May 9 – 14
Hi All,
Sunday May 14th, Happy Mother’s Day….well not so much for Kathy…ugh:((( Let me interrupt this blog….if you have been watching us on Spot, or the Selene Map, or AIS on Marine Traffic or Predict Wind, you may have noticed that we have returned to Sitka….say what….why did you do that…well, the windlass broke…that’s the device that lets out the anchor and chain and then retrieves it. Saturday, we anchored in Ushk Bay in 90′ of water…we let out 275′ and the windlass stopped….you could hear the motor spinning but nothing on the horizontal shaft that turns the chainwheel…oh no, this is going to be a problem. After a restless night we attacked the problem first thing Sunday morning with no joy. We tried to retrieve the chain manually…you know human power…no joy…the chain was probably weighing close to 150-lbs and we just could not pull it up. So we let out all 400′, attached 2 of our largest buoys to the chain and cut the bitter end. Thankfully both buoys held the weight. We shall return someday with a repaired windlass and retrieve the chain and anchor….hopefully…..stay tuned!!!
And now the rest of the story/blog….
Yeppa a few low key celebrations this week. First was my birthday….Friday May 12th….not a five or zero in it so not a big deal as our friend JoJo tells us. But, at 69, it’s one more year to 70, which does have the sound of getting old. A friend recently wrote me….”70 just seems SO OLD. :-)”. But then we have a friend who just smiles and says wait until you turn 80….70 is nothing!!!
But, we did have internet via Starlink so were able to receive the BD and HMD wishes that were sent which was special. Even got in some Facetime with the family….extra special…..luv seeing the kids and granddaughters….a few momentary glitches on Starlink but we have those at our home as well!!!!
Since Mother’s Day and my BD were 2 days apart we decided to celebrate together on Saturday night…..rib eye steaks and a nice Syrah from Australia….yummers!!!!
May 9-10: We did leave Sitka on Tuesday, May 9th….14 days after we arrived from CA….and a marathon project schedule to get Mystic ready…but we did it and were pretty chuffed we could still put in that kind of physical time!! We filled with 600 gals of fuel at $4.93/gal with tax….ouch….why are fuel prices so high…..arghhhhhh!!! In 4/22, a year ago, we paid $4.49/gal and in all of 2021 we paid <$3/gal….yep, I’m starting to think we are getting played by Big Oil.
We anchored the first night in Kalinin bay in Salisbury Sound, 25nm from Sitka….all to ourselves….wow, that doesn’t happen often. We then trolled for salmon on Wednesday in several of our favorite spots….but got skunked….only 1 rockfish which we threw back!! It was supposed to blow Wednesday night so we anchored in St John the Baptist, another favorite with great views….and then back trolling the next day but again NADA except 2 rockfish….oweeeeeee….we did see 3 commercial fisherman so our location was good but just no fish….maybe too early!!!
After we trolled on Thursday we went to Deep Bay, another favorite anchorage and we have always scored some Dungeness crab….well, not his time….2 females which we don’t keep and 2 juvenile King crabs….uh oh, Dungeness and Kings do not play well together so could be trouble for the Dungeness…ugh!!! On our way to Deep Bay you should time Sergius Narrows at slack but due to trolling around slack, we were very late to Segius….so we did Canoe Pass….easy peasy!!!
The windlass has actually been a problem since we re-ended the chain last week. It picked up almost all the chain off the dock but then stopped…nothing…I eventually found a loose cable, tightened and it started…ok, problem solved….well, NOT, in Deep Bay as we were anchoring it did it again…I tightened again but no joy. It would go down but not up. This has happened before and it was the solenoid. It was my birthday so we said no mas, we will attack the solenoid the next day
May 13: So the next morning, in the rain, I successfully changed out the solenoid. yea….happy dance, but the joy did not last long as later that day in Ushk Bay it stopped altogether….ugh!!! That morning I first checked the crab pots, nada, then attacked the solenoid…found out I no longer fit in the chain locker (the pressure on my repaired rotator cuff was too much….ugh) so had to do it upside down from the bow deck….ugh, but it worked so happy dance. We then went trolling at Ushk Bay and again got skunked….and as we were anchoring is when the windlass failed for good….no crab, no salmon, no windlass….yeppa, living the dream….whaaaaaa!!
But as a friend and now Kathy say….well, we are warm, safe and dry at the dock:)))
Hope all is well!
Back to repairs John
Mystic Moon
Sitka AK