SV Darwind

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Showing posts from August, 2016

Day 49 (8/06) Finish Line!!!

August 17, 2016

Familiar peaks in Katchemak Bay Approaching Hones lagoon Gotago welcoming Darwind home Tied up to the Seldovia docks, the voyage is officially over. Today, the final day of the voyage, I woke up after a restless night anchored up at Qikutulig Bay, (I know, probably the hardest place name on the map)which was one of my first memories of ever anchoring out on the first major voyage of my life on Northern Passage in 2012. Also, with Seldovia only a day's sail away if all went well, his was where I realized for the first time the significance of what I had accomplished over the summer. Anyway, the night was a bit rough, with the only groundswell we had experienced at anchor so far, and some gusty winds up to around 15 or 20 knots during the night, but Darwind swung to her anchor with no problem, and by morning, the chart plotter, which I had left on overnight as a precaution showed a perfectly smooth arc, with no signs of dragging. Impressive considering we were anc

day 48 (8/05)

August 17, 2016

Today, mom and I woke up after a very good night's sleep in the inner basin of Chance Cove, a blessing after the turmoil of the day before, and by 7:30am we were underway. The ebbing tide, which had fought us on the way in, sucked us right out and shot us through the narrows of McArthur pass into the open waters of the Southern Kenai Peninsula, where contrary to the weather reports on the radio and texted to the inReach by dad, it was flat calm, with no more than a glassy swell from the south, all shrouded in heavy fog. Not wanting to waste this luck, I decided to head southwest, straight for Gore Point, and out into the open water instead of tucking in behind Nuka island and taking the Nuka passage west then south. This route cut off at least five nautical miles, and turned out to be a wise decision, because when the wind did come, it blew 20 knots right down the mouth of the rocky Nuka passage, which we would have had a rough time beating out of if we had tried to take the more s

day 47 (8/04)

August 17, 2016

Coming soon, sorry for the delay

Day 46 (7/28)

August 17, 2016

Coming soon, sorry for the delay

Day 43, 44, and 45 (/724-7/26) Gulf Crossing Part II

August 17, 2016

At 5:00pm, July 23, at Yakutat harbor, I slung my and dad’s bags into Darwind’s cockpit, lying ready and waiting out a northwest system this past week while I was away, resting and playing in Anchorage and Seldovia with my cousin Matt, who flew out from Connecticut to come hang out and sail in the far north. This week was also the first time all summer that I had spent with Lynx, the 12-foot catboat my dad and I built over the past few years, and my first boat. In fact, so far this summer I felt (and still feel to a degree) extremely guilty about poor old Lynx , who after all, I had built with my own two hands, from the first plank, and who I had offhandedly mothballed after only one summer of sailing . Suffice to say, much of my guilt was eased by being able to finally sail on Kenai Lake with her, something that I have wanted to do since we first drove past the beautiful teal waters on the way to Seldovia. After a few fun days in Seldovia hanging ou

Day 40, 41, and 42 (7/06-7/08) Gulf Crossing Part I

August 17, 2016

After 4 days of living alone in Hoonah, one of sailing alone to Elfin Cove, where I met and had dinner with the people aboard a motoryacht, at 11:00am, as I was lugging 9 gallons of gas along the boardwalks of the tiny community from the gas station to the marina, there was the roar of a small plane, and a few minutes later a blue-and yellow seaplane tied up to the end of the dock, where a bag of mail, two dry bags of clothes, and dad greeted me (the bag of mail was for the community post office of Elfin Cove, not me). Almost as soon as dad stepped aboard, it seemed we ere off the dock, with only a short pause to stow his bags, buy some last-minute provisions at the general store, and grab a bite to eat. The day was bright and sunny, but also calm, as we motored out past the protection of the inside passage for the last time, and Darwind began to feel a regular ocean swell start to roll in from the south. As we exited Icy strait, we were hailed first by the mot