Off the Dock

 

Captain Ron quotes

As most boat owners know, this is a true statement. 

After Bill completed his battery install, and rewire project, we did what we call “cruise at the dock”. This means turning off the shore power cord, and utilizing all of our electrical needs on the battery system alone. Everything performed flawlessly, of course, even after multiple times of cruising at the dock. We left our slip feeling confident that our new system would sustain us, and result in a large savings in diesel fuel for the generator. 

Murphy loves a commotion, so one of our brand new components failed, and we headed for a nearby anchorage to assess, and look for fixes/alternatives. Bill saw the issue, and after talking to the company, they decided to send us a new part. This means hanging close to Wrangell, so we can head into the post office, pick up the shipment, and do the installation at the dock. It means turning off ALL the power, and that’s not something we want to do out at anchor.  Murphy and all…..

Passing by Sokolof, there were about 30 eagles lining the bank, feasting on something.

We decided to anchor in a small bay on the west side of Sokolof, weather in the foreseeable future is benign, and we could wait until we hear about what day to expect our new part to arrive. This puts us close to Wrangell, so the commute in will be short, but also we get the quiet of being off of the dock.

As you cruise into the bay, taking a wide turn is the best option, going around this rock, Bill remarked that he bet there was different colors of bottom paint on it. This photo is at low tide.

This photo is heading into high tide. Hmm you say, where’s the rock?

It’s on the chart.  See that asterisk, that’s the mark for that rock, go around.

It was interesting to see these two deer wandering the shore line on this island. They must have swam here from somewhere nearby. That buoy is a crab pot marker, not ours, this bay seems to be a spot for the commercial crabbers. 

Back in Wrangell, the quarry that is across the street from our harbor is in full production mode. Seven days a week they are mining rock and crushing it into gravel, we are glad to be away from the sound and grit that coats everything.

 As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.

We're Back!

 

Wrong spelling for this purpose, but you get it. 

You may have noticed that for the last year or more, this blog has been pretty much silent, (or maybe you didn't), either way, I took a break from posting. I'm not sure why, it just seemed that Friday would sneak up on me, and I'd have nothing written or planned, and then it would pass and nothing was done. I thought I would start it back up in January, new year and all, but here it is, June and still silent. 

My excuse for January, is that we both caught our very first confirmed case of Covid on Christmas day, and even though fully vaccinated, it took us both out for about a month. We also had the doctor prescribe Paxlovid, and we shudder to think how much worse it could have been. I frequently reminded us that at least we weren't on respirators. 

I have no excuse for the time period between February, and now.

However, Bill has been busy, Denali Rose has four lithium batteries installed now, and he has taken eight Trojan golf cart batteries off of the boat. It has been a long process to plan, diagram, purchase, install, and program.  He kept four Trojans onboard, as a back up just in-case.  You might know I call Bill, "the king of safety", as we always have backups, and spares. I won't even try to explain anything else about this  project, and I'm sure he'll want to do multiple posts about it himself, I've probably already got the facts wrong.

The "fun" of installation

Good labeling is the key.

My expertise is limited to, "they're a pretty yellow".

There are rescue ladders placed around the harbor, attached to the docks. They are there in case you fall in the water, you can swim to a ladder and get yourself out, self-rescue if no one is around. Recently the harbor staff pulled them out of the water to clean them off. 

Ouch

It's a good thing to have pulled them out, can you imagine trying to clamor onto this when you are wet, cold, and perhaps a bit scared? Those mussels have razor sharp edges, so now you'd be wet, cold, scared, muddy, and bleeding! (Can you say infection anyone?) The ladders have either been replaced, or pressure washed, and are now ready for your self-rescue. Good job harbor workers!

More to come, I promise I haven't forgotten you.

As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.