Captain’s Log: We are Back in Sitka Alaska

3/9-17

Hi All,

We’re BACK!!!! We came back to Sitka last Saturday, March 9th. Another 12 hour, 3-stop flight on Alaska Airlines….San Jose, Seattle, Ketchikan, Sitka….joy:)))) The best news…Mystic Moon was in good shape but somewhat cold. We got to the boat about 7:15pm and all was well….no leaks and the Kabola diesel heater was working albeit the thermostats were set for 55*F…..brrrrr. We cranked all them up for a few hours then got a good night sleep under all the covers we owned!!!

The weather this last week has truly sucked…..cold, windy, rainy, cloudy….a series of LO’s coming through every few days….just gray and miserable…..although almost 12 hours of daylight…except we haven’t seen the sun:(((( I have a lot of outdoor projects to get done but nothing doing….arghhhhh!!!! The temps are lows in the 30’s and highs in the 40’s so maybe 5-10*F warmer than when we left a month ago….although the wind chill is much colder!! No need for our outdoor cabinet lights to protect the water hoses from freezing conditions!!! Today, as I write this blog, we are having another storm….blowing 20+kts in the marina and 40+kts outside…..maybe 1+” of rain today……arghhhhh!!!! It’s so bad even the fishermen have been in the marina for a week or so now!!! Yes…I’m whining but not too loud. SE Alaska is in a drought so everyone is very happy for the rain….you can hear the critters….bears, salmon, eagles et al all clapping!!!!

We have now been labeled the “Rainmakers” by our neighbor fishermen friends. Gee, J&K, you should have been here the last 2 weeks….sunny, gorgeous blue skies, great fishing (Russ made $3500 in 2 days)…30+ Kings, et al….you guys show up and it is back to winter….thanks:)))) The marina is a hub of activity….boats and people everywhere…all working in the rain. The herring season is opening up today/tomorrow…on a 2 hour call now…..up to 14k ton quota….very controversial…..mainly roe for Japan but the herring population is declining in Alaska and BC and is the major source of food for the whales, sea lions et al. Lots of stories what it was like 10-30 years ago by the locals….walking the beach picking up herring, pickled herring, roe, et al…whoa!!!

I am getting personally depressed from the weather and anxious to get the projects done and start cruising. Kathy heard about a local boat up in Glacier Bay and having it all to themselves…whoa!!! Yesterday, there was a break in the rain for a few hours so we ventured out to do some errands. And, what do we find on the dock…..a commercial crabber…selling King crabs….$15/lb, caught in Chatham Strait (30-40nm from here)….we bought a medium sized one…8-lbs….we had it for dinner last night….we don’t think we have ever had fresh king crab….always flash frozen…..ODG can you say crab orgasm…..YUMMERS…of course with a 2005 Markham merlot!!!! And in J&K style, just as we sat down to the steaming crab, I knocked over my full wine glass….yep, red wine everywhere….and as a true partner, in her haste to help cleanup, Kathy knocked hers over as well….yep, goober king and queen…ugh!!!!

Boat Projects:
Kathy: inventoried the entire boat for food items….mainly in the commissary and 3rd stateroom (no more food now stored in 3rd stateroom!!!)…she actually did quite well with her food data base….not too many items out of date or gone bad….but, she did kind of over buy/anxiety attack on a few items….wasabi (5+ tubes), sesame oil (5 bottles), pasta (12 bags)…..in her defense all those items were hard to find in the South Pacific and Southeast Asia so when she found the items, she may have over bought. Of course, we used the wasabi and sesame oil for tuna and sushi which we have not had ever since we traveled into Indonesia in 2016 and stopped fishing due to the over fished issues.

John: still having back issues….besides the lower back constant pain I now have deeply bruised ribs from a fall on our deck in Pleasanton….4 weeks ago and still sore….ugh….the Chief Medical officer has me on a strict Advil and whiskey medication regime…gotta luv her:)))) Nevertheless, I’m finding I spend less and less time in the ER due to the awkward positions and the back issues….arghhhhhhh!!!!!

Batteries: Changed out the 2 bad Northstar 210 NSB batteries in the Laz…what a job….each battery weights close to 150-lbs…..luckily Russ lent me his truck to go pickup (we had barged with AML from Seattle) and then loaned us Branson, his deck crew, to help us horse these bad boys around. We now have changed all 4 batteries in the Laz….we still have 6 in the forward bilge area so a total of 10 house batteries. I still feel these 4 batteries were compromised by the marina in Japan having power issues and me not changing the charging parameters at that time….like maybe the batteries stayed in the bulk mode for too many hours.

Cummins: changed Twin Disc gear cooler, transmission oil, cleaned air filter, new o-rings on valve cover bolts, checked all zincs…

Changed hot water tank zinc, greased stabilizers and rudder bearings, all new Racor filters (we have 6), changed fresh water filter….

Lower 48: Wow….did they have fun or what!!! We left Sitka on Feb 11…..supposed to overnight in Seattle and have dinner with Mark & Roseanne but that was during the Snowmageddon storm….our next day am flight was canceled so we were put on the last flight out of Seattle to Phoenix, which was 8 hours late….got into Phoenix at 4:00am…let the games begin after a short 6 hour sleep. We had 3 days of jocularity with our Selene et al cruising friends…..Jim & Caz on sv Deuces in their brand new Unity RV even made an appearance as we did a foodie walking tour in old town Scottsdale…..good times!!!!

We then went back to Pleasanton for a few days before a week Tahoe skiing vacation with the Youngblood and Jones clan…..4 grandchildren….we were in heaven….albeit completely worn out after the 7 days….I did get in 4 days of skiing:))))

And, drum roll….I went to the SSA office and signed up for Medicare A&B….probably the only good thing about turning 65:))))

And, Kathy did make a quick trip to Dallas to visit with her parents. They seem to have settled in to their new place in Dallas but they are sorely missed in Pleasanton!!

THE PLAN: We hope to leave the marina next Saturday, March 23….the weather will most likely still be miserable but at least we will be cruising in some gorgeous places and hopefully get to do a little crabbing, prawning and salmon/halibut fishing. The plan has us going north, Salisbury Sound, maybe the outside of Chichagof island but most likely we will be forced to stay on the inside along Peril Strait, Chatham Strait, Icy Strait, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan (Costco run), Skagway, and then to Petersburg in mid May to meet up with Mark & Roseanne on mv Koinonia and our guests/friends Craig and Jeanette!!

Hope all is well!!

John
Mystic Moon
Sitka Alaska