Tag Archives | Selene

Hope For the Future

By on August 3, 2014 in Furthur

 

i left the USA five years ago with a dark cloud of doubt about what the future of our country would bring. My experiences with younger people and the ever negative media left me with little hope, i felt that when my generation turned over the keys to the young, things would not go well.

Five years of living in close quarters and sharing life with a selection of young people from around the world has brightened my outlook. A few notable 20 something’s really started me on the path to hope. People like Madi Pip Stewart, aka Shark Girl and others were accomplishing so much.

It is with the flicker of hope and yet some real in trepidation that i hopped on “The Bus” to cross the country with a group of young intrepid travelers. We would sing, dance and rap our way to the Atlantic Ocean and one of the largest music festivals in the nation. I knew i would be around some drugs, professions of the problems of our time and probably the typical American disrespect for age. As one of the only “clean and sober” riders i pondered how much of a pain the drug takers might be. My sobriety is long lived and solid so i had not concerns for my safety, only the possible annoyance.

From the first day, all i saw was love, joy and a profound respect both for my age and sobriety. The young “Pranksters” took to me instantly and with warmth and sincerity. Sure there was some pot, but never on the bus and never the slightest problem for me, always after we got our work done and in camp.

Then we got to the Gathering of the Vibes festival. I remember rock festivals from the 60’s and their demise in the 70’s. the “scene” turned dark, heavy drugs, selfishness and violence replaces the peace and love of the 60’s. With this as a reference i was apprehensive for sure so when i found myself in the middle of a family loving, sharing, joyous, music loving crowd my fears vanished.

I have talked about the demise of the entrepreneurial spirit in the young, the lack of interest in being self employed, trying new business adventures and risking security. i felt the spirit was dead. Low and behold i found it in the most unpredicted place, the music festival. The kids i met followed festivals all summer selling their wares, t shirts, handmade art, body painting and an array of self produced products. Right down to the food venders the resulting high energy, dedication and hard hard work was evident all around. Some found a need in a small knitch market; solar cell phone charging, ear plugs or hammocks. Some were involved in the design, overseas production and marketing of their product (reminded me of me) All were full on, sell sell sell, and loving it. the American dream is alive and well, just wearing tie-dye instead of three piece suits.

hanging out in the “kids tent” making balloon wings for fieries.

I spent my days and nights hanging out at the bus, in the camp, doing balloon tricks for kids, and at Wharf Rat meetings, hardly the hedonistic activities of the past. i bounced from one nonprofit booth to another delving into real discussions of the troubles of our times. i found young, well informed, concerned and activist kids who listened intensely and were open to real discussion.

teenagers rockin “the School of Rock”

A pivotal moment came when i heard the “School of Rock” show, all high school rock bands doing some wonderful old tunes. With over 20 kids rotating on the stage to do expertly orchestrated renditions of Stone, Eagles and Hale and Oats songs ending with a group rock of “Love Shack” that left me quivering with joy. The kids shared the spot light, no super stars, did intricate solos and harmonized with multiple vocalists all while confidently having a blast.

l leave this festival with a revived hope for the future. This generation was not here to copy the 60′ they were here to learn from the past and grow, to carve their own world, a world i am sure will be a great one. So now i rest easily; we of the 60’s can happily hand over the keys.

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Happy Birthday Jerry!

By on August 1, 2014 in Furthur


It has been 18 years since Jerry Garcia joined God’s rock band and i have thought of him every day since. For the last few years i have been alone at this sacred time of year away from the tribe of fans he created.

This year i was far from alone, surrounded by thousands of kindred spirits at the Gathering of the Vibes Festival. This event was created by the vacuum Jerry left, the grieving tribe yearned for a congregation, a place to be with ourselves.

with the “Ferries” the official keepers of the children

So now we are at one of the best run, most coveted of all music festivals. Dead Heads of four generations are here all to love the music and all to collective wish Jerry Happy Birthday. Unlike the seemingly pagan heathenish festivals i attended in the 70’s, this was a festival of families, music and love.

