"grid" where you put your boat at high tide, when
tide drops you work on bottom and float off at
high tide.
"Purse Seiner" salmon fishing boat, Petersburg
Jul 24, 2011
Greetings. We left Ketchikan on June 26th, and we headed south then west over to an island called Dall Island where we found a nice cozy anchorage. Our plan was to move around to various anchorages for the next several days but then the weather changed and we decided to get to the city of Craig where we could tie up to the dock while bad weather passed by us. Now you have to understand that Craig has barely over 1000 people, it is really small with no amenities. Well, we kep waiting for three days in this place going stir crazy, so we finally left and headed to a nice anchorage. The next night we went to an place called Devilfish Bay. We like anchoring where there is little or no wind, but the wind here was blowing about 20 knots. Our anchor is big enough that this is not an issue. But when the wind went over 30 knots and starting blowing 40 knots around 10PM at night, it required not going to bed in case the anchor came loose. Well, just as it turned dark, the anchor let loose, or so we thought, and we had to pull it up in the dark with wind howling and rain pouring down. It was scary, to say the least. The minute the anchor came up on the boat, the wind went to ZERO! Really weird. So we anchored again and the rest of the night it was calm. The next day as we proceeded to our next anchorage, we were motoring at about 8 knots of speed, Margaret was napping and we were on some open ocean type water, when all of a sudden, WHAM-BANG-SHUDDER-BOAT ROLLED HARD SIDE TO SIDE. We could not imagine what we hit. I looked out the side of the boat, thinking we had hit a very large log (of which there are many) but instead a HUGE whale came up next to our boat. The whale had tried to surface directly underneath the boat! We were very fortunate to have not received any damage other than to our nerves which took several hours to settle down. The whale did not appear to be hurt, we just rode crossways over the side of the whale. After this experience the rest of our trip was nothing exciting. We proceeded to the town of Petersburg, population about 2,500 where we spent July 4th. They can't do fireworks until after 11PM because it is not dark enough until then. They had a parade with about 10 wheeled vehicle, mainly logging trucks as the theme was TIMBER. The parade was so small, it went around the block and they did it twice. A very nice community with a Norwegian heritage. Then we went to Sitka another really nice town. Chuck spent two days working on the fuel lines on one of the engines which was sucking air into the fuel. This is not a good thing, but after lots of work, finally solved the problem. We thought we had fixed this in Ketchikan, but it came back. So, we think its fixed now. Time will tell. After Sitka we proceeded to Juneau, the capital of Alaska, population about 30,000 or so. We arrived here on the 21st of July and will leave on the 25th. Jeff, our daughters very best friend has joined us for the next 8 days and we will travel back to Ketchikan. Otherwise we are doing well.
Jun 25, 2011
May/June 2011 Alaska Cruise Notes
We uploaded our boat off the Dockwise transport ship in Nanaimo B.C. on May 28th. This was an uneventful evolution. We stayed in Nanaimo for a couple days as we needed to put refrigerator type foods on the boat since we were not able to run our refrigeration as we were transported from Mexico to here. We actually arrived a couple days before the boat so we had time to "tour" around Nanaimo, mainly riding the bus system. When we left Nanaimo we decided to make the 581 mile trip as quickly as possible as we want to maximize our time in Alaska, and in particular in Ketchikan. Since our usual speed is about 9 knots you can understand this takes a number of hours to make this trip. Consequently it was not uncommon to have 10-12 hour runs. Longer than we usually do. We were about 150 miles from Ketchikan when we got into a pretty bad wind storm. The winds we up to 40 knots and we were taking spray over the top of the boat when we ducked out into an anchorage for a couple days waiting for the wind to die down. Our arrival into Ketchikan was on June 9th. We had a few mechanical problems that I fixed when we got to Ketchikan. First we had air in one of the diesel fuel lines, then our electric compass went out so I replaced that and finally fixed the UV light function of our fresh water filtration system. We have tanks that hold our fresh water, and when we draw from those tanks we have two filters plus the UV light. The light sterilizes the water and kills and "bugs" that might be in the tanks. There are probably none there, but it is a just in case thing.
While in Ketchikan now on June 25th, we have had a GREAT time. Chuck has enjoyed fishing with other guys who live here and have been kind enough to not only take him fishing on their own boats, but also to teach him the techniques and tricks to be a successful fisherman. We have really enjoyed getting to know everyone much better here at the yacht club. There is a great group of people here.
