We have spent the last two months exploring Southeast Alaska with separate visits from Sandie’s cousin JoAnn, our daughter Jennifer, and our good friends Mike and Jan. We witnessed breath-taking calving on Sawyer, Margerie, and John Hopkins glaciers, enjoyed drinks chilled with glacial ice, observed bears, caught crabs and shrimp, and have been surrounded by whales. And best of all, we shared it with family and friends.
Several glacier calvings were large enough that we had to turn the boat into the ensuing waves to reduce rocking. It’s always exciting to see a tidal wave headed our way.
We spent two days in North Sandy Cove in Glacier Bay with a view of 12,728 ft Mt. Crillon. The whales continually fed in the shallow waters of the cove providing non-stop entertainment. One whale surfaced 25 feet from the boat and a juvenile whale feed alongside its mother.
The weather has been typical Alaska; chilly temps, rain, fog, with a few beautiful sunshiny days thrown in. We experienced a gale in Glacier Bay that made for a restless night and prompted us to return to Auke Bay a day early. But the magnificence of Alaska makes it well worthwhile. It feels like the United States’ last frontier.
We will start our trip back to Washington in the next day or so depending on weather. We are anxious to return to Oregon where our new house awaits us.
Our friends Alan and Eileen joined us for our travel leg from Ketchikan to Juneau. We’d hoped to see the bears feeding at Anan Wildlife Observatory but it was too early for the salmon run which attracts the bears so we continued on to Wrangell. Along the way we caught a beautiful “white” king salmon. These fish account for about one-third of king salmon caught in Alaska and the meat is white. It is delicious when eaten raw with no hint of salmon flavor. But when cooked it tastes like pink king salmon.
From Wrangell we went to Petersburg, our last city until we reached Juneau. There would be no cell phones or Internet for a week! We visited the Sawyer Glaciers in Tracy Arm where we saw a huge piece of the glacier break off sending a tidal wave through the icebergs that surrounded our boat. The trip up Tracy Arm was stunning with many icebergs and waterfalls and seals lazing on small bergs along with their pups. It was sad to see how much the glaciers had receded since our visit in 2010.
We were surprised to find two other boats anchored in Tracy Arm Cove with friends of our guests. All three boats had arrived independently under different circumstances. We enjoyed the hospitality of Tamara Lee Ann as we swapped tales of Alaska.
The next day we went to Ford’s Terror where we had to wait for slack high water to enter the narrow pass that led into a fjord with cascading waterfalls. We anchored for the night surrounded by high mountains and observed a brown bear (grizzly) with her cub feeding near the boat. It rained all night and when we awoke there were a gazillion waterfalls. It was spectacular.
During our trip we caught salmon, crabs, and shrimp and saw whales, dolphins, and bears. The weather was cool but we only had one day that rained so hard that the women went below to do a jigsaw puzzle. The weather turned sunny and hot as we arrived in Juneau where sadly our guests departed.
Tracy Arm & Sawyer Glaciers
Endicott Arm & Ford’s Terror
Ketchikan to Juneau
We have spent the last ten months living in an RV while looking for a house to buy. Then we learned that it was possible for pleasure boats to transit Canadian waters to get to Alaska as long as strict Covid rules are obeyed. We headed north to Bellingham, WA, on May 10 to get the boat ready only to learn that evening that an offer we had made on a house was accepted. We now own a home and we are headed for Alaska.
Our boat preparations included replacing the steering, putting on new anchor chain, lightly sanding the CopperCoat bottom, and a hundred other lesser tasks. We launched on May 28 and spent three days cleaning and provisioning before heading to Canada on Memorial Day.
Our first stop was Nanaimo on Vancouver Island where we were checked into the country and reminded that we must take the shortest route to Alaska and not leave the boat except to re-fuel. In other words, we must quarantine on the boat. Our transit plan included 10 overnight anchorages spaced 50 to 70 miles apart. We did put into Port Hardy for fuel, otherwise we didn’t interact with anyone else for the entire trip.
The weather was about what we expected with hot days, cold days, wind, no wind, rain, fog, and clear skies. This is Canada after all. We waited out a weather front before rounding Cape Caution in rolly seas on a gray day. We really appreciated our hard dodger and bimini that kept us dry and less cold.
