Adventure Begins...Sailing S/V ORCA From California to Alaska.....

We will drive to Bellingham and she will be splashed there.

Will go on water from there.

Inside Passage will be beautiful. The huge Gulf of Alaska is a bit scarry to me as I have never been there.
 
We are in Seaview North marina and boat yard in Bellingham. ORCA arrived here before us. We are very impressed of Piazza Boat Movers. Sal, the owner drove himself and not a thing inside ORCA moved....and to top it all, Sal (I call him Salvadore) took us out for nice dinner.
 
Glad to see your making progress and took the safe route with the boat movers.
Looking forward to your restart!
 
PorcupineMtns66 said:
Glad to see your making progress and took the safe route with the boat movers.
Looking forward to your restart!
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Here are the current news.

Everything went well when we splashed her. She's tight, no leaks.

Yesterday we had a wonderful dinner with Wooden Boat Forum's Jeff "Recycled" and his Family on their beautiful 55' wooden yacht "Patriot". This was the first time we (I) met them. He offered to loan us his charts and local knowledge books all the way up BC coast. Thanks Jeff! :):D

We are planning to leave at about 13:00 today. First stop Echo Bay. Kind of a shake-down "cruise". If all goes well today, we should be crossing Canadian border tomorrow.
 
About three days ago I was looking for an Australian Shepherd breeder on the net. I found one in Everett Washington. They had "the dog" for me.

I fell in love with the young Aussie and bought him. I wish I could post you a photo of him. He has a nice personality and he is georgeous!!!.


I'll pick him up when I come to get my truck. Oooh, I'm in love. :):D <3<3<3

(I'm so used to getting all our animals from pound but getting an Aussie is different. I wanted to get a dog I can breed if I want, and Aussies have always been close to my heart.)
 
Weather turned bad. Will stay at Seaview North Boat Yard in Bellingham another night. Will head out tomorrow morning at 08:00

Rob, the yard manager is really nice and accommodating. He's taken good care of our needs and shows personal interest toward us and ORCA. It's great to be in a place like this where our wellbeing and safety seems to come first to the yard manager. He says to stay as long as we need to and they are not charging us $ for "berthing" or electricity.

This kind of treatment makes your day nicer.
:):D
 
Just went past Wrangell Alaska. It's been an interesting trip. Beautiful areas to go through.

Haven't had signal for phone. It will be spotty in the future as well. Will write at lenght when I get Internet again.

The darn computer had so much cat hair in the fan it burned the fan motor. Have asked for a new one to be sent from Finland. Will be able to post pictures then.

That's about all for now. GULF OF ALASKA AWAITS. :eek:

Love to you all. -Spinner & Crew
 
Spinner1 said:
Just went past Wrangell Alaska. It's been an interesting trip. Beautiful areas to go through.

Haven't had signal for phone. It will be spotty in the future as well. Will write at lenght when I get Internet again.

The darn computer had so much cat hair in the fan it burned the fan motor. Have asked for a new one to be sent from Finland. Will be able to post pictures then.

That's about all for now. GULF OF ALASKA AWAITS. :eek:

Love to you all. -Spinner & Crew
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Thanks for the update. Keep us posted when you can.
Happy Sails!
 
Hi, just got phone signal back. It's very weak so I don't know how long it lasts.

We've been in the back side of Baranof Island yesterday and today. Lovely!!! Spent last might in Washington bay, a little beautiful bay. Saw two Blackbeard and hundreds of salmon jumping and splashing...even took some pictures of whales.

Got so much to share with you. Will write at length and post pictures when getting Internet working. This is posted from my iPhone.
 
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We have just arrived to Kake, Alaska. Native village. Don't know if you can find it on a map.

:)
 
BA_Colt said:
Here is a link. Sounds like you are having fun! Thanks for posting.wikipedia Kake,Alaska
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Thanks:):)

I've kept daily journal and took literally thousands of pictures (on my third camera). Will post them and tell you of the trip in more detail later.

We are in Auke Bay, North of Juneau near Mendenhall glacier.

Spent last night anchored in Suicide Cove. Wind howled part of the night then setteled down a bit. Big waves rocked the boat. My Captain spent the night on deck just incase the wind would suddenly come up.

This morning My Captain (husband Kalevala) called me on deck telling me we had company. I was awed and surpriced to see a man in a kayak. His name was Mark. He had paddled all the way from Katchekan and was on his way to Juneau. We talked for a while and his only regret was that he kayaked alone and had not had anyone to talk with the last ten days while underway.

Yesterday we anchored in Hobart Bay. After leaving there we saw many, many whales but they were too far for pictures. I thought to myself, it would be nice to see one closer by so I could get some good pictures. A few minutes later a big Humpback whale surfaced and swam toward the direction we came from. It was about a couple of hundred feet from us. All of a sudden he changed course 90 degrees and came fast directly toward us. He looked like a partly submerged submarine. It closed the distance to our boat FAST. Kalevala gave us full throttle and we sped away with all the speed we had available... The whale was about sixty feet away at that time. It was huge. I've got a couple of photos of it's approach.

It had our hearts pounding fast. I thought it was great to see a whale that close but not when our boat was it's target. Kalevala said it was way TOO CLOSE.

We also saw an iceberg and many iceflows from a
calving glacier.

That's all for now.
 
We've left Auke Bay. Heading toward Glacier Bay. It's maybe a couple days ahead.

Heavy clouds hug the land and blanket the ocean. Still beautiful.... Air gets colder daily.... Starting to penetrate into the bones....Brrr....
 
That must have been some rush seeing a Whale that close at sea.

Thanks for sharing and updating us about your trip.

Stay Safe. :)
 
Hi, we got to Homer two days ago and moored at 13:15.

Holed out last three days of the journey at a small bay a half a day from home, waiting for the seas and winds to lay down to continue safely.

I'm flying out to Washingto this Saturday to pick up my truck and Phoenix, the dog we got in Washington. Then I'll drive AL-CAN highway back home. I bet I'll be done with any extensive traveling for a while....unless it's done on ORCA. :).

Got a lot of stories to tell and pictures to show you when I get back home. Unfortunately the laptop should be sent overseas for repair, so instead I'll get a new laptop when I get back home and will post the rest of the journey and answer your posts then.

Thanks for all your support.

Love to you all. -Spinner


P.S. You can read a bit about bringing ORCA home, in Homer Tribune. It comes out this coming Wednesday and is published on Internet also.
 
Thanks for sharing all of this; it's been a long, sometimes challenging trip for you folks. So glad you all made it safely. :thumbup:

~Chris
 
Bought a new laptop. It arrives today. Will get it programmed and running today. Will try to keep the old one open and running long enough to transfer all photos into new one. Will literally have it sit on a bag of ice to try to keep it from heating up and shutting down.

Leaving toward Seattle tomorrow to pick up my truck and our new dog. AL-CAN highway awaits.

Will keep you posted on leg three of this journey as often as I can and will post the missing parts of the ocean journey.
 
Hi, I'm in Anchorage tonight. Will fly to Seattle tomorrow. Heading directly to Everett for our dog. Sunday Bellingham for the truck.....

I'll try to post from the motel on Sunday..:)
 
Looking forward to your next photo's and commentary.
Drive safe!
 
PorcupineMtns66 said:
Looking forward to your next photo's and commentary.
Drive safe!
Click to expand...

Thanks...

Quick update;


Arrived at Dawson Creek yesterday. Spent the night with (WBF's) Ian's wonderful Family and headed out this morning.

Went through some snow flurries and one short snow storm. Spending tonight at Muncho Lake.

Heading further north tomorrow morning....
 
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