We are leaving here on the 26th and our next posting will be from Sitka so we will update you on those travels at that time. Here is a recap of the trip from Nanaimo to Ketchikan
MILES 581
ENGINE HOURS 67
AVERAGE SPEED 8.67 KNOTS
GALLONS OF DIESEL 432
M.P.G. 1.34
COST OF DIESEL $1,894
$ PER GALLON $4.38
Check out the pictures in the next section.
Chuck and Margaret Herr
While in Ketchikan now on June 25th, we have had a GREAT time. Chuck has enjoyed fishing with other guys who live here and have been kind enough to not only take him fishing on their own boats, but also to teach him the techniques and tricks to be a successful fisherman. We have really enjoyed getting to know everyone much better here at the yacht club. There is a great group of people here.
We are leaving here on the 26th and our next posting will be from Sitka so we will update you on those travels at that time. Here is a recap of the trip from Nanaimo to Ketchikan
MILES 581
ENGINE HOURS 67
AVERAGE SPEED 8.67 KNOTS
GALLONS OF DIESEL 432
M.P.G. 1.34
COST OF DIESEL $1,894
$ PER GALLON $4.38
Check out the pictures in the next section.
Chuck and Margaret Herr
May/June Pictures
Apr 20, 2011
2011 Cruising Plans
Hi Everyone---We are quickly approaching our cruising season for 2011. It is hard to believe this is year #7 for us on the water. Our usual routine is to get started in early May and return back to Escondido in mid October and this is what we'll do again. Also, we usually store our boat during the winter in Oak Harbor, Wa. but as you can see from previous posts we brought Mairead down to San Diego. So now we have to get her back north. We have hired a freighter to take the boat in mid May from Ensenada Mexico (about 50 miles south of here) and deliver it to Nanaimo, British Columbia. If you go to http://www.yacht-transfer.com/ you can see the web page of the company we use, Dockwise Yacht Transport. This is a very interesting process. They literall sink the cargo area of the ship, and I will drive the boat into the ship. At this time they have divers under the boats, positioning proper supports. They then pump the water out and the boat settles onto the supports (hopefully)! Five days later the process is reversed and we float off the ship. The date is not exact, but pickup is scheduled for May 17-20th. Delivery will be five days later. We will fly to Vancouver and then take a sea plane from there to Nanaimo to meet the ship. Then, once again, off to Alaska for the summer. We just love it up there, mainly because environment is so pristine, no crowds, very few boats. It is like stepping back in time. We had given serious thoughts about driving the boat to the Panama Canal and then on to the east coast of the U.S. but have decided against doing that for several reasons. The primary reason is we love Alaska. But we also decided we didn't want to endure the heat and humidity of the east coast. Also, traveling in Mexico and Central America is not something we feel comfortable doing. We could ship the boat to Florida from British Columbia but again we relish the Alaska environment and just wouldn't be comfortable in the crowded east coast. BUT, in the boating world, it is often said, we only have INTENTIONS, NOT PLANS.
We will do a much better job of updating this blog as the year progresses. Here are pictures of the last time we loaded on Dockwise.
We will do a much better job of updating this blog as the year progresses. Here are pictures of the last time we loaded on Dockwise.
Pictures from along the West Coast of the U.S.
Dolphins off our bow near Dana Point.
Sunrise off Pt. Conception near San Luis Obispo
Otter off our boat in Monterey. We could have touched it.
Taking Spray off the west coast
Foggy morning in Newport, Oregon
Gray's Harbor, Wa. spectacular Sunset
Back in the big city, Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles
Off Santa Barbara, off shore oil wells
Apr 18, 2011
Hi everyone---I don't know why I never had time to update our blog through the end of our cruising time last year, but you know how it is when you're retired, you just don't have much time anymore.
We departed Alaska on August 1st arriving in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, where we cleared Canadian customs. After departing P.R. we traveled south through the "inside passage". This is usually very calm water, and an easy trip. It is quite remote so we anchor every night until we got back into population around a week later. Once we did the open ocean passage around Cape Caution, always a potential dangerous and rough area, we entered into Southern British Columbia where there are actual population centers. We spent a week or so in our favorite area the Broughton Islands. We then went to Vancouver. There we spent several days just enjoying this fabulous city. If you haven't ever been there, this is a must trip.
Upon entering U.S. waters we went to Bellingham where we stayed three days while we had some warranty work done on our engines. We made the decision to not leave the boat wintered over in the North West like we usually do, but instead decided to bring Mairead to San Diego. We had made the trip down the west coast once before so we were familiar with the trip.
