GH for Christmas

We flew into Chicago just after midnight on Friday.  Luckily the airport wasn’t closed.  After collecting the rental car, we made our way to Hammond, Indiana to grab a few hours sleep and wait for daylight to get the rest of the way through the blizzard.  The highways were closed so it was back roads, white outs, very slippery conditions and extremely cold and windy.  A lot of the trip was done between 20-30 miles an hour and never did we get above 45.  Mark said it was the worst he has ever driven in but we made it.  Surprised his niece Tayler, who had flown in from Japan with new baby and husband.  Spent Christmas Eve with them and Greg, Laura, Steve, Mom and Dad.  Made pirogies and had a great family get together.  Sitka’s temps are in the mid 40’s so not as cold as here.  However, the warmth of a family reunion is well worth it!

Merry Christmas

Hiding Out

Mark and the Fish Hawk crew made it out of the Yukon unscathed, but were steaming into some pretty nasty weather on their way toward Seward.  The forecasts looked even worse, so they turned into the Kuskokwim River and headed for Bethel to hide out for a couple of days.  Turns out the bad weather is due to Typhoon Merbok and it looks like there are two more late season typhoons that will be throwing their remnants at Alaska for the next week.  So Mark and Max are manning the boat and getting some much needed shore projects done on her.

See the attached to read about why we turned and ran!

Up The Mighty Yukon

 Mark and the Fish Hawk crew are in St Mary’s.  Though no where near the top of the river still more than twenty hours up it.

Update on Pauline

On Sunday morning Pauline woke up to severe pains in her stomach.  She asked Mark to take her to the hospital.  After some testing it was found she had a super enlarged gallbladder and it was full of stones.  They admitted her right away and scheduled a surgery to remove it Monday morning.  The surgery went well and she is now recovering.

Mark is in Sitka

The crew of the Fish Hawk got a chance to take a short break.  Mark was trying to slip home and surprise Pauline but she can view his text messages and figured out that he was on his way home when he was checking in at the airport.

Mark Saw Russia

 The Fish Hawk just finished a trip to Kotzebue.  To do so they had to go through the Bearing Strait and in the Chukchi Sea and into the Arctic Circle.  While going through the Bearing Strait north they had clear visibility and he could see Russia.  His comments on the trip.  Long and crappy weather.

Difference a Couple of Weeks Make

Bethel and the Fish Hawk

 When we were up here a couple of weeks ago we were breaking ice and dodging bergs coming up the river.  A few days later when we left all the ice was gone.  There was speculation that the few larger bergs were artificially broken up but no evidence supporting that.  It is more likely just how fast things change up here.  In any event we heard last week the temperature was touching 80 degrees up here.  We were a little south and closer to Bristol Bay.  So our temps were moderate.  But two days ago we arrived and everything is super green.  And yes the temperature is high 70’s supposedly hitting 80 yesterday again.  In any event it is good for painting something sorely needed on here because of the poor summer last year.

More on Into the Ice

We ended up circling outside Naknek for so long that the bosses decided we should skip Dillingham and head straight for Bethel.  Yesterday, the morning of the 15th of May, we had 8 hours of snow.  The good news was as we entered the Kuskokwim we didn’t encounter ice.  We heard another boat had made it as far as Eek before being turned back two days before.  We headed on and about 15 miles south of Eek we found the ice.  Eek is a natural holding area to await tides for shallows we have to cross before heading to Bethel, so we circled for 24 hours and are about to make the next leg up.  The good news is the ice has thinned.  Fingers Crossed!

Updated : they made it to Bethel.

This is a video made by Max, the engineer onboard the Fish Hawk, from the Sunday trip upriver.

Into The Ice Again!?!

 The Fish Hawk is in line to get to the dock in Naknek.  The ice broke in this river a couple of weeks ago.  The next stop is Dillingham which broke a few days ago.  But after that it is 120 miles up the Kuskokwim and that just broke yesterday.  So pretty good chance we will be waiting on ice.  But the bad news is one of the barges left behind last year has broke free and heading down river with the ice.  Looks like we will be slotted for a rescue mission.  Stay tuned for updates.

Work

We have decided that Mark will go to work on the Fish Hawk for another year.

And so the season started, with them leaving Seward today.  They are headed to Naknek.

Traveling Again!

Mark is on the tug, traveling north to Alaska from Seattle.  Pauline is in Singapore, visiting family.  Sari Timur is being looked after by friends.  We think she was just beginning to like having us back but other commitments came up and we had to leave her for a few days.

And Off With The Winter Coat

Mark is on his way to join the Fish Hawk today.  Yesterday was spent taking the igloo off Sari Timur, remounting her solar panels and changing her oil.  We put the igloo up just before Mark joined the Fish Hawk in October of 2020.  And Pauline will get the pleasure of cleaning up her deck and topsides from the crud that accumulated over two winters.

with her winter cover on

and without her winter cover

Our First Week Back

We have been back for a week.  The new batteries are in and wired so the new Victron Battery Monitor can work.  It is installed and working.  We don’t need this while we are in a marina but will be great when we are cruising again.

