New Dodger

 Pauline has been working on our new dodger.  She almost finished it before she had to leave for Singapore.  The windows still have to go in as well as some tightening up to reduce some of the wrinkles, but it is pretty good even in this state.  I’m so proud of this first attempt I had to post it.

Heading South Again

Yes that is ice in mid July

 We made it to Lisburne and successfully discharged our cargo.  We did find some ice, but it was all small bits.  We were just under the pack.  We could see it with the binoculars.  Now on our way back to Nome where I can get off and head back to Pauline and Sari Timur.  But Mother Nature is sending a couple of waves of weather at us so we have to hide out a couple of places on the way.  It’s looking like we should be able to sneak back into Nome on Wednesday night.

Fun thing is last night the sun didn’t set.  It got close to the horizon but was visible as it worked its way across the northern sky.  Now that we are a hundred or so miles further south the sun dipped below the horizon.  It isn’t dark but the sun is not visible.

Update on Mark

A couple of days ago everything from Bering Straits up was packed in. Now there is that huge piece heading out of the strait.  Note the southern part of that is further south than us here in Nome

We got finished in the Columbia River on time and were making record time to Kodiak when weather hit us.  We spent a day doing round turns in Whale Bay and when the front left us we raced to the other side and hung out in Uyak Bay doing round turns for three days while the next terrible low hit.  We made Dutch Harbor in a total of 16 days with almost four days of hiding from weather.  Very respectable.  After Dutch we raced to NakNek and knocked it out within 24 hours.  We were beginning to think we were on a roll until the ice report alerted us the Bering Strait and all points north were socked in with ice.  Even Port Clarance which is south of the Strait was blocked.  New plans were set and we are heading to Nome tonight, to wait for the break up.  Predictions are for about ten days from now.  The good news is we had a pretty good low pass over us on the way up here.  And the ice map today looks infinitely better.  Port Clarence has cleared out and a huge mass has broke away and is floating south of the Bering Strait.

Up in Alaska Again

Well, Mark has found his way to Alaska again.  He flew up to Seattle on the 13th.  They picked up a barge and went down to Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington to load it the rest of the way.  They then shot north.  The weather picked up so they hopped into the inside passage just north of Vancouver Island.  Just now they crossed into Alaskan waters.  Heading for Dutch Harbor, NakNek, and then Cape Lisburne .  Cape Lisburne iis well up into the Arctic Circle and further north than he has ever been!  I guess he will miss another summer.

New Winch

The New Mizzen Halyard Winch Mounted and Loaded

Pauline arrived back on Sari Timur last week.

Mark just arrived back to Sari Timur on the 23rd of April.  The last five days of the trip they ran into system after system creating enough seas that they had to slow the barges down to sometimes under a knot in forward speed.  Frustrating when they were so close to the destination.  

They were several days over the original estimate and therefore earning a bit more cash.  Mark decided to take some of this cash and purchase a winch for the mizzen mast halyard.  Fisheries Supply in Seattle was selling them at a reasonable price so once they passed 22 days offshore he ordered it and one of the guys shoreside picked it up for him.  It is a two speed Andersen 34 and is self tailing.  The winch it replaced was a single speed 16 and not self tailing.  So we now have more than double the power to deal with the mizzen and the ability to use both hands.  Not to mention it is a pretty piece of boat jewelry.

Update

 Pauline is currently in Singapore dealing with the myriad of items essential after the death of her mother.  Mark is on a tugboat heading from Honolulu to Seattle.  It is also his first tandem tow.  Both plan to be back on Sari Timur mid April.  Because once again we are very late in the season we will have to take a closer look at our plans.

Silver Anniversary

 Wow 25 years ago today Pauline and Mark were married.  Been a fantastic run so far.

Yes, We are Still in Ensenada

We haven’t posted in a while, and yes we said we were leaving.  We wanted to get down to Mag Bay before the grey whales migrated out but we missed that.  We had some issues installing the new lithium bank and of course the cruising kitty funds were dangerously low.  So Mark took a job which should finish mid March.  Too late for the grey whales but still ok to hurry around and get some time in the Sea of Cortez before hurricane season.

While we were waiting we knocked out some jobs that we were going to do further down the road.  We have started the process of laying out the new design for the spray dodger.  Pauline has assured us she will have something made before Mark returns.  Since this is her first she is not promising pretty but with all she learns on this attempt version two will be much better.  Mark thinks she will be fine as she always does a pretty fine job on the projects she attempts.  

We finally got the lithium bank in and the Battery Bank Management System is doing its job keeping the house bank fully charged.  We put in two 300 AHr LiTime batteries and Clark and Emily’s BBMS.  This gives us basically 480 more amp hours of battery time when on the hook basically adding 3 times more life than we had before.  

We changed motor mounts.

We fixed some rotten wood which was the ceiling in a hanging locker and the sub floor for the starboard counter top where our radios sit.

We also took time out to visit the dentist.  Pauline cracked a tooth and needed a crown.  Mark hadn’t been to a dentist since Seward and took the opportunity to get all of his old fillings replaced and a crown as well.  So hopefully we will have good teeth for the next few years.

All in all we are making use of our stagnation

Batteries solar controllers and battery monitor

New Mounts

Locker With a New Ceiling