Sept 2
Hi All,
We left Zakof Bay at 6:30am, Sunday Sept 2 for our 425nm passage across the Gulf of Alaska to Sitka. It didn’t have the best of starts…..the anchor chain fell off the rollers so took us 10 min to get that fixed…..then Kathy noticed a lot of smoke coming out the exhaust….light bulb time….I forgot to reopen the raw water thru hull when I checked all the zincs yesterday….duh….fortunately the impeller is good and all instrument readings are normal!!!!
While it has not been perfect trawler conditions the ride has been moderately smooth. We have had a 2-4′ SW swell….on our starboard aft qtr…..and a 6-14kt W-WNW wind that has created a 1-3′ wind chop…when both of those combine Mystic has a noticeable corkscrew motion!!!
So far the Alaska Coastal Current has played nice!! And the RTOFS ocean current grib has been somewhat accurate for once. We have stayed further west of the rhumb line and have avg 8.0 kt speed or about +0.2kt fair current….sweet as!!!
And it has been gloriously sunny…..and warm….we even opened a PH window….how different that is from having to run the Kabola all the time in the Aleutians!!!
Stats: Sept 3 8:00am AKDT:
Position: 58 35N 141 28W
Traveled: 202nm today; 223nm to go; ETA to Sitka noon – 1pm tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept 4
Course: 95.5M COG
Wind: 6-14kts WSW-WNW
Waves: 1-3′ SW swell, med period; 1-3′ W wind chop
Speed: current speed is 8.0 kts SOG; has varied 7.3-9.0 kts today; avg is 8.0kts; 1600rpm
Weather: 100% sunny; air temp is 60*F, sea temp is 59*F
Boat sightings: 4 on AIS; 1 tanker entering PWS as we were leaving
Hit something: Nothing
Boat Slammings: ZERO!!!
Wildlife: Not many sightings….a few shearwaters and a stray Albatross, no whales:((((
Fishing: Nope
Sail: down
Fuel burn: no reading yet
Hope all is well!
John
Mystic Moon
GO MYSTIC GO
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