Feliz Navidad

Well, Christmas is here, and so is the last day of my mini-vacation. Not a whole lot going on today. Most businesses are closed, and town is pretty dead. I went for a swim earlier, then took a ciesta on the beach. Pretty rough, I'll tell ya.

I did manage to pick up a La Paz, Mexico patch for my backpack yesterday. I've been looking for one of those for a while now. I'll sew that up here in a bit. That will most likely be my excitement for the day.

All of my family seems to be doing pretty good today, everyone is having a good time. My daughter has the flu, though, but she's still finding a way to open presents. My thoughts are with her, I hope she gets better soon. My son is doing good too, hanging with his mom and his aunt. Good times for everyone.

Next time I blog will be from work. I'll put up some pictures and reports from the Sea of Cortez next week so you can see where I'm working right now.

Another day in Paradise

This morning I woke up with a need to not eat tacos for a day. They are so good, but I'm starting to get tired of them.I spent the day in search of something to eat other than tacos, and found a pretty good pizza restaurant about a half mile away from my hotel. I also thought that maybe I would be able to buy some food at the grocery store and then have a little cook out on the beach. It seems that the stove is my downfall here. I went brought one, but it uses isobutane, and as my luck would have it, there is none to be found down here. I was thinking about just buying another stove, but the only one I could find was outrageously priced. It was a coleman dual fuel that I have bought before (JUNK!) at wal-mart in the states for $30. Here it was 680 pesos! Holy moly! Some one needs to open up an REI type store here, or maybe I do? It seems odd that there isn't one.

I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon cruising town and checking out the sights. I'm starting to make up some good plans for a trip I'm hoping to take the next time I'm down here, but I'll talk more about that later.

Other than that, I'm doing pretty good out here. Just hanging out and getting some good R & R. Another day in Paradise.....

Money

Money in Mexico is ending up to be quite a trip for me. I'm still not quite sure how it works, but it's sure not the same as the US.

The prices of things is really crazy to me, some things are super cheap, then some things are really expensive. I'd guess that's bound to happen, but it's going to take a bit of time to adapt to it. While I can say it's a good thing, getting a full meal at a taco restaurant for cheaper than it costs for a combo meal the local Burger King is pretty interesting.

I also bought some headphones for my MP3 player for 16 pesos (about $12 USD, the exact same thing was $30 in California when I was there last. At least it looked like the same package and everything, and I bought it at the Radio Shack here.

On the other hand clothes and shoes are the opposite. Pretty much everything costs the same here as in the US, if not more. No bargains to be had here. Good thing I brought plenty!

I spent all day today getting familiar with the area, I feel I have a pretty good grasp of where most things are now. At least that really matter to me. I did find a bike rental shop, but didn't go in and ask about prices. I'll go tomorrow, if they are open.

The taco stands are out of control good. I've eaten at several of them now, I haven't gotten sick, yet. I'm knocking wood now!

Spending the week in La Paz, Mexico

So after a little scheduling hiccup, I'll be spending this whole week in La Paz instead of working. That's alright with me, I'll get to spend some time exploring around and seeing what's going on here. I did get to spend some time walking around the last day or so, and have come to the conclusion that I need a bike. I'm not too sure how to get one, but that's next on my list. I did look for a bike shop and couldn't find anything, but I hear that there's a Wal Mart here, so maybe I'll go pick one up there. I should be able to keep it on the boat and use it in the future, so it wouldn't be a bad investment.

One thing that seems kind of crazy is that the hotel that I usually stay at when I come down here, Los Arcos, was closed due to a strike the last time I was here, and it still is now. I couldn't imagine a strike closing a hotel in the US for that long. It doesn't really make sense to me. Another interesting thing going on is that the police are in the street intersections talking to all the people that drive by. At first I thought that it was a fund raiser, like the fire fighters do with the boot for charity back home, but then I realized that they are upset because they were given the day off, so they are trying to raise money for themselves. I'm not quite sure I understand the situation, I need to research it a bit more. Seems strange to me.

While talking about Police, there are so many cops here! They are everywhere, with all kinds of different names. There are local police and about 5 different levels of federal police as well as troop carriers full of Army troops driving around with full gear and M-16's. I was sitting on a corner taking a rest, getting a drink, and I watched a city cop pull over 10 cars in a matter of 20 minutes. It was crazy. I'm not quite sure of the circumstances, but this has been enough to make me not want to drive down here, like I have been wanting to do for some time now. Either way, I'll be very careful when I finally do it, but I am going to have to adapt a little more before I would feel comfortable.

I got a little outdoors time in lately

Last weekend my friend Tim and I went up to the mountains for the weekend. We stayed up at the Grass Valley Sportsmans Lodge, and then helped them close it up for the winter. Every year they board up and drain all the water out of the pipes, so that when the snow comes nothing will freeze or break. They still have one part members can go to during the winter, but access is only by snowmobile or extreme 4x4, so there isn't as much demand. Maybe someday I'll be able to join, but lucky for me my friend can bring visitors. The club is a great group of guys.

While we were up there we took our kids fishing and did a little bit of four wheeling. We made it all the way up to Faucherie Lake, but we also stopped at Sawmill Lake and Bowman lake. There was a good time had by all. It won't be long before there will be 10 feet of snow covering all this area, so it was really the last trip of the year for me. It's a great place, I've been visiting for years, and will try and visit as much as I can for the rest of my life.

I'm half way through my vacation now. I'll head back to the boat next weekend, and help them get it ready to come out of the water at dry dock. This should be an interesting process, I'm looking forward to it. It's been nice spending time with my daughter and mom, but I'm already ready to go back to work. Too much idle time is not real good for me, I'm a busy body.

Trouble on the water

Just the other day the owner of the company that I work for announced that there will be a pay cut for every employee and lay offs as well. I ended up with a 10% pay cut, and on top of that I already took a 25% schedule reduction when I took the engineering job. Pretty sad when the world is effected by the economy of this country like it is. I'm greatful to have a good job, and I'm hoping that we can pull out of this as a company, because we are very good at what we do.

There are several people that are predicting rough times for years to come, but I'm of the opinion that if you are smart enough, you can make anything work out in your favor. I'm positive that Lindblad is good at what they do, and I know they can pull out of this just fine.

The rest of the country is who I feel bad for. Especially the cruise line industry. If you don't have your act together at this point, it's only going to get harder to survive in this business climate. Good luck to all the boat workers out there on those other lines, I know it's going to be rough for you.

The good news is, with the price of oil down so much, it may be some relief. I know I enjoyed the opportunity to do a little four wheeling, and it didn't even cost me half a months savings. Take the good with the bad, right?

Heading south on the Pacific

Today was our second full day at sea, on our trip from Oregon down the Pacific Coast to the San Francisco Bay. Seas have been rough, the winds high and every one has been feeling pretty bad. We've been averaging 12 foot swells and 30 knot winds most of the time, so it's been slow going. The boat is holding up pretty good, we've had a couple leaky windows and one or two things go flying that shouldn't have, but other than that we are doing good. It looks like we will be into Alameda tomorrow around dinner time or so, and I'm not too sure what the plan is for the night. I know that we have a dock out there to tie up to, but I'm not too sure how it will work out with the people that are leaving the next day. I'm pretty sure that we will all just crash out and wake up the next day and head out. I'm ready for my vacation, and I know several others are as well.

