Kayaking – Riveted

Flotilla to Alaska | Update from Sitka

Laura Domela — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 07:18:54 +0000

Well, the last thirty days have flown by. We could not have asked for a better group of competent, fun, interesting participants. We made some incredible new friends on this adventure, and we’re thankful to have had no mechanical issues at all. We arrived in Sitka on June 19th and have spent the past couple days sightseeing, doing chores, and eating out. This group still wants to keep hanging out together, after 30 days of togetherness. How great is that??

Tomorrow we’ll leave Sitka and all boats (minus Sam on Safe Harbour, who has a flight to catch out of Juneau in a few days) will continue on together back out Peril Strait to Appleton Cove. From there two boats will head south and two will continue on with us as we head north up toward Hoonah and Icy Strait, and then around to Juneau eventually.

If you haven’t been following but want to catch up on the flotilla’s daily posts, head over to Slowboat and see what we’ve been up to.

In the meantime, here are a few visual highlights since we last posted from Ketchikan:

Petersburg

LeConte Glacier

Le Conte Glacier seals

Le Conte Glacier

Kayaking at LeConte Glacier

Kayaking at LeConte Glacier (bottom of the photo)

The glacier ice cocktail bar, after a day at Le Conte Glacier

Heading up Chatham Strait

So many humpbacks in Frederick Sound

…including this one we had to stop for! Whoa!

Anchored in Cannery Cove, Pybus Bay – on Admiralty Island

Pybus Bay/Cannery Cove anchorage

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Pybus Bay/Cannery Cove anchorage

Mama brown bear on the hillside while cubs play in the snow near the waterfall (Pybus Bay)

Brown bear on shore, Red Bluff Bay, Baranof Island

Kevin fishing for trout, just above the falls at Warm Springs Bay, Baranof Island

Warm Springs Bay, Baranof Island

Rafted two deep at Warm Springs Bay, Baranof Island

Warm Springs Bay dock, from the drone

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Warm Springs Bay dock and falls

Takatz Bay anchorage

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Takatz Bay anchorage

Takatz Bay anchorage (we love this place!)

Takatz Bay, Baranof Island

Coming through Peril Strait

Deep Bay anchorage

The Safe Harbour/Airship raft, Deep Bay

Sunset at Deep Bay

The flotilla coming through Sergius Narrows on our way to Sitka

Eliason Harbor, Sitka

Thompson Harbor, Sitka

Walking home from dinner, Sitka

Sitka sun (for another minute)

Wires, with a raven on top

Here’s how far we’ve come:
Roche Harbor, WA to Sitka Alaska, flotilla total: 30 days, 1,061.6 nautical miles, 145 hours 37 minutes underway

Melanie Cove | Desolation Sound | BC

Laura Domela — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 20:13:20 +0000

After our stop at Mitlenatch Island yesterday, we continued on to Melanie Cove, inside of Desolation Sound Marine Provincial Park.

There are three areas to anchor in Desolation Sound Marine Park: Prideaux Haven, Melanie Cove, and Laura Cove. There were 4 or 5 boats in Prideaux Haven, and 5 boats in Melanie Cove when we arrived last night (which seems a like a lot for end of September). We anchored in about 35 feet with plenty of room and no need to stern tie. (A stern tie is a line attached to something on shore like a tree or boulder or a nice chain like the one pictured below, that acts as a second anchor and limits the swing of your boat. It’s common practice in tighter, more popular anchorages.) Over on the opposite side of the cove there are some really nice stern tie chains attached to the rock:

After we got settled, I made us a quick dinner (gnocchi with sauteed mushrooms and the last of the truffled pesto sauce, with a spinach salad). We met Norm and Jane from a super cute blue-hulled Nordic Tug called Toot Sweet (they were stern tied on the opposite side of the cove and came by to say hi).

This morning we woke up to this view:

I suggested we have a quick coffee and then go kayaking before breakfast and while it was so calm and beautiful out, which turned out to be a very good good call!

That’s a little Ranger Tug anchored over in the shallow area of Laura Cove, in the middle of this next shot:

This is one of the most spectacular places to kayak, especially in this weather. Every time we stopped paddling it was absolutely silent, save for a few bird sounds or the burble of a nearby waterfall. We paddled over to Laura Cove and around a bunch of little islands and inlets. The tide was high, so all the green areas on the chart were easily passable by kayak. Here’s our track, starting and finishing at Airship in Melanie Cove (just over 3 miles total):

There’s a trailhead at the head of Melanie Cove that I think we’ll explore after we get some more work done. I made us a sort of huevos rancheros for brunch this morning (crunchy chipotle tostada on the bottom, black beans, grated cheese, over easy egg, homemade salsa, with a couple slices of avocado on top) and it was yum! Now we’re just working here on Airship. There’s only one other boat in the cove with us now and it’s VERY quiet. The wind is supposed to pick up this afternoon but calm again by tomorrow afternoon, and the weekend looks like a great time to make our way down the Strait of Georgia (WITHOUT the conditions we had last year for this part of our trip).

