Sailing with our new cockpit enclosure has been wonderful and the protection from saltwater dramatically changes our sailing experience. Not that we needed much protection during the light winds of early morning. So before morning coffee we took advantage of the conditions and filled the boat fuel tank with diesel from jerry jugs stored in the anchor locker. But by the time the tank was filled and we were returning the empty jugs to to the anchor locker the seas were getting big and Wade got soaked from sea and spray putting away the jugs. Nothing like starting your day with a saltwater bath and it sometimes seems the saltwater wants to get you no matter how much your efforts otherwise. By mid-day it was blowing low twenties with gusts to the upper 20 knot range. Thus we were grateful for plenty of leftover spaghetti to be able to quickly reheat in the rougher conditions of today.
No Mahi bit today nor yesterday. And over the last 24 hours we made 134 miles good towards Dutch Harbor.
Cheers,
Wade and Sara
Math Be Hard For Sailors – Alaska
Destination: Dutch Harbor, Alaska or where we drop anchor (53°53.677’N, 166°31.029’W)
Prize: Alaskan post card from us to you and a 12X16 Penrhyn Black-tip Shark poster Submissions are accepted until 7/20/17.
Please only submit the date and time only, no need for your crazy calculations via ComfortCruising.com Math Be Hard For Sailors Contact Form. Weather: Cloudy
Ves. Pos. 39°39.148’N, 165°10.763’W
SOG: 7.6 kts
Course Over Ground (COG): 336°
Time: 12:04:49 PM 7/24/17
Nautical miles to destination as a bird flies(Crs Rng & Brg): 856 nm & 357° Apparent wind speed (AWS): 15.4 kts
Apparent wind angle: Starboard 94°
Outside Temperature: 66°
Water Temperature: 68.0°
Barometer: 1022
Humidity: 70%
Engine RPM: N/A (Shutoff around 6:00 AM)
Risk the Weather Guy gave us our fifth waypoint to sail towards 43 30N 167 00w
Math Be Hard For Sailors Tip:
We do not pull into unknown anchorages during the dark, and we try to avoid arriving during twilight hours too. Yet the nights are pretty short during Alaska summers. There are so many unknowns when arriving to a new anchorage our motto is to heave-to or sail back and forth to fish outside a passage, harbor, or anchorage if we arrive before good light.
Upon arrival we will have to choose between two passes, Akutan or Unalga, that connect the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea ao as to reach nearby Dutch Harbor. Traveling in and out of a pass like Akutan or Unalga is similar to how we enter and exit an atoll. We try our best to time our arrival based on the tides and currents. The nice part is we are in the United States and NOAA provides a lot of information (http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov). Be sure to consider that we will be going through one of these two passes during slack current/tide for guessing our destination time. Good luck.
