SV Panta Rhei Retirement Trip
| Vessel Name: | Panta Rhei |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Able Apogee 50 |
| Hailing Port: | Seattle |
| Crew: | Larry and Karen |
| Social: |
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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?
Position Report 5 on Passage from Newcastle, Australia to Noumea, New Caledonia
30 36.6'S:158 48.2'E
Making 6.0 knots on course 047 magnetic
Seas moderate to calm.
Under power.
Boy was that pork chop good. It was perfectly cut, thick with just the right amount of fat remaining and with a rib bone remaining on the pork loin. It was perfectly cooked, moist and lightly browned, served hot directly from the pan. And it came with fresh brussell sprouts and sweet potato and applesauce. I held onto the plate like it was trying to get away (because it was). After dinner Karen took the watch, I slept like my stomach was happy for the first time in days. Yay. Unfortunately, my euphoria has come to an end. I'm on watch now, 23:00 hrs local time. It is dark and the boat is rocking with the small waves.
Now I'm beginning to remember the time before the dinner. It was sunny and we had full sail deployed using up the last of the wind from the storm. The ocean is an incredible blue and clean. Unfortunately, it was a slow pace, generally 4 knots and eventually less than 3. We started the engine reluctantly.
I got new GRIB files. They show high pressure moving into the whole of the Tasman Sea. I'm reminded that 2 years ago an 80-foot schooner from Opua, NZ enroute to Sydney disappeared not far from here. No trace was ever found. Now there is a sobering thought when you are way out here, all alone. They had a storm, a really bad storm. Fortunately, and not by accident, we have the opposite. We have no wind at all. But if we wait, a storm will surely come, because storms are what the Tasman Sea is known for. So we start our engine and trust that wind will return someday and in some fashion which we can use. The GRIBs reassure us. But one more thing brings comfort: we are moving north and soon will be past 30 degrees north. This is a friendlier region of the Tasman Sea (except during hurricane season). In fact, I can observe now that while Australia is a friendly country with miles of beaches, it also has a lot of really really bad weather. We survived, but not without holding on by our finge
rnails a few times.
So what to do on watch now? I'm not sick. double Yay. Maybe I'll read a book? Or maybe I'll sit in the cockpit and relearn how little I can see on a dark night on a big ocean? Its a lesson in humility, that is for sure.
