Kevin and I had a few days off in Victoria after our Vancouver Island flotilla ended, so we spent the time relaxing, exploring, eating out, and of course, doing boat projects. We fixed a plumbing leak in the washer/dryer plumbing, worked on getting the boat all dried out with our new dehumidifier, went to the IMAX theater at the museum to see the Great Bear Rainforest movie (which was very … Read more
We had a week off in between flotilla legs, so we invited friends Jake and Patti to fly up from San Diego and join us on a trip down to Tracy Arm and Ford’s Terror, and we buddy-boated with Ralph on Jester while his daughter Sara and her husband David were in town. We left Juneau on the morning of the 26th and headed for Tracy Arm Cove (~42nm south … Read more
Around Cape Caution! When we fell asleep last night, Environment Canada (Central Coast zone) was calling for “wind light” and seas one meter all day. Windy (ECMWF model) was showing this: Forecasts don’t get much better than that, but forecasts aren’t always right. So when we woke up at 4:30 a.m. we checked West Sea Otter buoy, where the wind was gusting to 4 knots and the seas were a … Read more
Last Monday we took delivery of our new dinghy. We bought an AB ALX 11 from Guyer Boatworks in Bellingham. Center console, aluminum hull, plenty of storage…all things we did not have on our old Zodiac that will certainly make this one heavier but way more comfortable. (This particular AB ALX 11 was actually a 2017 model that Guyer Boatworks had used in boat shows over the past two years, … Read more
Kevin and I had a handful of boat projects to take care of on Airship last week, but as soon as we finished the projects that required we be at a dock (and near the hardware store and West Marine) we took off for a few days of winter cruising in the islands. We are seriously enjoying the extra space and livability this Nordic Tug 42 has over our NT34. … Read more
You may recall back in November we bought a beautiful and very clean 2006 Nordic Tug 42, and we sold our 2013 Nordic Tug 34′ “Airship”. We’d had our Nordic Tug 34 for four years, and in those four years we spent over 900 nights aboard and 2,700 hours underway, went to Alaska and back four times, around Vancouver Island three times, and spent countless days exploring Puget Sound, the … Read more
We finally did it! The new Airship is a 2006 Nordic Tug 42 flybridge model. We always said we didn’t want a flybridge (because, solar!), but she’s got one, and I’m sure we’ll eventually be totally on board with the flybridge concept, especially after the weather warms up. She’s got a Cummins QSC 8.3L 540HP common rail turbo diesel engine, an Onan 9kw generator, and SO. MUCH. ROOM! Two staterooms, … Read more
After wrapping up our last Vancouver Island flotilla, Kevin and I flew from Victoria to NY for some work and some fun, and then returned and met up with Kevin’s mom for some Gulf Island cruising. We went around from Sidney to Tod Inlet and anchored there for the night. The next day we dinghied in to Butchart Cove and spent most of the day exploring Butchart Gardens. Kevin and … Read more