Misty Fjords with Mijonet | Part 2

Laura Domela — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 01:53:31 +0000

On Friday morning Kevin and Mij went out to check crab traps (and Mij got another lesson in dinghy driving…she’s doing great!)

We had one keeper Dungeness, so I think I’ll make that recipe I made last week that was so good: crab spaghetti with lemon gremolata.

After breakfast, we left the mooring ball in Walker Cove and headed into the inner anchorage at the very head of the bay. We’d surveyed the area by dinghy (and depth sounder) on another visit and it looked anchorable, so we thought we’d give it a shot. The spot referenced in Active Captain says to anchor in front of the landslide in 40 feet of water. We found this to be a total no-go for us (40 feet would have you RIGHT next to the shore with almost no swinging room), and we instead anchored in about 80 feet on the other side, across from the waterfall and clear of the charted rocks.

The weather was pretty crappy for most of the day. We hung out and visited, played a little XBox, and did a little fishing in the rain.

The next morning we pulled anchor and headed down to Punchbowl Cove. The weather was gorgeous and we had a nice short cruise so once we arrived there was still lots of daylight to play with. We set the crap traps out again and then did some exploring by kayak. There was a fish boat on the (one) mooring ball, so we anchored over near the mouth of the river.

We got out on this beach and walked/waded/goofed around a bit:

On Sunday we headed back to Ketchikan (with one more crab, woohoo!). We trolled for salmon a bit on the way back (had a few pretty serious bites but didn’t catch anything) and then once in Ketchikan, went walking around town a bit. We grabbed a bite at the New York Hotel for dinner (meh, not that great). Back at Airship we played some cards and made some brownies while the wind and the rain both picked up considerably.

We’re staying at Thomas Basin this time (never stayed here before) because it’s convenient to town, groceries, and laundry. I like it! Cool native canoe on the dock across from us:

Piling topper:

It was such a blast having Mijonet with us for the past five days. She came up last summer with her mom for 10 days and it was super fun, but there was a lot of time she was bored and her mood was a bit more volatile. She had a harder time just “being on the boat” … but boy what a difference a year can make at her age. She was fantastic. It was fun having her solo too…getting to spend the time with just her was fun and not something we get to do for that long normally. She has such a great attitude about things, is always helpful, eats (and tries) pretty much everything, and wakes up every morning SO DANG HAPPY. It’s lovely. (Plus, she told me she thought I looked prettier without makeup, which was super endearing. Also, I put on a scarf this morning to take her to the airport and she said “You look like a fashion model with that scarf on.” I mean, who could not love this kid??)

Mijonet requested Crab Cake Benedict for breakfast this morning, so…guess what she got? I think we’ve had crab every single day. Yesterday we had crab for breakfast, lunch, and dinner…the kid loves crab, that’s for sure!

Just before noon today we took a taxi to the airport ferry and got Mij to her gate with plenty of time to spare. We said our goodbyes and waited for her plane to take off. (That’s the runway, behind the plane…up on the hill.)

Riding the ferry back across Tongass Narrows:

We walked back to town and grabbed lunch at Bar Harbor, then returned to the (awww, so quiet) Airship to get some work done. We’re waffling a little bit about whether to head south and across Dixon Entrance in the next day or so (forecast looks pretty good) or to go over to Kasaan (across Clarence Strait on Prince of Wales Island) for the re-dedication of the Chief Son-i-Hat Whale House this weekend, but we’re pretty sure we’re going to choose Kasaan. The Son-i-Hat Whale House is the only Haida clan house in Alaska. (If you were with us last year, you might remember we visited during restoration). The restoration is complete now, and the celebration will be large (they expect around 1,000 people, and I think Kasaan is a village of just over 50 residents) . The canoe landing happens on Friday, and the celebration is from noon to 6pm on Saturday. There will be dancing and food (potluck, we’re to bring a dish to share) and it should be a very cool thing to be a part of. We’ll arrive before Friday and if we don’t get a spot on the float we’ll anchor out. Might be more fun to watch the canoes come in from anchor. (I’m told I can photograph anything I want, too….so there’s THAT!!)

