Today was a perfect day on the water. Five hours of bliss—sunshine, drone flying (twice), a nap, totally calm water, favorable current, no major boat problems… We left Blind Channel at 8:30. First we had to transit Greene Point Rapids. Even though we were about an hour before slack, it was no big deal. The current gave us a nice boost and we made it through without drama. Read more … Read more
Today was the most satisfying and frustrating day of the trip. Satisfying because we got all the boats through the rapids safely and without drama. Satisfying because I got some cool aerial images from the drone as we transited the rapids. Satisfying because the weather continues to cooperate. Satisfying because Blind Channel is an excellent stop. Frustrating because of boat and people problems. Not my boat, and not my people, … Read more
Airship Goes to Alaska 2016 Today was the best day of our trip so far. Our alarm went off this morning at 6:30am (I know, but stay with me here.) Time to pull the crab traps! We left the dock and motored over toward the dam, past the sleepy seals. We pulled the first trap and there were quite a few Dungeness in that one. We wanted to be underway … Read more
Today was a short day—28 nautical miles of protected water from Ganges to Silva Bay. We left about 10:30 a.m., transited Gabriola Pass just before slack at 2:01 p.m., and arrived in Silva Bay soon after. Easy, smooth water along the way. A bit of drizzle, but very little wind. We had a relaxed afternoon at Silva Bay. Some folks dropped crab traps, others hung out on the docks. I … Read more
This winter, we posted on Riveted blog about how we upgraded Airship’s solar power system. The two new 260W panels, dual Blue Sky MPPT charge controllers, and BlueSky PNPro control panel are performing great. We have seen as much as 30A output from the solar system already, and are consistently getting over 100Ah per day contribution to our power from solar. The second phase of the power upgrade for Airship … Read more
We slept in at Port Harvey this morning…had some coffee, pulled the crab traps (two too small Red Rock crabs) and chatted with George a bit more before leaving the dock and heading toward Echo Bay to see Pierre. It’s still early in the season, so it’s fairly quiet here at Echo Bay…four boats or so. We chatted with Pierre for a bit before he had to go rearrange the … Read more
Airship Goes to Alaska 2016 We got up early this morning in Lund and headed up to Nancy’s for breakfast (and a couple of blackberry cinnamon rolls to go). Prawn season opened today, so the docks were crowded with prawn traps and buoys being loaded onto fishing boats. We left after breakfast and decided to head up toward Toba Inlet. I snapped a photo of our neighbor’s boat as they headed out … Read more
This morning’s sunrise (taken from our moorage in Fox Cove, looking toward Fossil Bay) was tough to capture in a photo. The glow coming from behind that forested hill was much cooler in person. After breakfast and a bunch of work, we dinghied into shore to do some hiking. Sucia Island is one of our favorite hiking destinations in the San Juan Islands. We headed for Johnson Point today, since … Read more