Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Juneau, Hoonah, and Sailing the Gulf of Alaska!






Hi there!
As we headed to Juneau from Petersburg, Izak (commander data) noted that we could not fit under the bridge there, as our mast has a 60 foot bridge clearance and the bridge was 51 feet, so we went around to Auke bay to stay the night. We did laundry and took showers as usual, then at 5 am we departed for Hoonah. In Hoonah we topped off the fuel and proceeded into the gulf of Alaska bound for Yakitat. As we rounded cape Spencer it became very obvious that our inland waterway days were over! When you hear on the weather broadcast that there will be 5 foot seas, it means that is the average wave. There were some eight and ten footers in there! All along Leviathan, myself and her crew were becoming aquainted with each other. It seems that the northern bound inside passage journey is 90% into the wind and sea. We learned that deploying the stay sail provided stability. Leviathan quit bucking and rolling, kinda like putting a bit and saddle on a horse rather than bareback with only halter! We ran night and day till we arrived in Yakitat. That took about 30 hours. Before the end of our trip we did this three times. Yakitat is very isolated. I was lucky I knew a friend there and he gave us a tour of the village. He was helpful when it came time to fuel up. They only had a fuel truck that would drive to the pier and that was a little eventful with no float to tie up to, only pilings of which our mast almost rocked into! We left Yakitat on the tide with a weather window we thought was appropriate bound for cape St. Elias. Later. Stan

Saturday, June 26, 2010

An Alaska Commercial Fishing town, Petersburg!





Hey, hey,
We are now in Petersburg, Ak. We are still slogging along. When we arrived here we took on fuel and water, then went downtown to look around and eat dinner at a restaurant. We also took a little time to go to a local bar with a live band. The boys learned that in Peterburg "Xtra Tuff" boots also double as dance hall shoes, as the girls were all wearing them! This little town is all about the commercial fishing industry. Most of the boats here are salmon trawlers with a few herring gillnetters. We spent the last night in a little bay on Prince of Wales island. That island seems to have seen a lot of logging activity over the years. The little bay we were in looked like we might be able to catch some crab or halibut, but no luck. When we pulled up the crab pot we found spruce bark in it! The whole bay might have been full of rafted logs during the peak of the logging industry thus maybe spoiling the crab habitat there. Welp, heres some more pictures for viewing and we are now bound for Juneau and Elfin cove. Later, Stan

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Sailing the Inside Passage. Ketchikan!






Hey Everybody,
We are now in Ketchikan. We are well settled in with our routines. We've had a couple of exposures to the wide open Pacific ocean in Queen Charlotte sound and the Dixon entrance. We are motoring all the time and we occasionally put the head sails to assist and that helps. We found that just adding the stay sail in stormy weather helps to stabilize the boat. While at anchor in the last few days we've caught some crab and ate them. One night while anchored in a place called Lowe inlet I woke up with a start and found Leviathan was aground. It was a potentially bad situation as the vessel healed on a steep downward slope toward the water! We were very lucky that this occurred one half hour before low tide. That event kept me a bit rattled for the rest of that day. I am very careful now about anchoring. I've heard it said that "most useful experiences come from bad judgement"! ie, learning the hard way. We are glad to be in Alaska again and look forward to stopping in Petersburg. We are pretty much on schedule and all is well. Later. Stan and crew.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Sailing to Alaska. Canadian customs, Strait of Georgia behind us!





Hello everyone,
Today finds us in Cambell river marina. We arrived at 1:00am on the 17th. It was totally dark and had to navigate this unknown port by radar and search light. Around 1100 pm on the 16th we found ourselves in about 5 foot seas when we made our way toward this marina. Leviathan is an amazing vessel and the crew is also. I think we could go to New Zealand or Hawaii is we decided to!
It was nice to be tied to a slip with the conveniences of shopping and support services. I had a little issue with the temperature sending unit and just today got that resolved. I also modified our main anchor method in such a way that I learned from my commercial fishing years. Pictured is Josh messing around with the dinghy and it's sail where we anchored for the night a couple of days ago. Also a contrast of Leviathan, a fifty foot vessel overall, next to a yaght in Cambell river marina is pictured. We are waiting for the a.m. tide when we depart in the morning. We will approach Seymor passage then, and we have to do it at high slack water as the current can get as fast as 10 knots and our boat only goes 7! We are all at ease with each other and things are still going very well. Later, Stan

Saturday, June 12, 2010

All Tanked Down and Ready!





Hi Everyone,
After working every day for about the last two weeks I believe we are as ready as can be for our voyage to Homer. We have over 200 gallons of diesel aboard and about 200 gallons of water. All the creature comforts such as hot water and refrigeration have been resolved. My friend Tom pictured he has a grin as we went out of Oak Harbor for a spin around the can. The picture of the deck shows the dinghy and the six man life raft. Also is an example of Leviathan's new NAV\Net navigation system. It's really cool! We will depart Oak Harbor, Wa. with the tide on the 14th bound for Anacortes, Wa., where we will stock groceries then head for Canadian waters the morning of the 15th. I am currently in Oregon at one of my son's college graduation ceremony. I've been on the move...I think I've lost a little weight! Later, Stan

Thursday, June 3, 2010

The Splash!





Hey all,
A lot of work has been done and still much more to do! We arrived on Saturday, the 29th of May on a red eye flight. We plugged power into the boat and spent memorial day weekend in the boat yard. I found over the winter an issue with the rudder had developed. My friend Dib, helped repair it. All the work on the hull below the waterline is complete. Leviathan was launched on the 1st of June. While working on the big boat, we also were preparing Josh's small boat for the tow back to Alaska. We put new bearings on the trailer and new tail lights. He and my nephew, Conor left yesterday, the 2nd of June. He is well into Canada now, and says things are going well. I am now out at my slip installing my life raft, epirb, and satcom equipment. Also I have a diesel mechanic taking care of the engine. He took out the injectors and brought them to Bellingham to test. Things are, so far, going as planned. I'm having good time. Stan