GSSR#23 – King cove

Total Distance: 5,276 nm
Run so far: 2,341 nm
Nautical Miles to go: 2,935 nm
Tomorrow’s goal: 174 nm

Greetings all! 

When we left the port at Sand Point, Alaska our goal was to run the 30 hours to Dutch Harbor.

Our good luck with weather has continued. The seas have been exceptionally calm. 

About five hours in, we started noticing what looked like small bubbles in the water. They stretched for miles, and I couldn’t figure them out. I called the other GSSR boats, and they had also noticed them.

Braun on Grey Pearl had the best guess. We’ve been running along a slew of volcanoes (sorry – no photos, they have been hiding behind the clouds). Braun’s guess was that we were seeing volcanic ash. Bill’s guess is more likely, and also interesting. Bill believes we may be seeing “salmon scum”. This is salmon season, and they are everywhere. Apparently they leave behind fish oil that floats to the surface.


After about 100 miles of running, we were passing the town King Cove. The seas were calm enough to continue, but the town looked interesting, so we decided to stop for the night.

It’s always kind of amusing to call the harbors.

“King Cove Harbormaster, this is Sans Souci.” 

“Go ahead Sans Souci”

“Greetings King Cove. We would like to stop at your port in a couple of hours. Do you happen to have room for three private yachts, ranging from 62 to 70 feet?”

“Can you say that again? I think I may have misunderstood you.”

“We are three private boats, ranging from 62 to 70 feet, just looking for moorage for the night. Can you fit us in?”

“Yes. No problem. Come on in. Salmon season just opened, and everyone is gone.
You’ll have the harbor to yourself.”

“One more question. Can you recommend a good restaurant?”

“Well. We only have one restaurant, but it is a good one. A Chinese place.”

We’ve noticed this is a pattern. We’ve found more Chinese restaurants than Seafood restaurants in the smaller Alaskan towns.

Before we could even tie to the dock, locals were arriving to take pictures, and send their kids running along the dock to see us.

It’s actually very cool. We’re excited about visiting their town, and they seem happy to have such unusual visitors.

For instance, here’s an email I received from the local fire chief:

“…

Hello

My name is Chris and I am the fire chief for the city of King Cove I would like to welcome you and the other boats in your fleet. [… ] It was the talk of town like where are they from? Where are they going? My 2 young sons were so excited to see all 3 boats. We went for a ride down to the harbor and took some photos of the boats. […] I am the webmaster for the city Of King Cove’s website www.cityofkingcove.com I put a photo of your fleet on the home page of that web site and a link so that people can follow your progress. I hope you do not mind. Thanks for your time and we pray you have a safe and wonderful trip.

Fire Chief Chris B.

King Cove Fire & Rescue 

…”

Actually, we’ve received a warm welcome everywhere, and even made the local papers, including the cover of the Kodiak Daily News. That article was picked up by many other Alaska papers, including the Anchorage Daily News.

This morning, the crews of the GSSR boats met, to discuss the next leg of our trip. Last night, when tying up the boats, we loosely said that we’d be getting underway sometime in the afternoon. This morning we gathered up all the latest weather, tide and current data, and started studying. We met on Seabird at 9am, and started looking at Dutch Harbor.

Currently, we are on the southern side of the Aleutians, and Dutch is on the north side. We are 175 nm east of Dutch Harbor, and need to find a pass between the islands, in order to transition from the Pacific into the Bering Sea. There are several passes, each with different pros and cons. The first we’ll come to is the largest, Unimak Pass, which is nearly six miles across.

Here’s the weather report:

PKZ170-240200-
EASTERN ALEUTIANS CAPE SARICHEF TO NIKOLSKI
400 AM AKDT TUE JUN 23 2009
.TODAY… SW WIND 20 KT. SEAS 5 FT. PATCHY FOG. RAIN.
.TONIGHT… W WIND 15 KT. SEAS 5 FT. PATCHY FOG. RAIN.
.WED… NW WIND 20 KT. SEAS 6 FT. RAIN SHOWERS.

This is actually a very good weather report. Assuming we arrive at Unimak pass sometime this evening, we’ll have 15 knot winds from the west. Yesterday evening, I pulled this same weather report and they were projecting 25 knot winds from the northwest.

