We left Wrangell late last Thursday afternoon and got as far as Thoms Place before dark (about 23nm from Wrangell). We dropped some crab traps on the way in and picked them back up on the way out in the morning (with three keeper crabs inside!) The forecast was showing a pretty big blow on Friday and Saturday (gusts to about 40kts in some places), so we needed a good … Read more
We said goodbye to Kevin’s brother Craig in Petersburg, and after a day or so to provision and do a few projects in Petersburg (and one more breakfast from The Salty Pantry!), we left around 9:30am and headed south through Wrangell Narrows. We thought we’d first visit an anchorage we had not been to before — Red Bay, on Prince of Wales Island. The day started out pretty rainy, but … Read more
We left Red Bluff Bay on Sunday morning and headed across Chatham Strait in beautiful calm conditions. Today’s destination: Pybus Bay on Admiralty Island. We stayed three nights in Pybus Bay (Cannery Cove), primarily to duck out of some weather, but we were also looking forward to relaxing at anchor in the same place for a few days. We spent a lot of time fishing, dinghy exploring, playing music, cooking…the … Read more
After spending a handful of days in Juneau, we left and headed for Sitka, where we docked Airship for two whole weeks! Kevin had a work thing going on that we needed reliable internet for (and an airport for a trip to San Jose) and we’d already been in Juneau for a handful of days, so a change of scenery would be nice. We spent some more time wandering around … Read more
Last week we left Juneau to do some buddy boating with Dog Star for a week or so. (Our grandkid is along with us this week, and has requested lots of bumpy dinghy rides and fresh crab and maybe some fishing.) Our first stop was Swanson Bay/Couverden Islands. There was plenty of room on the public float with only one boat, but we opted to anchor out and raft together. … Read more
We spent five nights in Juneau after finishing up the flotilla. We’ve got another guest coming in to join us, and thought we’d get some boat projects, laundry, and provisioning done, while exploring Juneau a little more and revisiting some of our favorite spots. We shared a rental car with friends (and flotilla participants) Julie and David, which made everything quite a bit easier. The Sand Bar & Grill is … Read more
During the extended COVID quarantine this year, we took the opportunity to do a number of upgrades to Airship. We discussed a lot of them in this article, but we have gotten enough questions on the power system in particular that it merits its own discussion. This article will be closed-captioned for nerds, with a few extra-detail sections for those who want to dive into the kilowatts, amps, and volts. … Read more
As the upgrades on Airship get closer and closer to being finished (I know, very funny), we’re getting antsier and antsier to be out on the water. Summer’s over and we’ve only spent about 3 days aboard, which in a normal year would be closer to 7 months aboard, so this is quite a change. But this year is different than most, by far. The new Victron lithium batteries and … Read more