We did get to see a little bit of wild life today, first and Albatross (one of the largest wing spanned birds) then a humpback, and finally a bunch of dolphins playing around with us. I don't know what it is about dolphins that makes them so good at lifting peoples spirits, but they sure do a good job of it. I hadn't seen any common porpoises since Baja, so it was cool to seem them out here.

I'm really looking forward to my week off, it's going to be really nice to be on dry land for a bit after this trip. I'm not too sure what the plan is at this point, but I'm sure it will be nice. I was swimming in the river every day I was there last, so it's going to be a bit odd to have missed a good part of the fall season. Maybe I'll get to take the truck out for some mud wheeling, that sure would be nice.

Heading out tomorrow

In Portland tomorrow, we will be dropping off our guests, then heading south to the dry dock in Alameda, CA. This is looking like it will be quite a trip, the seas have been pretty rough over this route, and don't look to be letting up any time soon. From the look of it we may be in for 20 foot seas, which will be quite a bit more than anything I've seen to date. The biggest we have seen while I was aboard was 10 feet, and that was moving enough to make most of the crew pretty sick. This should be interesting.

The good news is that we have everything pretty much buttoned up, and ready to go, so all that I'll need to do it keep an eye on the boat and make sure that everything is running good. Good deal for me.

Once we get to Alameda, I get about a week off, before I start my next 6 week rotation. This is a good deal for me, as I wasn't quite ready for 6 weeks off financially yet. I'm looking forward to some time with Mia, though!

Had a good Birthday.

Yesterday was my Birthday, and I had a pretty good time. We were in Clarkston, WA, so I went out and spent some time in town. It was nice to be away from the boat for a few hours and spend some time not worrying about what was going to break next. That's the thing that I've been working on lately. On a boat everything is in a constant state of time, either broke or on it's way to being broke. There is rarely a day when something doesn't work or something doesn't go boom. Usually it's not too bad, but sometimes its a total PITA. This leads to the "Engineers Worry" or the constant state of wondering what is going to be next. Some can't handle it, it drives them crazy, and some can. Apparently I can, lucky me.

I think when we get into Astoria in a couple of days I'm going to buy myself a present, I've been real good about my spending lately, so I think I deserve it. Wahoo!

Not too much to report here.

Things have been trucking along at a pretty casual pace for me, here on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. These trips are really not all that exciting, and to be honest with there's not all too much to report about them. It's pretty much Locks, Locks and more Locks. It's interesting the first couple times, but after that......

The good thing is my job is keeping me entertained and happy. I've been learning all about the ships systems and how everything works. The last couple of days I've learned all about the safety systems on the engines, and more importantly, how and why they work. It's actually all stuff that is pretty much what I've been dealing with in my own vehicles for years now. Good to know either way. Other than that I've been learning about the Oily Water Separator and bilge pumping systems, which have been something new and exciting for me to learn about. To simplify the subject, water and oil spill into the lowest level of the boat (the bilge) from multiple places in the engine room, and in order to pump it out I have to separate the water out from the rest of the fluids so that the water can be pumped over board and the fluids can be off loaded and recycled. The OWS (oily water separator) is a filter that separates the two and sends them off to there proper place, and the machine is pretty complicated as well as easy to break. Lots of training needed on that one.

Sonya has made it out to Utah with Eli in the past couple of days, and now it seems as if Donna and Mia have settled into a place in Grass Valley. The problem is still there, on what is the best way to deal with this. One day at a time, I'd guess.

My new office

I thought I would post up a couple of pictures of where I work now. It's a pretty tight space, so it's hard to get a picture of the whole thing, but that's it. We have two Detroit Diesel Main Engines and two CAT Ship Service Generators. It's my job to keep up the maintenance on these and all of the other systems on the boat. On top of that, I am also responsible for fixing any of the problems that occur within the hotel department as well, everything from toilets, to doors, to HVAC. It's a pretty dynamic position, to say the least.

I'm here in Portland, Oregon for a couple of days right now. It's a great city, a good place to explore around and see some sights. I think. I've not gotten out as of yet, but I hear it's nice. I get paid tomorrow, so that means I'll have a little money to go check out the book store and what not.

4 more weeks here on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, I hope to get some good videos and photo's of the Locks to show you. They sure are interesting.

I'm officially an Engineer now!!!

For the first time in many years, I can honestly say that I love my job. Working as a marine engineer is truly one of the coolest things I have done in my life. The learning potential is unlimited, the career opportunities are every where, and the work is just how I like it, full of instant gratification. So far this week we are doing pretty good, I've been learning all about the way the boat works. Really it's a floating city, complete with every aspect of life that a city usually has (power, water, sewage, etc) and all of that is my responsibility now. My mentor Pedro has been giving me some great info on each system as I run into it. He's a fountain of information, and a good guy to be around as well.

The beauty of the Columbia river is more and more appealing to me every time I look. Its a pretty diverse area which means that it's not really the same view out the window every day. There may be mountains with thick forests on them one day, then a coastal area the next, and then after that a high desert-ish terrain. It's good to be here.

I've been on the boat for a month now almost, and I'm starting to miss my kids a bit. I love them both very much, and miss them both dearly. I can't wait to get back and see both of their smiling faces.

I'm done cooking!

For a while, anyways. Today I start down the path of being a marine engineer. I won't miss the drama so much, it's always interesting, but never really all that much fun to take part in. In a couple of hours, my mentor for the next couple of weeks will be on board. His name is Pedro, and he's from Venezuela. Pedro is, in my mind, a pretty normal example of a middle class male from South America. There is a kind of air about him, very masculine like most Latin males, a little sexist, but most importantly, he knows this boat very well. I'm sure that he'll be a good teacher.

We are done with our first trip up the Columbia and Snake rivers now. It's really a diverse and interesting area, never mind the history of Lewis and Clark who followed the river. It starts at the mouth of the river with the "Bar" which is essentially a ship graveyard, up through Portland and Gresham with steep slopes and tons of trees, and then out to a southwest feel about half way through the trip. It's pretty interesting to see the difference in climate as you travel inland like this. Then there are the dams. The locks are amazing feat's of human intelligence. Words cannot describe how big of a project these things must have been, and how grand they really are. I haven't had much time for picture taking, but I have 5 more trips to get that done, and I plan on it.

Not much has changed on the home front, I still really have no idea where I'll end up. I really am not sure at this point what is best, so I'm just taking things day by day. I guess I'm ok with that.

Clarkston, WA

Half way through the first trip now, and all is going good. We made it up to Clarkston yesterday, the turn around point for us. The sister towns of Clarkston, WA and Lewiston, ID are pretty much what you would expect in this area. They could literally be any town in eastern Oregon or Washington, southern Idaho or Wyoming. We actually had a deck hand walk off the boat as well. This is the first time I've seen this, but I guess I understand it. She went to town, got piss drunk at the bar, then realized she would be fired when she came back to get on the boat, so she quit, rather than having a permanent mark on her record with the Coast Guard.