The Wharg Rat becones to all who desire sobriety

One of the phenomena’s of the Dead Heads was the forming of the Wharf Rats in the early 80’s. Those striving to stay clean and sober but also enjoy the Grateful Dead shows, not necessarily compatible goals, Took AA to the Dead. So named for a Dead song about a drunk, the Wharf Rats have had a strong presence at all the shows since. They have enjoyed the strong support of the band and all the event promoters. One who is struggling can easily spot the yellow balloons and “Another Dopeless Hope Fiend” stickers and find support.

Arriving at the “Vibes” on the Furthur bus was simply the ultimate experience, none could be better. The festival site was perfect along the New Jersey shore, i walked to the shoreline completing my “Sea To Shining Sea” saga. The band list played like a FM radio show of 1968, original Grateful Dead members, many Dead tribute bands, Ziggy Marley and the sensational revival of the master of Credence Clearwater Revival, John Fogarty.

I will attend two weddings, entertain children with the event sponsored winged “Ferries” in the spacious family area, making friends from 4 to 64 years old. All here because of the love for family, music and the love of one man. Thank you Jerry, Happy Birthday!  

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Alaska 2014 – East Side of Baranof Island to Wrangell

By on August 1, 2014 in Spirit

July 27, 2014

Underway at 0745 in fog and rain, we followed “Salty Dawg” south along the shoreline of Baranof Island, passing Warm Springs Bay.  Just north of Red Bluff Bay we stopped to fish, since Salty Dawg had stopped and already landed a Coho salmon.  In just a few minutes we had also landed a nice Coho.  The action slowed down, so we continued south to Patterson Bay.  The visibility deteriorated and we entered dense fog, with only a few hundred yards visibility.  As we rounded Patterson Point we picked up “Maximo” on AIS, and then as the fog lifted we could see them deep in Patterson Bay.  Proceeding up the 6 mile long bay we could see the remnants of a huge landslide, which was new since our last visit in 2012.

Landslide in Patterson Bay

Looking up Patterson Bay

Fog rolling in along Baranof Island
We anchored near the head of Patterson Bay in 100 feet of water, in the lee of a small point which protected us from the SE wind blowing up the inlet.  Naturally, the rain returned in intensity as we anchored.

July 28, 2014

We pulled the anchor at 0800 to hit low slack tide at a possible halibut fishing location.  Anchoring in 200 feet of water we put down the lines, but only got a few nibbles, so we headed back up the east side of Baranof Island towards Gut Bay, a new location for us.  We saw Salty Dawg headed south and they told us that the Coho were thick in an unnamed cove south of Gut Bay.  We stopped and within 90 minutes had 8 Coho salmon in the cooler.  We stopped only because we were running out of freezer space.

Heading into Gut Bay we found out how bad the charts are.  None of our electronic charts had the correct land contours or correct depths.  We were glad that Maximo was familiar with Gut Bay and guided us into an anchorage that was in the uncharted section on Jeppeson C-Map and on dry land on the Navionics charts.  We ended up anchoring in 125 feet of water near the stream at the head of the bay a few hundred feet from Maximo at 1415.

Processing the 8 fish took several hours, and we finished just in time to have dinner on Maximo.  While eating dinner, Steve Oberto’s rod hooked up a halibut from the anchored boat.  Suspending dinner briefly and landing the halibut was a team effort; it was a 60 pound fish from 140 feet of water.  Steve said they have caught halibut at anchor in Gut Bay on numerous occasions.

Gut Bay anchorage, the rain quit for awhile
July 29, 2014

Sometime overnight the rain ceased and we could see most of the hills surrounding Gut Bay.  This is definitely a place to return to on future trips.  Moving our anchor location west would put us on a mud bottom, more to a halibut’s taste, rather than the rocky bottom where we were anchored.

At 0715 we departed Gut Bay.  It takes 45 minutes at our speed to reach the entrance where we were greeted by light fog and calm seas as we headed diagonally across Chatham Strait to the entrance of Frederick Sound.

The low visibility was replaced by heavy rain as we headed to another possible halibut location.  Arriving, we anchored in 210 feet of water and after about 30 minutes hooked a small 14 pound halibut.  That fish totally filled the freezer, so we will be looking for an additional small freezer when we get to Petersburg.  After several more nibbles, but no takers, we headed across Frederick Sound to Portage Bay on Kupreanof Island where we anchored at 1750 for the night.  The entrance appears to be shallower than indicated on the charts, so we will have to watch low tide in the morning.  We have now covered 236 nautical miles since leaving Sitka.

