S/V Ripple

Ketchikan heritage sculpture at the cruise ship docks June 13 - 14, 2015 John and Derek arrive at the boat in the early evening, and after introductions, we review the symptoms. Is the propeller OK?, Derek asked.  I assure him it has to be... my images are ambiguous*, but the evidence is unequivocal: no THUNK ! no vibration! We run the engine so Derek can hear it for himself, and engage the gearbox... forward, reverse, no bad noises, no untoward vibration. Diminished thrust is the primary symptom. The prospect of pulling the engine out, removing the gearbox, rebuilding it at his shop, and re-installing it is straightforward to Derek. It is the smallest diesel that Derek has ever worked on (because it is basically the smallest diesel engine... period). The big unknown is whether parts will be available for an engine out of production for more than a decade. For myself, I am simply grateful to be in the hands of a good mechanic who is as comfortable at rebuilding the dies...

Sailing up the channel to Ketchikan. The cruise ships are visible before the town is June 13, 2015 Well, this is awkward.  Two days before a scheduled crew change, I have a serious mechanical problem on the boat, with no clue how difficult it will be to fix it. There isn't going to be any problem getting Mathias back to Ketchikan by the 15th, but Wes is scheduled to arrive that same day, and who knows what will happen? The previous evening I had managed to get off a few texts by standing on deck and holding my phone as high as I could reach. I thought about sticking it a pelican box and hoisting it up a halyard, but there was no real urgency. We left the mooring ball in Alava Bay at 0415, trying to make use of as much of the flood tide as we could to help push us up to Ketchikan. Before we could avail ourselves of that flood, we had to get past it, as it was not only flooding towards Ketchikan, but up Behm and into Alava Bay. So, it was slow going for a bit at 2 knots. A...

Revillagigedo Island June 11, 2015 Ketchikan is located on a narrow channel at the southwest corner of Revillagigedo Island.  The Behm Canal circles the Island from about 9 o'clock to 6 o'clock. You can count on rain -- the driest month in Ketchikan is wetter than the wettest month in Seattle. But the waters are well protected, and we expected a gentle, if rainy, circumnavigation of the island. The payoff for motoring quietly through the rain is Misty Fjords National Monument. Several large fjords indent the eastern shore of the rugged mainland, storied for their ghostly grandeur. As Mathias's departure date neared, we looked forward to spending a day or two exploring the fjords before heading back to Ketchikan for a crew change. The major challenge for traveling these waters is the dearth of easy anchorages.  The shores of the fjords are steep-to: that is, they drop steeply into deep water, affording few opportunities for safe anchoring. Fifteen fathom are th...

Ernest Sound, calm and well protected, on the run into Meyer's Chuck June 9-10, 2015 Berg Bay to Meyer's Chuck was a sunny, quiet trip through Blakely Passage and south southwest across Ernest Sound. We looked hard for bears along the shore, as they are known to frequent the shores along the Cleveland Peninsula. No luck. The barometer had been high all the previous day, though it started to slide as the day wore on. I think Clarence saw us coming Meyer's Chuck is a small community of cabins strategically located on the Cleveland Peninsula at the corner of Ernest Sound and Clarence Strait. Coming north from Ketchikan, it is the first opportunity to get off Clarence, and going south, it is where you stay before you face The Bully. Berg Bay to Myer's Chuck to Marguerite Bay (Traitor's Cove) Meyer's Chuck is a good place to await your fate or lick your wounds, depending on which way you're going. It is has a free municipal dock (rumor has it th...

June 7-8, 2015 We departed from Scenery Cove in Thomas Bay at 0530 in a steady rain that lasted for 36 hours without interruption, reminding us how fortunate we had been the whole trip so far. This was the first of several intervals on the trip that would expose Ripple's weakest cruising characteristic: it was nigh unto impossible to stay dry in a persistent rain. The cabin is small, and condensation from our bodies alone is an issue. Anything made of cotton absorbs the moisture. The sleeping bags absorb the moisture. Everything in the cabin feels clammy to the touch. We stayed another night in Petersburg, as much to plug in and dry out as anything else. We arrived back at the marina before noon and paid the extra $5 for shore power so we could plug the tiny ceramic heater in and run it all day. It helped. I would happily have reprised our pizza dinner, but it was Sunday and it was closed! The hardware store on the main drag was open, though, and we bought a couple vari...

The first and only iceberg of the trip: Frederick Sound just north of Petersburg June 6, 2015 Cold Pizza for breakfast, and it tasted good! We had a short trip planned for the day to Thomas Bay, the first glacial inlet north of Petersburg. The more famous glaciers are further north towards Juneau... Tracey Arm and others.  At this point we were calculating our available time pretty closely, and felt we couldn't risk going any further north. Hanging glaciers (glaciers that reach the water's edge) are more dramatic, but calve continually and present navigational risks, especially to single-screw vessels, and I was chary about risking damage to Ripple's propeller.  Hanging irony is a risk, too, you know. Baird Glacier at the north end of Thomas Bay Thomas Bay is a lovely place, though, and one particular corner of it is named Scenery Cove, and for good reason. Tight, intimate, and really spectacular, the Douglas guide is diffident about its value as an overn...