Now we are headed back down the river. We actually took a little side trip on a river called the Palouse today. It reminded me of sections of the Colorado River, very arid with rocky outcroppings. I love this type of terrain, so it was good to see it. Made me think of Moab, Utah. I like that.

Only a couple more days of cooking for me! I went into Clarkston and bought some tools, and now I'm ready to go. Things are looking good, I'm getting to know the boat real well now.

I made it to Oregon

We pulled into Portland yesterday, and had a good trip down. The seas were pretty calm, nothing crazy by any means. Even "crossing the bar" or turning into the mouth of the Columbia River wasn't half as bad as it could have been. Supposedly, there is quite a few wrecked ships in the bottom of those waters, and there have been many more that have gotten quite a scare. Portland is a pretty cool place. This was the first time I have been to down town proper, and it really didn't seem like such a bad place. I did a little tour, went to Powells books (which was insane) and then to some other places that I can't remember the names of as well. Really, they could have been in any town, anywhere, but still nice to check out.

Now we are heading up the river to a town called Clarkston that is right on the Washington and Idaho Border. We've been going through huge locks all day, which is quite a sight to see in itself. The tallest one is 127 feet, which is kind of an amazing feat if you think about what that might take to put together. I'm enjoying the area well enough, though it's not nearly as pretty as Alaska or Baja, but that's ok.

Life has made another crazy twist on me. Just in the couple of weeks that I have been gone both of my children have left, and will be leaving, their home town and moved to another place. My daughter, Mia is now in Redding, CA with her mother, and my son Eli is will be moving out to Provo, UT with his mother. I'm pretty saddened by this, and I'm not quite sure how to handle it. I was kind of expecting it, anyways, but it still hurts. Either way I will barely get to see one of my children, and choosing brings nothing but pain every time I try. I just keep hoping that a good solution will come up. God, I hope one does.

Back in the US of A!

Back in the US of A!

We made it back into the US today, with a stop in at the customs office in Friday Harbor. This was a good week, we made it back up to Alert Bay (yes I took pictures!), Princess Louisse Inlet with a really narrow entrance at a place called Malibu Rapids. It was quite a sight to see the boat go through there, seeing how it was only twice as wide as the boat, and very rocky on either side. I have some great pictures of that as well. While we were in the inlet I took my test to be able to drive a zodiac and passed! This is one of the two certifications I needed to become an engineer, so one more to go. Shouldn't be a problem, the other is a basic course on fuel and oil transfers, along with all about what to do if there is a spill.

We also made it back to Victoria one more time. I actually got to spend a good 4 hours cruising the streets, this time. It really isn't all that bad of a place, but I think I'll stick to the US. I did find people that had the "strange brew" accent, but I had to go deep into the depths of the city. TOO FUNNY! So funny.

Next stop is Seattle to drop off some guests, load up on stores and prep the boat for the trip down the coast to Portland. All's looking good for that.....Then we are off to the Columbia River.

My schedule keeps changing at work. It looks like I'm still slated to begin on the 7th of October, but now it seems that I'll be staying on the Sea Lion a while longer. It really doesn't matter to me, I just want to work, but it's kind of funny how often things change. That's boat life in a nutshell! Anticipation is really the main problem at this point, but that will be over with in good time.

Good times, up here in Canada, eh?

In the last week I have seen so many good things. I got back to the little town called Alert Bay on the north end of Vancouver Island, a tiny village with only a few things going on. On the other had, I also spent an entire day exploring the city of Vancouver, which has a population of 2.2 million people. In typical Canada fashion, the city is clean and interesting, with the port being the main attraction. I really had no idea how big this city was, and how many goods move through it. The city is a "Sister City" to Seattle, but the port is WAY bigger, I believe this is because they are a net exporter of oil at this time. I'm not sure that I would be in a big hurry to come back to this city, just because I'm not a city boy, but it is definitely€ a better place to travel through than most US cities I've been through. In typical me fashion, I made it through this whole week with only a handful of pictures, and not one of Vancouver. We will be heading back to Alert Bay and I promise that I will get a couple of of it for you all to see.

So, I've been up here a week now and I've not heard one person with the "Strange Brew" Canadian accent. I'm a little saddened by this. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place.

This week we really don't have a whole lot of guests on the boat, 19, so I've kind of been given a good opportunity to do a little training for the new position. I'm getting a good view of the whole thing, and it's not seeming so foreign any more. This has definitely been a blessing for me. I'm pretty ready to switch over now, but I'm still enjoying cooking. I won't miss it THAT much.

Cruising British Columbia

Yesterday we spent the day in Victoria, BC. Even though Canada borders the US, it is such a different place. It's insanely obvious that you are in a different country when you are there. I'm not quite sure as to why that is at this point, but I'll be here for a couple of weeks and I'll be sure to let you know what conclusions I come to.

Victoria was a pretty touristy place, very clean, with a million gift shops and some interesting architecture. It was nice to walk around and see some different types of buildings that I would assume to be very British in nature. People are nice and like I said before, it was very clean.

The countryside around BC is quite similar to south east Alaska, I enjoy it quite a bit. Cedar and Madrone trees every where, with big mountains underneath them. The weather down here is quite a bit more forgiving, compared to Alaska, so that's a positive.

I have about two weeks more until I switch over from sous Chef to assistant Engineer, so I've been trying to take time to see what the person in my position on this boat is doing as I get time. The boat I'm on now (the NG Sea Lion) is similar, but not exactly the same as the one I will be working on (the NG Sea Bird), but I'm greatful to get any knowledge that I can, when I can. I'm really looking forward to the move, did I say that already?

We stop in Alert Bay tomorrow, a town on the northern end of Vancouver Island. I'm looking forward to checking it out, though I have been there one time before, on the trip from Mexico up to Alaska earlier in the year.

I'm off to a new life.

Today marks a turning point in my life, and I'm very ready for it. After today I will step out of the past and into the future. Hoooraaaayy! I'm ready.

I can't wait to tell you all about my new adventures.

I got a new job yesterday

I am now the Assistant Engineer of the M/V National Geographic Sea Lion! I'm pretty happy about the whole thing. I used cooking to get my foot in the door, now a whole great career is under way. Good things come to those who wait.

I also got to do a little more wheeling this weekend. The trip was a loop up Quaker Hill Road and then back down Alpha Road. There's some great history in the area, as well as some great views.

I made a little video:

I got to do a little 4 wheeling the other day.

I made another trip up Maybert road for some swimming, and made a little video to go with it.



The area is nice, the river is clean and the road is fun to drive. What more could you want?

I'm not going to be living in this area much longer, so I want to enjoy it while I can.

Video of my floatplane trip

Over the summer, while I was up in Alaska I got to go on a float plane trip.



Yup....it was good.

I'm trying to get my web presence together

I didn't really like the way that my website was going, to I decided to scratch that idea. Now I've pretty much just decided to stick with this here blog and keep it simple. There is really no need to make things complex and difficult, is there?

Well...for now I can't see any reason to.