Misty Fjords | Day 2

Laura Domela — Sat, 28 May 2016 23:22:00 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016

This morning we woke up early, made some coffee, and sat out on the bow watching bears. We decided we’d take a dinghy ride further around to the end of Walker Cove before pulling the crab traps this morning. It was early and quiet and the water was glassy still. (So nice to have the electric Torqeedo for these kinds of quiet expeditions, instead of the loud gasoline outboard!)

There are a couple of decent spots to anchor further into the cove, and I think we may try one of them next time. Bears on the beach, waterfalls and snow-capped mountains around you…it’s like a different world in here.

Little (not really) bear ears:

Kevin dropped me at the boat (after a two-hour cruise) and I started breakfast while he checked the traps. Two more Dungeness. We’re going to stay in here another night, so he reset the traps (with a little more raw bacon…it’s our secret crab-getting bait).

Here we are, from the dinghy:

After breakfast Kevin took the drone up and I shot some photos of our anchorage:

There are four bears in this picture:

The sun came out for a bit and we decided to get the kayak out and go for a paddle. First, we headed over to the river (there are two bears in this photo):

And then, we saw more bears. The sow and her one cub were eating grass on the shore, so we stopped to watch them for a bit:

Kayak. Grizzly bears.

Back to Airship:

Dinner tonight was crab enchiladas. Yes, again. Hush.

Day 9 – Port McNeill to Fury Cove

Laura Domela — Tue, 26 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska – Day 9

We left Port McNeill this morning at 5am (that means the alarm went off at 4am!)

We had a 60 mile day and our first exposure to open ocean as we exited Queen Charlotte Strait and crossed Cape Caution (about a mile offshore). The prediction originally was for 1.4 metre waves with an 11 second period, but during our first hour or so that changed to 1.6 metre waves (5.2 feet) with a period of 6 seconds (then 5). The general “rule” is that you don’t want the period to be smaller than the waves are tall…and this was, um, THAT. It certainly was not as comfortable as an 11 second period would have been, but we didn't think it was too terrible. The boat handled it well, and we were never nervous. We knew we could duck into Port Hardy for the night, or anchor out at the Walker Group if it was too rough.

Mark led us through the Walker Group so he could show us the (beautiful) anchorage there (in case we need it on our return trip).

We rounded Cape Caution and now we’ve had our first open ocean experience in our boat. Not bad, not bad.

Fury Cove — our anchorage for the night:

Our new view:

A couple sailboats were anchored in Fury Cove when we arrived. They’d been here for two days, and told us they’d seen a mama grizzly bear and two cubs on the beach both days, so we’ve been keeping an eye out for them.

Some of us met on the beach at 4pm to do a little exploring. (Don't worry, we made lots of noise and carried bear spray.)

The beach is called Clam Beach and is covered with white clam shell:

There’s a shack built just up some stairs from the beach (which is odd, because I think this is marine park property).

Hey look…an eco roof!

Kevin and I had taken our kayak and paddled over to the beach, so after our wanderings we kayaked around the cove a bit more. Here’s Margaret saddling up her dinghy. I love Margaret! (She said that Mark, even with his back to camera, is still pretending not to know her.)

Airship anchored (Thelonius in the background):

Opposite direction back out into Fitz Hugh Sound:

Fury Cove, kayak, and Xtratufs:

Next stop: Ocean Falls!

Kayaking Echo Bay

Laura Domela — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 17:06:44 +0000

This morning we left Fossil Bay and headed around the corner to Echo Bay for a change of scenery. We grabbed a mooring ball, made brunch, and then inflated our new Sea Eagle kayak for a test paddle. It's fantastic! We paddled 2.5 miles around the bay:

I love getting up close to these alien landscapes out here:

It's so nice to have a kayak again! This one inflates and deflates really fast, and we were 25 minutes from unhooking it from the top deck to fully inflated, outfitted, and in the water ready to go. Not bad for our first time with it. (And that's with the manual foot pump…just wait 'til we get the electric pump out here!)

And brunch was delicious! A bed of wilted spinach, then fresh crab meat, two poached eggs, topped with hollandaise sauce (awwww, no chives), served with a side of leftover roasted potatoes from last night's dinner, and some greek yogurt with blueberries and raspberries. Super yum, and good fuel for the paddle.

It's still pretty choppy in here, so we might head around to the back side of the island to Shallow Bay, and then get in a nice afternoon hike.

We Kayaked with Manatees

Laura Domela — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:36:59 +0000

This morning over at Curry Hammock State Park we got up early so we could rent a tandem kayak for a couple hours before we headed out (and before our West Coast office was awake).

