After postponing due to seas on Tuesday, Larry and I tried again to make it to Tenakee. We had loads going down and back. We were delayed about an hour at Auke Bay as passengers were doing last minute shopping, and it was probably a good thing. A squall came through spitting snow that looks like the insides of a bean bag.
We headed out out about 9 am, and seas were 1 to 2 feet with no white caps. With our load we were making 14 knots. I snoozed from Auke Bay to North Chatham, then woke up cold. I moved up to the captain’s chair and took the helm from Larry to get near the heat. Seas continued to be fair as we headed south across the mouth of Icy Strait. We seemed to have caught a weather system change just right.
We arrived in Tenakee between 1 and 2 pm. I took the opportunity with the light winds to practice steering the jets in tight spots, after watching Larry do it for all the trips till now. I made it fine into the small boat offloading dock, and our passengers disembarked. We moved over to the tight spot under the crane along the big dock, and after several tries, I handed it over to Larry, who nestled us in.
Lots of people were up on the dock, including an excellent crane operator, who made the offloading and reloading quick. We were headed back to Juneau shortly after 3, with just Larry and I on board.
We had a lighter load and made over 22 knots on the way home. We were back to Auke Bay by 530, and this time I was able to maneuver the boat into a fairly tight spot. I’m starting to get a feel for it, and Larry’s a patient coach.
Seems like this was the first trip where nothing happened. No alarms or water where we didn’t want it. The lack of heat was as expected, and I’d worn my red union suit long underwear in defense. Hopefully this will be the norm now!
We headed out out about 9 am, and seas were 1 to 2 feet with no white caps. With our load we were making 14 knots. I snoozed from Auke Bay to North Chatham, then woke up cold. I moved up to the captain’s chair and took the helm from Larry to get near the heat. Seas continued to be fair as we headed south across the mouth of Icy Strait. We seemed to have caught a weather system change just right.
We arrived in Tenakee between 1 and 2 pm. I took the opportunity with the light winds to practice steering the jets in tight spots, after watching Larry do it for all the trips till now. I made it fine into the small boat offloading dock, and our passengers disembarked. We moved over to the tight spot under the crane along the big dock, and after several tries, I handed it over to Larry, who nestled us in.
Lots of people were up on the dock, including an excellent crane operator, who made the offloading and reloading quick. We were headed back to Juneau shortly after 3, with just Larry and I on board.
We had a lighter load and made over 22 knots on the way home. We were back to Auke Bay by 530, and this time I was able to maneuver the boat into a fairly tight spot. I’m starting to get a feel for it, and Larry’s a patient coach.
Seems like this was the first trip where nothing happened. No alarms or water where we didn’t want it. The lack of heat was as expected, and I’d worn my red union suit long underwear in defense. Hopefully this will be the norm now!