The scenery was stunning as we navigated our way up the Inland Passage. We saw an orca, sea otters, bald eagles, and countless water falls. We lowered our Canadian and quarantine flags as we entered Alaska on June 10, one day longer than our transit plan. We are currently in Bar Harbor, Ketchikan, awaiting the arrival of friends that will join us on the trip up to Juneau.
We are finally reunited with our boat Persephone. It took three months for her to be shipped from the US Virgin Islands to Vancouver, Canada, with a two-month layover in Florida. Unfortunately, she arrived with some cosmetic damage that we hope to have fixed in the next month.
We spent three months in COVID lockdown with our daughter at her house in San Jose while waiting for the boat. We enjoyed our time visiting our kids and grandkids and eating way too much.
We were denied entry into Canada to retrieve our boat that was scheduled to be unloaded in Victoria, BC. We arranged with a Canadian skipper to receive the boat and put it into a marina in Victoria. We then arrange with another Canadian skipper to bring the boat across the border to Roche Harbor where we met him at the dock. He immediately stepped into his dinghy that he had been towing and sped back to Canada. We had checked with Customs and the Coast Guard as to the legality of such a delivery and they said that it was being allowed since there are so many US boats stranded in Canada.
After a few days of intense cleaning Persephone was ready for cruising and we were comfortably settled into our home. The cooler weather has taken a bit of getting used to, but the beauty of the San Juan Islands is breathtaking. The forested islands, snowcapped mountains, protected anchorages, sea otters, orcas, crabbing and oysters are a pleasant change to life in the tropics. But did I mention that it is cooler here.
Our plan to circumnavigate Vancouver Island this summer is cancelled due to the border closing and we will limit our travels to the San Juans and possibly Puget Sound. With luck, the border will be open next year and we can cruise up to Alaska.
Time in San Jose
San Juan Islands
This should have been posted December 15, 2019.
We enjoyed a couple of days exploring Gibraltar, visiting Saint Michael’s Cave which was converted from a hospital into an underground music venue and the Great Siege Tunnels that defended Gibraltar from the Spanish and French in the 18th century. Our boat was moored in Marina Alcaidesa just outside of Gibraltar and it was a short walk across the Gibraltar airport tarmac to get to the tiny nation.
Our five-day trip to the Canary Islands included two days of motoring, two days of high winds and challenging seas, and one day of textbook cruising. The high winds were 30 kts gusting to high 30’s and the seas consisted of two wave sets that would occasionally combine to form a steep following sea that would send us careening down the face, often overpowering the auto-pilot.
We opted to bypass the first few islands in the Canarys because the ARC 2019 (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) with its fleet of 300 boats was saturating all of the facilities. We found space in the marina at Santa Cruz on the island of Tenerife where the boat has stayed now for over a month. A key reason for getting to Tenerife was to meet with Sandie’s two cousins that were arriving separately; one on a cruise ship and one on a Mormon mission. Unfortunately, the cruise ship was diverted due to too many cruise ships in Santa Cruz and we missed seeing Darlene and Drew. But Rick and Ann arrived as planned and we enjoyed a two-day mini-family reunion.
Tenerife is probably the most beautiful of the Canary Islands. We rented a car and drove through pine forests on our way to Teide volcano that towers 12,198 feet above the Atlantic. We were fortunate to have excellent weather with unlimited visibility and temperatures on the peak just above freezing.
We flew to Gran Canary Island for several days and met up with our good friends Julie and Shane that have re-located with their kids to Las Palmas for a few years. There was a huge feast and family and friends were in attendance. Their beautiful apartment overlooks the beach and was perfectly positioned to watch the “Lighting of the Christmas Tree” and accompanying fireworks.
The next day we drove through the center of the island. The road was closed near the peak for a car rally and we ended up on a narrow dirt road that clung to the side of a cliff. The drive was unnerving but the views were spectacular with valleys reminiscent of the Grand Canyon. The next morning, we went down to the Marina in Las Palmas and joined in the fanfare as 200 ARC boats departed to cross the Atlantic.
Next, we flew to Casablanca, Morocco, to meet up with our daughter Jennifer. We enjoyed the company of our guide Abdu and driver Foad as we visited Rabat, Fes, the alpine village of Ifrane, Essaouira on the coast, Marrakech, and the Ourika Valley in the Atlas Mountains. Abdu was aware of Jennifer’s taste for wine and arranged two wonderful lunches at wineries complete with wine tasting. The food throughout Morocco was excellent. An amazing highlight was when Foad treated us to rabbit tagine at his cousin’s food stall in Marrakech.
