MV Dirona travel digest for Prince William Sound to Seattle Summer 2011


Show Prince William Sound to Seattle Summer 2011 travel log map Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise.

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8/26/2011, 11:50am: Port Bainbridge
Conditions offshore continue to improve after last night's gale--wave heights down to 11' from 20' at Cape Cleare, with 23 kt winds. Forecast shows continued improvement over the next couple of days. We decided we would commit to the run south and got the boat ready. Ran the wing engine, got it good and hot, closed the through hull and disabled the Wavenet and removed the ignition key so it won’t be inadvertently started with the exhaust closed. Secured outdoor table and chairs and checked all tiedowns. Filled galley lockers with bubblewrap to stabilize contents in rough seas. We put the large deadlights on the MSR windows. Locked down Davit tight and plugged furnace exhaust so waves wouldn't be forced down it.
8/26/2011, 1:50pm: Montague Strait
Waves on the bow in the 10' to 12' range and wind speeds of 28kts with gusts to 30.
8/26/2011, 7:00pm: Gulf of Alaska
Conditions degrading with the biggest waves we’ve seen. Forecast has worsened: tomorrow is predicted to hit 35kts with 13’ seas. We currently have 30kts with gusts to 41kts. If the waves are only 12’ we’ll be amazed--they are just towering. We should be out of the mess in 24 hours but it’s likely going to be a tough 24 hours.
We're now both seasick, James for the first time ever. It's not debilitating, but we both put on a scopolamine patch so we could keep food/water down. Spitfire seems to be nervous but otherwise doing very well. Eating lots, sleeping lots, and occasionally heading down below to use the cat box.
8/26/2011, 10:10pm: Gulf of Alaska
Wind 35-40kts with gusts to 51kts. Barometer 994. Waves listed as 13’ at Cape Cleare, but they look higher here. Are closely packed, wind-streaked, and breaking at the flybridge level.
8/27/2011, 3:12am: Gulf of Alaska
Winds 40 gusting to 59kts. Conditions tough, waves huge. Barometer 996.
8/27/2011, 5:30am: Gulf of Alaska
Winds east 21, barometer 999. Waves now 8-10', but closely spaced and conditions still quite rough.
8/27/2011, 7:47am: Gulf of Alaska
Winds east 20, seas still 8-10', barometer 1001. The weather system appears to be tracking us, and moving about the same speed and direction. We might have yet another day of these conditions.
8/27/2011, 12:45pm: Gulf of Alaska
Winds NE 33, barometer 1004. Lot of pitching motion as are bucking into big waves.
8/27/2011, 3:23pm: Gulf of Alaska
Winds 35N with big, wind-streaked 10-12' waves. A couple of waves actually broke way up against the top of the pilot house.
8/27/2011, 7:55pm: Gulf of Alaska
Finally got through the gale. Winds less than 15 from NE. We're pretty tired, but the boat handled remarkably well throughout. The furnace plug was torn off during the storm, the wind pressure against the dinghy cover wore a hole through it, and our US flag is slightly shredded, but otherwise we had no issues.
8/28/2011, 7:00pm: Gulf of Alaska
Conditions remain calm. Winds less than 10 and low westerly swell.
8/29/2011, 1:28pm: Gulf of Alaska
Winds below 10. 8-10' southwesterly swell.
8/29/2011, 7:44pm: North of Dixon Entrance
Winds below 10. 2-5' northwesterly swell.
8/30/2011, 12:56pm: Queen Charlotte Islands

Found a Caussin's Auklet in the cockpit. On the water, these birds take a long time to get any lift--they usually bounce off the water several times before getting in the air. You can see why--it's a little butterball. It must have landed and gotten stuck--it tried several times to fly away, but was unable to clear the cockpit walls with such a short runway. Intentionally or not, it had been trying to lighten its load by crapping all over the deck and side walkway. Judging by the amount, it had been there for a good half-day. It didn't seem scared, and eventually flew right at James. He scooped it up and gave it enough height to clear the cockpit. Off it went.
8/30/2011, 5:33pm: Queen Charlotte Islands

When Dall's Porpoises buzz the bow, Spitfire discovers that some of those waves out there actually are alive. He's been pretty concerned about it since.
8/30/2011, 7:30pm: Queen Charlotte Islands
Conditions continue generally calm with wind and seas behind us, and the sun is shining too. Great being out here now that the storm is behind us. Forecast looks good for the rest of the run home. Saw two other boats on AIS/radar last night, both over 8 miles away: the cargo ship De Zhou Hai heading to Prince Rupert and a fishing vessel. This is the first traffic we've seen since leaving Prince William Sound.
8/31/2011, 7:00am: Queen Charlotte Sound

Sunrise over Queen Charlotte Sound. Saw two vessels briefly on AIS over 12 miles away, and one other, making 1 knot and likely fishing, on radar 8 miles away.
8/31/2011, 2:45pm: Scott Islands

Triangle Island is visible to port. We're starting to see a lot more vessel traffic now--we've passed about a dozen trollers with their poles out fishing in the past few hours. Most are not transmitting AIS.
8/31/2011, 7:26pm: Quatsino Sound
In the homestretch now. Are making great time with the wind and current with us--are doing nearly 9 knots at 1,800 RPM (120HP).
9/1/2011, 5:24pm: Barkley Sound
Can smell the barn now--we should be anchored in the San Juan Islands by this time tomorrow. Unfortunately we have a night run through a fishing opening, in thick fog and a gale warning, to reach said barn. But that beats a gale in the Gulf of Alaska any day.
9/2/2011, 12:03am: Juan de Fuca Strait
9/2/2011, 4:45am: Juan de Fuca Strait
9/2/2011, 10:28am: Haro Strait
9/2/2011, 12:20pm: Echo Bay, Sucia Island

A dry, warm, soft, sunny, relaxing anchorage to end the long run.
9/3/2011: Reid Harbor, Stuart Island

After a late and lazy breakfast on the boat deck, we putted over to Stuart Island. Even early in the day, the weather was warm enough to ride at the fly bride in T-shirts. Jose Sousa had been following our trip online and stopped by to say hello. His 1999 Lord Nelson Victory Tug 41 Carolina is so well-maintained it looks better than new. Interestingly, his boat was built by South Coast Marine--the same yard that built Dirona. Jose recognized much of the hardware on our boat from the Lord Nelson.
9/4/2011: Roche Harbor
We've spent the last few days lazing in the the sun in the San Juan Islands after returning from Prince William Sound. Yesterday we anchored in Reid Harbor on Stuart Island ... Read more.
9/5/2011: Bell Harbor Marina