2008 Week 20 in Review
May 11 to May 17, 2008
I began the week by spending two days breaking down the party equipment from Old Tacoma Marine's co-sponsored event over the weekend, then went straight back to the Maris Pearl.
The Maris Pearl, Finished and Cruising
This year's maintenance and projects are done and Jay asked me to help bring the boat up to Ketchikan for some early summer cruising. It was me, Jay, Jay's best friend from high school, and two of Jay's fraternity brothers.
I had one long day to get ready to help bring the Maris Pearl for the trip up the Inside Passage, and it was a real workout schlepping oil, tools, spares, and supplies down the 800-foot dock. I got everything on-board by midnight and then got up at 4 am to get underway.
We had a great first day, making about 110 miles - which was actually too fast because we had to wait at Dodd Narrows for two hours before we could go through. That was a good time for a steak dinner while drifting. After making the narrows, we put into Nanaimo and picked up a box of Canada beer (Molson's). After a few of those I was done:
This trip has really been a chance to learn about the Pearl's Enterprise diesel. This is the first time I've traveled any distance on the Pearl. Usually, I just help take it out into the lake and back. Now, I've been getting to know all the little noises it makes and other little quirks of an individual engine operating for a while. I'm also able to record the temperatures over time and chase the leaks.
One early morning while raising the anchor, I was reminded of the million times I've raised chain in the middle of nowhere. The fog, the salty smell, the cold coffee, and the clunk clunk of the chain are all so familiar but it's been a while since I've been out on a boat. I really love mornings like that.
Another day, Brian, Craig, Roger, and I took the skiff to explore Butedale, an old outpost of the Canada Fishing Company that canned salmon and produced fertilizer. There's not much left but awesome derelict wooden buildings. In one big empty building up on pilings, I found bowling pins and balls. I immediately set them up and started to bowl.
Craig and Roger were talking with the old man who lives there when they heard a crash. They looked up to the big building and said "What the heck?" They thought that Brian and I fell or got squashed. The old man shrugged and said "Oh, they're bowling". Craig and Roger Thought the old man had lost it and they ran up to see what happened:
After Butedale, we did a little exploring in the skiff. I drove the bow of the skiff in to a water fall to get Craig, a smartass, soaked. He is still pissed.
That night we bought some jumbo shrimp from a fishboat sharing our anchorage. I boiled half of them, and butterflied the other half and sautéed them in butter and cayenne pepper. Yum. We finished the night in style by drinking too much and telling stories and lies, all while smoking cigars in the hot tub on the tug in the middle-of-nowhere Canada.
Stay tuned for the rest of the Alaska trip in Week 21.
