Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia – Part 4: Raleigh Tavern, Book Binder, Leather Maker, and George Wythe House

Continued… Upon arrival at the tavern, we were immediately ushered into a room that was lined with chairs. Fortunately, we’d arrived just as the doors were opening and got seats. Within minutes, it was standing room only. A black woman … Continue reading

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia – Part 3: the Capitol Building and

continued… After we left the blacksmith shop, we continued east down Duke of Gloucester Street to the Capital Building, which was at the end of the street. This was the side of the building. We had to make a right … Continue reading

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia – Part 2: British Food, the Courthouse, the Powder Magazine and the Blacksmith Shop

continued… We picked a restaurant called Dog Street Pub, which served traditional British food. It was decorated in the colonial theme and the staff wore period costumes. Eric ordered a sampler platter, which had ham, cheddar, stilton cheese (which wasn’t … Continue reading

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia – Part 1: The Governor’s Palace

Monday, July 14 — We were still confused about Colonial Williamsburg. According to what we’d read online, we needed to buy tickets to see the historic town at the Regional Visitor’s Center, which was about 3/4 of a mile away … Continue reading

Juneau to Ketchikan via Sitka

As mentioned in the previous blog post, reprovisioning was a major purpose stopping in Juneau.  While the stores are 4 or miles away from the harbor, Juneau has a pretty good bus system on which to ride.  In previous years we’d rent a car for a day to do our shopping but, because of having competition from cruise ship passengers, it became expensive ($200/day), even for a “rent-a-wreck” service, and require reservations weeks in advance.  For Costco, we take the bus to get to the store (or at least within walking distance) and then a ride share service to get ourselves and our Costco-size groceries back to the harbor.  For the Fred Meyer store, the bus stop right  is right next to the store and carrying the groceries (mostly produce) in shopping bags is fine.

2025-Cruise-212xWhen we arrived at the Statter Harbor in Auke Bay, the purse seine boats had been out fishing.  But their opening had closed and many seine boats returned to the harbor.  Since moorage was tight, on our last night at the dock we allowed a seine boat to raft to us.  Fortunately they were leaving early in the morning to head out for the next opening.  So, shortly after 5 am on Wednesday, July 16 we headed southbound in Stephens Passage.  The currents and wind were generally favorable so were able to get to Hobart Bay, a distance of 78 miles.  We dropped prawn pots in the outer bay before going into the protected cove where we anchored the night.

2025-Cruise-151xyThe next day, after pulling prawn pots (okay, but not as good as we hoped), we headed to Pybus Bay at the SE end of Admiralty Island, where we dropped the prawn pots.  We anchored in the cove created between the San Juan Islands, east of Pybus Bay. Marcia put down a “meat hook” to see if she could entice a fish to bite. In the early evening, we noticed the rod pointing downward and after some effort we had a 34″ halibut on board.  We had a fright when we heard snuffling and realized that some sea lions from acolony on the island south of the nearby West Brothers Island were cruising by. Marcia quickly got the halibut on the cleaning table and fileted it.

Following that success, the next morning we were hopeful as we pulled the prawn pots set the previous day.  Hopes were dashed by the poor results we had.  We decided to brighten our day by heading to Honeydew Cove and its excellent dog play beach. 

At this point, we decided to head back to Sitka to spend a few days with the forecasted good weather.  Sitka is a lovely town and our earlier visit stop had been hampered by rain.  We left early the next day, Saturday, July 19, headed up Chatham Strait, turned NW at Peril Strait then timed the evening slack at Sergius Narrows.  We anchored the night in Schulze Cove, just south of the narrows.

2025-Cruise-215xWe arrived back to Sitka in the sun the next morning, and immediately took Drake to the nearby dog park. We also walked to the Harbor Mountain Brewery for our lunch of pizza and a salad.  The flowers in the meadows through which the trail runs were in full bloom. The next day our friends David and Mary Kay from the Diesel Duck, Shearwater, returned to Sitka and they came over for appetizers in the evening. For our last day in Sitka, we got our ice cream fix from milk shakes at the classic-style fountain in the Harry Race Pharmacy.  We also picked up a fourth prawn pot at the LFS Marine Supply store.

