As we prepared for our summer expedition up the Inside Passage to SE Alaska, we did a number of upgrades to Airship (our 2013 Nordic Tug 34). Now that we’ve been underway for over two weeks, some early favorites have emerged. Here’s what we like and why: #5: Nightstand USB outlets and iPhone/Watch charging stands OK, this may sound like a dorky one, and it is only #5, but hear … Read more
(This is a story about a bus ride.) Here’s us today: coffee, work, work, work, breakfast, more work, go to the grocery store, back to the boat, more work, watch cruise ships leave, more work. Later we’re going to have dinner over at the Bar Harbor Restaurant (super yum, went both times we were in Ketchikan last year). We rode the city bus down to the Safeway near the Bar … Read more
We set our alarm for 4am this morning to check the 4am weather and forecasted conditions for Dixon Entrance to make the final call about whether to go or wait. At Dixon Entrance East, waves were 1-2 meters. Hard to know what that means without the period of seconds between waves. At Buoy 46145, which is smack in the middle of Dixon Entrance, north of Haida Gwaii (so quite a bit further … Read more
Whoa! We made it to Prince Rupert! Two weeks after leaving the San Juan Islands. 🙂 We left Hartley Bay this morning at 6am. The cruise to Prince Rupert was almost 80 miles, so we had a long day ahead of us… …a long day in Grenville Channel, that is. (Also known as “the Ditch.”) This time in Grenville Channel was not nearly as exciting as our trip south was. (See here … Read more
Airship Goes to Alaska 2016 Kevin went out to pull crab traps while I made breakfast. When he got back to Airship, I asked “Did we get anything?” and he replied “Yes?” with kind of a question mark at the end. I went out to the cockpit to see what was up. Turns out we had 5 small Red King Crabs. (We figured that out after a while of digitally … Read more
We slept in this morning, had some breakfast, and then Kevin went to check the crab traps. (Two large keepers, woohoo!) The wind had definitely picked up, so we opted to go through Jackson Narrows and head over to Finlayson Channel, and then poke our head out to see what the conditions were like. Gale warnings were still in effect, and the wind had definitely increased, but didn’t seem too … 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