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?

I did it!

23 March 2017 | Seward, AK
Larry Nelson
Remember that our adventure is "mission driven". This winter we are in Alaska, where it turns out to be dark and cold and snowy and windy. What's the mission?

We decided to see if we were too old to ski. Considering that last year Karen broke her hip and that I had "hurting" knees, it was a real question. We deployed all our forces on this mission. We started eating carefully. We went to the gym every day. We bought a AWD car and a roof rack to take the skis. We bought skis and (the first wonder) Larry found ski boots that fit. It wasn't cheap. We bought season passes at Alyeska.

Then we started to ski. At first it was only a few runs per day. In spite of the gym, our legs were noodles. We got cold. It was only twilight between 10:30 am and 3 pm. We persevered through the winter: 26 days of skiing. By spring I found that we could now ski all day consecutive runs and that we could ski everywhere on the mountain, Karen a little less so than Larry but still doing it. Then March came to Alaska.

March is an awesome month. The sun came out and the snow covered the mountains in abundance. They were everywhere. Gleaming. One morning I noticed that some soul had climbed Mt Marathon (behind Seward AK) and skied down. I didn't think I could climb that mountain, but there was another alternative: Chugach Powder Guides. That is a helicopter skiing outfit operating out of Alyeska. I signed up. Karen stayed home to manage evacuating the body should things not work as planned.

Now I had imagined a pretty fantastic ski day. All I had to do was survive the whole day. That turns out to be truly difficult. I'm still exhausted 3 days later! It was more difficult than I imagined. The powder fields were there, but not continuously. We had to work our way across the glacier between powder fields. In between there was wind packed ridges, steep icy side hills, sun crusted deep powder, ice, rocks, gullies, DEEP holes into the crevasse fields to circumvent and winds. There was also sun, deep powder, shallow powder, under snow "features" to destabilize you.

Note, I haven't even mentioned the helicopter which is an awesome machine flown by true experts. We landed on postage stamps, flew mountain valleys in gusting winds, navigated around clouds, climbed like an elevator and spun like a raven in a thermal.

Our guide was fantastic. His first advice was "There are rocks here just under the snow. Follow me closely". I followed within 4 inches of his track. 50 feet later I hit a rock that he missed. OK I thought. I understand now. Do EXACTLY as I say. He kept apologizing for constantly talking, but to me every word was gold. And as the day progressed the reality of the mountain world revealed itself. It wasn't simple or easy but it was an ADVENTURE and it was REAL. Real is 100 times more interesting than imagined.

This day is the high end of my bucket list. My only regret is that I didn't do it when I was much younger.

Mission Accomplished!
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