Pairadice and ASD Alaska Adventure 2017

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Great summary, Tom. The one topic that really resonated with me, in addition to weather predictions, is that things WILL break and you WILL have equipment failures, machines being what they are, with so many systems in play, and for a trip of that scope. Even for well-maintained boats, there will be problems of some nature. The takeaway from that, speaking for myself, is to not get bummed out when something goes haywire, but to roll with the punches and just work to resolve it. Carrying lots of spares and tools helps, as well as assistance from great guys like Al in Ketchikan. I literally work on my boat all winter to get it ready for the Alaska trip, but some things inevitably fail anyway. Hell, it's a boat. Hope to see you up Sitka way next summer. And I still have some Alaska Amber.........

You are 100% right and BTW, I am buying

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Ok Pairadice where are your numbers and final thoughts? I know youhad a great time with ASD, but?

 

[Crusty Chief]

Ok, I admit I’m Tardy!
Tons of stuff to get straightened out here at home, and almost done.
Promise to get it together and finish up the “lesson’s learned” post.

And just for the record, we had a blast.

 

[Al]

Ok, I admit I’m Tardy!
Tons of stuff to get straightened out here at home, and almost done.
Promise to get it together and finish up the “lesson’s learned” post.

And just for the record, we had a blast.

O, there you are John, Say, no big deal, but the local law enforcement has been calling, something about needing a forwarding address. Have no idea what they want.

Al-Ketchikan

 

[TONTOROSS]

Maybe he's wanted for the "salted dog" incident. Just a thought.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Crusty Chief seems to have disappeared! Could it be he is hiding? Maybe his fuel burn was more than mine. I have heard the USCG has been running a cutter up and down the Columbia River in "Search" mode.

 

[GFC]

Hey Tom, How are things coming with rebuilding your dock?

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Hey Tom, How are things coming with rebuilding your dock?

Finished about a week ago. 7 x 10 plastic shed and placed it on the dock. Re-did the temporary dock electric to a main panel in the shed. With the divers, demolition, new shed I am out about 12k so far. Prosecuting Attorney has the case. This will be a long process maybe up to 2 years.

 

[GFC]

Glad to hear it's done but sad to hear it could be a 2 year process. Curious about why a prosecutor is involved. Isn't this a civil matter?


On an unrelated note--we're bringing Beachcomber to PDX in mid-march some time to get new canvas done. Keep the winds calm on the river for us, will ya?


It's going to be a quick trip. Once we get to Tyee Yacht Club where we're leaving the boat for a couple of weeks, we'll meet with the canvas guy then get a rental car and head home. Lots of stuff going on right then and it's a bit of a strain to take a couple of days to take the boat down there.


Once he's done we'll get a rental car, come back down and bring the boat home.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Estamated 30k in damage and was arrested and charge with felony property damage. Once the criminal part is done, then we can proceed with the civil case if needed.

 

[Crusty Chief]

Ok. After much harassment by Tom we have finished the trip summary. We returned to our home here in Las Vegas early October and have been extremely busy with Home maintenance/repairs, doctor visits as well as family and friends visits. Time flys by as most of you know especially during the holiday season.

This trip was a very memorable one and we enjoyed the buddy boating with ASD, Thanks Tom and Kay. We look forward to more visits and cruises with you both.

Below is a cut and paste that is being prepared for our blog. And yes, we are behind on the blog also.

Life on the boat is at a different pace and we cant wait to return in the spring.

Trip Summary and Lessons learned, Alaska 2017


We have just finished our second extended cruise that started from our homeport of Salpare Bay Marina in Portland, Oregon. After traveling west on the Columbia River, we traveled north 15 miles off the Washington coast, through Pugent Sound, up through the inside passage of Canada, as far north as you can go in SE Alaska before turning around and heading south, ultimately returning to our homeport 166 days later.

You can read all the books, tech manuals, instruction books, discussions on forums and picking the brains of all those that have done extended cruises before, however, until you do a cruise of this distance and time, you have no idea what it takes. Yet, we met so many people that do this type of cruise year after year.