This is all open ocean travel unlike the inside passage. Trip planning around the weather forecast is critical. We stopped each day, but unlike the previous months where we would travel no more than 4-6 hours, it was not uncommon to make 12-14 hour runs due to the long distance between safe harbors. With minor exception, all the harbors on the west coast are river outflow areas. If the wind and sea condition is not right, entering these harbors can be EXTREMELY dangerous due to the outflowing current colliding with the incoming wind and waves. The idea is to arrive when the tide condition is rising, which has a tendancy to push the river back and therefor reduces the wave action. There have been a number of boats lost at all these locations and many lives lost too. The Columbia River, separating Washington from Oregon is known as the "graveyard of the pacific". The Coast Guard uses this entrance for training their people. Anyway, by carefully planning and watching the weather we had no problems at any of the locations. We stopped at Grey's Harbor, Wa., Tillamook, Or., Newport, Or., Coos Bay, Or., Crescent City, Ca., Eureka, Ca., Monterey, Ca., San Luis Harbor, Ca., Santa Barbara, Ca., Oxnard, Ca., Marina Del Re, Ca., Dana Point, Ca. and finally San Diego. A friend of ours joined us on part of the trip to help out, so when he was with us we did one LONG non stop leg, Eureka to Monterey, 288 miles, and 332 hours, an overnight non stop trip.
Here are some details regarding our cruising for 2010.
Total Miles Traveled 3,577
Engine Hours 456
Average Speed 7.8 knots
Gallons of Diesel 2,957
$ of Diesel 9,576
Price per Gallon $3.23
We have spent the winter months having lots of work done on the boat. A big upgrade to our electrical system, varnishing, painting and waxing the exterior, varnishing and painting the interior, bottom paint, stabilizer repair and on and on.
The next post I'll tell you about our plans for 2011.
Chuck and Margaret
We departed Alaska on August 1st arriving in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, where we cleared Canadian customs. After departing P.R. we traveled south through the "inside passage". This is usually very calm water, and an easy trip. It is quite remote so we anchor every night until we got back into population around a week later. Once we did the open ocean passage around Cape Caution, always a potential dangerous and rough area, we entered into Southern British Columbia where there are actual population centers. We spent a week or so in our favorite area the Broughton Islands. We then went to Vancouver. There we spent several days just enjoying this fabulous city. If you haven't ever been there, this is a must trip.
Upon entering U.S. waters we went to Bellingham where we stayed three days while we had some warranty work done on our engines. We made the decision to not leave the boat wintered over in the North West like we usually do, but instead decided to bring Mairead to San Diego. We had made the trip down the west coast once before so we were familiar with the trip.
This is all open ocean travel unlike the inside passage. Trip planning around the weather forecast is critical. We stopped each day, but unlike the previous months where we would travel no more than 4-6 hours, it was not uncommon to make 12-14 hour runs due to the long distance between safe harbors. With minor exception, all the harbors on the west coast are river outflow areas. If the wind and sea condition is not right, entering these harbors can be EXTREMELY dangerous due to the outflowing current colliding with the incoming wind and waves. The idea is to arrive when the tide condition is rising, which has a tendancy to push the river back and therefor reduces the wave action. There have been a number of boats lost at all these locations and many lives lost too. The Columbia River, separating Washington from Oregon is known as the "graveyard of the pacific". The Coast Guard uses this entrance for training their people. Anyway, by carefully planning and watching the weather we had no problems at any of the locations. We stopped at Grey's Harbor, Wa., Tillamook, Or., Newport, Or., Coos Bay, Or., Crescent City, Ca., Eureka, Ca., Monterey, Ca., San Luis Harbor, Ca., Santa Barbara, Ca., Oxnard, Ca., Marina Del Re, Ca., Dana Point, Ca. and finally San Diego. A friend of ours joined us on part of the trip to help out, so when he was with us we did one LONG non stop leg, Eureka to Monterey, 288 miles, and 332 hours, an overnight non stop trip.
Here are some details regarding our cruising for 2010.
Total Miles Traveled 3,577
Engine Hours 456
Average Speed 7.8 knots
Gallons of Diesel 2,957
$ of Diesel 9,576
Price per Gallon $3.23
We have spent the winter months having lots of work done on the boat. A big upgrade to our electrical system, varnishing, painting and waxing the exterior, varnishing and painting the interior, bottom paint, stabilizer repair and on and on.
The next post I'll tell you about our plans for 2011.
Chuck and Margaret
Aug 2, 2010
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