My life has become far more simple in recent times. I've been following a path that has been set in front of me, and for what ever reason, it seems to be working out OK. In the future I hope to spend more time exploring the world, seeing how others live and trying to figure out what role I will end up playing in this ever changing crazy world. In the end, I'm on a journey now. It's not a trip, or a vacation, it's a journey to save my soul and come to terms with my place in the greater good.

I'm half way through my 4 week vacation now. Things are working out pretty good. I've gotten quite a bit of business done. Hopefully the next couple of "vacations" can actually be vacations! I'm going to go camping this weekend, so hopefully I will have something cool to report next week.

It's been an interesting couple of weeks.

I've been so busy trying to get life under control, I've had zero time for blogging. I hope to catch back up now. For today I'll just put up some pictures of where I've been the last 8 weeks with a promise to start posting again on a regular basis.

I'm home now, back in Northern California. Life is crazy moving all around me, but it's working out for the best. When I go back to work I will meet up with the NG Sea Lion in Seattle where we will hang do a couple of trips up and around the San Jaun Islands, then head down to the Columbia/Snake river and do a couple trips up there. After that I will be in the shipyard at Alameda, CA for most of the month of November before heading back down to Baja. This should be an interesting couple of months ahead, for sure.

I'll be off line for a bit....

Trying to work out some issues.....stay tuned.

Back home now

I've been back home now for a while, and things are going ok. It all very surreal to me now, looking back I'm not sure if all of this really happened or not. The amazing thing is that it really did. I'm so greatful.

The unfortunate thing is that I didn't quite get as far ahead financially as I had hoped, so I wont be going on any trips while I am home. Well I shouldn't say that, I will say that I have a couple of small trips planned, but I won't be going on any far reaching trips this time around. It's ok, I'll have plenty of time for that later.

For now I do plan to through hike the South Yuba trail, maybe next week some time, and I will also be up at one of my favorite areas this coming weekend, Sawmill Lake. Many, many great memories have come from that place, I hope to have some more this weekend.

About the most exciting thing that has happened so far is that I got all my junk organized and have had time to get all the patches sewn onto my back pack. I've been meaning to do that one for a while. I am also working on content for my website, I hope to have that up by the end of the week. Other than that, I'll let you know what comes up.

Inian Islands

5/18

Pond Island and Kelp Bay

Pond Island is an island in the Chatham Straight, which is the channel of water that is east of Sitka on Baranof Island. Like the name implies, the island has several ponds with all kinds of interesting life going on. The best part is that the wild flowers are now starting to bloom, so the Island is even more beautiful this time of year. We spent the morning exploring the island and doing some kayak ops around the area. This was the sunniest day we have had in Alaska to date, not one drop of rain at all. This made it pretty good for exploring, because there was no mental set backs from being all wet.

5/19

Today we were back to the Inian Islands, this time I actually got to explore around for a bit. We took a trip around the Island of Inian on a zodiac, there is so much wildlife in the water now. It's pretty interesting to be here this time of year, the animals are all heading up here from their winter homes and they are getting some good food because of it. The water is so rich with life, the whales and the other migrating animals get nice and fat up here in the spring and summer. I'm glad that I get to see it all happen.

In just a couple of days now I get off the boat, 4 more full days left! I'm excited to get home and return to some type of normalcy, but on the other hand, I have grown so used to this life that I have no idea what "normal" really is anymore. Either way, it will be good to see friends and family, go for a nice long hike, and even drive my old rust bucket truck. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also going to miss the routine that I have now. I've got some good ideas for things to do, so it'll be good.

The boats net has been REALLY BAD!!!

We are back on line now, sorry for the delays!


In 1794, Captain George Vancouver cruised by what is now the entrance to Glacier Bay and found it to be filled with a tidewater glacier. In 1879 when John Muir visited the same area, the glacier had retreated 48 miles north into the bay. Today, those same glaciers have retreated a total of 60 miles in a little over 200 years and left behind the huge bay that is now protected as Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.Our entire day yesterday was spent cruising the length of the west arm of the bay, where we stopped to view the seabird nesting South Marble Islands, beautifully exposed geologic formations and the faces of the glaciers themselves. Along the way we saw Black Bears, mountain goats, and several seabirds. The the head of the bay we got to hang out for a bit viewing Margerie Glacier, the most accessible glacier in the bay. On the way back we were lucky enough to catch a clear view (a rarity this time of year) of the Mount Fairweather, which was the first attempt of Alaskan mountain climbing by climber Brad Washburn who then when on to be the first to ever summit Denali in 1937.

5/10

Today we got a chance to hang out by George Island in the morning and then the Inian Islands in the afternoon. George Island was a military camp in World War II, housing up to 40 people at one time or another, it was put here for protection against the Japanese invasion. It's not a whole lot to look at now, but the landscape is very nice around the island, with a couple of really nice beaches to hang out on if one cared to.

5/11

Tracy Arm is home to Sawyer Glacier, a very popular place to visit for smaller tours out of Juneau. Today we went up for a visit, and it was even better than the glacier that we saw in Glacier Bay National Park. Sawyer Glacier caught my eye, because the way that it has carved the mountains around it so severely over the years. The sides of the mountains are exposed granite, with a very nice color to them, but the best part of Tracy Arm is the way that the ice that is so very blue it blows my mind when I look at it. The other thing that is very cool about Tracy Arm is that (unlike in Glacier Bay) we are allowed to do zodiac cruises up to the face of the Glacier. I have to tell you that there is nothing like siting on a piece of rubber a foot above the water, listening to the ice in the water around you make a bubbling/popping sound as it melts, then if you are lucky enough to actually see the ice calf (fall off) you will truly know the power of ice and water. It's also very intense to see up close, very interesting the way that it melts. Very interesting indeed.


5/12

The wind and rain today has made exploring pretty difficult. We woke up to the winds howling and horizontal rain in LeConte Bay. LeConte Glacier is the southernmost of the tidewater glaciers in the northern hemisphere, it's also one of the most actively retreating glaciers. Because of this, the glacier is constantly calving and there are a ton of icebergs at the mouth of the bay to prove it. The worst part of all this is that we couldn't get up the bay to see the glacier, the conditions were just too bad.

In the afternoon we made it over to Petersburg for some time in town. There's not very much going on in Petersburg, but it sure is nice to get off the boat and walk around for a few hours. I did get a pretty nice walk in town, but I paid the price by being completely sopping wet by the end of the day. I'm greatful for the time anyways.

Life on the boat is getting a bit rough for some of the crew now. It's funny how some people get into a cycle, then when it comes to the end of the cycle they get pretty cranky. There is a pretty common thought around the boat right now, and most every one is looking forward to getting off in a week and half. I am not even close to ready to leave, though, I'm still loving this job. I do suppose it will be nice to spend some time at home, but I will look forward to heading back.

