Pacific NW

Expeditions

The storm rages on. The sky is dark and it is dumping buckets. I had to bail Modulus out as she had filled almost to the gunnels in a 24 hour time period! The seas in the Gulf are running higher than “Silent Partner’s” mast right now. The Powder Magaziners must have left, as I have not seen them on the boardwalk today. I can only imagine them huddled under a thin shred of expensive nylon, fiddling with one of those damn camping stoves and eating luke-warm freeze-dried food. Poor souls! I cooked up another huge breakfast of hashbrowns and eggs and did a bit of reading while the heater blasted me with warm air. The rain thundered on the deck. We’re getting down to the last of our potatoes. I was hoping to replenish our vegetables here in Pelican but all they had were a few balls of wilted iceberg lettuce and some celery that is going brown around the edges. The forecast shows a favorable trend in two days, with a high pressure system building on friday and saturday. I hope to use this window to get into Lituya Bay, we’ll see. In the meantime, we’re at the dock. Once North of Pelican we will lose our radio reception and will be relying on barehanded weather forecasting and the iridium phone for our weather predictions. We are happy to be using the electric heaters at the dock rather than burning all our wood supply while at anchor. It has been nice to talk to other people in town, too. All the fishermen are giving great advice for our crossing. Neptune went to the doctor because his knee has been bothering him. The doctor gave him advice, a brace, and some medications free of charge. Neptune claims the knee is getting better now. For so long now I have been planning and dreaming about the big crossing from here to Prince William Sound. It’s hard to believe we’re standing on the edge now, waiting. The waiting isn’t so bad, it is giving me a chance to clear my mind and tie up all the loose ends on the boat. It is nice to be at the mercy of the weather and adapt to her ways. This is the last transmission of “Silent Partner” until we reach Prince William Sound. I will be holding the thoughts and good wishes from friends and family in my head as “Silent Partner” sets out for her first true blue-water crossing.