As the skipper of El Bucanero, I was tasked with both keeping us safe and keeping the boat out of harm’s way. This was constantly on my mind until the boat arrived back in San Diego and was put in the water in Mission Bay, San Diego. We traveled over 2,400 miles on the boat his summer so one has to be prepared to deal with ‘issues’ as they arise.
There were challenging times: in the category of boat operation, the alternator did not charge the house batteries from Anacortes to Petersburg, Alaska. Our primary battery charger/inverter stopped working by the time we got to Ketchikan. We had an aged charger on board so that was put to work. My skills as a mariner were tested as well. We often had to make passages in very limited visibility conditions – very heavy fog and rain. Or being on anchor with gale force winds blowing made for sleepless nights. This coupled with sea conditions and debris in the water (logs, deadheads, etc.) made for challenging times.
I think what I will remember most about our adventure this summer was the remoteness of Alaska- the natural beauty and wildlife, as well as the people we met in the course of our voyage. The experience of sharing dock space at Warm Springs on Baranof Island with commercial salmon seiners won’t soon be forgotten. Waking early one morning and watching brown bears not 30 ft. away from our boat go about digging for clams at Pack Creek, Admiralty Island, was very special.
It was truly and experience of a lifetime for Darlene and I. We will never have to think back at some time in our lives and say, “If we only went to Alaska when we could have..”
There are no guarantees in life and we did indeed experience some things that were very special that we will remember the rest of our lives.
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