July 30, 2014

The wind calmed overnight and the rain finally stopped.  We are getting less enchanted with Portage Bay, even though the scenery is good.  The current, even deep in the bay runs at several knots, and with the rocky bottom in much of the bay the noise of the chain dragging is annoying.  The entrance depths are definitely less than charted.  We pulled the anchor at 0515 to minimize the ebb tide currents in the entrance, as did several other boats.  With the tide at zero feet, there is actually only 10 feet minimum at the entrance rather than 21!

Our alternate halibut location had too swift a current due to the minus tide later in the morning, so we slowly motored the 21 miles to Petersburg, docking at 1000 in the midst of many vessels unloading fish at the fish companies.  The smell was indescribable, but according to the local people it is the smell of money when lots of fish are coming in.

As we docked, it became apparent that all the anchoring has taken its toll in the forward battery bank.  Load testing showed one of the two batteries is failing, so we will judiciously use the pathmakers when docking to increase the battery capability until we can replace the batteries in the fall after we return.  We have a fallback solution when we get to Ketchikan if the one weak battery totally fails in the next week.

Across the dock was 49 foot Nordic Tug, “Scarlet Lady”, which moors right next us to at Anacortes Marina.  That now makes four boats from “A” dock which we have met up with in SE Alaska this season.  We also talked to the Millers on the Selene 60 “Hathor”, who we met for the first time, even though our vessels were delivered close to the same time in 2009.

July 31, 2014

The sun returned, finally after a period of fog that lifted by 0800.  After some last minute grocery shopping we got underway from Petersburg for the final time in 2014 at 1330 and headed south through Wrangell Narrows into Sumner Strait and eastward to Wrangell.  We managed to time the currents so that we had an adverse current from the middle of Wrangell Narrows to Vank Island, where we once again had favorable currents.  As we approached Vank Island, the water color changed to milky gray/green from the outflow of the Stikine River.  Arriving at 2000 in Heritage Basin we enjoyed the last of the sun as we barbequed flank steak on the flybridge without having to wear raingear.

We moored just behind Doug and Kaen Dance on “Peregrine”, who were also enjoying an al fresco dinner with guests on their flybridge.  Also in Heritage basin were “Seeker” and “Tranquility”, two more Selenes.  Wrangell seems to be a gathering place for Selene Trawlers.  In past years there have been as many as seven here at one time.

Later that evening we were surprised that a porcupine joined us on the dock.  What will we see next?

Porcupine on the dock in Wrangell
Our strategy for managing bow thruster and windlass battery power appears to be working, but there are still a lot of days to anchor before we return to Anacortes.

2014-22 Craig to Ketchikan via Bear Country

By on July 30, 2014 in Wild Blue

July 22nd through July 30thTuesday, July 22nd:  Today the rest of this week’s crew couples have arrived from SLO Town.  Chuck French ushered his wife Carolyn, Vince’s wife Marianne, and Alex’s wife Pat to Craig.  The Fonte’s and French’s…

On the Bus

By on July 29, 2014 in Furthur

tie die a wearing

music a blarin’

Pranksters a dancin’

bus a rollin”

So after the Test and a bit of mechanical work, ’tis a 1947 bus, Furthur hit the road for the next destination. We all settled in for the long roll down the highway, i found a comfy spot with some padding over the wood benches that would be my home for the next three days. As we go a bit slow, cars passed us all in bewilderment of the bus. Most waved, many took pictures, and even some dropped both hands of the wheel in their excitement.

my crew laminate

I had another of the many, “how did i get here?” moments as the reality of my blessing took hold. I am riding down the highway on the Furthur Bus as a Merry Prankster!! my coveted laminate stated i was Crew and that “Let it be known to all persons, Capt Brian is now and forever a Merry Prankster and was and is ON THE BUS.” The music started and the crew began to dance, we sang and swayed to the music, sang the songs of freedom waved at passing cars as we bounced through middle America.

