Winter work and Cali Holiday

Hello All,
It has been a very long time since I posted. I have been just busy living and working, yes the four letter word. In late January My best friend Daren let me know about a boat repair job in the port town of Seward. The gentlemen that owns the boat, Jon Andrews, fishes with Daren and I have known him a long time also. I gave him a call and he was very interested in hiring me to help out. I spent 8 weeks replacing generators, removing old fuel tanks, redo plumbing for the fish hold and many other projects. The boat I was working on was built in Oregon in 1944. Her name is "Trask" and she is all wood and is 75 feet long. It was a lot of fun to work on such a boat with so much history.

I was just days from finishing the project when I had committed myself to a 14 day holiday in California. Jon was supposed to be out fishing by the time my departure date came to pass but he managed to do the last finishing touches with out me there.

I went out to Sacramento California to mainly visit my grandma Morris that I havent seen since I had my boat in San Francisco Bay in 2009. She had been keeping track of my travels via my aunt Jill that made copys of my blogs because grandma doesnt have a computer. She showed me the stack of paper blogs, they stacked about 10 inches high. We had a great visit and I also got to spend Easter with my Uncle Mart and Aunt Jill and their 3 children. Everyone is getting a little older and the kids are getting so big. From Sacramento I went to visit cousins in the bay area, Bob and shelly, an old crew member Dan and a cruising couple that I had met in Fiji and New Zealand. They are working in Richmond at a Marina living on there boat. I spent 4 days around the bay and had a great time with with everyone. From there I went to Reno and saw my Uncle Jim and aunt Lynn and spent a weekend in the high desert.

It was really nice to see everyone and get warm after a really long winter here in the far north.

This summer I will be working as boats engineer on the Trask, the boat I worked on, and will be tendering for salmon in Prince William Sound. That means we will be anchored where the small boats are fishing and gather their catches, keeping them refueled and what ever needs they may have so they can be close to the fishing grounds without having to go to town. I have never done this before so should be a very interesting experience. I will have my computer with me out on the water so I will be bloging my adventure through the 4 month season.

That has been my winter in a nut shell and I will be keeping in touch as soon as the season starts.

PEACE

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas every one,

I hope this blog finds everyone well and spending time with there families this holiday season. Last weekend I was invited to go down to Homer to attend the Homer Yacht Club Christmas party. It was a good time had by all and I got to tell more Pacific adventure stories with everyone. I invited a couple from here in Kenai to be my guest at the party. They are buying a Westsail 32 that is moored in Kodiak this week. They found me on the Internet and were surprised to find someone so close to them. They have never sailed before so they had heaps of questions about Westsails and I thought I would introduce them to the sailing community in Homer. They plan to bring the boat up and make Homer their hailing port this spring.

Saturday night after the party I spent the night on the boat. It has been very cold here the last few days so with the engine, diesel heater and generator running I got the cabin warm enough to sleep in. I also put up some Christmas lights on the mast to give the half empty, cold harbor some holiday sprit. The boat is doing well resting in the cold water. I keep thinking how much warmer I was this time last year.

This weekend Mom and I will be heading for Anchorage to have our family Christmas with aunts, uncles and cousins. I missed the party last year so I am looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Enjoy the pictures above and Happy Holidays to everyone.


PEACE

Fall in Nikiski

Hello All,
Fall has set into South Central Alaska with two big rain storms causing flooding in many areas and high winds in Anchorage. It is not uncommon for our area but seems to be a little early.
All is well here and I have been doing some projects around the house for mom. I haven't starting working yet but have had a few offers to do so. I just haven't got excited about the thought of work yet.
Last weekend I had a public presentation about the trip at a local Rec Center. Everyone that came brought some food and I had a picture slide show that I put together to entertain everyone. It was really great to see all of the people that have followed my trip over the years and had a awesome visit.
I have started to write my book of the trip and have finished the introduction so far, now I just need to figure out how I want to start it off. I hope to finish it in the spring provided I don't get to busy.
I have a few pictures of around the house so you can see fall in Alaska.



PEACE

News paper articles

Hello All,
When I was in Homer last Saturday I was interviewed by a radio station and by a local paper Homer News. To my delight our local paper The Peninsula Clarion also picked up on the story. They gave me a whole page story with pictures in the recreation section. That really tops off my welcome home events and I will enjoy my 15 minutes of fame.
Mom and I went to Homer on Wednesday and I got most of the food and a few other things off the boat. I am amazed as to how much stuff I had onboard. I will be returning to Homer next week and gather up a few more things and start winterizing.
I have been slowly adding more pictures to the web site and when I receive my new computer I will add more videos .
I will post the Homer news article so you can read it online.
That's all I have for now. http://homernews.com/stories/090512/news_home.shtml


PEACE

Freestyle safely tied in Homer Harbor

I made it into Homer Harbor at 1400 today. I had friends, family and 2 Homer news reporters greet me at the dock. In reality I made it to Kachemak Bay at 0600 this morning but because it was so early I moored the boat across the bay at some family friends homestead. I got some well deserved sleep after the 20 hour crossing and headed across at 1300. Even the bay welcomed me home by giving me beam reach winds gusting 30 knots. It was a bumpy 30 minute crossing but I got to finish the trip by sailing right on in.
The crossing from Kodiak to homer was excellent, the weather in Kodiak was sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. As the day went on I saw the clouds coming and before night fall it was overcast. I had all the sails up and moving right along but I did have the engine helping just to make good speed. The area between Kodiak and Homer can be very fickle for weather turning into a gale in hours so I wanted to get through in a timely manner.
I am home with Mom at the moment, we have been visiting and catching up. This will be only the second time in 3 years I have spent a night off of the boat. I will have to adjust my self to the real world again, it will be good to keep both feet on the ground for awhile.
I will return to Freestyle tomorrow and gather up food and things I have collected for years and bring it back. She will winter in the harbor in Homer and next spring I will haul her out and get everything ship shape for weekend sailing when time permits.
I have a future adventure planned in 2014 so I will have to hit the bricks for the time being to make it a reality.
Thank you all for reading about my travels and I will keep the site and from time to time let you know what I am up to and keep you up to date on what I am doing with Freestyle.

P.S. I have heaps of pictures I still need to post but I need a new computer first so stay tuned and I hope to post them in a week. I will also update my route so you can see where I have been.


PEACE

13 hours out of Kodiak

These are the coordinates as of 10:00 p.m. August 29, 2012

58 54.59N 151 52.89W

Hope to rest across the bay from Homer Harbor before coming into dock about 2:00 p.m. on Thursday the 30th of August.

PEACE

Still in Kodiak

Hello All,
I am still here, I missed a small window to head north thinking I had a few days of good weather. But the window closed and now I am looking at a Wednesday departure. In the mean time I have been visiting with my family here and last night the British boat I was hanging out with in Dutch Harbor arrived. They had some problems coming up here, blown head gasket on the engine and a ripped sail. I have been helping them out by giving them a ride around Kodiak and running errands in my cousin Burts car. They have been great friends and I am only happy to help. This afternoon I gave them a nickel tour driving around showing them the sights. It was a beautiful day but very windy. They plan on taking the engine apart tomorrow and taking down the ripped sail.
I have been doing a little work myself getting the boat ready for the last 24 hours of my adventure.
I cannot believe this is it, seems like yesterday I left Homer but as the saying goes, all things must end. It's been a great trip and I am looking forward to seeing my family but not looking forward to the real world. I have a much broader scope on life and will be jaded to the every day life of American lifestyle. It will be interesting to see how I fit back in. It will be with and outside looking in attitude I am sure.
That's all for now. I will let you know when I am underway.

PEACE