Peter and Grandma have a flight out of Gustavus around 5:30
this evening, but nothing else to do. I
spent the morning making phone calls to Sitka, scheduling a haul out and
maintenance work, and ordering a new, lower pitch prop. Without cell phone service and exceptionally
poor internet connectivity, this proved to be quite time consuming. I ended up finishing everything around 11:30,
Grandma got checked out of her hotel room, and we ate lunch before heading out
in the boat to find some more whales and drop Grandma and Peter off in Gustavus
for their flight.
 |
| View back towards Glacier Bay after leaving |
We were once again rewarded with many whales, including one
that surfaced no more than 40 feet from the boat. I was turned around taking a picture of Peter
and Grandma when Peter yelled out a whale was dead ahead. I quickly cut engine power and we watched as
it surfaced four more times. More
porpoises, otters, seals, and sea lions as well.
 |
| This guy is close! |
 |
| A view that never gets old... |
 |
| Peter and Grandma while whale watching |
Soon after dropping Peter and Grandma off the rain began
pouring down. I headed for Hoonah to
fill up the gas tanks and jerry cans for the 120nm trip down to Sitka. Unfortunately I arrived at the Hoonah fuel
dock at 5:32 pm, and they close at 5:30.
I didn’t know what time they closed, because they hadn’t answered their
phone or VHF all day. As I approached an
employee came out of the office, I thought to help me tie up my lines, but
instead he told me I was too late for gas.
They don’t open until 9:00 am tomorrow, so there goes my early
departure.
Without gas I headed into the marina for the night. The marina claims to monitor VHF 16, but my
calls went unanswered. Eventually
another cruiser suggested I call on 09, and I did get in touch with the marina. While the marina appears to be half full at
best, the guy on the radio seemed concerned that there wasn’t space for me and
had me drive around for 30 minutes while he tried to find an open spot. I don’t know if he wasn’t looking or what,
but there must have been at least 100 different spots that I could have easily
fit into. So far Hoonah is 0 for 2 in
being accommodating. Indeed, the fuel
dock staff seems to be the least helpful yet, and the marina staff seems
clueless.
With heavy rain falling I got hooked up to shore power and
just hung out on the boat, catching up with writing this blog and watching a
few episodes of The West Wing. Tomorrow
I’ll pick up gas and then head down Chatham Strait. I may stop at Tenakee Springs for the night,
since it is supposed to be a nice, funky little village, or I may try to make
it further. I’ll just see how I’m
feeling, how the weather is, and how much daylight I have to work with.
37.5 nm today and 1,490.1 total
No comments :
Post a Comment