Alaska

The passage from Kushiro to Attu, the westernmost point in the USA, is about 1350nm, which takes about six and a half days. Our previous passages were in the trade winds, where the weather is generally quite stable. This passage is most definitely not in the trades and has potential for challenging, variable weather. We watched the forecast for weeks. Once or twice each week, a low pressure system with seriously bad weather--winds in the 50 knot...

05 June, 2023 /

It’s salmon season and the purse seiners are out in full force.  As we cruise down the east coast of Baranof we see the seiners with their nets out, and their sein skiffs noisily pulling in their nets in the process of closing the net into a continuous purse.  The fish tenders are standing by ready to offload the fish as soon as the purse sein skipper gives the order. While in Petersburg, next to where...

10 July, 2018 /

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...

07 July, 2018 /

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...

04 July, 2018 /

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...

02 July, 2018 /

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...

30 June, 2018 /

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...

29 June, 2018 /

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...

29 June, 2018 /

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,...

28 June, 2018 /

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...

28 June, 2018 /