Captain’s Blog: Parting is So…Mixed

August 5 2024

Hi All,

Yeppa, we did the deed. Mystic Moon has been sold.

After almost 20 years it feels very different to be boatless….although we are now accepting invitations to visit other boats:)))

I have been very remiss in posting anything on The Blog…..last entry was in November 2023. I’m not sure why, maybe a bit sad, depressed, anxious for what comes next…who knows….the initiative just wasn’t there. And yes, we have spent the last year working on unexpected health issues which certainly took the fun out of cruising….we only got about 3 weeks in for 2023, and most of that was dealing with the windlass…ugh!! The good news, I have my arrythmia sort of under control through medications for now…..3 ablations later….whoa!!! And, we think/hope we have slowed Kathy’s MCI and know at this point it is not progressing into something worse. If you want to know more details just email us as we will share the year long challenges we faced!!

So what do we do next….well, the plan had always been to buy an RV and tour around USA/Canada/Mexico. I’m still all in but Kathy is having second thoughts, and rightfully so given her health concerns. But we still have the wander/travel lust so we will do more organized travelling for now and see how it all goes….Kauai last week, another Back East Trip this fall (see Josh, Rob & Christa, Niagara Falls, Jim & Caz, the Selene VFOLKS reunion and an Osloberfest Wisconsin style, a quick visit with Darrell & Claudia and finally taking the California Zephyr {Amtrak) home from Chicago back to California…takes 2 days). Then in 2025 a Peru/Brazil trip (Iguassu Falls, Rio, Machu Picchu, and Amazon cruise) and then a month long Northwest Passage cruise on the expedition ship Sylvia Erle (the same ship we took on the Antarctica trip).

So….how did the sale go….hmmm, well, Mystic continues to have a personality to the end and like most boats, she lets you know she hates to be left alone:))) I contacted Brian Taylor, the PNW Selene broker in January about selling the boat. We took a quick trip up to Sitka to let Brian check her condition and take some pictures!! After discussing with some potential Buyers he concluded we needed to bring Mystic to the Seattle area where it is much easier to show the boat. I guess not too many people interested in going to Sitka in the winter months:))) But, some preplanned traveling delayed the trip a bit….Tahoe family ski trip, trip to Jordan/Egypt (Nile cruise), a trip back East to visit with our oldest son, my niece and Adam & Cindi, and then the 3rd heart ablation…..and finally we got away in May.

Kathy did not make the passage but joined me in Anacortes to help offload our stuff. So….I went on the hunt for some volunteers!! Les Dobbe, dear friend and fellow Selene past owner, and with his wife Rose, were the couple who crossed the Pacific with us in 2013….well, Les said…hey, I want to be part of the last voyage…seems kind of fitting…plus I’ll come to Sitka and help get her ready….sure….come on….Mystic loves to be caressed by your hands….oh, how telling that was!!! And then Mark Tilden, another Selene owner there at the beginning and has been on Mystic for several passages, said I’ll do the Ketchikan to Anacortes leg….cool!!!

So Les and I arrive in Sitka on May 17 ~7pm…..raining…of course….we board Mystic and all seems good….Kabola heat is running and she smells good. Ok, turn on the fresh water pump….hmmm, a minute or 2 goes by and the pump won’t prime…..we go around opening all the faucets letting air out….no joy….we shut off each water tank trying to get a prime…no joy…we try the 2nd pump…no joy…..this has now been going on for 15-20 minutes off/on….hmmmmm…..then huge light bulb goes off….WE HAVE A LEAK!!!!….ARGHHHHHHH!!!!

So the next 10-15 minutes were a blur….we first discover water on the FB stairs and chase the leak to the hot water line coming out of the wall panel by the stairs into the FB forward locker….ugh….we eventually turn off the hot water and then start to clean up the mess. The water had flooded the liquor cabinet below and then Kathy’s closet locker in the MSR….ODG….good news….we saved almost everything and got most of the wood dried out overnight…but some water stains in the closet….ugh!!!! But wait….the pump still did not pump….ODG another leak????…found the 2nd leak above the ceiling panel in the port locker in the FSR….ugh….we cleaned all that up, decided too tired to do anymore…it is now past midnight…and off to bed we went with no fresh water (we did have bottled water to drink and for the toilets!!!)

We both were up early determined to find the shut off valves for each leak or at least where the lines T’d off….well, we searched all day and nothing…yeppa….we think both lines are T’d behind the MSR closet with no access….really!!! Took us 1.5 days of searching before we made that conclusion. So, we just cut the hot water line going to the FB…while there is a line, there is no hot water outlet on the FB….that had been capped at the Factory…so no need for hot water on the FB. On the cold water line going to the faucet on the Bow….we just repaired by using pressure tape and hose clamps….by the end of Day 3 we had fresh water…and we both took some long hot showers!!!

