Pacific NW

Expeditions

Today marks the beginning of “Sient Partner’s” greatest voyage. Right now we are 45 miles offshore, en route to Prince William Sound 243 nautical miles to the west. We are currently graced with favorable weather and moderate 6 foot seas, allowing me to write! I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time now. It is hard to believe that what once started out as a distant dream is actually coming true today. At 1115 hours we steamed out of Yakutat Bay under clear skies and upon glassy seas. All the mountains are out. What a spectacle! I have never seen such a striking and impenetrable mountain range in all the world! It is impossible to imagine the scale of this place. Glaciers much larger than many east-coast states bulge out into the sea here, stretching as far off to the horizons as far as my eyes can see! It is an infinity of ice, a vast blank expanse of white, backed by the endless chain of soaring pinnacles. What a differnce a day makes out here in the Gulf of Alaska. Whereas yesterday we arrived in heaping seas in the teeth of a gale, today gentle cat’s paws stirred among the glassy swell. Exiting the bar across the entrance to the bay the swell had come down to 10 feet or so, and flattened out even more once we put out to sea. Dennis and Pat, aboard S/V “Nellie Juan” are making the crossing today too. Their boat is faster than mine, so I got an 8 hour head-start on them. Our plan is to meet up 230 miles to the west and try a shortcut into Cordova that Dennis knows well. If we are able to meet up, it will save me 75 miles of open ocean. If not, the shortcut is too dangerous for me to attempt without any local knowledge. Two hours out of the bay we established radio contact on channel 16. I happily reported to him the docile conditions of the Gulf, and we wished each other well. And two hours after that, I tried hailing “Nellie Juan” again, but we were too far out for reception. Neptune and I pulled 4 hour shifts at the helm, and I drifted in and out of sleep on my off-watch, always monitoring the weather conditions. I don’t consider myself religious, but I am asking the higher powers for all the help and luck they will give “Silent Partner” as she crosses the treacherous Gulf of Alaska. This is no California Coast or even the Washington Coast. This is the Gulf of Alaska in April, at 60 degrees North Latitude, one of the roughest bodies of water on the planet. It has already scared me a bit, and that was on an average day. Today we are truly lucky to have such calm, settled weather. Around noon a pod of dolphins darted along with “Silent Partner”, a good omen. I enjoyed the rest of the day napping, chart-plotting, receiving good forecasts on the Iridium satellite, and gazing in disbelief at the mountains.