5/13

Wow, it's been a lot of days now that I haven't been able to get on the net. I didn't realize how bad the internet connection would be up here, but it really is bad. Not much I can do about it, it's a small price to pay for the what I'm doing right now. Alaska is amazing, there is few places in the US that are like this, and most of those are no where near the size. Since we arrived in the area I have seen more than my mind can even really process, it's not like Baja was at all. Baja was very beautiful in it's own rights, there was little that I saw down there that wasn't interesting and pretty to see, but Alaska is so very much more on so many levels. Everything about the way the landscape has been molded over the life of the terrain, and the way the waters are so rich with life, as well as the weather that varies so much from season to season, and even day to day. I see why people have raved about it for so long, and so many stories have been written. I'm greatful that it's everything that it has been built up to be, and more, because I was unsure about how I would have handled it if it wasn't. I am ready to explore the area on my own, off of the boat, there is just so much that I'm not really sure where to start. The good thing is that I am surrounded by people who have tons of good info that can help out immensely with making that decision.

5/14

Elfin Cove is a little tiny town on the Pacific north of Sitka and just south of Glacier Bay National Park. We had some pretty foul weather all day, so a decision was made to drop in and check it out. The town only has 20 or so people living there for most of the year, so it must be pretty crazy for a 100 people to get off of a ship and converge on their little town. The town has no roads, no cars and there is a board walk way that circles the island community. There is a bar, a post office, a general store, a gift shop, and a couple of lodges in the town, as well as what appears to be a school and library, but they both looked pretty unused. The place is very interesting to say the least. I am still not totally sure that I like it all that much, but it is a beautiful place.

Aside from exploring, I got a chance to talk to my wife on the phone as well. Bad news, she had a miscarriage and lost the baby, but she also lost a ton of blood and had to go to the ER. She is doing ok, but unfortunate to say the least. I have no words to describe the way that I feel about this, but I will say I am greatful she is ok. Life is interesting, so many things in life are interesting.

5/15

Back to Glacier Bay for me today, we got into the Park a bit earlier this time so we got to see quite a bit more. There was a fresh coat of snow on the ground and that made this place look even more amazing. There is little that settles my mind more than staring out on a horizon full of snow capped and wind swept mountains. There is just something that settles my every nerve in that, I'm greatful to have it in my day. In the evening we made it back to the lodge after dinner, then for another much needed walk around the camp ground. Unfortunately the lodge won't be open until Memorial weekend, so we won't get a chance to see it in action. I'm sure that I will have plenty of opportunity this summer, though.

I just got word that the boat would not have internet at least until Sitka on saturday, maybe even later than that. I'll have to try and post up the couple of places that we are in during the week that have wi-fi. Lucky that there is those places around, hello technology.

5/16 and 5/17

We finished up the last day of the second to last trip and all is well. I probably wont post too much the next week in preparation for my voyage home next week. I'm going to try and work on editing some video and other info that I have in raw form. Then I'll post it all up when I get home.

Glacier Bay National Park

5/7

The whole day today has been cruising from Sitka to our big day tomorrow in Glacier Bay National Park. We got to see some more of the previously mentioned Dahls Porpoises, they are amazing, making even a common dolphin look like a slug. The way that they move through the water, you would think that they had jet engines or something. It really does amaze me at how an animal can control not only their body, but their environment like these ones do. That and the way they look like mini-Orca's of sorts is just very entertaining to watch. The other animals that we got to watch today was the humpback whales, there were a couple of them using the bottom of the boat and their bubbles to control a school of fish, so that they could have some lunch. It was an interesting thing to watch, I had heard about whales using bubbles to make a type of net to control fish that they are stalking, but this is the first time I have seen that.

I'm looking forward to the big day, tomorrow. This is the premier event for this boat, supposedly the best thing we see on any trips all year long. I'm ready to check it out.

5/8

Today we woke up at the entrance to Glacier Bay National Park. The scenery is very much like many of the high country parts of Colorado that I visited, the dirt is an almost sandy texture and grey in color. The sea water is the same type of grey color as well. There are many mountains and very interesting islands. The highest mountain in the park was visible earlier today, Mt....at a little over 15 thousand feet is the tallest I have ever laid eyes on, it consumes a big part of the skyline. We made it up into the bay to the Muir Glacier, a beautiful piece of ice falling into the ocean. I guess the reason that they look the way they do is that the water is so much warmer than the air, so the bottom of the glacier is melting faster than the top. This is why it looks like a sponge from the top, because ice is falling through to the sea water underneath the ice shelf.

It's pretty interesting to be on a boat going through water with a bunch of ice floating around, the way it pushes out of the way and leaves a little trail, but then the ice forms back around the boat like it never passed through. My bed is right up against the bottom of the boat and it sounds pretty crazy to listen to the ice scrape along the side of the boat.

After we went to the glacier for the grand view, and it was grand, we spent some time by the lodge and campground at the Glacier Bay. I got to go on my first good hike up here in Alaska, it was so nice to get out. The spruce trees and scenery are great very cool, I'm looking forward to getting to know the area better in the future. I will be back twice more before I head back home, so I'll get to know it a little bit better.

Sitka, AK

Today we made it into Sitka, which just so happens to be another one of those "my kind of town" type of places. I'm telling you, one of these days I'll live half the year in Sitka and the other half the year in La Paz. Both towns are cool in the same type of way. Adventure is all around and the people are all friendly and "normal", not too dirty, not too fake. Just normal. After walking around town for a little bit I found out that Sitka is the place where the deal was signed between Russia and the US for transfer of ownership of Alaska. Boy, what a mistake on the part of Russia. They have a pretty cool little monument to that I would recommend checking out. There is also quite a few stores with whatever you might need, the town has a population of 8,000 and is one of the bigger cities in the state. The landscape is heavy timber with mountains in the background, very much what one would think of when they think Alaska.

I broke down and bought an MP3 player today. Every one on the boat uses them, so it's kind of lame to not have one. It makes sense anyways, you can do so much with them now. I'll have to load the thing up when I get home for my next trip. I ended up buying a Zune in the black 8mb variety, mostly because I was shopping in Alaska and that was pretty much all they had. Zune is the Microsoft version of the Ipod, and seems to be a good deal. It will work, just fine I'm sure.

I'm starting to plan for my return up to Alaska now, I plan to come up a couple of days ahead of time and do some exploring around and it looks like my friend Tim will be coming up with me. I guess all my talk about how amazing it is up here has spurred some interest amongst friends, and I'm really glad to hear it. Everyone needs to see it, it's that good. Next weekend when we get into Juneau I plan on doing some recon and trying to figure out what the best day trips are around town. I would love to take another float plane ride, and I'm sure that Tim would as well. I'll let you know what other cool things I find to do in the area.

A float plane tour for me!

5/5

Today I went on one of the best trips I have ever been on. We got into Petersburg just as we were eating breakfast, then I caught a shuttle to another dock, the public float-plane dock. Six people including myself got into the navy blue float-plane and had the trip of our lives. After clearing our take off the pilot went out of the harbor and into the ocean, where we took off, just like on a runway. From there we flew north to a valley where there were several glaciers, the biggest being nearly 4,000 feet deep. I had absolutely no idea the magnitude of it all, until I laid my own two eyes on them. The colors, the extremes, the way the ice melts in chunks making a pattern across the top of the glacier that seems so fragile, yet so ragged. On our way up we flew over the top of mountains that have been carved by glaciers, so that we could witness first hand the effects of the ice, in many different stages. The power is awesome. Mother nature is awesome. Once we got to the glaciers themselves, I was amazed at the way the plane could circle the same area for so long, we got such a good view from so many angles. If you have never witnessed the things I am describing right now first hand, you need to. It's that amazing.

