Alaska Cruising

Alert BayJuly 16, Meet Stevie and Stella Beans: The best Grease Maker and Fisherman on the BC Coast              We left Goose Island, north of Queen Charlotte Sound at 0430 to ride an ebb tide down coast, and then caught a flood tide of 3-4 kts pushing us into Queen Charlotte Sound for a 1630 arrival in Alert Bay.  We wanted to get to Alert Bay before Stevie Beans left the next morning...

Friday the 13th. 53 18N 129 05W0500 Sun just starting to come upWe departed Prince Rupert yesterday morning and caught the ebb tide to ride south thru Grenville Channel and got big boost, hitting 13kn for a short time. That is a 5kn increase for our steady 8kn Starr.We were passed by Western Towboat’s 130ft Gulf Titan towing a 1x4 (100 x 400ft) barge loaded to the hilt with containers from SE Alaska heading to...

Red Bluff BayJuly 5&6, 201856 51N, 134 44WThe Land of PlentyWe ran down Chatham Strait after exiting Peril Strait with the current giving us a one and one- half knot boost.It is always a thrill to see the hundreds of streams cascading down the steep mountains on the East side of Baranof Island.  The snow is almost all melted off the tops.We pulled into Red Bluff Bay and dropped our 2 shrimp pots just inside...

Sitka, Alaska - Moored next to a 107 year old piece of Ballard Fishing History.Noodle and Lori flew back to Hawaii yesterday afternoon. Great crewmates and they will be missed. Sharry and I departed Sitka this morning at 12:30 today, the 4th of July. We found ourselves underway heading into a thick wall of fog as we entered Peril Strait. We were in a hurry to catch the 1600 slack tide at Sergius Narrows because...

On Saturday Starr punched out into the Pacific for the final time while Lori and I will be aboard. We had a twenty mile stretch at the southern end of Chichagof Island where there was no inside channel to protect us. Fortunately, it was another stellar day with light winds and nearly calm seas. After we cleared Chichagof we turned left once more and entered the narrow channels that run between Kruzof and Baranof Islands...

There are hundreds of small islets here on the Pacific side of Chichagof Island and a maze of narrow channels between them. Most of those channels are blocked at some point by submerged rocks making them impassable, but in a few places a boat as large as Starr can wind its way deep into the mess and find a protected spot to moor. We were in one of those spots last night, with the stern...

Starr powered through the calm seas across Cross Sound, the northern most entrance into the fjord land of southeast Alaska in calm conditions. Our destination for the day was Black Bay, a favorite spot of Don and Sharry's on the western side of Chichagof Island. We powered south along the coast of Chichagof for twenty miles and turned left towards the shore. A passage between smaller offshore islands appeared in front of us and the...

The might Starr is heading for a secret hidey hole this morning. The cruising pals that told Don and Sharry about it in 1997 made them promise to keep it a secret. We are going stealth on our position tracker and AIS to honor that commitment. If you are following our position on the tracking web site or AIS and see that Starr has disappeared, don’t worry. The AIS and tracker will be live again...

Honolulu to Prince William Sound to SitkaJune 27, 2018We left Honolulu on Starr heading for Dutch Harbor on May 28. I didn’t know it at the time, but there was a ghost on our ship. As we departed Honolulu, there were five of us on board: Don and I, and our guests/crew, Bill Leary (Noodle) and Clay Huchinson (both from Kaneohe), and Kyle Kim (from Honolulu). The “Ghost” was just a dim shadow at departure,...

Lituya Bay is a six mile long by mile and a half wide body of water that runs between the steep glacier covered mountains on the northeastern end of the bay and the ocean to the southwest. The entrance to the bay is a narrow channel only thirty five feet deep in the middle that quickly shoals on either side. With a twelve foot tidal swing, there is a lot of water that moves into...

Lady Luck has decided to stay aboard Starr as a member of the crew so far on this passage across the Gulf of Alaska. She has given us more than a day of glassy ocean out here as we head for Lituya Bay. Lori Lloyd, who is quite susceptible to sea sickness, is our canary in the coal mine and so far she is having a great time.Good luck is important out here. I got...

A Whale of a Tail/Tale!Hey Kat!This story is for you!Yesterday we were ready to leave Northern Alaska to head across the Gulf of Alaska to Sitka. Sharry had just mentioned that we hadn’t seen very many whales over the past couple of weeks and just then I heard a scratching sound against the side of Starr’s hull. It sounded like rough sandpaper rubbing and the boat moved slightly to the port as though it was...

June 26, 201859 41N, 144 32W;2300ZWe are making the 350nm crossing of the Gulf of Alaska heading to Sitka and just passed Cape St Elias on our port side, 75nm East of Prince William Sound.As I filled in the Ship’s Log I noted that we had covered 3165nm since leaving Honolulu with only 225nm of open water left to get to Lituya Bay Just North of Cape Spencer. The rest of the run to Seattle...