In between all that we had repaired the windlass…new retaining ring on port chainwheel and a new key (right size) on port side!! And we got fuel…..$5.14/gal diesel…arghhhhhh!!!

We left Tuesday, May 21…..3 really hard and long days….TG Les was there…I really don’t think I could have done all that by myself and help is hard to get in Sitka!! But wait…there is more….on our 2nd day on passage early that morning we attempted to pull up the chain and as it almost all got onto the boat, the chainwheel released from the clutch and free wheeled all the chain back into the water….ODG….what a noise…BUT, the bitter end held so we didn’t lose the chain and anchor. A long story, but Les came up with a method to use the 2nd chain on the starboard side to connect to the port drowned chain and w/in 2 hours we had the chain and anchor up!! And, we both ate some humble pie….when we installed the chainwheel after putting in the new retaining ring we installed the chainwheel backwards….thus we could not engage the teeth to manually work the wheel and it obviously did not tighten well on the clutch….ODG….2 very experienced Salts making a rookie mistake….I guess our minds were on the water leaks….arghhhhhh!!!!

But wait one more…..we were about 8 miles from our anchorage near Rocky Pass late the 2nd day, Les is in the galley preparing dinner and he yells out, we have smoke coming out the Cummins exhaust….I look up at the pyrometer and yep, it’s 100* high, and then the high temp alarm goes off….oh good grief, what now….I shut off the Cummins and start the Yanmar….we do about 5+ knots on the Little-engine-that-can!!! We decide to find a closer anchorage, about 2 miles away…we get in and anchor…no passage beer as we jump down in the ER….start the Cummins and no water out the exhaust…yeppa….has to be the raw pump gone bad…ugh….but, we do have a spare and Les volunteers to do the change….I get to be the gopher….ok, you have to understand that any repair job on Mystic takes every tool I own….Les kills his knees/back on the ER deck while I’m getting my cardio workout up/down stairs/ladders a gazillion times….arghhhhhh!!! We get the deed done, lots of water out the exhaust, we eat dinner with a nice bottle of wine and collapse in bed…AGAIN!!!

OK…I have a talk with Mystic the next morning….actually I’m in the ER begging her to behave and saying sorry for leaving her all alone in Sitka for so long….well, she behaves from then on…actually for the next 2 weeks all the way to Anacortes….I was soooo proud….in fact at times I might have gotten a little bored….oh, thank you Mystic….my favorite way to be on Passage!! Mark did meet us in Ketchikan on 5/24, we had a nice dinner the 3 of us, and then Mark and I decide to leave the next day for Prince Rupert to beat a storm coming the next night. So up early, we do a quick provisioning run, get Les to the airport and off we go across Dixon Entrance….and it was easy peasy!!! From there it took 8 days, 7 anchorages to make Anacortes and Mystic’s final resting spot under our ownership!!

It took Kathy, me, to pack and haul boxes with Brian helping to schlep the boxes to the rented U-Haul….13 days…92 boxes and we left the new owner 2 full offsite storage lockers. ODG…did we have a lot of stuff….waterline came up 10-12″…whoa!!! Then it took Kathy and me 2 days to drive home….ODG, is that U-Haul loud:))) We drove so slow even semi trucks were passing us:)))

Selling: Well…it seemed fortuitous….Brian puts up the For Sale sign and w/in a few hours there is a Buyer. Mystic is not even listed and we have an offer over asking. And it is hurry up the Buyer is anxious. Well…it didn’t quite go like that….the survey came back w/o any major issues, just a bunch of little stuff….but the Buyer countered and the Closing was delayed….in fact we closed 1 day earlier than the contractual date. All in, we got our Asking price and it was all done within 10 weeks from when Les and I stepped on Mystic in Sitka.

Final Stats: from 11/2004 – July/2024:

Total $ spent on Fuel: $194,525
Highest price paid: $6.43/gal, Vava’u Tonga, 8/27/2013 (457 gals….oweee)
Lowest price paid: $1.86/gal Langkawi, Malaysia 6/12/2017 (of course it was dirty….ugh)
Average price paid: $3.41/gal
Cummins hours: 8,855
GEN hours: 10,288
Yanmar hours: 222.5
Watermaker hours: ~8,000
Countries visited: 64….we now have a total of 95 countries visited….just 5 more for the 100 country club!!

Hope all is well!! See you all down the road!!

Captain John

PS: I’m not sure what we will do w/the Blog. I would like to keep it up and blog about our various trips with pictures….maybe change the name to Beyond Mystic Moon Voyages…. The Blog is such a nice record of all our travels. But, I didn’t get the Egypt trip posted so we will see if I can stay motivated!!

Mystic’s Final Resting Place under our ownership….notice how high her waterline came up after we unloaded all our stuff

Here is all our stuff…..92+ boxes and we left 2 full storage lockers for the new owner!!