After flying around the glaciers for a while the pilot took us on a little tour of the area around Petersburg. The area is known for fishing and the season is just now starting, so we saw some fishing boats heading out. He explained the different types of fishing that are done here, trawling and netting. After that he showed us the town of Petersburg and where the hot steelhead fishing hole was on the Petersburg Creek. Once we got all that we had to head back, but it was enough. this is not the kind of thing that one needs to be greedy about.

The rest of the day we just cruised up the Alaska coast line, we are headed for Sitka tomorrow. I can't wait.

Finally in Alaska!

Looks like the internet is going to be skechy up here, it seems that whenever we are traveling north the thing doesn't work so well....I'll post when I can.

5/3

Lowe Inlet and Grenville Channel were the two places that we visited today. The Lowe Inlet was a tiny little cove off of the Grenville Channel, basicly the mouth of a river that had a very nice fall into the ocean. There is so much beauty here, both the water and the land. The only thing that I can say is that I will not allow this to be the last time I come to this area. I just hope that you come back in a couple weeks when I can put up the pictures and videos I have been taking.

Tomorrow we get into Alaska. This has been my dream since childhood, so I'm almost a bit nervous, though I know that there is no reason to be. I'm traveling with a group of people that are well versed in this, and I'm sure that I am in good hands. As we travel north the terrain gets more and more severe, the Glaciers have carved the mountain sides into cliffs that blow your mind, and they just keep getting better and better. Today was actually a first in that this was the first time I have ever seen snow floating in the ocean. It's an odd sight of sorts, though I knew it would happen. It's interesting when you see something that is not normal in your mind, and you have to try and convince yourself that it is normal, it's not always an easy thing.

I've started to plan my camping trip when I get home. I really need to get a snow report from someone, hopefully there is a website somewhere. I haven't ever really looked. I know that I could probably check some local ski resorts and see how they are shaping up, which would be a pretty good indicator. Either way, I have some good plans for a camp trip with friends and family. Anyone interested?

5/4

Punchbowl cove in the Misty Fjords was our location for the first part of the day today. I have no idea how anyone could possibly get any work done when they work in an atmosphere like this. 3,000 foot cliffs carved by glaciers, snow covered and dripping with some of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen. Miles and miles of this! It's great to see, but there is work to be done. I'm so greatful that I get the opportunity to look out my window every day and see what I see every day. I'm truly blessed.

We got into Alaska at about 2 am this morning. My dream has been realized, this is amazing. At around 8 am we got a visit from the local customs agents, the took the opportunity to fly in on a float plane for their visit. All went well and we were on our way after about an hour or so. The whole trip was pretty interesting, I'm still not quite sure why they couldn't just meet us when we went through Kechecan later today, but I have a feeling like it was more of a benefit for them than anything else. Lucky them, and well....lucky me too, because tomorrow morning I am all signed up to go on a float plane ride myself. From what I understand we are going to take an aerial tour of the area around Petersburg. I'm so excited I don't know if I'll even be able to sleep tonight. I'm getting so much more than I bargained for.

Butedale Cannery

I know, I've said it before, but every day of this trip has been getting better and better. Cruising through British Columbia has been one of the highlights of my travel career so far. The area is simply amazing. There is no other way to describe it. To see the snow on a mountain top melting off into a roaring stream that then free falls 400 feet to the ocean is extraordinary, really. From what I hear, this is nothing compared to what we are headed to Alaska to see, but it still dwarfs any winter-snow time sights I have ever seen.

Today we stopped off at this place that was where a river terminated into the ocean, this river being maybe 30 feet across and raging, but the coolest thing was the last 1/8 mile of it descent. It had two miraculous free falls in a row, the first I would guess to be in the 100 foot range, then the river turned at 45 degrees and fell another 300 feet down to the ocean. At the mouth of the river is the site of an old dilapidated cannery that is half falling into the ocean, and apparently there is one building still being used for something or other, because there was smoke coming from the chimney of one of the buildings. It reminded me of a scene from an old mining site in the Rockies or the Sierras, very nostalgic. The name of that place was the Butedale Cannery in the McKay Reach, a narrow stretch of water about 2/3's of the way up the British Columbia coastline.

I now have about 3 weeks left on my rotation here on the Sea Lion, I would suspect that they will go fast. I've adapted to life on the boat pretty well now, I'm actually thinking it's going to be quite strange to get OFF the boat now. Everything is so interesting here, and then there is the fact that I will have to spend my money again when I get off, and that's no fun! Actually I have been looking forward to going for a drive, and even a nice night or two in a tent for a while now. It's going to be good to see some familiar faces as well, I'm sure that some one misses me.

Alert Bay, BC, Canda

This morning we spent some time exploring the Johnstone Strait, which is a pretty area, along the lines with everything else that we have been seeing along the way. Trees, cliffs, snow capped mountains, and all kinds of other great British Columbia treats. We've seen some pretty fine examples of the bald eagle, along with several other types of cool birds, but not much for the marine species up here so far. I've been trying to keep an eye out, but nothing much so far, except for the wayward log. We actually had to do a crazy maneuver to avoid some mostly submerged logs. It was a little exciting watching pots and pans go sliding, but we are pretty used to that now.

After lunch we stopped in a town called Alert Bay, a town of about 1500 people that is only accessible by ferry from BC. It's the home of the second largest totem pole in the world, and several others that are quite fascinating. We got to get off of the boat for a bit and walk around, and I even scored a pretty nice patch for my collection. Oddly enough this tiny town has been my first score on the patch since I got on the boat. I couldn't find one in all of Baja for some reason, I guess that not many people that head down there are patch collectors, but I have no idea why. Anyways, Alert bay was pretty cool, just in that it was a "typical" town for this area and it had a nice kind of down home type of feel. I enjoyed our very short stay there.

Cruising the BC coast

4/28

Our day in Seattle has been long and very interesting. This is the day we start a 12 day cruise up through the islands of BC on our way to Alaska. The problem is, that this is the only stop for food that we will have until we get up there, so we had to pack the boat so full of food that I can't even believe it. Literally, it was a 50' trailer full of food and supplies waiting for us at the dock. I have no idea how we did it, but we got it all on the boat and it even slightly fits. That's the good news. The not so good news is that two of the crew on the boat were pre-screened for passage into Canada and were denied. So now that means that the Stewards and the Deck Hands will both be a man down for the next twelve days. The plan is to fly the two that can't get into Canada up to Alaska, then we will pick them up once we get there. It shouldn't be too bad, because oddly enough it was the two that we on the lower end of how much work effort was put out, and so every one should be able to step up and overcome the problem.

We did a really cool thing tonight, we went up into Union Lake, which is in the middle of Seattle. I can't even begin to explain how cool it is to be on the boat in the middle of a major city like Seattle. The only bummer was that the video I took didn't end up being very good. My camera is just not that great at taking pictures at night. We also went through a Lock on the way into and out of the lake, this was my first time doing this, so I thought it was pretty cool. From what I understand, when we go onto the Columbia River I will get my fill of these, but for now the whole concept is pretty intriguing.

