Chichagof

Same position as yesterday.  We did some exploring yesterday.  There is a sea lion rookery on one of the nearby islands.  We have been catching glimpses of the odd sea lion here and there but decided to dinghy over to the area and see if we could see some and get some pics.  Long cold dinghy ride but well worth it.  We saw quite a few sitting on the rocks.  As we started to get closer they started to get rather aggressive so we kept our distance.  There was one huge male that was obviously the dominant male as he was almost twice the size of the others.  We nicknamed him Jabba the Hutt.  The pictures we have show he is big but not as scary as in real life.  Late in the evening the crews from the boats who are here gathered and we had a small bonfire on the beach. 

Two of the boats left this morning to take advantage of the wind.  Three boats stayed behind as we felt though the wind would be useful the easterly on the other side of it would make the anchorage at Kiska pretty unattractive.  So we are holding out for another weather window hoping for something better after the easterlies blow through.

dinghy ride to the rookery

bunch of sea lions in the water

big alpha male working his way up the rocks .....

........ and the rest of them made way for him

The Bearing Sea

Position N 52 d 55.538
        E 173 d 14.437

We moved the boat around to Chichagof Harbor today so officially entered the Bearing Sea of Deadliest Catch fame.  Hardly no wind so we motored over.  On the way we saw some whales in the bay.  They didn't get close enough for us to confirm what they were and we thought they might be Orcas.  But then later after we got on the north side of the island we had a whole pod of them come and play around the bow.  We could definitely confirm them as Orcas and because they were a bit smaller than the others we had seen earlier not sure what the others were.

Chichagof is very pretty and it looks like it will be good protection from any bad weather.

Change of Plans

Position N 52 d 48.668
        E 173 d 10.081

If you plotted that position you will see that we are in Casco Bay rather than in Chichagof.  After giving all the descriptions about working around the timing of arrival yesterday, the boats on the radio sched said they could guide us in using our AIS. If we started to seem to be heading off track they could hail us on the VHF.  That would mean roughly 5 hours more sleep, so we took them up on the offer.  All the boats in front of us assured us the electronic charts were spot on.  We would have only attempted this if that was the case as there are loads of rock areas around here.  As we were heading into the bay, an Orca played by us and followed us in for about half an hour.  It was after sunset and getting dark, so no pictures.

We went for a little exploration trip around this afternoon.  Again we posted wrongly yesterday, there are no inhabitants on Attu.  They left a few years back.  So walking around the old airport today was kind of strange.  A ghost town atmosphere except loads of birds and flowers etc.

The scenery is quite nice.  There is still snow on the hills only a few meters up.  There was talk of a short hike up to get some snow for the drinks but really the rum and ginger ales last night were cold enough without ice!  This morning we fired up the wood stove and had a nice toasty warm cabin for the first time in two weeks.

Anyway we plan to be here about a week between here and Chichigof and then head out on the next weather system that will carry us east.

view from the boat

the old airstrip

the old airport building

the memorial plague

a gun with a propeller from a downed plane

Attu On The Radar

Position N 52 d 18.970
       E 172 d 36.477


Kind of foggy today so though we are supposedly in sight of the Near Islands we can not see them.  I fired up the radar and it also was having problems seeing them at the 36 nautical mile range but as we got closer at about 30 miles we were able to see both Agattu  and Attu.  We will put Agattu on starboard and Attu to port.  We are heading up to Chichagof Harbor on the north side of Attu, as we would be arriving Casco Bay on the south east side in the middle of the dark.  This is not so well protected but more popular as we have just discovered there is a US Coast Guard Loran station manned here with about twenty guys.  So the boats in front of us are heading here.  It is a pretty tight area and finding an anchoring spot in the dark after 12 days at sea seems too troublesome.

The seas are flat calm today with just a small residual swell coming in.  We expect to arrive just after 0100 JST in the morning.  Which is ok because that is when first light happens.  We can anchor, finally turn on a heater, have a celebratory drink, and still get to sleep.

We hope to stay here a few days, fix our steering and explore. Then we think we will head on towards Kishka with a weather window. Probably about a week's time.

1300 Position Report 21 June

Position N 51 d 01.590
        E 169 d 56.140

wind is only 5 knots from the west but the swell is still a bit large so still motorsailing.

The freezer definitely bit the dust yesterday it is still extinct gone the way of the dodo.

all is well on board.  Plotted the position of the hotspring that is on Attu but forgot to load the road maps for Alaska.  Apparently there are roads there.  So will have to wing it when exploring.  I ordered a bicycle. I wish we had it for this trip but alas it won't be ready until August.

We have 184 miles to go so baring any problems should be there late on the 23rd.  Sorry that is on the other side of the date line so maybe on the 22nd!