On the drive to Essaouira we passed through the only region in the world capable of growing argon trees from which highly valued argon oil is derived. While there we saw “goats in trees”. The goats have learned to climb the argon trees to eat the fruit. The central nut passes through the digestive system in tact and is used for making oil. The process is a bit more commercialized today but the sight of goats balancing on branches is still a treat for the tourist.
We visited the tanery in the medina in Fes where the hides are still cured in pigeon shit and dyed in large clay vats. The smell was obnoxious, but the finished products were beautiful, supple, and odorless.
After our week-long tour we hung out in Casablanca for a few days and did a day trip to Tangier. We spent a couple of evenings at Rick’s Café made famous by the movie Casablanca with Bogart and Bergman. We were aware that the movie was not filmed in Morocco, but the ambiance of the place was captivating and there aren’t that many “gin joints” in Morocco.
We are back at the boat on Tenerife preparing to cross the Atlantic during the next weather window; hopefully this Saturday. Our next posting will be from the Caribbean.
Gibraltar & Tenerife
Gran Canary
Rabat & Fes
Marrakech & Ourika Valley
Casablanca & Essaouira
We sailed from Antigua making brief stops in Nevis and St Kitts. From there we had a 30 mile beat up to St Barts through heavy seas. When we arrived, the forward head was flooded due to a bad seal on the forward hatch and all paper products were reduced to sludge.
St Barts is French and the port of Gustavia is beautifully maintained with lots of shops and restaurants. But it is the most expensive island we have visited so far (e.g. USD $25 hamburgers). The harbor is large but with so many boats it was difficult to find a place to anchor and we settled for a spot just outside the channel. During the night there was a wind shift and we were awakened early in the morning by the harbor police asking us to move and make room for an approaching barge. We headed a mile up the coast to picturesque Anse du Colombier and enjoyed some peaceful snorkeling and hiking.
We had long anticipated visiting St Maarten for the Heineken Regatta, the largest sailing regatta in the Caribbean with boats participating from all over the world. We arrived early and decided to head over to Anguilla where we found the anchorages limited and expensive. We made a day trip to highly touted Prickly Pear Island in hopes of doing some diving but found only sand and rocks. We headed back to St Maarten where we could watch the racing boats arrive and enjoy great food in a festive atmosphere.
St Maarten has a large lagoon that is accessed via a lifting bridge and a 56-foot-wide channel. The bridge has scheduled openings and we enjoyed many happy hours at the Sint Maarten Yacht Club watching the “parade of boats” entering and leaving the lagoon. A lot of the racing crews donned costumes and hammed it up for the spectators. Just two months earlier a super yacht took out the bridge operator’s shed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFqBEs7UQAg
We very much enjoyed St Maarten and its well-stocked chandleries. We hooked up with friends on Viridian and Greg, a racing enthusiast, knew may of the boats and crews and educated us on who to watch and what to look for. We took our dinghy out to the starting line of the first race and watched the near collisions as boats jockeyed for position. At the end of each race day everyone headed for the regatta village for food, entertainment, and drinks.
I was BBQ’ing on the back of the boat one night with the flood light on when a school of tarpon showed up. Their eyes glowed orange in the light and appeared a bit frightening until I realized what they were.
We left St Maarten well vaccinated against COVID-19 with countless rum drinks. Our first stop in the British Virgin Islands was Virgin Gorda and we headed to the north end of the island which is noted for its bars, restaurants, and water sports. It was quit sobering to see the lasting effects of hurricane Irma that struck a direct hit in 2017. There was only one restaurant and one bar open and it was unclear if any of the other business would rebuild. We got an unexpected surprise one evening when hundreds of flamingos passed in front of a full moon and landed in the adjacent lagoon.
The BVIs provided a pleasant cruising ground with islands clustered close together. We often sailed between anchorages with only the jib to stretch out our passages and stay relaxed. We enjoyed snorkeling and did a scuba dive on the shipwreck Rhone. We particularly liked The Bight on Norman Island with its secure anchorage and two functioning restaurants; a nice one for our 49th wedding anniversary dinner and a raucous Willy T’s for a good time. We spent our last night in the BVIs at Willy-T’s in the company of the Yachting Week participants who are real party people with dancing on the bar, body shots, and …. We felt this would be a good time to start our quarantine period.