The epithical moment came to me as the song Tiny Dancer played. The epic scene from Almost Famous was replayed as Bandaide, young Brian and the others sang along, “hold me close tiny dancer”. Hands trembling and tears flowing i cherished this moment and will for the rest of my life.

We passed by Chicago, through a corner of several states and after the sun had set we found our first destination, a wooden dirt road in rural Michigan leading to a field full of tents and the awaiting party. As we approached we all scurried to the roof for the first of many grand entrances. The wooded path opened to the field full of highly charged people as the Who’s “Magic Bus” blared from the exterior speakers. the overwhelming thrill of seeing the exuberant crowd all awaiting our arrival was breathtaking.


a dazzled fan

on the top of the bus

crowd greeting us

We climbed off the bus and were immediately consumed by the crowd. The warmth of their greeting and electrifying amazement brought the reality of who we were and where right up front, we were history, the history every young hipster was raised with, the history of my youth and theirs. We were the heritage they all yearned for. The long told myth was at their feet. The hippy gospel had come to Michigan.

new friend

the warmth of their hospitality was moving, i met so many young people all eager to hear of life on the bus. We danced yet another Dead tribute band playing under a makeshift tent. Fire dancers lit up the night sky, and bursts of flames exploded from a fire making contraption operated by a careful albeit bizarre team. All in a wooded secluded field somewhere in Michigan and now a place that will stay in my heart

body painting of course

We slept in our tents and bags as the party roared on all night and arose to the calling of the Bus’s bell. Packed up and on the road again more states flew by and middle America unrolled for us. Our next stop was in Ohio at an old rock quarry now a park. Again we made the grand entrance on the roof dancing and singing to the theme song, Magic Bus. This crowd was larger and even more welcoming, their excitement was contagious.

We partied to the local and very talented band, walked by the lake and enjoyed the best food in days. I even got a face painting done. After some calculations Zane determined he had short sided the next leg and we had best leave early, so at midnight we packed up and rolled out, leaving another place to remember.

Heading east through Pennsylvania and closer to the Big Apple, the topography changed dramatically. We were headed to Port Chester New York and the Capital Theater, hallowed ground for Dead Heads for decades. We rolled into the town and circumvented the low bridge then assumed our top of the bus stance as we cruised the town to arrive at the theater for a grand reception and huge party.

The miles, bumps and grab and dash diet was catching up to me so i relished the next day off and got a hotel room with young Brian. i savored my first meal in days that required a fork and ordered a huge steak. Well rested i await the finale, the Gathering of the Vibe Festival which takes place on the New Jersey shore and completes my Sea to Shiny Sea epic adventure..  

Photo credit: Colby Rex O’Neill and Matt Pidutti Puds

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The “Test”

By on July 28, 2014 in Furthur

This was going to be a very special day, the signs where clear. First i was panhandled by a homeless guy, and a compelling force told me to give and i would receive so i did. The next text from above came as i was in the local farmers market, sitting a…

Alaska 2014 – Departing Sitka for the final time

By on July 27, 2014 in Spirit

July 24, 2014

It has been 10 days since we have posted, primarily since we were back in Bellevue for a visit with family, routine medical appointments and checking on the house.

We carried some of our processed fish home as baggage and filled both freezers with 175 pounds of salmon fillets, halibut, prawns and crab.  We may have to buy a third freezer if the remainder of the trip is as successful fishing.

We had great visits with our granddaughter Josie, and her parents, son Sean and daughter-in-law Margaret.  One of the highlights was spending the day watching the West Seattle parade, where Josie was fascinated by the motorcycle drill teams with the flashing red and blue lights. 

Josie at the Hiawatha Park wading pool

Sean and Josie

Getting ready for the West Seattle Parade

Margaret and Josie watching the motorcycles
Our older son, Cameron is well into his new assignment as the store manager of the Helena, Montana Safeway, a great promotion for him.  We hope to visit Cameron in October.

We arrived back in Sitka on July 23, but by the time we had re-provisioned with fresh food it was too late to depart, so we spent a final night in Sitka Harbor.

