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?
Snorkeling over a Grumman Hellcat wreck and meeting very nice Fijians
thunderstorms. It is very well set and showed no evidence of dragging. The only issue is that we have quite a bit of scope out and there
is a reef that will get pretty close if the wind goes strong from the west. Last night the wind did just that when a thunderstorm came
through. Because of the darkness and the rain I couldn't see the reef, but the depth sounder said we were still in 42 feet of water. The
way reefs work, we might have been within 6 inches, but that was enough. Luck. We continue to need it.
Today we hiked across the island to Spitfire Cove, an idilyic lagoon featuring a WW2 Grumman Hellcat that landed in the water after
running out of fuel. There is an 83 year old man and his 76 year old wife living there. They appear to be perfectly happy living a
subsistence life. They appear quite healthy. Food is easily gathered and it is never very cold. They have a traditional Fijian home (but with
a pine floor and pre-hung doors). The walls of the home and the roof are thatched and held together without nails. They served us
coconut milk for a drink. They have no generator, but do have a cell phone with a solar charger. They also have solar powered LED
lights for their living room. Life off the grid here is actually quite nice. Their living area was as nice as we have seen anywhere. While we
were visiting a cousin came by with half a gunny sack of crabs. It turns out you can catch them by hand in the nearby stream. They are
small, but since they are land crabs you can keep them alive just by feeding them a few leaves. My guess is they are quite tasty.
Karen and I hiked on the beach to where the marker was for the Hellcat. The walk was on firm sand with beautiful palm trees, just like in
captain Ron (the movie). We swam out to the marker and saw the fuselage and empenage but the engine and propellor were somewhere
away from the marked site. Still, the water was warm and clear and we enjoyed our swim.
Returning to our side of the island was somewhat of a let down. The wind is from the wrong direction so our boat is rolling and rocking.
We expect the wind to get lighter tomorrow and the skies to clear so we can move on to a smoother anchorage.
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Position: 17 04'54.92 S, 177 16'39.50 E
Course: Stopped.
