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?

Diving in Fiji

04 June 2013 | Savusavu Fiji
Larry Nelson
We finally went diving in Fiji. This place is famous for its soft corals, big fish, clear water and friendly divemasters. A group of cruisers got together and got a discount on a great dive trip with Koro Sun Diving. We were picked up at our marina and driven south across the island to a resort fronting on the ocean. A developer had dug out a lagoon and a passage through the reef that gave ready access to great diving. The water was about 81F and clear. We chose the bubble coral dive instead of the pelagic (i.e. shark) dive for the first tank. This is diving as everyone dreams it is. You can see all the other divers....even when they are spread out. There is an underwater wall with passages that move you through a web of short "caves". You are in about 70 feet of water with surf breaking above you...giving constant motion to the soft corals. There are lots of fish, both big and small. I saw a cod hiding in the coral after he was pointed out by the divemaster. I had to look a long time and I was only about a foot away. The camoflauge is amazing. It was a big cod, too.

Karen is getting pretty proficient. She liked the "magic coral" that changes color dramatically when you touch it.

The second tank was a drift dive where you move with the current and the boat picks you up wherever you surface along the way. There were 4 divemasters for 10 customers and they do a pretty good job of keeping all of us safe. Although some of the divers opted for the pelagic dive which you might think was at least somewhat dangerous, the dive masters reported that the most dangerous fish were the trigger fish during mating season (which doesn't happen until October). Trigger fish defend their nests and have a solid bite (though not as large as a shark, of course).

Fiji looks pretty world class when viewed from a dive boat!
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