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.