Hawaii to Alaska, the last installment

Alma checks for “targets,” or ships, in the fog.

6/25

Day 15
From the log:
Grey, cold. Grey, cloud blanket, cold. Overcast and cold.
Maddy climbs the ratlines and notes, No whales. Some birds.

6/26
Day 16
Caitlin
We’re eating all our meals on deck again. Three days of cold north headwinds had been keeping everyone but the watch stander below decks for breakfast and lunch. But even now that it’s a bit warmer with southerly winds from astern, we still need about 10 minutes to dress for dinner. And I’m not talking about powdering noses and slipping into something lovely.

Going on deck in the evening and, especially for night watch, is time consuming. By the time I’m on deck I’m wearing wool long underwear, and extra base layer top, a fleece sweatshirt—hood up to protect my ears, fleece pants, an insulated jacket, a fleece neck gaiter, a wool hat, and insulated gloves. Then the exposure suit. As Jason has pointed out, the exposure suits—basically full-body float suits—render us about as nimble as toddlers bundled in snowsuits. And what would a watch standing kit be without two pairs of wool socks, Xtra Tuff rubber boots and a harness?

We’re sailing–toes cold despite being all bundled up—on a broad reach toward Kodiak and all is well.

6/27
Day 17
Caitlin
Woo hoo! Wing and wing downwind at 7-8 knots! And for a moment we saw blue sky! Longing for hot showers.

Alma
Tomorrow is mom’s birthday! If we go at least seven knots, then we could get in to Kodiak Town tomorrow, but that probably won’t happen, so we will probably go into a cove further south or heave to and wait to go in till morning. Either way, we are making linzer torte for mom’s birthday!

Arlo looking at land for the first time in 18 days!

6/28
Day 18
Caitlin
Jason woke me for my watch at 0245 and told me to listen. Whale songs and whale squeaks. There was nothing else it could be. The sounds were with us for an hour or two, but we never saw whales—were they nearby or dozens of miles away?

It’s my birthday today. We celebrated at lunch on deck with a linzertorte, lovely cards and handmade items—necklaces, lanyards, poems—and the promise of a drink ashore soon. We were sailing 6 knots in a thick fog and over the course of the afternoon the fog just got thicker. We posted a bow watch. Finally, as dinnertime approached and blue sky appeared and slowly bled down to the misty horizon, we all saw it at once – the outline of Kodiak Island.

A little over 30 years ago, after a 17-day passage across the Atlantic, I sighted the island of Flores in the Azores on my 14th birthday. We’re in Alaskan waters now, being escorted toward safe harbor by albatross, a variety of storm petrels, shearwaters, auklets and puffins. There’s something perfect happening today.

Dinner saw us all on deck again as we glided at 6 knots wing and wing toward Kodiak. And then the humpabacks joined us, playing, waving their long pectoral fins to welcome us, breaching, breaching again and bigger, over and over.
The sun set at 2200. Maddy sailed us into Chiniak Bay. Midnight came and went with sunset colors still in the sky. Jason and I took Debonair into an open cove, waking up some sleeping otters (I kid you not) at 0120, which brings us to . . .

6/29
Day 19
All
We dropped anchor in still water at 0130. For each of us, this our first time in Alaska. It’s so perfectly quiet.

Thanks for following us on our passage. We’ll post pictures from Kodiak Town soon.

Coming into Chiniak Bay. Midnight.

17 thoughts on “Hawaii to Alaska, the last installment”

  6. HOORAY! Welcome back to the continental U.S…. hoping landfall brings you rest and hot showers!

    Love, Meg, Mike, Oliver and Brendan (currently on our way home from picking 90 lbs if blackberries for jam…)

  7. Hooray for a safe passage to Alaska! Happy Birthday Caitlin!!! What a spectacular way to celebrate your day. The sunsets look incredible and I love hearing about the whale sightings. Enjoy your time in Kodiak and Alaska and we look forward to seeing and hearing more about it!

  9. Dear crew, and Caitlin – Happy Birthday! We will save a night to celebrate with you when you are back. What a treat to have sea life and whales come together to play all around your boat?
    Thank you so much for the wonderfully written posts. We are so transported by your adventures. Happy landing in Kodiak to you all!
    Ingrid

  10. So awesome getting to live vicariously through your adventures! Thanks so much for sharing, I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment!
    – David D

  11. So awesome getting to live vicariously through your adventures! Thanks so much for sharing, I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment!
    – David D

  12. Happy birthday, Caitlin. At that latitude, you could likely celebrate for nearly 24 h.
    So glad to hear if your arrival at Kodiak. Hope you are able to connect with Roxanne at some point.
    Lots of love. SF

  13. Happy Birthday Caitlin! What a magical entrance to the beautiful land they call Alaska. I can’t wait for the next installment!

    Love from Kansas,
    Lou Anne

  14. An amazing trip to Kodiak, especially the last part with the welcoming sights and sounds of the whales. Linzertorte for Caitlin’s birthday must have been very delicious. Happy belated birthday and it surely was a special one. Looking forward to reading more of your adventures.

  15. Family and Maddy too,
    Your blogs are followed closely by us and seversl sailing friends here in Jackson Hole. We are astonished at the sealife you are seeing and hearing and
    Join your emails friends and followers in wishing you, Caitlin a Happy Birthday.
    Your photos and descriptions bring is along with you! Wonderous, wild Alaska. We k know about layering of wool and synthetics, but nothing of
    The suits you all wear on deck. We have Googled the particulars, but are immensely curious where you have room for all of them AND all of your layers too? Debonair must appear to have a crew of 10 rather than five!! What did she weigh as you left Kauai?
    Glad she is performing so beautifully and echo Suzes’ thoughts in hoping you can connect with Roxanne northeast of you in Turnigan Arm:Anchorage!!
    Thinking of your incredible lives in a new state to all of you(Maddy also?)
    Love forever, Joanie Espe Pearl and Cooper

  16. Family and Maddy too,
    Your blogs are followed closely by us and seversl sailing friends here in Jackson Hole. We are astonished at the sealife you are seeing and hearing and
    Join your emails friends and followers in wishing you, Caitlin a Happy Birthday.
    Your photos and descriptions bring is along with you! Wonderous, wild Alaska. We k know about layering of wool and synthetics, but nothing of
    The suits you all wear on deck. We have Googled the particulars, but are immensely curious where you have room for all of them AND all of your layers too? Debonair must appear to have a crew of 10 rather than five!! What did she weigh as you left Kauai?
    Glad she is performing so beautifully and echo Suzes’ thoughts in hoping you can connect with Roxanne northeast of you in Turnigan Arm:Anchorage!!
    Thinking of your incredible lives in a new state to all of you(Maddy also?)
    Love forever, Joanie Espe Pearl and Cooper

  17. A m always amazed at the trials and tribulations you all endure in the name of sailing!!!. I’m envious of your passion. Hope you get a good respite on Kodak.

Comments are closed.