This morning we got back into our early morning departure routine, with a 6:30 AM farewell to Pavlov Harbor. As we headed north, I was looking at the weather forecast and realized today was our last rain-free day until we left Juneau. Ryan needed to do the 300 hour service on the boat, so we decided rather than do two 30-mile days, we’d just do one 57-mile day and get to Juneau with enough time to work in the sun rather than the rain. No one wants to change oil in two engines (and their gear boxes) in the rain. That’s one bad thing about slow-boating: your engine hours are longer and the maintenance intervals come up more often.
The run north was lovely and calm most of the morning, but we got some chop and whitecaps starting up around midday - fairly typical for SE Alaska, from what we’ve seen. We saw a big group of whales near shore at one point, with one spout after another shooting up into the air.
We arrived into Statter Harbor in Auke Bay around 1:30 PM and managed to snag a nice spot as a fishing boat was leaving - it has plenty of space and power and water nearby. We didn’t appreciate it until later, since the slot just fell into our lap as we arrived, but I think it could have been pretty difficult to find a spot. The harbormaster said it’s crazy busy right now.
Once we were all checked in, I ran a couple loads of laundry, and we enjoyed a beer at the brewery next door while we waited for the clothes to finish washing. We sat outside in the sun in big Adirondack chairs, so warm and comfy. It was hard to leave to return to our chores. While I finished the laundry, Ryan got started on the engine maintenance. I came back and helped with the gearbox oil change. It was really awkward doing it while the boat was in the water. Next time we’ll find a dry-out grid. That’s a place you can tie your boat to at high tide and then at low tide it’s left high and dry and you can work on it - until the tide comes back in, of course, so no dawdling or beer breaks!
Comments