The other factor we needed to evaluate is current. Currents through these passes run up to 9 knots. If we hit the pass at the wrong time we could be in a situation where we are unable to make progress against the current.

Another deciding factor for us was the interaction of the current and the wind, and the width of the passage. We have three possible passages we are focused on. Because the Alaskan peninsula runs roughly southwest here, we are partially sheltered from the wind, as long as we stay in the Pacific. By waiting until the last minute, just prior to Dutch Harbor, to cross to the Bering Sea, via Unalga Pass, we would be sheltered from the wind for as long as possible. However, Unalga pass is narrow, which can amplify the effects of wind and current. Even the coastal pilot, which is fairly conservative in their writing says about Unalga Pass, “… treacherous seas, particular in the narrow part of Unalga Pass, caused by wind opposing the current, often sweep a vessel without warning. These have caused severe damage, and men have been washed overboard, with resultant loss of life…”

Ultimately, we decided to go through Unimak Pass, with the current slack or pushing us. After studying all the materials, we computed our optimal departure time. “9am”. Hey, that’s 30 minutes ago! We decided to start engines immediately. So much for sightseeing at King Cove.

Here’s Grey Pearl leaving King Cove.

Note in the snapshot from my Nobeltec above how close Grey Pearl is running to me. That’s because Sans Souci is often used as a floating internet café. We have broadband internet aboard. If the other boats run close, they can use my internet. They do have alternate ways of getting internet, but I have the fastest connection. Steven on Seabird has had great success, and speed, by using the Hughes 9201 Bgan unit that I used going to Costa Rica. It’s not a stabilized antenna, but it is very forgiving, and gives decent internet at a semi-reasonable price.

And, on a completely different topic…

Several of you sent me copies of an article about a couple of Alaskan fisherman lost at sea:

“…

06-22) 18:54 PDT Anchorage, Alaska (AP) —

Rod Whitehead had doubts of seeing his five children again as he marked 52 hours adrift in an open skiff in the northern Pacific on Father’s Day.

But that afternoon, as hypothermia and dehydration threatened, Whitehead and deckhand Bill Osterback spotted a basket and a swimmer breaking through the heavy Aleutians Islands fog as they were lowered from a Coast Guard helicopter.

“I don’t know how much longer we could have made it in the skiff. We were just so cold,” Whitehead, 50, said Monday from his home in Adak. “It was pretty much a miracle that they found us.”

Whitehead and his 50-foot fishing boat, the Larisa M., had been hired by a Bureau of Land Management survey crew. For five years, he has escorted BLM survey crews to ancient island village sites where 25,000 Aleuts once lived.

Whitehead spent Friday moving the crew from cove to cove along uninhabited Amatignak Island, the southernmost point in Alaska. The closest port is Adak, about 120 miles to the northeast and 1,300 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Osterback, 35, joined him on his last trip, to pick up the survey crew and their gear.

“We were just trying to get everything done, and we made a mistake and we paid for it,” Whitehead said.

As they motored through howling winds and 12-foot waves toward the island, their 15-foot skiff hit a rock and the motor died.

The wind pushed the powerless skiff toward a shallow reef, battered by 20-foot waves.

“We knew it would kill us if we went in there,” Whitehead said.

They managed to row the unwieldy boat around the rocks. In his last radio message to the surveyors, he said someone would need to get to the Larisa M. and radio for help.

“I was concerned it would take quite a few days before people noticed we were in a bad situation,” he said.

As darkness fell, they kept rowing toward shore, then reversing course in the heavy surf. They rowed for 15 hours, until at 6 a.m. Saturday, when they could no longer see the island.

Whitehead believed the BLM crew would be able to cobble something together to reach his fishing boat. “They’re a pretty resourceful group,” he said.

The surveyors fashioned a raft out of flotsam: boards placed on buoys and held together with fishing net.

With makeshift paddles, they reached the Larisa M at 10:30 p.m. Saturday and called the Coast Guard, which launched a search from Kodiak Island.

But time was running out for Whitehead and Osterback. Their rain gear was soaked by waves splashing over the bow. For provisions, they had one pint bottle of water and one energy bar. They ate half of the bar Friday and the remainder on Saturday, along with a few sips of water.