Heading out of Sitka at 0710 for the last time in 2014, we headed towards Cape Edgecumbe, stopping at Vitskari Rocks to troll for a while.  In just a few minutes we had landed our last King salmon of the 2014 season, filling our licenses and then in another few minutes landed a nice Coho.  Within 30 more minutes we had another fish alongside the boat, but since it was a King, we had to let it go.  It was now only 0930, so we altered our plans and headed away from Cape Edgecumbe and north up Sitka Sound through Hayward Strait into Krestof Sound, then through Neva Strait and on to a Halibut hole on the way to Peril Strait and Sergius Narrows.

The Halibut ate the bait and ignored the hooks, so after a few rockfish were landed we pulled the anchor and transited Sergius Narrows, bucking a 4 knot ebb current for a mile or so and then anchored for the evening in Deep Bay.  Deep Bay was a maze of commercial crab pots, making anchoring a challenge, but we found an open area just behind Grasstop Rock in 50 feet of water.  By the time the anchor was down, the rain had returned as we processed our catch for the day, saving a filet of Coho salmon for dinner.

July 25, 2014

The rain continued all night and was still raining hard when we pulled the anchor at 0640 and continued eastward in Peril Strait, catching a boost from the flood tide.  The wind was initially light, but continued to increase to 27 knots as we exited Peril Strait, now bucking the flood tide and turned south into Chatham Strait.  The wind was blowing in excess of 20 knots, with 3 foot seas as we passed another potential Halibut location, much too rough for safe anchoring in 200 feet of water.

We continued south in increasingly rough seas which were coming out of Frederick Sound, ending up in Takatz Bay, where we still had cell phone coverage.  As we turned into the bay the seas rapidly subsided and the wheelhouse windows were no longer being drenched with salt spray from the wind waves.  The windows were now just drenched with driving rain.  There was one other boat in the inner basin of Takatz Bay when we arrived, anchoring at 1440, but by late afternoon the Krogen 48 “Salty Dawg” had arrived, and later the brand new 131 foot Delta yacht “Onika” also anchored nearby.  We found out from Salty Dawg that our other potential destination, Warm Springs Bay several miles south, was full of anchored boats as well as a full public float.  The weather forecast deteriorated and small craft advisories were now posted for Chatham Strait through Saturday evening.

Megayacht “Onika” from the wheelhouse, in the rain
Spirit has now covered 96.5 nautical miles since departing Sitka yesterday, nearly 10% of the distance back to Anacortes.

The rain continued, often heavy, with visibility often only ¼ mile throughout the night.  The sound of the rain against the hull even drowned out the sound of the waterfalls we were anchored in front of.

July 26, 2014

With the rain and wind continuing, we stayed at anchor in Takatz Bay, where even in the innermost corner the wind and waves were creeping in, gusting to over 21 knots, and driving sheets of rain against us.  We are glad to be at anchor.

The only upside we see is that with the heavy rain we are seeing more and more waterfalls appear, cascading down the hillsides.

July 27, 2014

The rain quit sometime overnight, to be replaced by light fog as we depart Takatz Bay, headed south out of cell phone range for the next several days.  We should arrive in Petersburg by Wednesday.

2014-21: The San Luis Obispo Cowboys are Back!

By on July 20, 2014 in Wild Blue

July 8th through July 20th: Sitka to CraigTuesday: July 8th:  Those cowboys from San Luis Obispo arrived today for almost two weeks of cruising in Alaska.  Vince Fonte, Marvin Dee and Bob Silva are Wild Blue veterans each having served aboard…

Chief Joseph, Hot Springs and the Red Elvises

By on July 18, 2014 in Furthur


After my voyage back in time in Cody i found one room available at Chico Hot Springs and booked it. This sent me back into the Park along the northern route after following the Chief Joseph Trail. Again i was overcome with emotion as i rode the windy path up “Dead Indian Pass”. The pass is so named for a wounded brave left behind by the Nez Perce who was killed by the US Army.

This was the last pass the tribe had to climb before easy access to Canada would find their freedom. The Calvary was again fooled by the tribe’s clever tactics and far behind. By this time the press and most Americans were rooting for the Indians and General Howard was in a political pickle, he had to win.