The plan is to head up and explore the San Juan Islands tomorrow. I've wanted to see them for a long time now, so that ought to be cool. The Olympics off in the distance have been pretty enticing as well. I really need to come back up here and back pack the area some day. I'll add it to my list of things to do in my lifetime, boy that list seems to get longer now a days. I think that's a good thing.

It looks like the internet on the boat is under some kind of maintenance, so we are denied access for the day. Looks like it will be another double post for tomorrow....

4/29

We made it up through the San Juan Islands this morning then on to Sydney, British Columbia on Vancouver Island where we had to stop for customs. I'm sure that I missed most of it, because I was working when most of the process occurred, but getting through customs wasn't all too bad. I'm sure that if I had had driven up to Canada by myself it would be a different story, but I'm glad to say it my first time was no big deal.

After we made it through Customs we headed up to the Gulf Islands, where I was pretty impressed by the way the glacial ice had shaped much of the area, it looked like many of the mountain tops were cut off with a knife. I was told that as we go north the terrain only gets more and more beautiful, but this is already the most amazing place I have ever been. It's going to get real good before the trip is over, I can already tell. In the afternoon we made it up to a place called the Strait of Georgia, the best that I can explain this area is that it makes the Olympics look pretty lame, and I love that mountain range. I see why my mother is so in love with this place, though I'm not sure if she even really got to see how cool this place really is. I'll have to email her and ask.

The boat has been plagued with all kinds of maintenance issues lately. Most notably would be our dishwasher in the Galley, and more obviously the internet, but also the chlorine system for the drinking water has been giving the engineers some serious trouble. I'm just going on record as saying those guys do some amazing things, with practically nothing, very cool to see and I'm very greatful to have them on board.

Tomorrow we head up to Alert Bay, a town with some interesting history supposedly. I will let you know more tomorrow, I can't wait.

Almost to Seattle!!!

Tonight we are going around the Olympic Peninsula and down into the Puget Sound. Maybe it's just because I've been in the desert for the last 4 weeks, but it is pretty comforting to look out and see mountains with snow and, and ........trees! Oh the beautiful trees! Funny the things you miss when you are away from home. Even funnier is that it makes me wonder what my true definition of "Paradise" really is. I'm not quite sure at this point, to be perfectly honest with you. Maybe there is no such place, maybe it's two places. I don't know. I'll tell you when I figure it out, though.

The cruise up here for the last day has been flat and quick, hardly any rocking at all. Just a little bit for maybe a half hour or so just before sunset. It's been great for the ride, and great for our time. We are looking good for getting in at 5 or maybe 6 am tomorrow, so we should have plenty of time to get everything done. We also got our first rain today, real rain. I enjoyed it, but mostly because I work in the Galley and not outside. Like I said, it's the little things you miss, I'd guess.

I won't write too much today, I've got to get to bed and be well rested for a busy day tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

Oregon coast cruising

Today has been pretty uneventful. About the best thing that happened today is we got a thumbs up on the pre-CDC inspection that we were supposed to get in San Diego, but are destined to get in Seattle. Other than that, I cooked up some really good tacos for lunch today, about the best I've done so far. I learned from my little excursion in La Paz, that it's not just the meat that goes in the taco, it's toppings that make a good taco. I went all out today, beef, chicken and tofu for the meats, then shredded romaine, tomatoes, fresh salsa, avocados, cheese, sour cream, limes and jalepeno's. It turned out real good, I was proud, so proud in fact that it brought a tear to my eye.

Anyways, we are looking good for getting into Seattle on time still, even though we are supposed to be hitting a bit of weather just before we go to turn into the Puget Sound and what not. After the smooth ride we have had so far (since getting back into the States) no one is really complaining. I just hope that we get there in a timely matter and that we can get through it without any troubles. Other than that, I've seen enough of Seattle lately, so I'm not really in a hurry to get off the boat and explore. I'm more ready to get going and start seeing some of the awesome scenery that is ahead of us.

Last night I went up for another navigation lesson on the bridge, it really was just a good chance to use some of my new found skills. I also got to see one heck of a moon rise over the horizon. The moon was all green and big, very beautiful and definitely mesmerizing, especially at 3 am. I love that I get to see these things, not many jobs give you this kind of thing. Of course we had a pretty good discussion about how the moon effects the waves and the tides, all so interesting, and very intriguing. Maybe I will do some more research and then write an article for my website. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt anyways.

By the way we are about 2/3's up the Oregon coast now. The weather is cloudy and the fog is thick, typical northwest weather. The wind is low, and that is what counts. I hope to see the boat cross into Washington tonight from the bridge, I don't know why, but I like doing that for some reason.

Just passed Eureka, CA today

Last night I made my first contact from my ham radio off of the boat. We were passing by San Francisco and I got to open up the repeater on Mt Diablo for a little bit and have a chat with a couple of hams on their daily commute. It was interesting to hear them talk of how it was friday and how excited they were to have the weekend off. I couldn't even explain what was going on with me, and why the weekend off didn't really mean the same to me. All in all it was great to have a chat with people that are not in any way shape of form related to the boat, so I think I will have to try and hit a couple of more repeaters along the way. I'm sure that there will be places in Alaska that I will be able to talk as well. Good deal. I just need to remember how to program this radio I brought, it's my oldest and least used of the lot.

We are cruising up the coast of Northern California now, the weather is about as nice as one could hope for. I'm really surprised that the conditions are as good as they are. I don't think that I have ever seen the weather this nice two days in a row on the coast. Maybe it's just that we are 15 miles or so off the coast, but it looks pretty nice on land as well, at least from my perspective. Pretty soon we should be up where the redwoods are right on the coast, so that will be pretty cool to see. I looked and looked for the Golden Gate yesterday, but never got to see it. Oh well.

I did get in another beautiful sunset, there is just something that makes them a sight to see every day when you are on a boat. I'm not sure what it is, maybe the water all around you, or the way the sun goes through the fog off in the distance, or maybe even just the fact that it signifies another day almost complete. I sure do love watching it. I also recognized some of the terrain off in the distance tonight as well, we were cruising right by Eureka, and I could pick out the snow covered Trinity Alps in the back ground. I'm sure that the terrain is covered with my favorite redwoods, but at 14 miles off the shore we are too far away to really see them, even with binoculars. It's nice to know that they are there, and see some green terrain, and even refreshing to see snow, even though I'm going to be looking at plenty of it the next couple of weeks.

Tonight I go for another navigation lesson on the bridge, but I also have some questions about the zodiacs for my mentor as well. I hear that there is a certification that you can get for being a zodiac pilot, and I'd like to find out more about that. Either way there is lots to learn about on the bridge, so I'm looking forward to it.

Only three more days left of our cruise, I'm sad and happy as well. Sad because this has been a pretty kicked back atmosphere, and it's been cool to watch the coast line go by as we traveled. On the other hand, I'm excited about seeing Alaska and having our "normal" routine start back up again. It will be nice to have chances to get off of the boat and explore a bit more often, like we did in Baja.

Navigation Lessons and Dahls Porpoises

Sorry for the delay, I ended up having a different kind of schedule the last couple of days. I'll give you two journal entries today, then we will be back on track for a while......