We checked out of the BVIs as the harbor was closing for COVID-19 and moved the 6 miles to the US Virgin Islands. We had called ahead to make sure that we would be allowed to check in. We completed the formalities on St John and headed to Francis Bay on the north side of the island where we have been in quarantine ever since. The bay is filled with boats doing the same thing so there is no visiting other than standing off in a dinghy. We are fortunate that we are in a beautiful marine park with good protection. We busy ourselves with boat projects, puzzles, cards, and sunsets.
We have changed our cruising plans and have contracted to have the boat shipped from St Thomas to Vancouver, BC, sometime in April, although timing is somewhat unpredictable with the virus restrictions. We plan to cruise Canada this summer and Alaska next summer.
St Maarten, Heineken Regatta
Diving
St Barts, BVI, USVI
Our stay in Bequia was delightful. It is truly a cruiser’s paradise with a floating bar in the anchorage, fuel delivery to your boat, and great restaurants. We had our boom vang repaired (the only casualty of our Atlantic crossing) and watched the 49ers clinch a spot in the Super Bowl, closing down the bar since we appeared to be the only “gridiron” football fans.
The winds finally dropped to seasonal trade wind levels and we had a wonderful sail to St. Lucia, but much of the beautiful scenery was obscured by rain. We stopped in at charming Margot Bay and checked into the country without realizing that we arrived a few minutes after “closing”; the overtime charges were surprising steep.
We spent a week in Martinique with one night at Sainte Pierre in the shadow of Mt. Pelee volcano that erupted in 1902 killing the 29,000 inhabitants. While in Dominica we went scuba diving in the marine park and watched the 49ers lose to the Chiefs, once again closing down the beach bar.
We stopped in Guadeloupe at the Saints and celebrated Sandie’s birthday with dinner on the beach. Then on to Basse Terre where we put in to the Marina Riviera-Sens and gave Persephone her first proper fresh-water washdown since the Canary Islands. With the boat safely moored in the marina, we rented a car and explored Guadeloupe. We hiked through rain forests to the 350-foot Chutes du Carbet waterfall and swam in Crayfish Falls. We spent a couple of days anchored in the Cousteau Underwater Park at Pigeon Island and enjoyed some snorkeling. One night while sitting in the cockpit at Deshaies, we were treated to a nighttime rainbow courtesy of a full moon; a first for us.
We next sailed to Antigua and Falmouth harbor, the mega-yacht charter capital of the Caribbean with many of the world’s largest yachts. Everything in the harbor was up-scale including the chandleries and sail lofts which we took full advantage of.
We have worked our way up to Jolly Harbor where we have checked out of Antigua in preparation for our morning departure to Nevis and St. Kitts. The weather has been great except that rain squalls seem to pass through every few hours so we are expecting a wet trip.
An interesting note from our Atlantic crossing. Six days out of the Canary Islands we crossed paths in the night with a 4-man/woman rowboat that was part of a trans-Atlantic race. It made our passage seem like a piece of cake.
Diving Dominica
Our departure from the Canary Islands was delayed a week by bad weather. On the plus side, a large concert venue was erected 100 yards from our boat and we enjoyed an evening with Spanish singer Raphael and an afternoon of Christmas entertainment for all the children on the island of Tenerife. The city of Santa Cruz put up their Christmas decorations and there was something happening every day. We continued to plan for our crossing (it is possible to over-plan), dinned out, and did jigsaw puzzles to pass the time. Finally, we set sail on December 20.
Our crossing consisted of 18 days of light winds finishing with 5 days of brisk trade winds with breaking seas. Highlights included whale sightings and, of course, dolphins. Our only failure on the boat was when the boom vang broke one week out, but that was only a minor inconvenience. Christmas and New Years passed with little recognition.
We made landfall on Union Island in the Grenadines on January 12. We learned that there was a large high-pressure area out in the Atlantic that was causing unusually high winds and dangerous sea conditions. This explained why the tradewinds had seemed a little feistier than expected.
We celebrated our arrival at Sparrow’s on the north side of Union Island where we relaxed in lounge chairs on the beach, drank rummy drinks, and ate dinner while watching the sun set.
Our next stop was Tobago Cays where we hoped to revisit some dive sites from 25 years ago. But the Atlantic high was still in full force and we had to seek shelter from 30 knot winds in the lee of Mayreau Island. From there we headed north to Bequia where we anchored this afternoon. Here we plan to have the boom vang repaired and attend to some minor boat projects. The weather is expected to die down and we might be able to get some scuba diving in.
