SV Panta Rhei Retirement Trip

Vessel Name: Panta Rhei
Vessel Make/Model: Able Apogee 50
Hailing Port: Seattle
Crew: Larry and Karen
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18 September 2017 | Seattle
23 August 2017 | Prince Rupert
15 August 2017 | Anan Bear Observatory
19 July 2017 | Petersburg, AK
17 June 2017 | Hoonah, AK
03 June 2017 | Seward AK
03 June 2017 | Denali
25 April 2017 | Seward AK
23 March 2017 | Seward, AK
11 March 2017 | Seward, AK
23 January 2017 | Seward AK
06 December 2016 | Seward AK
12 November 2016 | Seward Alaska
14 October 2016 | Valdez, AK
21 September 2016
05 August 2016 | Seward, AK
26 July 2016 | Whittier, AK
19 July 2016 | Valdez, Alaska
05 July 2016 | Seward, Alaska
Recent Blog Posts
18 September 2017 | Seattle

We are back in Seattle

It feels like home. Of course we are not in Silshole. Maybe we will be, someday, but there is a list and we are on it. In the meantime we are at Bainbridge Island Marina.

23 August 2017 | Prince Rupert

The dinghy holds air again

It wasn't very nice of the bear to tear the fabric across a seam. We were worried that we couldn't patch it but tried anyway. The glue had a job to do and it did it!

15 August 2017 | Anan Bear Observatory

A Grizzly Bear damaged our dinghy

We were visiting the Anan Bear Observatory south of Wrangell. It is one of the best places to visit in all of SE Alaska BECAUSE it has bears. But (as we learned) there is a dark side to this bear concentration. And of course, there is a story to tell.

19 July 2017 | Petersburg, AK

Moving On

"No matter where you go, there you are" (unknown reference). By now we have been there and done that. Most recently that included Cannery Cove on Admiralty Island. The photo shows the quiet grandeur of the setting with Ron and Suzie's boat SV Tango in the foreground. It has been like that for the last [...]

17 June 2017 | Hoonah, AK

We are in Hoonah, SE Alaska now

We got something resembling a high pressure ridge so we moved expeditously across the Gulf of Alaska. The crossing took three days and weather stayed as forecast. That was a very good thing. The weather changes in the far north far more rapidly and dramatically than we ever experienced in the more southern [...]

03 June 2017 | Seward AK

Crossing the Gulf of Alaska

We are still in Seward, AK. Now that spring has come, why not start south?

So, how did this (easy) passage go?

24 October 2014 | Port Stevens, Australia
Larry Nelson
this was supposed to be an easy fast passage. Most of it was, but not all of it. A line of thunderstorms in the middle of the night messed up the last 50 nm.

The plan was to arrive the second day in the morning. But we sailed very fast, causing us to arrive at midnight. So all the difficulty happened in the middle of a very dark and stormy night. Winds built to 42 knots, which was too much even for a very Reefed jib (no mainsail or storm try sail). When we turned east on our approach, the lee side lines on our stack pack failed, spilling the mainsail all over the deck and, because of the extreme wind the sail moved over the lifelines. Think, flapping like a flag in a hurricane. At first I voted to just leave it be, but Karen wanted to wrap it in a rope tied around the boom. This was in the middle of really bad wind and sea conditions, the sort of conditions that make you really want to stay in the cockpit. And don't forget it is dark, severe dark. But need triumphed over fear and we did it without washing either of us overboard.

So why was all this happening to us? Especially why did it happen during our arrival, our most critical part of the passage? The culprit was a line of thunderstorms, shown in the picture. We are the blue dot. The storms shown are part of a much larger system, mostly south of us.

Back to our story, as we approached we could see lightening. Of course that was all we could see. To get into this harbor, you need to thread a needle around a sandbar. You have to do this navigation in very rough conditions. We depend on our map and autopilot to set this up. We need to get close enough to see and identify the range. While we are doing this we really need these aids. And the thunder and lightening is threatening them. I'm about a heartbeat away from turning around and running back out to a very unfriendly sea. Better sick than dead, advise you can take seriously.

So, I called Barabara Cole, our friends ashore...at 2am. Friends take notice. We are liable to show up on your doorstep at any time! Barbara gave me some important local knowledge, including the facts of the weather behind the thunderstorm and the bay conditions. And we continued.

Inside the bar, things were much better. Even the wind calmed. (But of course it remained severe dark and we were tired and a little seasick.) We managed to navigate all the shoals and anchor. Smooth water and a big anchor down never felt so good.
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