We would like to send a BIG THANK YOU to all the people we met who impacted our adventure. If your name and/or boat are not listed below, please let us know, because without you, this trip would not have been so enjoyable.

Tom and Kay Teseniar, M/V Alaskan Sea-Duction, Camarge 48,
Al and Carol Johnson, (Ketchican AL)
Jeff Merrill, our broker and good friend, jmys.com
Larry and Marcia Crass, M/V Hale Kia, Nordhavn 43,
Bill and Wendy Brown, Sea Badger, Selene 4314,
Eric and Kim Rimkus, S/V Gladiator, Beneteau 46
John and Cindy Hanson, M/V Lucky Girl, Selene 37
Russ and Missie Low, M/V Melissa Lynn, Selene 53
Dean and Teresa Klein, M/V Salt Heart, Selene 62
Rick and Pam Panowcz, M/V Jean Marie ,Selene 47
Kevin and Alison Jefferies, M/V Red Rover, Nordhavn 55
Walt and Joan Vennemeyers, M/V Manatee
Vaughan and Rita Balaam, S/V Baraka Bashad
Ken, M/V Hat Trick, Hatteras
Tom and Nita Sitterly, M/V Cygnus Argent, Ocean Alexender
Jerry and Suhwa Tompsett, S/V Calypso


Days we traveled 166
Number of ports visited 71
Nautical miles traveled 3,452
Statue miles 3,953
Gallons of diesel fuel 1,854
Fuel burn rate gallons 3.06 includes generator and heater
Main engine hours 606
Generator hours 565
Days at anchor 53
Days in moorage 113
Days buddy boating 116


Publications

We used several publications in order to plan, track and gather information throughout this trip. I’m sure that other publications are available, however these were the ones we focused on to help insure a favorable experience. By far the Waggoner Guide was the publication that we used the most for Canada and Exploring S.E. Alaska for navigating Alaska. We purchased many publications to help us. The ones listed below were used most often.

- Waggoner Cruising Guide by Burrows Bay Associates, WaggonerGuide.com
- The Inside Passage, Route Planning Maps, North and South Portion by Fine Edge
- Broughton Islands Cruising Guide by Peter Vassilopoulos
- Exploring Southeast Alaska by Don Douglass and Reanne Hemingway-Douglas


Navigation

The primary navigation that we used was Navionics on an IPAD. For $50 a year you have a very nice, user friendly, chart program. This became our primary navigation tool. All you need is an IPAD which has built in GPS so as to track your boat. If you choose to go this route, get an IPAD with as much memory as possible! You can store so many charts without internet access. After learning that there was a magnetic disturbance in our compass, causing the auto pilot to fail, we removed the 20 inch monitor mounted on the dash in the pilot house. John built a bracket for our IPAD (out of black starboard) and mounted it where the monitor was. This offered a much more favorable instrument for our charts. FYI, we found we had to cover the IPAD and most other instrumentation with a dish towel or tape to run after dark in order to preserve our night vision.


Docking

Locating moorage in Alaska was much the same as Canada, however, private docks were few and far between. Most of our time in Alaska was at anchor or in a public harbor. When possible, we sent an email in advance to reserve a spot. We relied on the VHF to radio ahead most of the time.

There are both state and city entities running the marinas. Some give you slip assignment, others provide transient moorage on a first come first serve basis. Wrangel, AK is an example of that. State run docks, such as Swanson Harbor, are available, but primarily established for the commercial fishermen. We found that as long as your willing to raft to one another, you can use the docks.

Our Alaska marinas and docks...