Death Of a Freezer

Position N 49 d 55.500
        E 167 d 48.700

Well another small system passed over us yesterday.  Giving us 25 plus knots on the nose.  We had to drop off again to sail but determined not to head for Hawaii again we sheeted in as tight as we dare and headed for Northern Vancouver for 20 hours.  The system is passed us now and we are just pushing through the left over slop at the present.  Unfortunately, and we should know better when so heeled over and close hauled the water can sneak out of the bilges and congregates when on port tack near where our portable freezer sits.  This is not a problem if we remember to mop it up every so many hours.  Guess what we forgot and yes this morning we found the freezer getting thoroughly washed with salt water.  We took it apart and flushed it.  We occasionally get some indication lights, so maybe it will come good later.  But we think it is toast.  Of course now that we are not in the tropics no more I guess it is not so important but we will miss having it.

We have made the turn and are motoring again so under present conditions we will be in with in three days if we do not run out of diesel.  Note we can not run out of diesel getting to Attu but we still have about 600 nm to go to the nearest filling station after Attu so we need to keep some large reserves.

Next Time Zone Yesterday

Position N 49 d 48.413
        E 165 d 00.991

As we all learned in grade school the planet we live on is a spinning orb revolving around the sun.  As it is spinning and thus facing the sun at different aspects at different times each revolution is broken down into 24 hours.  To make it simple then the Earth has 24 time zones.  The reference time zone is based out of Greenwich, England and for every 15 degrees of longitude one moves east or west there is a time zone change.  If one moves east the time keeps increasing and if one moves west it decrease.  Halfway around the world from Greenwich is the International Date Line.  As one crosses it one either gains or loses a day depending in which direction.  We have just crossed 165 degrees East so our next time zone would be 180 or the International Dateline.  However as is often the case man interferes with things natural and time is not immune.  If one looks at time zone charts they do not exactly follow longitudinal lines but weave in and around population centers.  No one lives in this part of Alaska yet here is where one of the largest variances lay.  We will actually cross the IDL before we reach Attu but technically we should not cross it until after we pass Kishka.

Anyway this crew is still on Japan Standard time until we land in Attu so it is all irrelevant anyway.  But thanks for listening!

Progress

Position  N49 d 02.93 N
         E162 d 56.705 E

Well yesterday was extremely frustrating.  In hindsight we probably could of made it less so by tacking closer to the rum line rather than trying to out think the weather.  The weather though not bad was lumpy and we sailed one very long tack to the South East always adjusting the track rather than the sails for the course we were on which felt the most comfortable.  We did not notice the subtle wind shifts and therefore lost ground.  After sailing from 0400 until 2200 most of it averaging over 5.5 knots sometimes hitting low sevens we ended up back near the rumline with only a 12 mile gain.  It is amazing how cold and comfort will trump speed over ground!  Anyway could of been worse we could have lost ground.  The seas and wind have died off now and we are motor sailing along the rum line, a little slow as there is some residual swell but making progress.  Another low is in the area so we still do not know how that will affect our progress but the grib files tell us after that low the wind will be favorable.  Lets hope the models are wrong in our favor and we do not have to wait that long

Noon Position June 17

Position 48 d 30.81 N
        161 d 29.36 E

Wind NNE 15 knots  Speed 5.2 knots direction 100 degrees

We are sailing pretty close for the seas, more toward Hawaii than Attu but all is well on board.  Got another bird in the toilet last night.  He stayed there patiently even while Pauline came in and had a Pee.  Mark quickly redirected him over the side shortly there after. He is the same type as the first one the other night so we have a better picture for identification.

The winds are supposed to back tomorrow and we should be closer to our course.

1300 June 16

Well first let me apologize for my earlier post aging dad before his time.  Today is his birthday.  Happy Birthday Dad.

Position 48 d 03.472 N
        159 d 21.954 E

The wind has dropped out completely.  There is a bit of left over swell but the water we can see our reflection in it is so flat.  So the motor is on and we are battened down because the next time we see wind it will be rather strong and from the wrong direction.  But the good news is that the low has decreased a lot and it should not be as bad as earlier thought nor last as long.  So hopefully it will only set our landfall back by a day or so.  And maybe once it passes give us a boost to make up for some lost time.

Pauline saw two whales fairly close this morning at 0230 she came down for the camera and to wake me but by the time we were back on deck they had sounded.  She did see them much later but much further away in the fog line but by then I was already back in bed.

We are staying on Japan Standard Time until we make landfall in Attu or wherever.  That means at this longitude the sun sets at about 1830 but rises early.  This morning at 0130.  Of course this latitude also gives us a lot more hours of daylight.  It is a bummer that we will probably not make anchor yet on Midsummer's Eave to see what a really long day looks like at 54 degrees.  I have witnessed this before both up here and in the North Sea but Pauline has not. So hopefully it will be clear.  That reminds me why do they call it Midsummer's Eve when officially it is the first day of summer?

Anyway all is well on board.