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.