September 2007 Cruise News

We ended last month arriving back in Sitka after what seems a very short summer. 

Just before arriving home, we caught a "bucket full" of dungeness crab.  These are cleaned and ready for steaming.  We ate some that night and packed several bags for the freezer.

We had several days of sunny weather so we took the boat to a nearby anchorage to do some fishing and shrimping and test our autopilot which we had just gotten repaired after 1300 miles of hand steering.  We caught several small halibut at our favorite halibut hole but did terrible shrimping.  This was a new shrimping location for us and apparently we didn't put the pots down in the right place.  But the autopilot worked great!

Our sunshine was short lived and weather reports were not favorable, so we went back to the harbor for what turned out to be for the remainder of September.  September has been one gale after another with South Chatham Strait seeing 50 to 70 knots of wind and 18 foot seas at one point.  It hasn't been cold however!

The liveaboard numbers have increased by quite a few boats since last winter.  There are at least 4 new boats with folks living aboard for the winter.  Guess the reports of a severe winter last year didn't deter them from moving here.   I have resumed making jewelry, working out at the gym and working at Windsong Designs making polymer clay ornaments a few days a week.  Chuck had his first Ports and Harbor Commission meeting after a summer hiatus and has initiated a new subcommittee.  He has already started on his Winter 2007 To Do Boat List.  So, guess it's winter!

Hope all is well with everyone.

Chris and Chuck