Leaving Clarence Strait behind us. Clarence had a few lesson yet to teach, though June 5, 2015 Ripple is a go-boat. Even empty, her accommodations below are tight. Loaded as she was, there isn't much lounging space below decks: a day at anchor is penance, purgatory. Even as we reviewed our mistakes, we re-assessed our plan, and reluctantly pruned them. We had wanted to transit the Keku strait, one of the least travelled passages of the Inside Passage, and take Frederick Sound all the way across the top of Kupreanof Island, and south through the Wrangell Narrows. Later I would be told that staying in Rocky Passage (the crux move in Keku strait), one could still hear wolves baying at night.  But we revised out plan and elected to go up through the Wrangell narrows to Petersburg, dip our toe into a glacial inlet (Thomas Bay), and turn back south. The total would put us under 400 nMiles, and each day we charted our progress and re-assessed our options. This particular day...

Coffman Cove to Lake Bay 5 nM, 2nM as the crow flies June 4, 2015 The education of a skipper is a long process that proceeds in increments of imprudent behavior. String enough of them together, survive, and eventually you achieve some semblance of competence. I should live so long. This day was one of those days, among the most memorable of the trip, and indeed, of all my days aboard Ripple. I made three important mistakes, born of complacency and inexperience. Mistake number (1) was to not take the weather forecast seriously enough.  We had listened several times on the day before, and there were reports of gale winds coming in off the Gulf of Alaska. Listening to the weather channels on VHF is tricky business. If you don't know the landmarks in the report (some we did, others not), then it is hard to form a picture of what is happening, and if you don't know the waters, and how they fit together it is harder still. Inexplicably, that morning we didn't listen to...

Ketchikan to Coffman Cove: 65 nMiles June 3, 2015 I spent hundreds of hours poring over charts and guidebooks and Google Earth over the winter months. I memorized names of islands and passages and plotted routes and distances, trying to fix in my head a model of the route. It is an enjoyable pastime in the cold rain of a Seattle winter, and undoubtedly valuable, but of course inadequate in conveying the character of the experience one is likely to have. If I were to describe Clarence Strait in a single word, it would be menacing. I spoke to others along the route that felt similarly. Clarence is 110 nMiles from its mouth on the Dixon Entrance to where it opens into Sumner Strait, and its orientation is roughly aligned with the prevailing winds. Thats a lot of fetch (unimpeded distance for wind to build wave height). Armchair chart reconnaissance doesn't convey the visceral experience, and Clarence is nothing if not visceral. Each of my five experiences on the strait were an...

Creek Street is an authentic vestige of old Ketchikan, though its businesses are driven entirely by tourism rather than randy prospectors these days June 2, 2015 Ketchikan... most of Alaska, for that matter, accommodates transient boaters with a hot-berth system. Fishing boats are out plying their trade a good deal in summer months, and those empty berths are managed by the municipal marinas.  My experience was that they do an excellent job, and the fees are quite reasonable (the fees appear to be set state-wide, about $22 for Ripple's thirty foot mooring length). When we found our way to our assigned berth the night before, we were not sure whether we would stay one night or two. After three weeks on the water, we had some housekeeping to do.  Showers, laundry, provisioning,  and perhaps even a bit of relaxation.  Fairly quickly it became evident that two nights was minimum therapeutic dose. But that first night we got the shopping done, washed o...

Everything comes to Alaska by barge. June 1, 2015 Today we cross into Alaska.  My first time in the state, and Mathias' as well. And we will arrive by slow boat from Seattle. It is three weeks since we left and we've covered about 750 miles, never in the same place for more than a day. But to get to Ketchikan we have to cross the Dixon Entrance, and of the two open water crossings, Dixon has the nastier reputation.  We leave Fitch Island Cove (in Brundige Inlet) at 0520, and we're greeted at the mouth with gentle, rolling swells, less than a meter. Dixon is a pussycat this morning. The skies are overcast and there is a bit of fog (enough that keeping an eye on the chartplotter is imperative).  The horizon is featureless, and steering a straight course is surprisingly difficult. I can identify with sea stories that have ships sailing in circles. But the going is easy, and after a time the shoreline of Alaska becomes dimly visible. 57 miles in 13 hours Wavele...

Leaving Grenville Channel to the south, moving north on Chatham Sound May 30 - 31, 2015 We are two days from the Dixon Entrance, one of the two open crossings, the major crux moves of the trip, the threshold of Alaska. A small thing for a veteran, but we are rookies and don't really know what to expect. Today and tomorrow are about staging that crossing, and we read and re-read the guidebooks, mapping Ripple's speed onto potential anchorages. The anchorages between the northern end to the Grenville Channel and Prince Rupert are few, and not as well protected as we are used to. We can stay in Kumealon Inlet at the northern end of Grenville, which is well protected and attractive, but makes for a short day today and much longer the next.  We want to get closer to Dixon. Lewis Island has anchorages protected from the south but open to the north -- not good. Lowe Inlet to Kelp Passage: 40 nMiles We settle on Kelp Passage, though, looking at the chart I am wondering w...

Verney Passage May 29, 2015 We left Bishop's Cove and turned north up Ursula Channel to get to the top of Gribble Island, and then southwest for a 13 mile sojourn through the breathtaking scenery of Verney Passage.  It is easy to become inured to the beauty that is a constant presence along this route, but this passage is particularly striking, and one wonders how many people have ever explored these remote cirques and imposing rockfaces.  I bet there are a lot of first ascent opportunities yet to be found there. Bishop's Cove to Hartley Bay to Lowe's Inlet (Google Earth) At the bottom of placid Verney Passage we turned the corner onto Wright Sound, and immediately were caught up in head winds and chop, and though we had only 4 miles of the Sound to cross, it was lumpy, and we were happy enough to get to Hartley Bay.  Wright Sound is at the confluence of several major waterways, two of which lead to the sea fairly directly.  As with any such plenum, the c...