Ketchikan - South Bar Marina
Juneau - Harris Harbor
Swanson Harbor - Government dock
Hoonah Harbor - Marina
Wrangell - Reliance Harbor
Warm Springs Bay - Government dock
Coffman Cove

A few of our Canadian favorites that we returned to;

Hartley Bay / Gigat First Nation
Shoal Bay
Port McNeill (Steve Jackson’s)
Sullivan Bay
Lagoon Cove
Port Neville
Gorge Harbor
Shearwater Marina
Comox Valley Harbor Authority


Anchorages

Below are a few of our favorite anchorages;

Alaska;

Vixen Inlet
Thomas Bay
Snug Cove in Gambier Bay
Ell Cove
Red Bluff Bay
Portage Bay
Cannery Cove, in Pybus Bay
Shoal Pass Bay
Walker Cove in Fitzgibbon Bay
Shrimp Bay

Canada;

Lowe Inlet
Pruth Bay
Shoal Bay
Kwatsi Bay / North Broughton
Khutze Inlet / Northern British Columbia
Bottleneck Inlet / Northern British Columbia
Montague Harbor

 

[Crusty Chief]

Part 2

Internet and Cell Phone’s

In regards to "staying in touch", "while off the grid" we did much better this year. We changed carriers to Verizon from AT&T. Rates and coverage are so much better and we think Internet access along the BC coast improved since last year. We also had our portable hotspot from Telus and as long as we were close to cell towers, we had internet coverage. We installed a cell phone booster and life was so much nicer and it really extended coverage no matter what device. AT&T is the main player in S.E. Alaska and so once we were away from the main cities internet was pretty much non existent. But we still had Cell and text service. If we were to do Alaska again, we would probably get a temporary AT&T hot spot.
We were again disappointed by the marinas that advertised free Wi-Fi, as a general rule, the internet service was at best terrible. For planning purposes, plan on no Internet coverage, If you get it, feel privileged. If you are used to high speed internet service at home, your going be lost with any service you get, just saying.



Stores and Supplies

For the most part, once you travel north of the Georgia Strait, large towns or communities are non existing. Two cities that are on the north end of Vancouver Island are Port McNeill and Port Hardy and they are your last chance for major shopping. Once you head north of Vancouver Island around Cape Caution the population thins out considerable. One exception is Shearwater/ New Bella Bella where you will find small groceries and a chandlery. This is your last chance before Prince Rupert unless you include Kitimat. Again, the key here is preparation. If we didn’t have the Freezer, food storage would have been tough. We did bring the Food Saver and used it extensively. The marinas that have small stores have to ship the supplies in and that can be costly. Also, the locals in these areas know when the shipments are coming in, so fresh produce and perishables go fast. One last note, Alcohol is very expensive in Canada. In some places it is 2-3 times higher than even Washington State. Just be prepared for a bit of sticker shock. Supplies are readily available in Ketchikan, Juneau and Wrangell for S.E. Alaska. Smaller communities such as Hoonah and Coffman Cove are somewhat limited and a bit pricier, but we enjoyed them none the less.

If you need anything shipped into Alaska, we found that Frontier Shipping & Copyworks in Ketchikan was by far the best service. The address is 2417 Tongass ave., Ketchikan AK. 99901 They charge $1.00 per package, and after losing a few packages at USPS in Ketch we decided the “buck” was well worth it. This is where Tom, on Alaskan Sea-Duction, and we on Pairadice had our new windless shipped to.


Customs

Our experience with Canadian customs was a pleasant one. We checked in via phone at Bedwell on South Pender Island and Prince Rupert. Be honest and upfront with them and you shouldn’t have any problems. Customs was a bit more involved for the states. We were boarded both in Ketchikan and Friday Harbor after contacting them via phone and although a delay, the inspectors verify your paperwork and a face to face of all persons onboard.


In Closing

We are now, back in Las Vegas where we will spend the winter. The to do list is rather lengthy, with both personal and boat related projects. Our current plans are to cruise the Columbia and Snake River next summer, and prepare Pairadice for our southbound trip to Mexico in 2019.

Cheers all and we wish you and your loved ones a Happy Holidays!

 

[Ken E.]

John, we were with you and Tracey in Shearwater, Bell Bella. It was great fun to go out to dinner and compare notes. Hope to see you and Pairadice in the future. And I still have a supply of Alaska Amber that I keep on hand for you and John on ASD. Smooth sailing........
_____________________
Ken Hatt Trick

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Good write up John/Tracey.....

 

[GFC]

Great write up. The only thing wrong with your trip and the write up is that we were not alongside when you buddy boated. I can't wait!