Sitka to Petersburg

Sitka Harbor and Mt. Edgecomb

We hung out in Sitka with "Contender" (Kathy and Larry Claiborne) until July 7.  One day, while Rolynn and Kathy were shopping,  Larry and I took the Arima, his fishing boat, out to circumnavigate Japanski Island on which the airport lays.  (You always know when a plane is about to take off because they shoot off explosives to clear the runway of birds.)   It turned out there is a long spit on its west side so we had to go quite a ways out to get around it.  I think they call it "Japanski" because you have to half way to Japan to get around the island.  I found myself humming the theme song from "Gilligan's Island".

Sitka to Petersburg

Monday, July 7 - We departed for the east coast of Baranof Island.  Meanwhile, "Contender" headed for a few days of fishing in Salisbury Sound.  The timing of Sergius Narrows was such that we anchored just west of there in Schultze Bay.  That made transit simple the following day.  By mid afternoon of the 8th we were anchored in Appleton Cove.  The conditions in Chatham Strait the following morning were not favorable so we stayed another night.  Chatham runs almost due N-S and is about 160 miles long.  That is a huge fetch and the wind usually comes from the south so Chatham is nothing to fool with.  (Fetch is the water distance over which an unobstructed wind blows.  The higher the winds and the longer the fetch the bigger the waves.) 

That night we tried to start our diesel heater but it would only run for a while then peter out.  It obviously wasn't getting fuel.  Probably the fuel filter.  Something to look at tomorrow.

So tomorrow comes and I crawl into the engine room to look at the heater fuel filter, pump etc.  Filter looks OK so I check the fuel line for obstruction.  That looks OK too but still no fuel.  Hmmm.  A little later I try to start the generator - nothing.  No crank, no click, no panel lights.  Oh Oh!  This can be serious.  When I check the gen start battery I find 6.1 volts in what should be a 12.6 volt battery.  The battery is DEAD, DEAD, DEAD!!  Oaky Doaky - I rob Peter to pay Paul by moving the dinghy hoist battery to the generator.  Of course, I forgot to lift the dingy (which we had been towing but do not want to tow in Chatham) up to the upper deck.  So, I move one of the two main engine starting batteries from the engine room up to the dinghy hoist.  (We can still start the engine with one battery.)  During this process it dawns on me what the problem with the heater is.  The heater pump takes its power from  (wait for it) the gen battery which was DEAD!!!  Here we have a perfect example of the inverse of:

Anderson's Third Nautical Law, which careful readers will recall states--

"If you have a problem then there is more than one cause."

--and its inverse --

"If there is only one cause then there is more than one problem."

The dead battery was causing both problems

Later that day, here comes "Contender" followed by their friends Harry and Sandy on "Sea Eagle" where we gathered later for cocktails.

The following morning, the tenth, we all departed for Warm Springs Bay, about five hours down Chatham on the east coast of Baranof.  Chatham, as predicted, was about as flat as it gets so it was a nice day on the water.  Located in the bay is a a small community of summer homes, a beautiful waterfall and multiple hot springs for soaking.  This has been a popular spot for many years.  The Tlingits paddled here from Sitka and Angoon 10,000 years ago.  People of western descent did not find the springs until 1891.  Well, it was a nice, sunny day.  I attended to a few nagging electrical problems but several remain unresolved.  The most perplexing of which is low system voltage when there shouldn't be.  More study is required.

Warm Springs Bay - Baranof Island

Friday/Saturday - July 11/12:  "Contender' and "Sea Eagle" head towards Petersburg but we headed farther south to Red Bluff Bay.  There are several waterfalls in there and it is a popular excursion boat stop.  But, the weather is not nice - rain and fog when we anchor at the head of the bay.  We stay two nights hoping for better weather but it does not come.  While we are there we continue low voltage issues without explanation, at least from me.

Sunday, July 13 - We motor NE up Chatham from Red Bluff in calm water but in fog - 0.5 mile visibility.  7 hours later we anchor Behind Reid Island in Farragut Bay.  The fog is gone, still no wind but it is dreary.  We decide to hunt up an electrician in Petersburg. 

Monday, July 14 - Two hours out of Petersburg the main DC voltage needle starts jumping all over the place and the battery monitor amperage is jumping as well.  Instead of reading about 45 A is about 3 A.  Something is wrong.  I start the generator and the amperage is still a shaky 3.  OK - we are not going to leave P'burg until we get these things solved.

Rush Hour in Petersburg

We get tied up and I head up the dock to the NAPA store to buy a replacement battery for the dinghy hoist and to get the names of a a couple of guys who purport to be marine electricians.  When I returned to the boat with the battery Rolynn informs me that there has been an "incident" during my
absence.  We have been hit by a purse seiner as he was trying to dock next to us.  And he left.  There is some gel coat and teak damage on our port-aft transom.  Rolynn called the harbormaster who contacted the skipper of the other boat and who was now in the south harbor.  He came over on his bike.  He and Rolynn, with the help of the harbormaster, eventually negotiated a $500 cash settlement.  While that was going on I made arrangements for an electritian to come to the boat Tuesday morning.

Tuesday-Saturday, July 15-19:  Darby, the electrician, arrived at 8 :30 and we worked through the various issues we have.  It's complicated because we don't know if the issues are interrelated or not. The pattern became one of morning work with Darby, afternoon/overnight testing, discussion of a revised plan and morning work with Darby.  Anyway, we tackled them one at a time starting with the alternator.  At first it looked like we would have to replace it ($940) but after a couple of days of fussing with it seems to be OK now. We think we have the worst problems resolved but we won't know for sure until we cruise for a few days.  There will be more resources in Ketchikan if we need them.

So, it looks like we will depart for Wrangle on Sunday and be in Prince Rupert, BC , in about a week.