Sitting in Sitka:

Maggie has returned to New York and Richard and Issuma are sitting in limbo, making repairs as winter sets in on the edge of the Tongass National Rain Forest - Sitka Alaska. A town of about 10,000 on Baranof Island, it was colonized by Russians in 1799.  At 57 degrees north and 135 degrees west, I estimate it is an 800 mile run to Vancouver at 48 North, 123 West.  Alaska coastal winters are pretty moderate (in the 30's, now) but underway the windchill and the freezing spray counsel staying at the dock, making repairs. 

Issuma: Peril Strait, Sergius Narrows

Peril Strait, Sergius Narrows, north of Sitka, in November.  How much more do you need to know to be sure to be careful about when you make that passage.  The current runs about 6 - 8 knots, through a narrow channel, according to the tide tables.  Richard describes his careful timing of Issuma's passage.  He didn't want to make that run when the # 8 buoy laid over like the picture above.  Of course the weather did not cooperate.  He got the tide right but had to pass through the narrows in a snow storm and strong wind. Tough enough as we see in this picture below which he took as they passed #8 Nun which marks a ledge.

Escape from Yakutat | Issuma

Cape Spencer, AK - entrance to the Inside Passage

Richard Hudson and crew on Issuma got a weather window and made the 140 mile run from Yakutat Bay to Cape Spencer - the entrance to the Inside Passage. Looks like winter in Vancouver, not Yakutat. Congratulations, Richard!
Good thing - because NOAA is reporting an epic storm in the Bering Sea.

Away | Issuma: "Late the next day, we approached Cape Spencer (picture) in good conditions, with a tailwind, intermittent rain and hail from a mild frontal passage, and 5m/16' following seas."

'via Blog this'

Leave, Return, Repeat | Issuma

Will Issuma have to winter in Yakutat, Alaska?

Ivumbu hit the road earlier and is now in the Inside passage. But Richard has now made three attempts to make the 140 mile run to the beginning of the Inside Passage. Will they be wintering in Yakutat, Alaska? - GWC

p.s. notes on weather sources for the Northwest Passage are HERE.

Leave, Return, Repeat | Issuma:

"The critical thing to keep in mind about travelling in high latitudes is how easy it is to get into a survival situation. The Gulf of Alaska (and anywhere that far north) is a really unforgiving place in November. We weren't in any danger, but, if we wore ourselves out by getting cold hand-steering outside for hours in freezing spray, the danger was that if anything went wrong (like an engine problem, or taking on water), we would be exhausted, and not necessarily capable of quick, rational thinking and action."

We had tried for several weeks to leave Yakutat, and knew this break in the weather might be the last one until spring.It is really hard to turn back, when you know you are likely to make it if you just persevere and tough it out. But while the risk of something going wrong was small, it was still there, and I decided it was better to return to Yakutat.We turned around. Before easing off the throttle and setting sails (as the wind was now with us), we were making 8.7 knots. We had spent all day coming less than 30 miles, and we were soon back at the dock in Yakutat,Was Issuma going to spend the winter in Yakutat?

'via Blog this'

Warm Hands - Issuma

Richard Hudson has advice here on how to keep your hands warm and dry.
He says that when he actually handles lines he does not wear gloves.  Not even 3/4 length finger gloves??  As usual practical advice.

Disenchantment Bay | Issuma

To the left is the intrepid mariner Richard Hudson (no relation to Henry) in a portrait by crewmember Maggie. Here he is at Disenchantment Bay, Alaska. He explains "In 1792, Alessandro Malaspina, an Italian nobleman and Spanish Naval officer, was looking for the Northwest Passage for the King of Spain. Sailing up Yakutat Bay until stopped by the ice from the glaciers, he named the NE part of Yakutat Bay Puerto del Desengano (Disenchantment Bay). "

Below is  a picture of fellow traveler Ivumbu sailing just ahead of Issuma at Yakutat Bay, Alaska.