As i pass through these historic locations and read more of the history i ponder what Howard, Custer and the lot would think if they knew they went down in history as villains. Chief Joseph and the brave Nez Perce will always be remembered as the heroes of this saga. Their stalwart march to freedom, their military genius and the tragic end are known worldwide. I bowed my head in reverence to their courage.

Back down the road and down one of the most amazing motorcycle rides, zig zags a plenty into a lush alpine valley. There in the distance i see my first wild Buffalo herd, hundreds grazing away as if it were 1800. One came up to the road edge to pose. This is wildlife Mecca for photographers.

Out of the Park and at a lower elevation the cool mountain air warmed and off came the bundle of clothes for the short ride to Chico Hot Springs. The area is called Paradise Valley and for good reason. Many Hollywood folk have taken residence here including motorcycle icon Peter Fonda, i wonder if he saw my stars and stripes helmet ala Easy Rider.

The Chico Hot Springs are set in an old style building built many years ago, my room had a bath “down the hall”. The pools are wonderful and kept at a good hot temperature. This is a family place and packed with kids. I watched in amazement as the mothers scurried about so worried about their kids and doting to their every move. I thought of the cruising kids i have met and how they would just be left along in the pools, mothers knowing they had the savvy not to drown. I actually told one such exuberantly stressed mother she should read s/v Totem’s blog, she was not impressed hahaha.

The real treat came later that night when i joined a raucous crowd in the bar to dance to “the Red Elvises”.   This is a Russian rock band who does all comical original material to a tight and talented group of musicians. Five members who all played multiple instruments to songs like, ” Closet Disco Dancer” and the woeful tale of love gone wrong, “i want my Honda back”.

I awoke to another sunny Montana morning, packed the bike, paid my respects to the Red Elvises and hit the road, bound for South Dakota! All the day hearing odd Red Elvises tunes in my head, “Polka is the hit, Polka is the shit”.

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Alaska 2014 – Sitka Interlude 3

By on July 17, 2014 in Spirit
July 2-14, 2014

We alternated working on Spirit and day fishing out of Sitka.  We picked up one nice Coho on the 3rd.  Fireworks were on the evening of July 3, and we spent the evening with the Benson’s on Wild Blue, using the Grady White as our taxi to the other end of town where Wild Blue was moored.  The fireworks started at 1130 PM, so it was very late getting back to Spirit.

The rain left and a great sunset over Sitka harbor

July 3 Fireworks

More fireworks

Some of the local USCG – lots of applause for them!

The highlight of the parade was the flyover by 2 USCG helicopters
On the morning of the 4th we left the dock at 0450 and picked up Alex Benson.  By 0930 we were back alongside Wild Blue and transferring our daily limit of King salmon to Big Blue.  We have only one King salmon left to catch to reach our annual non-resident limit.  While fishing, we began experiencing intermittent throttle/gearshift issues on the main wheelhouse control head, so we used the corded remote control the rest of the day.

In the afternoon was the parade, which included a flyover by two of the USCG helicopters.  The rain held off until after the parade.

On July 5th, we swapped control heads with the unit on the flybridge, fixing the problem for a while.    We left the suspected bad unit out of the system pending discussions with ZF Marine after the holiday weekend.  We finally had a sunny day.

Sunday, July 6, was another pleasant day in Sitka, and we met up with the Dance’s on “Peregrine”, who had just arrived.  We last saw them in Northern BC in May.

On Monday,, July 7, fishing for the last King salmon seemed like a good idea, so we left the dock with Spirit at 0600, but no luck, just a couple of bites, and then the weather turned windy and rainy, so we returned to the dock empty handed.

 While underway we talked to ZF Marine and found they will not allow the control heads to be repaired, apparently a liability issue, and that this intermittent type of problem is not uncommon.  We may have accelerated the failure with the amount of shifting we are doing while trolling from Spirit.  Parts are not even available for at least six weeks, so we will only fish from the Grady White the remainder of this season to cut down the possibility of another failure on the control head we moved from the flybridge.

We hosted a farewell dinner on Spirit, with both grilled King salmon and steaks since Pat Benson was leaving in the AM, and Alex Benson will be heading out with friends fishing.  We will probably not see them again until winter.  Dance’s also were leaving on Peregrine in the morning and we will probably not see them until Fall.