We paddled out to the sandbar (about 1/4 mile from shore):

And around Little Crawl Key and through the mangrove tunnel:

..and then out and around Deer Key. We saw some spotted eagle rays (very cool…couldn't get a proper photo but here's the one from Wikipedia:

So then, we headed back over toward where we'd first seen the stingrays, and came upon about a dozen manatees hanging out near where we first put our kayaks in. We paddled around with them for about an hour and it was AMAZING. They'd come up for a breath every minute or two, and the water was really only about 4-5 feet deep so we could see them very well the whole time. They're so cool and gentle and we imagined them down there going "Hey! OMG! There's one of those yellow things, and it's just RIGHT there next to us! How cool!!!" because that's what we kept saying about them.

Here are some of the many photos I took with my iPhone:

This one's my favorite. Look at that sweet face!

This is a nice shot of this guys' huge paddle-like tail:

It was one of the coolest things ever. They were probably around 8-9 feet long and who knows how big around (big!!)

Here's a little iPhone video, too:

Kayaking in the Sammamish Slough

Laura Domela — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 21:39:44 +0000

Today we went for a little late morning kayaking excursion with Tiffani and Deke. We took our Hobie Tandem Island in tandem kayak mode (no mast, sail, or outriggers) and brought up our inflatable tandem for them to try out. We took it all down to the Sammamish Slough and paddled/pedaled around for a couple hours.

First we went out into Lake Washington, watched a sea plane land, and then decided to head upstream into the slough a bit instead.

Tiffani and Deke taking photos of the sea plane landing:

We took a little fork off to the left and eventally it ended in a tree-blocked alley with a giant blue heron on the other side of the trees. We watched it for a while before we turned around and headed back out into the main slough. (Heron is right in the middle of the photo):

Here's the track of today's paddle:

After kayaking we went into Kirkland and had beer and burgers (for lunch/dinner, since it was 4 or something by that time) at the Lodge in Kirkland. They've got something like 60 beers on tap, and we all really liked our food. I read some of the reviews on Yelp just now and I think our experience was much better than any of the recent reviews. Our server was awesome, the beer was great, and the burgers were excellent. We head up to Whidbey Island tomorrow, and I think it's gonna be fish and veggies all week for us!

Clear Water

Laura Domela — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 11:55:11 +0000

Can you believe this color?? So gorgeous!

Car-Topping the Hobie Tandem Island (Step-by-Step)

Laura Domela — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:20:29 +0000

We posted several months ago about how we car-top our Hobie Tandem Island while towing our Airstream, and we've had a huge amount of traffic on that post as well as a number of questions from readers. As a follow-up, here is an illustrated step-by-step guide to what we do. This works great for us, but we make no guarantee that it is safe or effective for you. You have to figure that part out.

This method has worked for us for numerous trips, thousands of miles, and a bunch of load-unload cycles. As you can see – it is also not very difficult to perform with one person.

Step one – starting with the akas, amas, and mast removed, and with the beach wheels in the aft scupper holes, put the boat directly behind the truck and lift the bow onto the tailgate:

Next, climb onto the tailgate and lift the bow onto the (padded) roof rack. Be sure to use one of those protective pads to protect the camper shell, and we also use pads on the rear crossbar to protect the boat.

Next, lift the stern of the boat and push the boat forward onto the rack – aligning with the cradles. As mentioned before, these are the Hobie factory cradles made for trailer use – we attached them to Yakima bars using standard Yakima grips. Cradles are on the front two bars, the rear bar is just used for loading and unloading.

Next, put the amas onto the side cradles. We use only the rear aka on each side and click the aka into the crossbar for support.

Here is the Thule mat we use to protect the camper shell during loading (mentioned above). Also, remember to take the plugs out of the amas during transport. Otherwise, if you change elevation, the air pressure change can crush the amas or inflate them.

Next, we slide the mast between the port side ama and the main hull – being sure to put the sail bag opening in the back – if in front it can inflate going down the road.

We use a pair of Yakima tie-down strips to secure the whole thing. We loop them around the bar…

We position the boat so the side handles line up with the cross bar – then we thread the straps through the handles as well – for extra resistance to sliding forward/backward.

We also loop the straps (twice) around the sailbag each time they pass. That keeps the sailbag secure and the whole thing is still tied with just two straps.

Be sure to use a bow/stern tiedown for safety. We use the Yakima bow/stern tiedown kit. Keep the tiedowns just snug – not overtight, as that can put too much stress on the hull. These offer protection from the boat departing the vehicle in a sudden stop or accident.

Here's how the whole thing looks hooked up. Note that the boat is almost exactly bumper-to-bumper on our F150 pickup. It seems to have no effect on towing the trailer. Fuel mileage is identical as far as we can tell.

(posted by Kevin)