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Melissa & Dave - Adventures at Sea

Blog posts : "2013 Alaska Ho!"

Useful things

Since not much happened today, I thought I would write about a couple of super useful things we have happened across along the way.  The first are these gidgets called Gear Tie’s made by Nite Ize. Ran into them in the hardware store on an end cap display and bought them in every size – from a few in…

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Finally we catch something!

We can see patches of blue sky occasionally and it didn’t rain today.  You can tell the sun is trying its best to break through the cloud layer.  So things are looking up.  We pull into Khutze Inlet and are DELIGHTED at the waterfall.  The most spectacular we have seen to date.  We puzzle over why t…

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Hot springs here we come

Today it rained, but not as hard and not all the time.  And the weather forecast indicates that we won’t be able to cross Queen Charlotte Sound on our original schedule due to 30 knot winds forecast for Sunday through Tuesday.  So no reason to hurry Southbound. We might as well take our time and see…

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This was the rain we expected in Alaska!

It rained today and yesterday.  And rained.  And rained.  And rained.  The radar got a good workout as the rain was so dense there were points where visibility was a quarter mile.  Bleck.  Most of the time it looked like this out the front windshield:

Not dangerous as the seas were calm, ju…

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Melissa beats up Kindergarteners

Ok, Melissa feels really bad about this.  It might not have been one of her finer moments.  I will leave it to you to decide whether she should repent or not.

It all started two weeks ago when we tried to order some parts from a marine store in Prince Rupert called SeaSport.  We needed an anchor…

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A new anchor chain

Dave upgraded Apsaras before we left Seattle with a Manson galvanized supreme Anchor.  He was super happy about this.  Self righting because of the big loop on the top, and because its a plow style anchor it always digs in.  Anchors are controversial, but side by side pull tests where they measured…

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Wildlife Challenged in Alaska

So we decided that we needed to learn how to fish.  Since Dad was a fisherman, at least in theory, we asked him how we should equip ourselves.  The following diagram came back:

Seemed clear enough.  Finding the line, green/silver Coyote lure, and weight were simple enough.  The three cost less …

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Autopilot wants to stay in Alaska

So as we were going South from Ketchikan in the Tongass Narrows, when Dave says to Melissa, "The autopilot is acting funny".  Melissa goes on immediate alert, "what do you mean by funny?".  At about which time the boat lurches suddenly to port.  Dave grabs the wheel and disconnects the autopilot. …

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A tourist town

We went downtown for some lunch and internet access.  Internet here in Alaska has been sucky at best.  So we headed downtown so Melissa could upload the videos for yesterday’s blog post and so Dave could get some work done.  Downtown Ketchikan is a bit touristy for our taste.  Downtown now caters al…

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4th of July in a small town

Seeing as how the town had shut down yesterday to prepare for the 4th of July, we figured the parade which is the highlight of the town’s celebration was not to be missed.  And indeed it was quite the small town spectacle.  It would seem that all 8,000 residents were decked out in red white and blue…

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In Ketchikan July 4th starts on the 3rd

Dave needed to get some work done for Zetron and was frustrated by the slow internet speed, so he headed into town.  There was a small computer shop that used to have an internet café.  Despite the fact that the internet café was shutdown, they let him hook up anyway.  Gotta love small towns.  He th…

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New Rule

The day was an uneventful trip from Thorne Bay into Ketchikan.  Underway Dave finished fixing the master bath shower from when he had to cut a hole in it to fix the starter.  Melissa suspects this is because she instituted a new rule – Dave can’t buy parts for another project till one he already has…

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Boardwalk Lodge

We went from Woodpecker to Thorne Bay.  On the way up we had heard a radio call to a boat headed into the bay talking to one of the lodges about a great dinner they were planning that evening.  So a bit of internet research turned up Boardwalk Lodge.  Cute place and the food was indeed really good…

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Shy wildlife

We departed from Petersburg after Dave completed a few projects including fixing the radar.  There was a sea lion in the marina right next to the boat.  Flopping about eating a salmon.  Where is my camera when I need it?!  We went south through Wrangell Narrows.  We can see at least one bald eagle a…

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A few thoughts on the venture thus far

We made our way back from Ideal Cove to Petersburg.  We again had to have Pizza for dinner at Papa Bear Pizza as its some of the best Pizza ever.  And, no, this isn’t the “food is always better when you are camping” effect.  They won 2nd place in an international contest in Las Vegas a few …

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Icebergs!

We started out from Petersburg in the morning and made the short run to Ideal Cove.  When we got here there was a National Geographic ship just getting ready to leave so we had the place almost to ourselves except for a small fishing boat that would zip around collecting crab occasionally.

 

A …

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The real Alaska

Thus far we have been disappointed in Alaska.  People come here instead of the Canadian Gulf Islands, why?  Looks the same and took days and multiple ocean crossings to get here.  Today we got our first real taste when we rounded the corner from Wrangell narrows into Petersburg.

We docked and …

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The weather prediction was for what?

We start out from Ketchikan at 7:30am and the water is smooth as a baby’s butt.  Last night the weather prediction said today should be light winds and smooth seas.  But they changed it sometime during the night.  There is now a small craft warning up and they are predicting 15 to 20 knot winds and …

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Prejudice on the frontier

Yesterday and today Dave worked and Melissa went hunting through Ketchikan for various project supplies we need. 

Inspired by Joint Decision’s preparedness when stranded in their dingy, Melissa decided we needed an emergency kit in the dingy.  So she went on the hunt for: a spare prop, prop wrenc…

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Alaska!

If you had told Melissa that in late June she would be lying on the deck in her shorts in Alaska she  would have told you that you were nuts.  This probably means it will snow on us when we get to Mexico.  The crossing was so smooth that most of the way you couldn't even detect the swell.

 

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