We left Sitka the morning of July 23, retracing our route from a few days before. The stretch down Chatham Strait to the entrance of Takatz Bay (our anchorage for the night) was a real grind as we had head winds and an adverse current all of the way.

The next day had us heading further south to Gut Bay.  We dropped prawn pots in our usual spot and anchored in the south cove.  The winds coming from offshore traveling over the mountains of Baranof Island found their way into the anchorage until the late evening.

2025-Cruise-225xThe next morning, July 25, we hauled up a mediocre numbers of prawns in our pots, decided not to reset and headed over to Honey Dew Cove. Once again, Drake applauded our decision when he got a couple of play sessions on the gravel beaches there.

From Honey Dew we timed our entrance to go into Wrangell Narrows on the dying flood current.  Shortly before the southern terminus of the Narrows, we pulled off and anchored on the SW side of Keene Island.  It was a new anchorage for us and came recommended by David Cohn on Shearwater.

The following morning we exited Wrangell Narrows, and made our way down Zimovia Strait along the west shore of Wrangell Island.  A gill net opening was scheduled to start at noon and we managed to get south of the area before the gill netters started to string their nets across the channel.  We dropped prawn pots before we headed into Thom’s Place for the night. The weather was sunny but it also came with afternoon sea breezes that stayed a steady 15 knots until the sun began to set.

2025-Cruise-229xThe next morning’s prawn harvest was pretty good but we were in our “homeward bound” mode and so headed south to Santa Anna Inlet.  Prawn pots were dropped in Sunny Bay and on the south side of Deer Island before we anchored for the night.  Clouds had moved in so the afternoon sea breezes were absent.

We retrieved a disappointing number of prawns from the four pots we had set the day before, but being hopeful, we dropped two pots in Vixen Inlet.  After the pots were down, we anchored nearby in a somewhat exposed open bight.  Despite some early evening winds, the weather was kind to us and conditions were good overnight. 

With a very early start and retrieval of the prawn pots (a “so-so” haul), we headed down Clarence Strait to Ketchikan.  We arrived in Bar Harbor about 11:30 AM on Wednesday July 30.

Leg Statistics – 15 Days, 586 miles, 100.1 Engine Hours

Juneau to Ketchikan via Sitka

As mentioned in the previous blog post, reprovisioning was a major purpose stopping in Juneau.  While the stores are 4 or miles away from the harbor, Juneau has a pretty good bus system on which to ride.  In previous years we’d rent a car for a day to do our shopping but, because of having competition from cruise ship passengers, it became expensive ($200/day), even for a “rent-a-wreck” service, and require reservations weeks in advance.  For Costco, we take the bus to get to the store (or at least within walking distance) and then a ride share service to get ourselves and our Costco-size groceries back to the harbor.  For the Fred Meyer store, the bus stop right  is right next to the store and carrying the groceries (mostly produce) in shopping bags is fine.

2025-Cruise-212xWhen we arrived at the Statter Harbor in Auke Bay, the purse seine boats had been out fishing.  But their opening had closed and many seine boats returned to the harbor.  Since moorage was tight, on our last night at the dock we allowed a seine boat to raft to us.  Fortunately they were leaving early in the morning to head out for the next opening.  So, shortly after 5 am on Wednesday, July 16 we headed southbound in Stephens Passage.  The currents and wind were generally favorable so were able to get to Hobart Bay, a distance of 78 miles.  We dropped prawn pots in the outer bay before going into the protected cove where we anchored the night.

2025-Cruise-151xyThe next day, after pulling prawn pots (okay, but not as good as we hoped), we headed to Pybus Bay at the SE end of Admiralty Island, where we dropped the prawn pots.  We anchored in the cove created between the San Juan Islands, east of Pybus Bay. Marcia put down a “meat hook” to see if she could entice a fish to bite. In the early evening, we noticed the rod pointing downward and after some effort we had a 34″ halibut on board.  We had a fright when we heard snuffling and realized that some sea lions from acolony on the island south of the nearby West Brothers Island were cruising by. Marcia quickly got the halibut on the cleaning table and fileted it.

Following that success, the next morning we were hopeful as we pulled the prawn pots set the previous day.  Hopes were dashed by the poor results we had.  We decided to brighten our day by heading to Honeydew Cove and its excellent dog play beach. 

