The Part

Friday, midday. The forecast is for rain but right now it is beautiful, dry, calm, 60 degrees.

The week has been marked with ups and downs. Tuesday afternoon Dirk called to say he had just put the part I ordered for the engine in the mail. Thursday, it was in the local post office! Well done USPS! When I got back to the boat I found that the part would not fit on my engine. Two silver linings, however. I learned that the part number was cast into the housing and was able to get the part number off of my part. The other silver lining was that the box that held the part also had oatmeal cookies from my niece Dana. Thank you so much, Dana!

I called Kelley, the parts guy with my part number. He said it was a valid number, but not on engines sold into the US and that he couldn’t get it. I have e-mailed a parts guy in Vancouver, BC, to find out if it was on engines sold in Canada and if it is still available.

Sitka is a really nice town. I continue to enjoy roaming around. As I mentioned earlier, I got the bicycle out. I quickly discovered that the chain was jumping when I was climbing a hill. Because there are hills just about everywhere I want to go, the bike was unusable as it was. This presented me with a dilemma. The bike is old and tired and wasn’t an expensive bike to begin with. It needs pedals, a seat, a brake/derailleur lever cassette, and now a new chain. Sitka has a bike shop so off I went to see what they had in the way of new and used bikes. Unfortunately, they had sold all of the used bikes from their rental fleet. The mechanic assured me that I was going to have to replace the chain rings with the chain. I told him I had replaced them last April. He copped such an attitude that I put buying a new bike there totally out of the question. The new chain cured the problem.

Wednesday, the harbormaster office called to say they needed me to move over to the transient dock. I told her that I was expecting the parts and she told me to sit tight until I had made the repairs. I’m relieved because there is no AC on the transient dock. It did start me thinking of moving on though. I’ve decided to go to Tenakee Springs from here.

Update: I just got a response from Vancouver vis a vis The Part. It was used on vehicles in Europe only. This means finding it used in North America will be almost impossible. Apparently it is available by special order from Germany. He said it will take about two weeks for it to get to him. I went up to the harbormaster office to let them know. She said it will be OK to stay where I am for the next several days but depending on their impounds I will probably have to move within two weeks. This is another dilemma as the only way to charge the batteries right now is via the shore power charger or by means of the large alternator on the engine. Obviously, the engine can’t be used unless I am able to effect repairs. I guess I’d better be successful repairing the engine.

The pic is the view from the transient dock to where I am now. Nice view. I just hope it doesn’t become mine for the next two weeks.

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Wednesday morning. Steady light rain, calm, mid 50s. The forecast is for a wind advisory for tomorrow.

Over the long weekend, I determined the problem with the fresh water engine cooling system. The hose barb on the thermostat housing broke off. It’s not a part you can go to the local Napa store and walk out with. I called the Mercedes dealer in Anchorage and after some research, Kelly, the parts guy was able to order one. When it gets in, Dirk or Amy will forward it on. Thanks guys.

The other event was the departure of the Resolute. Steve and his father Chuck headed up through Olga and Neva Straits yesterday afternoon to await the tides for Sergius Narrows and Peril Strait today. They are headed for Baranof Warm Springs, Petersburg, and points south. I was sorry to see them go. Steve is a terrific sailor and a great traveling partner. Fair winds to you, gentlemen.

I am enjoying this town. The market is wonderful. Their prices are about 2/3s of what they were in Valdez and the produce is edible even after 2 days. They carry several of my favorite items and they are only a block away. I’ve tried a couple of restaurants and spotted several more I intend to try. Steve and I tried the Italian one last week: really good pizza. We got a big kick out of the fact that both the cook and the waitress are Asian. I wonder if the Mexican restaurant is run by Bulgarians.

I finally broke out the bicycle and am beginning bike exploration. Sitka has bike lanes! And hills. Guess I’ll have to repair the front derailleur…and get used to riding in raingear.

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Sitka!

Saturday morning. We are tied to the end of A dock in Thomsen Harbor, Sitka. The weather is beautiful, partly cloudy, 65 degrees. Forecast is for pleasant weather all weekend.

We arrived Thursday afternoon. The weather remained calm for the remainder of the crossing. It was forecast to kick up to 25 knots SE and 9 foot seas, which would have been a beat upwind. We were making for Salisbury Sound which is one of the gateways to inside and protected waters. At 11:30PM Wednesday, I noticed the engine had overheated again. I had been checking it about every two hours and had added a couple of gallons over the course of the last twenty four hours. When I opened the access to the coolant tank I could see the coolant water where it was dripping on the case of the start battery alternator. I couldn’t see the source because of the angle and a mirror fogged up every time I tried it. I suspected the fresh water pump seal had failed. My fear was that if it failed completely, I would be caught by the weather and forced to make a very uncomfortable approach under sail with no motor for maneuvering in close quarters to an anchorage. From that point on the drill became set the timer for 20 minutes, check the coolant level, add water, check boat position, situation, and status, pump bilge, 2-5 minutes of rest, timer goes off, repeat. Steve suggested rigging a towing bridle and that I rig a tow line in case it failed and we continue to Sitka, a distance of about 20 miles which is what we did. Fortunately, it didn’t get any worse and we made our way with no other excitement.