We have a coat of paint on the repairs that Mark did last year.  It looks good but needs at least two more coats.

We filled up with diesel.  This is a bigger job than it should be, as it has to be done with Jerry Cans since the igloo is still on.  The igloo will come off this year but not until the next two coats of paint are on.

Sari Timur didn’t complain much at all about us leaving her so long this year.  Of course John and Ivy watched her closely and we kept the heat and dehumidifier going.  All that seemed to be wrong is the one light we left on kind of died but it was a cheaply, made in China one, so no harm here.  And a few canned and bottled drinks that were stored on deck needed to be discarded.  However, she is happy that we are back and showing her some attention.

The Ferry Home

We spent the last few days of our long trip, over 3.5 months, 28 states and more than 15,000 miles, in Bellingham while we waited for the ferry to take us home.  The new ferry schedules put Sitka on the return leg to Bellingham.  That means we would have to ride the ferry all the way to Skagway and repeat Haines and Juneau then out to Hoonah and in to Sitka.

That would be a four day trip so we booked a cabin.  

We contacted a friend of ours from Seward who works for the ferry and found out he would be working part of the trip as well.  Just after departing Bellingham, we met up with Frank Bihlman.  Sorry we forgot to get a photo.

Bellingham Ferry Terminal

leaving Bellingham

The first day was spent traveling through Canada and seeing the sights and we didn’t have to navigate or do anything.

town of Bella Bella, Canada

totem pole by the clan house by Bella Bella

Our first stop was Ketchikan and we arrived early in the morning Friday.  We only had an hour stop so we stayed aboard.

Ketchikan

After Ketchikan we headed up to Wrangell.  Docking in Wrangell took a while and we later found out it was due to an engine failure.  If we would have known, we would have taken the time to visit with friends who live there.  After a few hours they got the engine running but didn’t trust it to go up the Wrangell Narrows to Petersburg.  Instead we headed straight for Juneau.

Wrangell

From Juneau it was up the Lynn Canal to Haines and Skagway.

leaving Skagway in beautiful weather

On the return trip after Hoonah we went through the Peril Straits and the narrow waterway system that we took with Sari Timur in 2019.  This patch of water  can be treacherous and only a few days earlier a tug and barge came to grief there.  They were still doing cleanup as we passed and we got some pictures.

the tug, high and dry, with a smashed stack

Back on Sitka, we had help unpacking from friends Chuck and Trish and they then invited us to dinner.

Astoria to Gig Harbor, and beyond

We left Astoria on St Paddy’s day to drive up to Gig Harbor, Washington.  We picked a great Waterfront Inn and after, we got a note from our friends that it was a jewel of a place.  After we got checked in, our friends, George and Marcia came and picked us up and took us sightseeing.  We hadn’t see George and Marcia since they were in Thailand getting ready for their trip across the Indian Ocean nearly 20 years ago.  How time flies?  We had a great time with them and really liked Gig harbor as well.  Definitely a place we will have to stop at on our way south!

After our stay in Gig Harbor, we booked the car in for one last check up.  This was near the SeaTac Airport.  We had an issue with the rear brakes, which were going to need service in a while so we quickly had that done by the experts before bringing the car back to Sitka.

After the car was fixed, we scooted over to see the Fish Hawk.  This was so Mark could drop off some things and meet up with the crew, who were working on board that day.  We got to say hi to everyone but they were going to be busy all day and on the weekend, so rather than book a room locally we decided to head all the way to Bellingham to await our ferry departure.

Oregon

We drove along the Oregon coast road from California, made it to Astoria and checked into the hotel before sunset.  The hotel room has a fireplace in it and faces the Columbia River with a view of the bridge that we will drive over to Washington state.

view of the Columbia River and the bridge over to Washington state

the fireplace in the room

It was Mark's birthday while we were in Astoria so we decided to spend an extra day, just celebrating.  We were told to climb the Astoria Column, which has about 164 steps.  The view was nice, even with the fog.  The skies cleared in the afternoon so we headed to a brewery for a glass or two or three.  Who's counting, anyways.

the Astoria Column

Mark up at the top of the Column

view from the top of the Column

sign at the tavern

sign at the tavern

at the Fort George Brewery

San Francisco

After Santa Maria, we drove up to San Francisco, well, not quite to the city but to Burlingame, near the San Francisco International Airport.  Suzie and Doug, our friends live close by and we stayed 3 nights and spent some time with them.  It was so nice to see them again and we even got to meet Peggy, Doug's sister as well.

After a few days with Suzie and Doug, we went north and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge on our way to Oregon.

We did not make it all the way to Oregon but stopped in Klamath, CA for the night.  The hotel is in the Yurok Tribe Reservation and it was beautiful quiet place.  Along the way, we drove through some redwood forests and saw some huge tall trees.