Santa Cruz prior to departure
Atlantic Crossing
Arrival at Union Island
With the boat safely moored in the Almerimar Marina, we rented a car and headed off on a two-week road trip through Spain and Portugal. We left on the heels of a heat wave that had swept through Portugal and northern Spain and we dressed accordingly; sandals, shorts, and T-shirts. By the time we were finished there was snow in the mountains and we had purchased winter-wear.
We drove through southern Spain with its vast olive groves that eventually gave way to cotton fields. Our first stop was Granada to see the Alhambra, but evidently we were at high season and tickets were sold out for a month. We even tried buying tickets at midnight when cancelations are posted, but no dice. Next was Seville with its huge gothic cathedral, third largest church in the world, and the Alcazar with its blend of Islamic and Christian architectures.
We drove north through Portugal visiting small coastal towns on our way to Lisbon. We enjoyed seeing endless sandy beaches which are a rarity in the Med. Then on to Santiago (aka Galicia) and the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the terminus for the Christian pilgrimage to the shrine of the apostle Saint James. The cathedral was undergoing restoration and scaffolding and plastic sheeting obscured much of the interior views. But the neighboring Museum of Pilgrimage and Santiago was well worth seeing.
The weather turned cold and rainy as we drove along the northern coast of Spain. Again, we focused on the small towns tucked into snug harbors. We especially liked Luarca with its rugged coast and fleet of small fishing boats.
The Palacio Real in Madrid was a magnificent reminder that royalty has its perks. The palace included an extensive display of medieval armor and weapons. Next door stood the rather modern Cathedral de la Almudena with the Altar Santa Maria. In Toledo we visited the impressive Cathedral de Toledo, repository of the Monstrance which was made from the first gold Columbus brought back from the New World.
When we returned to the boat we did a major replenishment of food in preparation for our upcoming Atlantic crossing and then we left Almerimar headed for Gibraltar. The overnight trip was marked by two wonderful events. A pod of pilot whales joined us and swam in front of the boat like dolphins, turning occasionally to look up at us. The second event was in the middle of a moonless night when a pod of a dozen dolphins joined us. Their bodies glowed with bioluminescence giving them a ghostly appearance as they crowded each other to ride our bow wave. The luminescence was so bright it was as if we were shinning a light on them.
We arrived early the next morning in Gibraltar and checked into a marina. We will do a little sightseeing, a bit more provisioning, and then head off for the Canary Islands.
Granada & Seville
Portugal
Northern Spain
Madrid & Toledo
Back to the Boat
We ended up spending five weeks in Barcelona while Sandie made a quick trip back to the States and Brian worked on the boat. We kept the boat at the Port Forum Marina that was great except that there was a beach club in the marina with outdoor pool and dance floor, and very loud music.
Barcelona is a beautiful city with lots of attractions and tree lined streets with outdoor cafes and tapa restaurants. We visited several Gaudi structures including Casa Batllo, La Pedrera, and the spectacular Sagrada Familia. We enjoyed the Picasso Museum, the Barcelona Aquarium, the Barcelona Cathedral, and the Parc de la Ciutadella. But most of all we enjoyed everyday life in Barcelona.
We finally pulled ourselves away from the city and headed out to the Balearic Islands with their white sand beaches and crystal-clear water. We started at the northern most island of Menorca and worked our way south through Mallorca and Ibiza. We were fortunate to arrive on “drum night” at Benirras Bay, Ibiza, a hippie retreat where once a month everyone brings out their durms for a concert. We had to keep a constant watch on the weather because the winds could shift 180 degrees during the night leaving us on a lee shore in the morning. We primarily anchored out except for a few days in Palma for sightseeing and re-stocking supplies.
Our trip back to the mainland was uneventful and then we day-hopped southwestward along the southern Spanish coast. We arrived in Cartagena during a weekend festival. There was a foot race for adults and arcades for the children. It seemed that every family in Cartagena turned out for the event. We enjoyed an outdoor dinner while watching the locals; everyone seemed to know everyone. What a great sense of community.
We eventually arrived in Almerimar where the boat is safely moored in a marina while we tour Spain and Portugal in a rented car. More on that in a future post.
Barcelona
Gaudi Architecture
Picasso Museum
Balearic Islands
Brian and Sandie's Around the World Cruise 