Poor Jazz. He found it impossible to do his business on deck. He was forced to do it in the cockpit since I wasn’t letting him down in the cabin for obvious reasons. Of course I wasn’t happy with that since it greatly increased my workload which caused him to try harder to hold it and, well, you get the drill. As we were coming along side the dock, Jazz got so excited he couldn’t hold it any more. He let fly, which wouldn’t have been a problem except he was standing right where I needed access to be able to dock the boat single-handed. It made for some fancy footwork and a few words of course but all ended well.

I had to laugh at myself. The first thing I did after getting Jazz to dry land was to get an internet connection. I had forgotten to schedule a payment and didn’t want to pay the late fees. At least that was my justification. I just barely made the deadline.

So we’re here. The boat is plugged in. Cell service is good. Internet is ok. I even found the local public radio station, so I’m feeling right at home. I’ve talked to family and with this entry the blog will be up to date. I expect to be here at least another week and a half depending on how the repairs go.

The picture is of a couple of my neighbors here in the harbor.

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The Gulf

We are just south of the Fairweather Grounds, 39 nautical miles offshore of Lituya Bay. The seas are 1-2 feet with an occasional 4 footer. Winds are almost on the nose, of course, at 6-8 knots. We are 57 hours into the crossing with another 16-19 to go.

We left Ellamar Sunday, August 30. Although it was fair in the Tatitlek Narrows and over to Point Freemantle, the fog bank began about 5 miles south of Bligh Reef and continued all the way across the Sound. We broke out about 5 miles northwest of Hinchinbrook Island and it was beautiful all the way into Garden Cove.

While we were waiting for Steve on the S/V Resolute to arrive, a fellow came driving up to the boat in a skiff. Turned out to be Nick Dennis, owner of the Nuchek Lodge on the spit at Constantine Harbor. We drank beer and chatted. Nice guy. He left and a half hour later the Resolute was rafted up to Blue Note. After checking the weather we made plans to cross the Gulf early in the morning.

Monday dawned overcast and calm. I was able to call Dirk as we motored out of the anchorage. We rounded the corner at Hinchinbrook Entrance and the marathon began.

The shortest path from the Entrance to Sitka grazes the south end of Kayak Island about 68 miles into the Gulf. From there it is 310 miles to Sitka. At an average speed of 5 knots, that’s a little over 75 hours running time. That is 3 days exposure to some of the fiercest weather imaginable. This time of year the storms are closer together and more intense making for smaller and smaller windows of relatively settled seas and winds to make the crossing. As an example, this window opened Sunday afternoon and looks like it will close Thursday afternoon.

Both Blue Note and Resolute are typical sailboats. That is they can approach and occasionally exceed hull speed under sail. Motoring, they are underpowered. Neither can go much faster that 6.5 knots without overtaxing the engine. The irony is that the safest weather in which to cross is virtually windless. It’s true of this one. Blue Note has been motorsailing all but maybe 2 to 3 hours. It’s a long time to listen to the drone of the engine.

It hasn’t been boring though. A collapsed heater hose, a botched fuel tank switchover, and a dog too fastidious to poop or pee on the boat have kept things lively. The first night was spent in a wicked beam seas, causing the vandals to come visiting. That’s when all the stuff that is supposed to be in cupboards and counters ends up stirred around and mixed on the cabin sole.

My life is ruled by a kitchen timer. Every 20 minutes it goes off prompting me to survey the horizon if it is daylight or the radar if it is dark. We’ve encountered 2 tankers, a cruise ship and several fishing boats so far. It is some comfort traveling with another boat as 2 watch standers are better than one. We have been swapping two hour wheel watches which allows for some rest.

The timer has gone off again and there is a target on the radar on an intersecting course. Probably a long liner fishing the Fairweather Grounds. More later.

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The dock lines are cut!

Friday morning. Blue Note is tied to a mooring in Virgin Bay, Prince William Sound. The weather is rainy, windy, low to mid 50s, barometer falling. A small craft advisory is posted today for PWS. No time to be out voyaging around. We’re sheltered from the brunt of the wind here but the boat is rocking and Jazz has his worried thing going. This mooring is bombproof though and we’re warm and safe.

Leaving Valdez was bitter-sweet, of course. The Friday-or-Saturday plan turned out to be wildly optimistic. I had forgotten about my Monday get together with the kids and Dirk’s departure for Anchorage.

Tuesday looked good and then the kids couldn’t make it. Rik, Susan, and Austin came down to the boat Tuesday afternoon. Rik brought Anchor Steam, my favorite beer, and Susan brought wine. We sat on the foredeck, drank the beer and talked. Susan poured the wine over the bow and with Poseidon appeased we said our goodbyes. Departure in the morning?

Well no. I hadn’t taken in to account the Leaving Time Factor. The LTF goes like this. You’re busy stowing things when you realize you have forgotten to pick up a supposedly very important item. So you whip over to the store where you run into three people, separately of course, who have heard you are leaving and, in most instances, want to hear the story. So after telling it three times you get back to the boat where you discover you need this other thing. This Ouroboros syndrome can repeat until the boat sinks from the weight and or Christmas comes.

All things for a reason though. Pam came by Wednesday and surprised me with some Fu Kung moushu (sp?) pork, another favorite. We had a pleasant dinner, a tearful goodbye and I left.

Well, I’ve listened to the weather forecast on the VHF and looked at the HF faxes I just received and it looks like Monday might be opportune for the crossing. I think I will call Steve, my cruising partner on the S/V Resolute, and make plans for leaving here for Garden Cove, Hinchinbrook Island, Sunday.

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