit. We are in the company of many recreational and work boats.

It’s been interesting adapting to the “not having to go to work” plan. I’ve had time to do some projects that needed to be attended to on the boat, I’m enjoying having time to cook meals that take more than 30 minutes( I do find the crock pot is great when we are underway – it’s nice to know dinner is pretty much done when you are done with your day of travel),  baking bread…oh yum. Cannot get into that habit too much but it’s sure fun for the moment. I’ve done a lot of reading, but decided I’ve got to do something else besides vegetate.

So grateful to have a partner that is so adept at figuring out issues when they crop up and then willing to instruct me in what’s happening and how to troubleshoot. If anything is stressful, the not knowing how to fix something is it…I’m learning but I want to know it all now!!!

The scenery today is absolutely beautiful..many islands and interestingly sharp peaks in the distance. 

Talked to a very friendly customs officer when dealing with how to check in in Ketchikan…I’ve not conversed with such a pleasant person in that department ever. Unfortunately she was losing me reception wise so will try to call back later if we cannot make it to Ketchikan today ( a very long run for our slow boat).

I love looking out to my left and seeing the ocean and dreaming of what may be “over there”. Don’t know if our dreams will pan out in the long run but they are certainly alive at this point.

I’ve been able to contact my Dad and he’s doing pretty OK overall. I had an off day on August 17^th after dreaming of Mom all night before. Then realized it’s been 2 mos. since she passed. Had a tearful morning but that too passed. We’ve been able to contact kids and Norman’s Mom so that’s all good.

We rigged the paravanes in anticipation of a sloppy crossing, but  it’s not messy. Soooo.  we decided to deploy the “fish” and let the system work. The swell from the ocean is calmer with the paravanes deployed  however we have to remember to not let the logs get caught by the lines.

Norman purchased a fishing license for me so we’ll see if I catch enough to make it worth it. I think I’ve got all the tackle I need, just need to see what will attach to the end of that line.

I’m not a writer by nature, but decided I will try to participate in the blog a little more to give a little different flavor to it.

Clarice

Big House at New Bella Bella

Lots of waterfalls through the mist and rain

Butedale almost abandoned cannery

In Prince Rupert felt small with a Nordhavn 78 on one side and a 96 on the other (but a 40 finally came in and we felt better)