By Sunday, the wind had died down but another hazard had set in: fog.

Whitehead remained calm, but wondered whether he would ever again see his children, who range in age from 7 to 19.

“What are the odds of them actually finding you with the fog coming through?” he said.

Furthermore, he could no longer feel his feet when he stood up, his hands were numb and he shivered continuously. The temperature hovered around 40 degrees, the National Weather Service reported.

“There’s nobody out there to help you, you know? You don’t see people out here, no other boats. You’re kind of on your own,” he said.

Early Sunday afternoon, they heard “little plane noises” through the fog. A Coast Guard C-130 Hercules soon spotted them and dropped a radio, a satellite beacon and three bottles of water. In a second pass, the airplane dropped survival suits and food.

Coast Guard spokeswoman Sara Francis said the skiff was found 14 miles south of Amchitka Island. The boat had drifted at least 75 miles west, crossing 50-mile wide Amchitka Pass.

Five hours later, with the C-130 still circling overhead, the helicopter showed up. The crew could not see the tiny boat but honed in with radio directional, as Whitehead slowly counted down over the radio.

The rescue swimmer ushered the men, now wearing survival suits, into the water and the rescue basket.

The helicopter reached Adak Sunday night. Whitehead and Osterback were treated for dehydration.

Whitehead credits both the Coast Guard rescuers and the BLM crew for saving their lives.

“They’re tough guys and the only reason the Coast Guard came is because they built that raft,” he said.

…”

We were quite aware of this story as it was occurring. One of the guys, Rod Whitehead, is an acquaintance of Bills, and we happened to be tied up next to some relatives of his in Sand Point. There was plenty of concern on the docks, and great relief when the good news came in that they had been found. We’ll be in Adak in a couple of weeks, and hope to speak with the guys about their ordeal.

And, on a vaguely related topic…

Bill has had a tense few days, as has his wife, Cindy, who is back home in Kodiak. Their daughter is now on a fishing boat, in the Bering Sea (Bristol Bay) doing salmon tendering, and their son has been underway on a sailboat running with a friend from Kodiak to Homer. Bill acted like it was no big deal, but it has to be tough for parents to relax when their offspring are running around offshore. For Cindy Harrington, the whole family is out to sea. We were watching the reports here of major gales along his son Brendon’s route, and watching the sat phone hoping it would ring, with word of Brendon’s arrival in Homer. When the phone did ring, it was Brendon, fatigued, but exhilarated, after his bout with 50 knot winds. I’m sure Bill and Cindy are proud parents, but I think I’d be a nervous wreck if they were my kids.

Lastly, we just passed a shipwreck. Bill said I should get used to seeing them, that there are a lot of these around here. This particular one went aground after dragging anchor.

I’ll stop typing now. We are starting to take a lot of water over the bow. It’s going to be a LONG day.

-Ken Williams

N6805, Sans Souci 

Click me for a bonus!

15 Responses

  1. Well said, when you think about it, going into business designing computer games back then must have been pretty risky. Computers weren’t nearly as widespread as they are now, it was guys like you (Ken) that opened up the market.

    Perhaps I’m wrong but it seems to me there weren’t any laptops or 3gig graphics cards etc. You were probably one of the first to realise that a computer could be used for games and not just work.

    And I’ve had hours and hours of fun with Half-life ever since lol.

  2. I wouldn’t worry about it Ken. There will always be people who are envious, or jealous, of others who have been successful in life such as yourself. You happened to take a chance on a career that turned out to be extremely successful and created a lot of jobs in the process, and that’s a great accomplishment! If people can’t understand that, well…too bad for them. You’ve got nothing to be sensitive about….on the contrary… you should be extremely proud of yourself for what you’ve done, and your are now able to enjoy the fruits of your labors!

    Stay safe!

    – John S.

  3. Hey Ken, yeah the way the article was worded was rather tactless, everyone knows that a Nordhavn is expensive but it doesn’t mean that all of you have to be defined by the fact that you own one. Nordhavn’s are hardly your average cucumber-sandwiches-and-caviar yacht anyway lol. They’re little ships.