Highway 1 and Tim

We decided to take Highway 1 at least most of the way to San Francisco and to do a slight detour to meet Tim and Sarah for a late lunch.  Tim is our nephew and moved out to Thousand Oaks a couple of years back.  Sarah couldn't join us as she had just started a new job and needed to be at work but we had great tacos at Tim's favorite taco place while we caught up.  After leaving Tim, we kind of abandoned our plan to take 1 the rest of the way and opted for 101, getting to Santa Maria for the night.

with Tim

Newport Beach

From San Diego we shifted north, up the coast to Newport Beach.  We were there to visit friends, Todd and Barbara Keeler.  Mark first met Todd when he worked with Sonardyne.  Sonardyne and Todd's company, Parker shared the second floor in Loyang.  Shortly after that Todd joined the boating community and as they say the rest is history.  They had always said that we should come visit them and stay with them at their place on Newport Island.  This seemed like the perfect opportunity so off we went.  Newport Beach is neat because everything is within a short walking distance (probably because parking is so tough).  The weather was ideal for walking and the beach.  This is probably why there are so many people living in Southern California.

We spent a couple of days visiting their local haunts and even played trivia at the Elks Lodge one night.  They also helped us purchase our house batteries for Sari Timur which we loaded up on our way out of town.  We couldn't leave town with out heading over to Balboa Island to take the car ferry several times.  Barbara is a captain on the ferry so we took advantage to watch her work. 

Todd and Barbara

on the Balboa Island ferry

Captain Barbara

San Diego

From the Grand Canyon the next destination was San Diego.  We couldn't make it in one shot so stopped in Blythe for the night.  Blythe is famous for being super hot in the summer time but was nice in late winter.  We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express that was only 3 months old and the manager loved the idea of our road trip so he upgraded us to a suite.  Nice room but we were on the road early in the morning so couldn't enjoy it as much as we would have liked.

Four miles from our friend's house a large truck threw up a rock and cracked our windshield but we made it to their house.  We were staying with Jan and Steve, friends from Guam.  We were introduced to them by Beth and Al and if you remember from a few posts ago they were visiting Jan and Steve when we passed through Ohio.  They have taken over the house that Jan grew up in.  They were one of the first houses in the neighborhood back when there wasn't much around.  Pretty built up now. They are in the midst of a major renovation.  It was fun seeing their ideas play out for the reno.

We quickly got in touch with old friends Bill and Titus and one of Pauline's ex colleagues, Clarence to  meet up in Escondido for dinner and a brew or two at Stone's Brewery.  Stone's was featuring a collaboration with our favorite brewery in Japan and one in Guam so we felt the stars were aligned.  Clarence couldn't make it but we all had a great time meeting up again.  We also made plans to meet up with Bill and Titus again later in the week.

We met Clarence and her boyfriend for lunch later in the week. 

Bill and Martha (Titus)

Steve and Jan

at Stones Brewery

Pauline with Clarence

Grand Canyon

Neither of us have ever been to the Grand Canyon,  We thought we would miss it this time as well but then read an article about seeing the South Rim in the winter.  So it was immediately put on the itinerary.  When we talked about this at Angie's house, cousin Jeff said we should stop at Four Corners as well, so that also got put on the list.  Four Corners was nice but the 'Grand Canon needs another look during better weather.  Don't get us wrong, it was phenomenal and we were wowed out.  We spent an entire day until sunset just staring at the sights.  The weather was not bad but a bit cool for big hiking excursions.  We plan to be back!

the spot where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meets

Pauline standing where x marks the spot

Here are just some of the many photos we took at the Grand Canyon.

Colorado

Leaving South Dakota we went through a small part of Wyoming.  As a third grade project, Mark had to pick a state and study up on it.  This required writing to the Wyoming Chamber of Commerce for literature about the state and for a map.  Nearly 60 years later he couldn't find the map or info anymore so we just rushed through.  Actually we think it had more to do with the cold weather and the fact we were heading to meet friends in Vail.

We stopped for the night in Longmont, then continued on to Vail after resting a day.  We met Danny and Yvonne in Palau.  Actually Danny was our Advanced Diving instructor.  They have a sailboat that is now in the Philippines and they usually work the summer seasons in Alaska so we touch base pretty often.  During Covid they were forced to stay in the PI for over a year during lockdown so their cruising kitty took a bit of a bashing. They got back to Alaska just before the summer season in Alaska.  Pauline did get a chance to meet up with them there. They have rental property in Vail and one was becoming available so they decided they best work the winter season as well to help top up the tank before going back to Talkeetna to do their normal season.  

We had a blast catching up and having them show us the sights.  Neither of us ski anymore but the Vail area has a lot to offer for the non skiers too and it is certainly a pretty place to hang out.  To normal people it seems like an outdoor music fest in the winter would seem strange but in Vail it seems normal and there was a surprisingly large crowd the night we attended.

They also took us out for steak dinner up in Leadville which is supposedly the highest incorporated town in the USA.  Great steaks in a bar built in the 1800's.  The menu is incredibly short, the content is hard to beat.

After Vail, we stopped for the night in Durango thus crossing our outbound track.

Danny and Yvonne

Vail

Vail

Us at the bus stop

Beaver Creek Ski Resort