2022 was an interesting year for us. We completed 2021 with a 5 week kite boarding beach stay at South Padre Island in Texas, then slowly worked our way back towards chilly Port Townsend where JollyDogs was beginning to look more like a boat than damaged goods. Crash repairs including the bow, all new standing rigging and a sail drive diaphragm seal were finally completed and we splashed her at the end of March. Having made the emotionally difficult decision to sell her while the market was hot, off to the broker’s dock in Seattle we went. With all our cruising gear and provisions removed we had really been looking forward to a great last sail, but adverse tides and winds demanded a long day of motoring simply to arrive before dark. It’s odd how one develops a personal relationship with a boat. For 8 years she was our home and chariot, carrying us safely to faraway places, and we miss her.
Back aboard MV Sunset we enjoyed living in the lovely community of Port Townsend and the stunning natural wonders of the Olympic Peninsula as we continued preparations to leave the marina for Southeast Alaska, finally departing May 1st. After our “success oriented” shakedown cruise we cleared into Canada and took about 3 weeks to meander through the inside passage of British Columbia. Along the way we visited friends at Thetis Island, Nanaimo, Lund, Port Neville, and Prince Rupert. We also made great stops at Port McNeil and had a soak at Bishop Hot Springs. We cleared back into the US in Ketchikan near the end of May. As we made our way North, we called on such places as Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka, Hoonah, Haines and Juneau, but we also explored more remote villages including Meyers Chuck, Tenakee Springs, and Baranof Warm Springs. Stunning scenery was everywhere, especially around our anchorages at Red Bluff Bay, Glacier Bay National Park, and Fords Terror. We witnessed a large group of humpback whales bubble feeding at Freshwater bay. We caught big Dungeness crabs and halibut, and purchased fresh salmon from fishermen on the docks.
We picked our way through enormous floating logs and chunks of floating ice that would have badly damaged or sunk Sunset. We learned to deal with fast and tricky tidal currents at Dodd Narrows, Seymour Narrows, Heikish Narrows, Johnstone Strait, Peril Strait, Sergius Narrows, and Fords Terror. We chugged through the Fiordlands in British Columbia in dense fog, navigating by overlaying radar imagery on the the electronic chart plotter map. We routinely anchored in over 100’ of water. We made great friends with other cruisers and some local folks. We got within 15 meters to brown bears (they don’t call them grizzlies) who, fortunately, absolutely ignored us. We ate moose and prawns given us by super friendly Alaskans. Isabel declared that we must stop crabbing and fishing at the fridge and freezer were full of halibut, crab and salmon. We hosted Isabel’s college roommate, her husband and daughter for a 10 day cruising adventure. We paid as much as $6.80/gallon for diesel fuel!
JollyDogs sold for a good price in late July. We had expected to enjoy another season aboard Sunset during the summer of 2023, hoping we could host a bunch of visitors, and we had already investigated winter storage for her in Wrangell.
In Sitka we had met Mike, an agent with Alaska Boat Brokers who had advised us to consider selling in 2023, but while we were in Juneau he brought around a lovely couple who convinced us they needed Sunset more than we did. In mid-August we shipped our possessions via barge to Seattle, helped them move their new boat from Juneau to Petersburg, then flew back to the lower 48. We retrieved our little Honda CR-V from storage, collected and sorted our stuff when the barge arrived, then sent 2 pallets of crates to old college pals Kevin and Anita in Arizona who were incredibly generous to offer secure storage.
Then we realized we were homeless.
We hatched a plan for a land adventure, exploring some bits of the USA that neither of us has visited. We meandered through parts of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. We made new friends and caught up with old friends. We spent time with new family members. After about 30 days and 4000 miles, we finally arrived at Mark’s sister Lisa’s home on Cape Cod. We hadn’t seen her family since Mark’s mom’s funeral in 2019, and it was great to spend a few days together.
We flew to the UK then spent 3 weeks catching up with old friends and family. We were there to celebrate Isabel’s father Paul’s 88th birthday along with her sister and partner, and we had a big weekend with many of Isabel’s old university sailing club pals in Winchester.
Launching for Thailand towards the end of October, we spent 6 weeks exploring Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket. In early December we flew to Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam to visit the Seawind factory and examine our next (hoped for) sailing catamaran, the Seawind 1370.
After a week we traveled to Hoi An to meet up with some old cruising friends from Mexico. The party continued for a couple of days in Da Nang before we blasted off for Singapore. One night in a fancy hotel then onwards to Perth, Australia where we’re now with our cruising mentors David and Kris. We’ll spend about a month tooling around Australia then it’s off to New Zealand for us. 2023 looks a little fuzzy just yet, but we’ll figure it out as we go.
Port Townsend was a great home for 8 months - the longest time we’ve spent on dirt in any place since 2014. Still, we’re not ready to settle anywhere - not even sure which continent we’ll end up on. For now we’re enjoying traveling and expanding our minds. Along the way we’re seeing creatures and sights we’ve never seen before, appreciating cultures and people different from us, eating amazing food, renewing old friendships and making new friends.
We wish you all a prosperous and healthy 2023 as we all muddle our way through life.
Mark & Isabel
No comments:
Post a Comment