    The author was probably just trying to make the GSSR expedition sound glamorous. I think its more exciting and interesting than glamorous personally. 🙂

  4. Shaun: The Kodiak article bugged me because of the section where it called us millionaires. I can’t deny that it takes a fair amount of money to buy a Nordhavn, but there’s an old joke, with a certain amount of truth to it, “Do you know the best way to make a hundred grand with a boat?” The response, “Start with a million!”. On the serious side… Perhaps I’m overly sensitive, but I don’t like it that sometimes the media spins things such that people who succeed financially are portrayed as villains. OK. I confess. I created a lot of jobs and made a lot of people a lot of money. I don’t see that as a bad thing, so why does the media imply it’s a negative? Argh. – Ken W

  5. Ken, question for Captain Bill Harrington. Captain Bill, what are your thoughts on the Nordhavn 62 & 68? Enjoy your journey! Thanks.

  6. Having been in the Offshore ‘Cruising Business’ until last year when a divorce settlement cost me my GB Aluetian, I have been reading your travel postings with great interest. Good Vibrations went south to Mexico and Costa Rica but never North to Alaska. A portion of your trip (Seattle to Alaska) was one I very much wanted to take. Though I have been a Grand Banks owner for years I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Nordhavn vessels…rugged, seaworthy, beautifully built. Since Dutch Harbor, via Deadliest Catch, has become a household name, I am looking forward to your reports from DH as well as taking on the Bering Sea. I once had a Cal 40 and I think what San Francisco Bay can at times be to sailing, the Bering Sea can be the ultimate test to offshore cruising. Today it is 95 in Placerville, CA. I wish I was on the bridge of Sans Souci enjoying the salt air and temperate weather. Best of luck and safe travel to you all.

  7. yep…..Harbor Drive is a ways from pretty much everything in Dutch Harbor

    I suspect they will be able to move somewhere closer to town

  8. Oh, by the way, I just saw on the news that the North Korea situation is getting worse and worse (I remember some discussion about it in a previous post), they’re now threatened to “wipe America off the earth” or words to that effect. You’ve gotta wonder what the hell is going through their leaders heads to be making statements like that.

    First of all, it’s rude and not very nice. And second, it’s just stupid because they know that they cant, the US on the other hand could very easily wipe them off the map, it’s a bit like an angry hampster trying to threaten a police-trained Alsatian lol.

    That’s just the way I see it from the bottom of the world in SA 🙂

  9. I clicked on the little egg in the corner and got to read about you guys. V.cool (http://V.cool) .

    The article describes you as millionairs, I found that amusing because you’re all very down to earth.

    Happy sailing!

  10. Bugger, it’s supposed to be vert not verde.
    Oh well, it is late over here.
    Enjoy Dutch Harbor!

  11. To Chris: Thanks HEAPS for telling me about marinetraffic.com (http://marinetraffic.com) . I see Sans Souci!

    To Ken and Roberta: I see Sans Souci!!

    Let me tell you, I am positively verde avec jalousie!

    Someday I too will own a Nordhavn, and it will spend as little time as possible at home port.

    Watching from Australia,

    Tedd

  12. Ken, thanks for your comments. I believe on Adak are some of the largest Cariboo. I’ve hunted Ptarmigan between Mt. Moffit & Andrews Lake. There was great Kokanee fishing in Andrews Lake. There is a sockeye run that goes into the creek at Little Thumb bay & up into a lake. On the road out to Comsta, from the runway to the north up a hill, there is the Adak National Forest, weather stunted trees planted during war time At the base of Sweeper cove seawall there is a large piano shaped rock that was dragged & pushed into place by D8 dozers. The heat from friction dragging it caused it to split in half. The contractor put a bronze plaque on it marking the project to replace the seawall destroyed by a condition “alpha” storm that clocked 129 kt in April or May of ’81. Stay Safe.

  13. Ken – I just looked at the city of King Cove’s website. I hope at $2.32 per gallon, you all topped off your fuel tanks! What a deal.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Be the first to know when

the game releases!

Plus, receive special insider, behind the scenes, sneak peeks and interviews as the game is being made. Don’t worry. We will not spam you, and we will not flood your box with too many emails.
 — Ken Williams

Credits     |     Video produced by: Rock Steady Media     |     Teletype photo: Arnold Reinhold     |     PDP-11 photo: Trammell Hudson