Disenchantment Bay | Issuma:

'via Blog this'

Issuma: Yakutat Bay

Maggie has joined the crew at Yakutat.  They seem to be travelling tandem now with Ralf on Ivumbu, who is more of a diarist than Richard to check out Ivumbu's blog.

Issuma: single-handed from Kodiak

Kodiak Harbor, Kodiak Island, Alaska

Cape St. Elias, Kayak Island

Richard Hudson departed Kodiak harbor - single-handed and headed across the Gulf of Alaska.  Taking the long route - in case the storm to his south headed north, he made Cape St. Elias, Kayak Island in about three days.  My guess is that was a 300 mile run, leaving him about 350 miles northwest of Juneau.  I assume he is going to take the inside passage to Vancouver, a route memorably described by Jonathan Raban in Passage to Juneau.

Into the Pacific: Issuma

Richard Hudson reports on September 28 that Issuma departed Dutch Harbor late afternoon and passed from the Bering Sea into the Pacific Ocean.  After a night `heaving to' at sea in the lee of some reefs, they passed through the Shumagin Islands, part of the Aleutian chain.  The rocks to the left are "The Haystacks".
Issuma is southbound, perhaps for Hawaii. 

Issuma: Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Islands

Issuma arriving at Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Islands

Issuma has arrived at Dutch Harbor , Alaska, having passed through the Bering Sea.  The largest fishing port (by volume) in the United States, it is 1,014 due southwest of Anchorage, near the south end of the Alaskan Peninsula at the beginning of the Aleutian Island chain. 


At 53° 53′ 20.34″ N,166° 31′ 38.06″ W the town is the prime location of Deadliest Catch.  A southerly course to Honolulu seems a likely next port.  From there Chile? And Cape Horn?

Weather Underground reports the weather today as overcast, 45 degrees at 5 PM with lots of rain in the forecast.  the average mean temperature in January is 31.5F and 52F in August.  It rains 250 days of the year.

Bering Sea Rainbow | Issuma

Issuma under sail with a rainbow to guide them on the Bering Sea from St. Paul toward Dutch Harbor (southwest of anchorage), September 21, 2011

Bering Sea Rainbow | Issuma:

Latitude: 55 36.9'N Longitude: 168 43.2'W

Bering Sea Rainbow We had great winds when sailing south from St Paul towards Dutch Harbor, as we left anchor just as the gale started to ease. We didn't need many sails, and made good speed. The rainbow ahead was kind enough to show us the way.

'via Blog this'

Issuma: Cape Prince of Wales

Cape Prince of Wales - Bering Strait

Issuma passed through the Bering Strait on September 8.  Problems with the battery for the sat phone have made posting and email difficult.  But Richard is catching up so check out the Issuma site for his reports, scrolling down to get the chronology.  He comments on passing through the Bering Strait that summer is over and cold weather lies ahead:

Sailing past Cape Prince of Wales with a delightfully favorable wind. Cape Prince of Wales is at the end of the Bering Strait. The Northwest Passage runs from Davis Strait in the east to Bering Strait in the west. While we have now completed the Northwest Passage, the difficult part is mostly still ahead--the trip south, late in the year.

Issuma: through the northwest passage!

Issuma has passed through the Arctic Sea, into the Chukchi Sea, and the Bering Strait.  They are now anchored on the Bay of Port Clarence (65° 15′ 58″ N, 166° 51′ 10″ W) an area on the Seward Peninsula, in the Nome Region.  They saw little ice.  No surprise since sea ice in the arctic has hit an historic low.  Dramatically different from circa 1845 - the time of the doomed Franklin expedition of the Royal Navy.
Richard reports today (9/11) that they were out of touch for a while - sat phone charging problems.  When time and conditions permit he'll put up the posts he could not transmit. Blogger showed me no new posts, but closer followers were getting position reports, so scroll down on Issuma's blog for more on the arctic passages.
Next stop may be Brevig Mission (pop. 276), then on down the Bering Sea to the Aleutian Islands, and...