After some terrific glacier viewing we picked our way back out through the ice cubes to clear water. The spot where the ice ended was right over a submerged moraine, the ancient limit of glacial ice where rubble carried by the ice was deposited creating a shallow area. The moraine was very popular with the Otter. There were multiple rafts of as many as thirty of them floating around. It looked like some kind of...

Starr’s course wavered as she headed north, but we finally decided on Disk Island off of the mainland. On the way there we set our shrimp pots in 350 feet of water hoping for better luck than our first drop. We saw a small boat sitting stationary nearby and headed over to speak with them. They had just landed a thirty five pound halibut and gave us some tips on where to find more. We...

Yesterday we explored some awesome hidey holes here in the sound. Our guide book said that a couple of the coves in Jackpot Bay are cruiser favorites, and we had to check them out.We also decided it was time to do some shrimping and fussed around for an hour setting our two pots in 300 feet of water outside the bay. The pots, line, clips, and buoys were all new equipment Don bought in Dutch...

One of our consultants told us about the great glacier viewing in Icy Bay, so we headed in that direction after a pleasant morning in Otter Cove. It was like entering a different world as Starr approached the entrance to the bay. All of a sudden the water was full of small ice bergs, which we hadn’t seen before. We were trying to get close to Chegena Glacier, but the bergy bits got so dense...

It was late in the morning by the time we finished socializing with the couple off of the Nordhaven, so we skipped the hiking in Fox Farm and headed off toward our next anchorage. Some of our local knowledge experts had raved about the beauty of Bainbridge Passage, a six mile long channel into Prince William Sound between the continent and Bainbridge Island. This narrow cut is only a quarter mile wide in places and...

The seas flattened out and the skies cleared as we entered the fjords of Prince William Sound. Starr wove her way around headlands and through the islands to our anchorage for the evening at Fox Farm Bay.This is the southern most protected anchorage in the sound and is the first and last stop for many boats arriving and departing this cruising paradise. There was another boat in the anchorage when we arrived. They departed shortly...

The weather front passed through during the early morning hours on Monday wreaking havoc in Seward. Campers’ tents were blown down, leaves and branches littered the ground, and streams overflowed. We knew we’d made the right decision in staying put for the day when we came across an outhouse that had been knocked down by the gusty winds.Lori and I spent the day touring Seward. We went back to the Sea Life Center and to...

Shelia took us on a driving tour of Seward and then up to her new house that is currently under construction on Bear lake a few miles outside of town.  She and Al are about 2/3 done, and it will be a very comfortable home when it is finished.  She loaned us her truck so we could do some provisioning, but on the way back to town Don took a detour to have a look...

The Starr crew spent a drizzly and windy day exploring Seward.  We headed first to the Maritime Center where live seals, sea lions, otters, fish and sea birds can be viewed up close.  It is very well done, and it was a perfect day for that kind of activity.  I also checked out the Seward Museum/Library, and on the way back to the boat ran across this mobile taco stand down on the waterfront.  It...

The first time I saw Starr swinging at anchor outside of Kaneohe Yacht Club I was impressed by how immaculate she was. Everything was perfect. All of her finishes gleamed. Her stainless steel was blemish free. It looked like you could eat off of the engine room floor. She was in “boat show” condition. That’s how the Stabberts keep her looking, and that takes a bit of effort. As I mentioned in an earlier post,...

0800 position 60-07N 149-36W. Seward Small Boat Harbor Starr powered the length of Marmot Bay and at 9AM made the turn at Marmot Island leaving Kodiak and Afognak Islands behind. It was a cloudless windless day for our 100 mile crossing of the Gulf of Alaska outside Cook Inlet. We passed a number of logs and mats of floating debris mixed with kelp, more than we’ve seen elsewhere on the voyage. The birds were out in...

June 14, 930AM position 58-11N 151-46W. Marmot Island abeam to port, 1 mile distant.Lori emailed and asked me to include info on Starr’s position and daily run when I blog. I keep forgetting to provide that information, but if you want to know where we are at any time, just click on http://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Starr. This is a case sensitive link. We are a power boat that goes eight knots in almost all conditions. Starr will do...

Yesterday afternoon we experienced some significant tidal flow as we passed through and by the channels between the Bering Sea and Pacific Ocean. At one point we had more than four knots of current helping us along. We also had some tide that slowed us down but so far we are winning more than we are losing. Late in the day we crossed Unimac Strait, the eastern most shipping lane through the Aleutians. There was...

We tried all day yesterday to get Kyle and Sharry out on a plane, but the fog was so bad that all five flights into and out of Dutch Harbor got cancelled. We all spent the day in a holding pattern with multiple trips to the airport. Team Starr made the best of it though. Don cooked a great pot roast for dinner and we had movie night in Starr’s salon watching one of my...

On Friday many of the locals we encountered made a big deal about the weather. “We never have two good days in a row!”, most exclaimed. Yesterday the weather returned to normal; gusty winds, rain and fog. A good day for indoor activities. We had saved visiting museums and shopping for when the weather turned, so yesterday was the day.We spent a couple of hours in the Aleutian Museum before hitting the Aleutian War Museum....

