Sept 5-7
Hi All,
I felt much, much better the next day after arriving in Sitka…..maybe relaxed more and well rested….while we still have some more cruising this season to go, just being on the inside in protected waters gives the Captain a sense of calm. While I still am concerned about all the mechanical aspects of running Mystic, at least we can almost assume trawler conditions from now on and only take day trips!!! Although, having said that, it can get rough in some of these channels when there is wind against tide or exposed to the open sea so we still need to be careful!!!
Of course, having said all that, we are planning to go back in the open ocean waters when we leave Sitka to go north to Glacier Bay. That route is shorter and we want to get to GB as quick as possible to take advantage of the forecasted good, sunny weather for another week or so!!! But, it is only 30-40nm of open water and the forecast is for NE winds and 2-3′ South seas….we should be fine!!!
We continued the celebration finding an old bar we had been to in 2006….the Pioneer Bar….kind of a classic fisherman bar….we met Trina the bartender who will be here this winter….very friendly and serves a mean BM:)))) Then it was off to celebrate cheeseburger in paradise at “The Pub”…..great burger with live sports on the TV….ODG:)))))
Heres a good description on Sitka from Kathy: Sitka has changed quite a bit since we were here in 2006….There’s a whole new shopping area that wasn’t here, but we understand that it was only put in several years ago and it’s centered around the cruise ship industry. The shops are actually pretty cute and they aren’t all jewelry shops, so think I may have to hit a few, you know, just for posterity…or something! :)))) Anyhow, the crusty side of Sitka, which is where we are, is still pretty crusty and fishy, so we are all good! Now, if we could just get our slip confirmation, that would be really great! Ha!! We should know something more in a couple of weeks, so in the meantime, we’re going to take a run up to Glacier Bay while the weather is still nice and the whales are still around!
We also met two other cruising couples….Jim and Fran on sv Cape St Jsmes and Walt and Kip on mv Geraldine. Both couples have been in Sitka >10 years and will be here this winter….very nice people, full of great information and we will have some good times with them for sure!!!
The Plan: We are leaving at 7:00am Saturday, Sept 8. We will go through Neva passage, then the Pacific Ocean before entering Lisianski Strait and then anchoring in Lost Cove….~65nm!!! Then on Sunday we will go ~50nm up through Cross Sound, then North Passage and enter Glacier Bay NP at Bartlett Cove!!! We will take the boater orientation that is offered by the Park either late on Sunday or early Monday am!!
Boat Stuff: I finally had a quiet spot to work on the rub rail damage from the wall in Japan. However, I still broke off another drill bit as it is still awkward to get to. But, I managed to drill it out and epoxy all 3 holes. At least now we know the the holes are no longer exposed to seawater. Since it is somewhat cool here it takes longer for the epoxy to set and get hard to drill so I won’t be able to drill the new holes and bend the rub rail back in place until we get back to Sitka in 2-3 weeks.
Cummins: When I did my engine/fuel check once we were docked I noticed a lot of water in the bilge and in the tray under the Cummins….ugh….not what you want to see. I tasted the water and it was slightly salty. I checked all the raw water hoses and they were all wet as well as the thru hull….WTH….no way could this be condensation but….I could not find any obvious leaks….so, left it for another day. A few days later we ran the Cummins and yep, there was a pin hole leak in the raw water discharge hose from the aftercooler….well, good news…found the leak, bad news…it is inconvenient to change…good news, we had a spare hose….even better news, after an hour plus and a few sailor words I shouted out victory….who knew changing a frickin engine hose could be so dang difficult…..arghhhhh!!!!
We also got fuel….$2.96/gal diesel….the cheapest since Hokadate Hokkaido Japan (close to where the major earthquake happened a few days ago!!!
Also, Mark Tilden emailed me a link to this article. A very interesting article about finding part of a WW II ship damaged by a Japanese mine off the island of Kiska…..where we were…our 2nd island on the Aleutian Chain!!!!
https://www.passagemaker.com/trawler-news/kiska-alaskas-underwater-battlefield
Hope all is well!!!
John
Mystic Moon
GO MYSTIC GO!!!
PS: Got more pictures posted from about 2 months ago: Bear and Volcano Bays and Sand Point, all on the Alaskan Peninsula:
http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/bear-and-volcano-bays-and-sand-point-all-on-alaskan-peninsula
I’m also not sure the pictures on Dutch Harbor posted correctly:
http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/Dutch-Harbor,-Alaska
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