Last Supper

with friends, Kumer & Antonia and Noel & Kathy. Kumer is an avid fisherman who loves salmon; our northwest Pacific carving departure gift is to leave a reminder for them to visit us there.

Departure Day

May 16, 2017. Winds were blowing hard but it was the only window we had, so off we went.

Out Sokeh's Pass

and into the Pacific, tidying up our departure planning notes as we bashed into the trades.

Bye Bye

beautiful warm mornings.

We Won't

miss the FADs for sure.

After Days

of struggling to go east of north, we finally began to regain longitude we'd had to give up during the first 500 nm.

Sooner than

we'd hoped, we got cold winds and fog that stuck with us for weeks.

It Became

hard to keep our fingers warm with almost all of our gloves continuously wet. When we would bake bread we would dry gloves in the oven after the bread was finished.

The Off-Watch

bunk became our refuge. Of course only one of us could enjoy it at a time.

A First

for both of us - albatross. We had both Sooty and Laysan albatross (pictured) for much of the middle of the passage.

Our Genoa

was on duty 24/7 and suffered more than one tear. This first one was reparable; the second one is almost dead center and so we were unable to use the whole of the genoa for the rest of the trip. Conditions were too severe to think about trying to get it down to put up the spare.

Franny

the great coat was a life-saver. A wind-proof, waterproof, fleece lined coat we bought from a dive guide who was leaving Palau to return to Italy. In case you wonder, Francesca was her name.

A Friendly

pinniped who definitely wanted to join our crew. This day we were barely ghosting along; if we hadn't had lifeline netting he surely would have come aboard for a ride. As it was he stayed with us for a long time, rolling, diving, peeking...the curious life of a pelagic fur seal.

The Miserable

middle is when the water was 41 F. This meant the hull was 41 F and living inside the boat was miserable, but not quite as miserable as outside. Think of a damp, walk in refrigerator. These were the days when we lit the propane stove just to warm our fingers.

Water

became a problem when our watermaker stopped working. Already we were living in many (!) layers and washing rarely, and only critical parts. We were scruffy for sure.

July 1, 2017

At just about 9 pm local time, we were inside the breakwater at Sitka after power-sailing roughly 78 nm this day in blowing rain. At Cape Edgecumbe we had a close encouter with a cruise ship; our AIS was a godsend this day. The morning of July 2, we secured Carina to this transient berth at the Port of Sitka.

Friends

Randy and Gayle aboard Otter -who we last saw in Ecuador in 2006 - greeted us.

We Soon

found John of Toby's Tavern in Coupville, WA who flew into Sitka for a visit. It was such a wonderful feeling to have good friends to come home to! The Sitka Hotel let us in for a luscious lunch despite our still-scruffy appearance.

Getting Used

to the climate may take some time.

Our Arrival

coincided with Independence Day and we enjoyed the well-attended small town parade. The one and only Customs and Border Protection officer who checked us into the USA is the man carrying the American flag.

On July 5

Mt. Edgecumbe finally emerged from the clouds. This is the view from our berth!