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
Hello from Desolation Sound! Today we had an easy cruise from Pender Harbour up to Squirrel Cove. Overcast skies, a bit of chop leaving Pender Harbour, but overall a very easy day. In years past, we’ve stopped in Prideaux Haven on the flotilla. Prideaux Haven is beautiful—the quintessential Desolation Sound anchorage, really, but it’s a little off our route. Because of the time of slack at the rapids tomorrow (we’re … Read more
The Strait of Georgia is one of the significant “gates” on the trip to Alaska. It’s a big body of water—20 miles wide and 150 miles long. When it’s windy, the Strait of Georgia gets rough. Today it was calm. Read more on samlandsman.com
This morning we slept in (woohoo, 8am!), did a bunch of work, had some breakfast, and then walked up to the market in Shearwater to get a few things for the crab bisque I plan to make tonight or tomorrow night. It was still gray and rainy, but who cares? We’re on our way to Alaska. In our boat! Read more on the Riveted blog.
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
Our Cape Caution crossing yesterday was nice and calm and uneventful, just like we like it! We weren’t planning to cut through the Walker Group, but as we passed by that inviting opening, I decided to cut through after all. It’s so pretty in there!! Kevin was napping but the change in rpms woke him up so he came up for a few minutes while we meandered through the rocky … 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
The last week has been super busy. Finalizing the watermaker install, tinkering with systems, provisioning, saying bye to friends and family… Yesterday I moved the boat around from Skyline Marina to Cap Sante Marina, fueled up, picked up Kevin Monahan (my crew to Alaska for the third year in a row), and met with the flotilla folks who are departing from Anacortes. A busy and productive day. Read more on … Read more