Thu Oct 27 18:59:16 EDT 2011, Yakutat Bay, Alaska
In 1792, Alessandro Malaspina, an Italian nobleman and Spanish Naval officer, was looking for the Northwest Passage for the King of Spain. Sailing up Yakutat Bay until stopped by the ice from the glaciers, he named the NE part of Yakutat Bay Puerto del Desengano (Disenchantment Bay).
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Comments [5]
I don't recall the temperature...definitely above freezing so not really cold , probably about 5C/40F. Temperatures have dropped in the last week, and are much closer to freezing now.
The growlers and bergy bits aren't really a danger to the hull, at least at low speeds and in low concentrations. The hull is designed to handle a lot of ice pressure, and to be forced up in the case of a lot of pressure (rather than be crushed), but there are no ice ratings for yacht-sized vessels.
The ice is definitely a danger to the propellers if they hit a big piece (which doesn't move fast out of the way) or if a piece gets between hull and prop so prop blade takes a big load. With no/light winds and daylight, when able to see the ice and stop the propellers before they hit it, there is no problem.
As for going south, we're all for the idea--just waiting for the wind to do something other than strong to storm-force headwinds for long enough to get down the coast and inside :).
Wed Oct 26 21:16:46 EDT 2011, Yakutat Bay, Alaska
Bergy bit from Hubbard Glacier.
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Wed Oct 26 21:14:59 EDT 2011, Yak
Growlers in front of the Hubbard Glacier.
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Mon Oct 24 19:41:52 EDT 2011, Yakutat Bay, Alaska
The Hubbard Glacier is the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska. We sailed and then motored up Yakutat Bay to have a look at it.
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And are those growlers or bergie bits in the foreground? (the white pieces in the water, not the humans aboard)
Looks like Ralf is in Juno giving a talk at the Prospector on Wed. If you go to Juno, I have a 5000# anchor/buoy/dock you can use.
I'm in Arizona 'til 11/17 so I'll miss you.
Good to see you are making progress down the coast before the winter sets in. Are you planning on wintering in BC? My friend Bob McDonald, I believe you met him at Bluffers last year, is now living in Victoria. I will be seeing him soon and will let him know about your successful journey. Let me know when you are in good email territory and I will send you my latest horrific tale from Lake Ontario.
Brian
Timothy, thanks, the small ice pieces in the foreground are growlers. Growlers are pieces of ice less than 5m (15') long, bergy bits are 5m to 15m(49') long.
Victor, yes, Canadian border is quite close by, but not by water. That pass between Russel Fjord and Disenchantment bay is something I was trying to avoid, as it certainly does seem difficult.
Andy, sorry I will miss you when I do get south. I am still in Yakutat--weather hasn't been quite good enough for Issuma (Ralf has a significantlyfaster speed under power, so he was able to make it out when I was not) to make it past Cape Spencer before the next lows yet. I came close to being in Graves Harbor for the current storm, but didn't feel I had enough time to prepare for the storm in an anchorage I'd never been to before. Thanks very much for the offer of your mooring.
Brian, I'm actually just late enough that winter seems to have set in :). I have pretty good internet access at the bar here most days, and would like to hear your story.
Tue Oct 18 18:15:59 EDT 2011, Yakutat Bay, Alaska
Yakutat Bay is beautiful. As could be expected for Alaska in October, it rains a lot.
The Facnor furler was giving problems (it is fixed now), so we weren't using the main staysail.
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"* WIND...SOUTHEAST WIND 25 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS POSSIBLY REACHING UP TO 60 MPH OR HIGHER.
* TIMING...WINDS WILL BE INCREASING TUESDAY STARING IN YAKUTAT AND SPREADING DOWN THE OUTER COAST THROUGH THE DAY. PEAK WINDS WILL BE LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO TUES EVENING BEFORE DIMINISHING LATE TUESDAY EVENING.
Stay safe!
A
The problem with the furler was that the stay needed tightening. The way they made the furler, adjusting the stay requires disassembling the drum (six pieces), so it is a job that tends to get delayed.
The weather in the Gulf of Alaska is generally windy, so waiting for a good time to move south is taking quite a while :).
Mon Oct 17 18:08:51 EDT 2011, Yakutat Bay, Alaska
We are waiting in Yakutat for a change in the weather. My friend Ralf on Imvubu (www.yachtimvubu.com) has been doing the same. We went sailing up Yakutat Bay to have a look at the glaciers (the weather in Yakutat Bay is often much different than the weather outside), so Ralf took this picture from his boat.
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Sun Oct 16 20:04:03 EDT 2011, Yakutat, Alaska
Being a very rural place (population about 500), there is lots of wildlife around Yakutat. The pipeline behind the deer is used to pump fuel from fuel barges to the fuel storage tanks.
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Sat Oct 15 19:45:28 EDT 2011, Yakutat, Alaska
Yakutat is a cannery and sportfishing town in the eastern part of Yakutat Bay. This train was used to haul fish from the cannery along the Yakutat and Southern Railway.
Maggie met me in Yakutat to continue the trip south.
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History of the Fish Train railroad:
http://goo.gl/g99hY
:-)
Doug
northwestpassage2012.com
That history of the Fish Train Railroad is great reading.
Thanks,
Richard
Sun Oct 9 19:10:42 EDT 2011, Gulf of Alaska, Alaska
While it looks otherworldly, this buoy transmits weather conditions for use in forecasting. This is called an ODAS (Ocean Data Acquisition System) buoy. I'd been listening to weather conditions from this buoy on the VHF weather channel for a while (wind direction, wind speed, wave height and barometric pressure from these ODAS buoys are reported hourly).
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Richard
Sat Oct 8 18:55:37 EDT 2011, Gulf of Alaska, Alaska
I had a reasonably good weather forecast to leave Kodiak with. There was a big low with storm force winds nearby, forecast to stay far south of me. I wasn't completely convinced it would do as forecast, so I took a longer route, more around the Gulf of Alaska than straight across it, so I would be able to get shelter somewhere if conditions changed.
This is Cape St Elias, at the end of Kayak Island on the eastern side of the Gulf of Alaska. I came close to shore here to use the Iridium satellite phone. The satellite airtime plan I am using is for Alaska and Canada. I didn't realize when I bought the airtime that the Gulf of Alaska would not be considered Alaska (which is reasonable, if not advertised), I sailed close to Middleton Island (in the middle of the Gulf of Alaska) to use the phone also, but Iridium doesn't seem to consider Middleton Island to be part of Alaska, so the connections were rejected.
Several hours after Cape St Elias, the wind went against me, and I hove-to for most of a day, waiting for the wind to change and catching up on sleep.
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Getting a few days of favorable winds for a straight-line course isn't so easy this time of year ;)
Patience seems best for sailing coastwise now...lots of waiting for a break and being prepared to take advantage of whatever shelters the coast provides.
