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?

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NY Marathon winners

Everyone that finishes is a winner, of course, but here are the top finishers: Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya (a course record - 2:05:06)and Firehiwot Dado of Ethiopia (2:23:15).

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:

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The Tweed Run

Bill Cunningham photographs bicycling about New York in Tweed: The Tweed Run

Rockaways Gaeltacht- NYTimes.com

Ed Shevlin drives a garbage truck for
the sanitation department.  He has been awarded a Fulbright
so he can continue his Irish language study.

Thomas Costello, my great grandfather, came to Brooklyn from Casla, just west of Galway, across a narrow finger of Galway Bay from where the ferry leaves for the Aran Islands. When Taisy and I visited 10 years ago we walked into the grocery store and everyone was speaking Irish, as they called it. Irish kids - who have to study Gaelic as a second language - go there in the summers to live with Irish-speaking families. Today in the Irish Riviera - the Belle Harbor section of the Rockaways in Queens a bit of that world lives. - GWC

Ed Shevlin Polishes His Irish While Collecting the Trash - NYTimes.com: "THE jolly trash man was going about his route in the Rockaways, Queens, when he spied a woman in front of her house."

“Cé hé bhfuil tú?” he greeted her. Naturally, the woman replied, “Tá mé go maith.” “Ceart go leor,” the trash man shot back.

This exchange — roughly: “How are you?” “I’m fine.” “Ah, grand!” — was in Irish, the Gaelic language that survives only in parts of Ireland — and to a lesser extent, along the garbage route of Ed Shevlin, 51. The route winds through the Belle Harbor section of the Rockaways, where conversations were once commonly conducted “as Gaeilge.
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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.

How to use Pine Tar:

Genuine Pine Tar: 100% Organic authentic Stockholm pine tar.: "An Ancient Pine Tar Recipe: Thinning with organic boiled linseed oil is recommended to obtain faster penetration and reduce stickiness. Apply warm if possible.

Combine equal parts of Genuine Pine Tar and Purified Organic Linseed Oil - boiled, 100% cleaned and sterilized linseed oil from Allback, Sweden.
Heat to 80 degrees F and mix thoroughly.
Apply warm if possible."


How to Use Pine Tar Preservative | eHow.com: "Pine tar, when mixed with linseed oil and turpentine, is sometimes called Old Down East Deck Coating or boat soup. Pine tar is a protective coating for wood and dates back to the nineth century Vikings. Pine tar helps to waterproof and protect wood. This pine tar mixture is also absorbed into the oakum, or rope caulking, and acts as a preservative. It dries in the open air and does not feel sticky when touched."

One quart of pine tar to 1 gallon of 100% mineral spirits, seasoned with turpentine. Yum!

Pine Tar; History And Uses: "Pine Tar; History And Uses

by Theodore P. Kaye

Few visitors to any ship which as been rigged in a traditional manner have left the vessel without experiencing the aroma of pine tar. The aroma produces reactions that are as strong as the scent; few people are ambivalent about its distinctive smell. As professionals engaged in the restoration and maintenance of old ships, we should know not only about this product, but also some of its history.
Wood tar has been used by mariners as a preservative for wood and rigging for at least the past six centuries"

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Bass Fishing Time at Montauk Lighthouse - NYTimes.com

Montauk Light - all photos NY Times

The waters of Gardiners Bay and Long Island Sound rip around Montauk Point, carrying bait fish and the stripers and blue fish that prey on them. And this time - October - is prime time. Keepers have to be 38 inches.
And they're good eating.  Below is a video recipe for poached striped bass. - GWC

Bass Fishing Time at Montauk Lighthouse - NYTimes.com:

by Corey Kilgannon

"REX ADILI of Totowa, N.J., took up fishing several years ago because he wanted a relaxing hobby. Then he discovered Montauk, and bought a crash helmet.

Fishing here is an extreme sport, especially on the perilous rocky shores around the Montauk Lighthouse, where boots with tungsten-carbide spikes are needed for traction, where fisherman wield $1,000 rods, where fights regularly break out over fishing spot"


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