Issuma: 105' West -- Cambridge Bay, Nunavut

Go due North from Boulder Colorado for a thousand miles.  You'll find Issuma there.  But three cruise ships got there first to Cambridge Bay, the Victoria Islands, Nunavut, Canada.
As Yann, the boat's builder and first captain commented "What do you have to do to get away?

Issuma: heading west!

The + marks Bellot Strait.
The big island to the east is Baffin.
Below it is Labrador.

Issuma is so far north that the compass needle points down.  This is looking like the beginning of a northwest passage, NOT a circumnavigation of Baffin Island.  Bellot Strait - which Issuma just traversed westbound - is the northernmost point on the North American continent.  Perhaps wintering at an arctic port is the plan.  The photo is of the Bellot Strait which Richard describes below.  Go directly to Issuma to learn how they did on their passage through the strait.

"Bellot Strait is an 18 mile long passage between Prince Regent Inlet and Peel Sound. It was named after Lieutenant Bellot of the French Navy who came across it in 1852. It has a difficult reputation due to its fast tidal currents and a rock that is awash (so hard to see) near the eastern end of it. While there was no ice when we passed, Bellot Strait has a reputation for quickly jamming with ice. The Sailing Directions note: "The tidal streams run with great strength through Bellot Strait...In the vicinity of Magpie Rock, the currents are highly variable; localised 7-8 knot westerly currents have been reported on the north side of the channel at the same time that equally strong easterly currents were flowing on the south side. Mariners should exercise extreme caution in this area."

Iceberg in Labrador Sea - from a satellite

This photo by NASA astronaut Neil Garan is of an iceberg in the Labrador Sea - where Richard and Issuma have been wandering.

Issuma: circumnavigating Baffin Island

Issuma reports its current position as the Bellot Strait - the picture here is of Devon Island - the largest uninhabited island on earth.  It is the site of the Mars on Earth project's research.  They think it is the most Mars-like place on earth and they have been up there with robots.
On one side of the Bellot Strait is Somerset island.  That is the second image.  I get nervous and dizzy just thinking about being that far north - and that remote. On Somerset island was the last outpost of the Hudson Bay Company - Fort Ross.

Issuma crosses Baffin Bay from Greenland

Issuma has crossed Baffin Bay and is now in Canadian waters NORTH! of Baffin Island at 74.0 North.  The graphic is a scanned copy of a weather fax ice chart, with Issuma's track superimposed.  They are on the latitude of the Northwest passage.  It's a straight shot to the Bering Sea!  They wouldn't.  They couldn't - not this late in the year.   We may have to wait for the next post - Richard's sat phone contract has expired and the telephone renewal link isn't working!

The most northerly point? 72.45 N - Issuma

In 1587, John Davis made his third and last voyage to Davis Strait and what is now called Baffin Bay. Davis named this 300m/1000' cliff Sanderson's Hope, after his main financial backer, William Sanderson of London. Davis wrote 'no ice towards the north but a great sea, free, large, very salt and blue, and of an unsearchable depth'. - Richard Hudson 8/10/11

Will Upernavik, Greenland, 72.45 N be the point where Richard too turns back?  I would spend some time in Upernavik, Greenland if I had the chance.  Nice little town.  Beautiful sunset light at 11:30 PM this time of year.  Long, dark winters, of course.

 

Issuma: Greenland - showers and wi-fi

Somandshjemmet - showers & WiFi

Aasiaat, Greenland is on Baffin Bay,  north of the Labrador Sea.  It is north of Nuuk - the largest settlement.  Formerly Danish, it is now autonomous - with Danish support, as the name of Seaman's house shows.  In the second shot Issuma is against the bulkhead.  Aasiaat's tides are moderate - today's 2.3 meters is about as high as it gets.  (We had more than that today on the Muscongus  Bay.)  
Richard mentioned ice awhile back but not in the run across the Labrador Sea.  The Canadian Cost Guard advises about ice.
- GWC