Tuesday, July 8 was rainy and cold all day, sometimes torrential.  The troller fleet is returning, since the initial summer King salmon troll fishery has reached the quota in just 7 days, so the harbor is full.  The charter fishing boats continue to come in with lots of fish, even though the King salmon limit is down to 1 per person per day.  The Coho salmon seem to be in abundance, so we will go out on Thursday, weather permitting.

July 9, 2014

Even though it rained off and on all day, we decided to try and install the trolling motor autopilot for the Grady White in the water.  Launching the AB tender, we pulled it into the stern of the Grady White and in just a few hours we had all the components installed without dropping anything into the water.  After filling the system with hydraulic fluid, we tested it and it worked as advertised.

July 10, 2014

We had a sunny day for a change, so we headed to Viskari Rocks for fish in the Grady White, but with no luck.  Returning to the harbor for lunch, Patrick went out in the afternoon to Biorka Island and after losing a nice King salmon alongside the boat, netted a nice Coho instead.  By the time Patrick returned to the harbor the wind had started to increase significantly, as predicted.

July 11, 2014

Patrick went fishing with Alex Benson and his guests on Wild Blue, coming back with a 22 pound halibut and a large Quillback rockfish big enough for dinner for four people.  One of Alex’s guests landed a nice King salmon in terrible wind, rain and waves in the Shark Hole at Kalinin Bay before we called it quits due to weather.

Returning to Sitka Harbor and unloading the fish onto Spirit, we noticed a sailboat without a mast wandering around the harbor looking for a place to tie up.  We called the harbormaster and got permission to have the 36 foot Jeanneau “Coocinelle” raft alongside Spirit.  We found the French couple (Gilles and Armelle Ruffet) on board had been dismasted 25 miles from Sitka earlier that day and had no VHF radio antenna after the mast was cut away from the boat.  They also had no cell phone.  The couple had been at sea for 24 days, transiting from Honolulu, with their two young girls (Apolline & Camille), about 5 & 7 years old.  The couple was from La Rochelle in France and had been travelling the Pacific for 2 years.  They were exhausted and still in shock from the incident, which also damaged lifelines.  We invited them on board for a glass of wine and some cheese and the use of our cell phone to report into US Customs.  It was a short visit since they were very tired.

Coccinelle rafted alongside Spirit
July 12, 2014

The French couple did not arise until late in the morning when the harbormaster, who did not know about the dismasting, came by to get them registered.  Even without a mast they plan on cruising to Glacier Bay and working their way to someplace where the mast can be replaced, eventually returning to the Marquesa Islands in December.  The couple appears to be both very resilient and competent and we think they will do just fine.  They spent the day getting showers, groceries and doing laundry, planning to move out into the harbor to anchor either later today or tomorrow.  Gilles and Armelle Ruffet have a blog (in French) that has some great pictures.
  
Some years ago Gilles Ruffet circumnavigated the world on a sailboat.  He is an author and journalist, having written books on offshore catamarans

We decided to splurge this evening and went to Ludvig’s Mediterranean Bistro where we tried the white King salmon and scallops over a bed of squid ink risotto as well as the Cioppino with halibut, black cod and calamari.  Everything was delicious, with large servings.

July 13, 2104

Patrick headed out at 0530 in the Grady White for Salisbury Sound, in the rain and occasional fog.  Salmon fishing was unsuccessful, but Patrick brought back 2 halibut and a large Quillback rockfish, our final fish before we return to Bellevue for a short visit.

Coccinelle moved out into the harbor at anchor this afternoon, and already have a temporary VHF antenna mounted so they can communicate as they head to Glacier Bay and then south.  Gilles Ruffert has also identified a used radome in Juneau to replace the one lost with the mast.
July 14, 2014

The morning was spent fueling Spirit and the Grady White so both are ready to go when we return from Bellevue in a week.  Aside from some fog, the rain has quit for the day, a welcome change.

We have covered 1510 nautical miles on Spirit so far, and another 350 nautical miles fishing on the Grady White.  The fish box score for the boat is 23 King salmon, 6 Coho Salmon, 7 Halibut, one Yelloweye and 2 Quillbacks, along with the all the Dungeness crab and Spot Prawns.