The crew enjoyed a full uninterrupted night’s sleep for the first time in eleven days. After we got up, Clay cooked breakfast making us southern style cheesy grits, eggs, bacon, and toast.The pier we are tied to is as far from anything as you can get in Dutch Harbor, well beyond walking distance, so organizing ground transportation was our first priority. “Bong”, the Philippino fuel attendant who had helped us load diesel the night before,...

As we approached Unalaska Island yesterday the sea life around the boat increased significantly. We saw some kind of whale cutting the surface about a hundred yards away, but couldn’t tell what kind it was. A quick glance at our Alaska marine mammal reference indicated that there are more than a dozen Whale species that frequent these waters this time a year, and it could have been any of them. Some small dolphin jumped in...

This is Noodle’s daily blog.This morning’s dawn brought the best weather we’ve seen since leaving Hawaii. The wind is calm and the skies are clear. It looks like a beach day from inside Starr’s wheelhouse until you glance at the thermometer. 43 degrees is a bit cold for a beach day.We are seeing lots of bird life now. Flocks of puffins take flight as Starr’s passage disturbs them. These stumpy parrot like birds work their...

We are 291nm and 36 hours from Dutch. The wind has backed down to around 15kn from the WNW. I am an optimist so I’d like to think that the worst is behind us. Let’s do a brief review of what has broken or gone wrong.1st. There was this itsy bitsy 24vdc hot water heating fan that quit running and put out a lot of smoke. There were no visible signs of any burnt parts....

We didn’t want a repeat of yesterday’s joust with King Neptune, so Don experimented all afternoon with different headings and speeds. As a result we zigged and zagged and didn’t have a stellar day with the milage, but we did avoid getting whacked by any more waves. By late afternoon the seas had moderated a bit and we were back up to speed on a direct heading to Dutch Harbor.About an hour after the incident,...

This is Noodle’s daily blog on 5 June1200 position 47N 163W. 450 miles from Dutch Harbor“What should be the title of today’s blog?”, I asked Sharry.“Gray”, she replied. It’s an accurate description of what it looks like out here. The ocean is gray except for the breaking white caps. The 100% overcast sky is gray.The wind has increased and clocked around so that it is now coming out of the west at about twenty five...

This is Noodle’s daily blog on 5 June1200 position 47N 163W. 450 miles from Dutch Harbor“What should be the title of today’s blog?”, I asked Sharry.“Gray”, she replied. It’s an accurate description of what it looks like out here. The ocean is gray except for the breaking white caps. The 100% overcast sky is gray.The wind has increased and clocked around so that it is now coming out of the west at about twenty five...

This is Noodle’s daily blog1200 position 41N 162W, 790 miles south of Kodiak, AlaskaI think Starr would be more accurately characterized as a small ship rather than a big yacht. She has most of the systems of a ship and is nearly as complex. Let’s consider her hydraulic systems. Starr’s main hydraulic system is powered by the main engine. It provides power to the bow and stern thrusters and the anchor windlass. There is a...

Sunday June 3.The port stabilizer is making more chattering noise, where the torque arm is reversing direction in incremental amounts several times per second rather than making long smooth strokes. The starboard stabilizer is making a similar noise but to a lesser degree. I have reduced the Naiad Datum sensitivity settings to bare minimum with better results. The Velocity is at 40 and Angle, Acceleration and Heel are at zero. The port stabilizer is now...

This is Noodle’s daily blog on 6/2/18.We are smack dab in the middle of the North Pacific high pressure area now, but it is strangely overcast. Normally here in the high we would have clear skies, but the cloud cover has been almost 100 percent for a few days now. Otherwise it is typical high pressure weather; light airs and flat seas. We’ve expected to see the fabled North Pacific garbage patch, but so far...

MV Starr, Friday, June1.34 09N, 161 37W801nm from Honolulu1234 DTG to Dutch HarborBoth Sharry and I have just finished reading, “The Thousand Mile War” by Brian Garfield, published in 1969 and updated in 1995. The story is a factually accurate and riveting tale about the battles between the United States and Japan that took place in the Aleutian Islands during WWII. The descriptions of the weather and hardships, even in the summer months, had both...

We are slowly settling in to life aboard Starr. It’s the beginning of our third day at sea now and the crew are getting their sea legs. The wind and seas are beginning to moderate a bit as we approach the North Pacific high pressure area. In a day or so it should be flat calm. Barometric pressure has risen from 1013 to 1021mb.Four of us, Sharry, Clay, Kyle and I, are standing 3 hour...

V Starr is underway on her adventure to Alaska! We cast off from the Waikiki Yacht Club this morning at 810AM, and as I write this we are moseying north along the Waianae coast about a mile offshore. Starr’s cruising speed is a bit less than eight knots. We can go faster, up to about thirteen knots, but at the higher speeds we burn a lot of fuel and would run out half way across...