At this point, we decided to head back to Sitka to spend a few days with the forecasted good weather.  Sitka is a lovely town and our earlier visit stop had been hampered by rain.  We left early the next day, Saturday, July 19, headed up Chatham Strait, turned NW at Peril Strait then timed the evening slack at Sergius Narrows.  We anchored the night in Schulze Cove, just south of the narrows.

2025-Cruise-215xWe arrived back to Sitka in the sun the next morning, and immediately took Drake to the nearby dog park. We also walked to the Harbor Mountain Brewery for our lunch of pizza and a salad.  The flowers in the meadows through which the trail runs were in full bloom. The next day our friends David and Mary Kay from the Diesel Duck, Shearwater, returned to Sitka and they came over for appetizers in the evening. For our last day in Sitka, we got our ice cream fix from milk shakes at the classic-style fountain in the Harry Race Pharmacy.  We also picked up a fourth prawn pot at the LFS Marine Supply store.

We left Sitka the morning of July 23, retracing our route from a few days before. The stretch down Chatham Strait to the entrance of Takatz Bay (our anchorage for the night) was a real grind as we had head winds and an adverse current all of the way.

The next day had us heading further south to Gut Bay.  We dropped prawn pots in our usual spot and anchored in the south cove.  The winds coming from offshore traveling over the mountains of Baranof Island found their way into the anchorage until the late evening.

2025-Cruise-225xThe next morning, July 25, we hauled up a mediocre numbers of prawns in our pots, decided not to reset and headed over to Honey Dew Cove. Once again, Drake applauded our decision when he got a couple of play sessions on the gravel beaches there.

From Honey Dew we timed our entrance to go into Wrangell Narrows on the dying flood current.  Shortly before the southern terminus of the Narrows, we pulled off and anchored on the SW side of Keene Island.  It was a new anchorage for us and came recommended by David Cohn on Shearwater.

The following morning we exited Wrangell Narrows, and made our way down Zimovia Strait along the west shore of Wrangell Island.  A gill net opening was scheduled to start at noon and we managed to get south of the area before the gill netters started to string their nets across the channel.  We dropped prawn pots before we headed into Thom’s Place for the night. The weather was sunny but it also came with afternoon sea breezes that stayed a steady 15 knots until the sun began to set.

2025-Cruise-229xThe next morning’s prawn harvest was pretty good but we were in our “homeward bound” mode and so headed south to Santa Anna Inlet.  Prawn pots were dropped in Sunny Bay and on the south side of Deer Island before we anchored for the night.  Clouds had moved in so the afternoon sea breezes were absent.

We retrieved a disappointing number of prawns from the four pots we had set the day before, but being hopeful, we dropped two pots in Vixen Inlet.  After the pots were down, we anchored nearby in a somewhat exposed open bight.  Despite some early evening winds, the weather was kind to us and conditions were good overnight. 

With a very early start and retrieval of the prawn pots (a “so-so” haul), we headed down Clarence Strait to Ketchikan.  We arrived in Bar Harbor about 11:30 AM on Wednesday July 30.

Leg Statistics – 15 Days, 586 miles, 100.1 Engine Hours

Go Kart Racing and the FFX Family Show in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Friday, July 11 was a mellow day. In the morning, Eric changed seagull water filter. It was the filter attached to the kitchen sink that filtered our drinking water. Eric has been buying the same filter since Kosmos was new, … Continue reading

Darlington Nuclear Generating Station

The Darlington Nuclear Generating Station just outside Toronto has a capacity of 3,512 MW and generates about 20 percent of Ontario’s electricity needs, enough for roughly two million homes. The facility came online in 1990, and was in operation when we lived in Toronto between 1986 and 1997. Three of the four reactors are now…

Waterman’s with Miss Roxy and Portsmouth with Bigger Boat

Sunrise on Wednesday, July 9, 2025: Eric’s morning chore was to grease the windlass. We’d replaced our windlass last year before we left San Diego with an updated version of the same model. Eric was pleased to find that the … Continue reading

PA Cover Bridges (Part IV)

“Love is the bridge that joins all the world together.” -Frederick LenzChasing covered bridges isn’t as exciting as chasing waterfalls because they aren’t as unique as each waterfall. In fact they all look a lot alike, but it’s fun to find them and exp…