4/24

We are on day two of our San Diego to Seattle leg now. It's been a pretty good day in all, we passed by Catalina Island, then the islands of Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz later in the day. After that we went around the Point of Conception and the waves got real big. We did that about 5 pm and since then there have been several waves that have gone up and over the boat, and many more that have splashed the bridge deck pretty good. I would say that these waves have been in the 10 to 15 foot range from the information that I have gathered from the captain. It's a sight to see, I'll tell ya.

The crew is all beyond bored now. The hotel crew doesn't have much to do but get sick and lay around, and everyone else is doing pretty much the same. I still haven't even felt a little sick at all. I must have gotten my Grandpa's sea legs or something, but for whatever reason, I am greatful. I may just have a future in boats, since I can hang with this. That makes me feel good.

I'm going back up to the bridge tonight for the midnight to 3am watch, and we have it all planned out that I am going to be getting some navigation lessons during that time. I know a little bit about maps and navigation, but nothing impressive and not enough to be good at it. I'll give a report on what I learn tomorrow.

We will be up around Santa Cruz and then San Francisco tomorrow, I hope to get a good picture of the Golden Gate if we get close enough. That would be a good one for the old photo album. I'm probably going to break out the ham radio tomorrow as well, and see if I can open up the repeater on top of Mount Diablo. I'm pretty sure that I will be able to. It will be nice to chat with someone off the boat even if it is just for a minute.

4/25

I went up to the Bridge for my first lesson on navigation last night. It was very enlightening, simple but very informative. In case I didn't explain, The second mate has a watch driving the boat between midnight and 3 am, so I offered to keep her company with the hopes that we could do a little trade. She would get some company on an otherwise boring and tiresome watch, and I would get some schooling on everything from how boats work, to navigation, to why living a sailors life is the best life. I've been up there twice so far,

First I got a lesson on what exactly Longitude and Latitude really are, and how we use them to find our position on the planet. Then once we got that all figured out, she explained how to take GPS coordinates and plot our position on a map. From there I asked how it was done before the GPS came along, and the answer is a device called a "sexton", of which she explained as a way to locate yourself over time based on your position versus a star or the sun. I decided to take it on myself to get a little more info on this myself for future reference. After that she told me about waves, and how they move about the planet. It's all so interesting, I could go on for a while about it, but I don't really have room for it here.

After all that excitement I was headed down off the bridge and I got to see some of the coolest animals in the Sea, the Dahls Porpoises is the fastest predator known to man in the water. I got to see a couple of them right up along the side of the boat, then just as fast as they came up and were checking us out, they were gone. Such amazing and powerful creatures, I was buzzing for a 1/2 hour after that. Unfortunately no pictures or video of them, but I hear that we will see more once we get up to Alaska.

Other than those few things, life on the boat right now is pretty boring. Lot's of cleaning, sleeping and reading. I'm still hoping to get in a little air time with the Ham radio in a bit here, I think we will be up around San Francisco around sunset today. I'll let you know how that one goes.

Made it to San Diego

What a day. We made it into San Diego at 12:30 this afternoon and everyone let out a big old sigh of relief. The waves last night were pretty relentless, it would be calm for a few seconds, then all of the sudden four or maybe five big old waves would roll in from any and all directions. It was nice to be in the safe waters of San Diego, where it was nice and calm. Once we got to the dock we made pretty quick work of filling up the stores, fuel and water, but there was one hold up. We have been having problems with our dish washer in the Galley, so we had a tech on to take a look at it. The problem was that he was running behind schedule, so when time rolled around for us to leave, and he was still knee deep in fixing the dishwasher the captain started to get antsy. Once that happened, the guy started rushing and we all know what happens then. As soon as we went to run the first load of dishes, after we were underway of course, the control box went poof in a big puff of smoke. Now we have no dish washer at all, and that is going to really suck. I'm not too sure what the plan is at this point, but I do know that we can't take guests on the boat without a dishwasher, and we are already a half day behind schedule. This could be interesting.

Just after dinner I was up on the Lido Deck (the top of the boat where the zodiacs are stored) and I looked over to see a bunch of bottle nose dolphins swimming towards us. I quickly ran down to the bow of the ship and got some really good video footage of them ridding the bow wave. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, they are so much fun to watch. I love it.

I spent a couple of hours last night up on the Bridge for the first time last night. I got a good little lesson on radars and maps. I'm so amped about it. I hope to get up there for a lesson every couple of days so I can soak up the good info. During the night hours there is generally a deck hand stationed on the bridge to keep the person driving the boat company, but the deck hand who's shift is the night watch has been real sick so I vaulunteered to help out, and got the offer of some lessons in return. A good deal for me.

My day dreaming about travels has only gotten more intense the last couple of days, I can't wait for my next real trip all on my own. I'm ready.

Here we are, in the middle of no where...

Another fine day at sea. I'll tell you, pretty much every one on the boat is spanked by this trip. It looks like me, the pantry cook and the third mate are the only ones that haven't gotten sick at this point. It's like I have the whole boat to myself, which for me is great. Being anti-social has it's positives, I guess. We are still a little behind schedule, we should be hitting San Diego at around 1pm tomorrow. It will be good to see land again.

I've decided that I have to buy an I-pod now. I've typically been against them, because I feel that they take away from what is going on around you too much. In this case, though, it sure would be nice to be able to listen to some music to pass the time, plus there is a stereo in the Galley that I could plug it into and then every one can enjoy my fine music. Either way, the shopping will commence.

We talked a bit about what the routine will be like in Alaska today, it looks like there will be a bit more free time up there. We will be in three fairly good sized towns a week, Sitka, Junuea, and Petersberg, so there will be good opportunity to make calls and use wi-fi that will allow me to upload videos and pictures with out a problem. We will also be heading up to the Glacier National Park once a week as well, so lots of cool things to see and do there. I'm looking forward to getting to explore that part of Alaska for sure.

Our location as of 4 pm today was N 29 degrees 42.707 feet and W 116 degrees 09.327 feet. We are about 2/3 of the way up the baja coast.

Here we are, in the middle of no where...

Another fine day at sea. I'll tell you, pretty much every one on the boat is spanked by this trip. It looks like me, the pantry cook and the third mate are the only ones that haven't gotten sick at this point. It's like I have the whole boat to myself, which for me is great. Being anti-social has it's positives, I guess. We are still a little behind schedule, we should be hitting San Diego at around 1pm tomorrow. It will be good to see land again.

I've decided that I have to buy an I-pod now. I've typically been against them, because I feel that they take away from what is going on around you too much. In this case, though, it sure would be nice to be able to listen to some music to pass the time, plus there is a stereo in the Galley that I could plug it into and then every one can enjoy my fine music. Either way, the shopping will commence.

We talked a bit about what the routine will be like in Alaska today, it looks like there will be a bit more free time up there. We will be in three fairly good sized towns a week, Sitka, Junuea, and Petersberg, so there will be good opportunity to make calls and use wi-fi that will allow me to upload videos and pictures with out a problem. We will also be heading up to the Glacier National Park once a week as well, so lots of cool things to see and do there. I'm looking forward to getting to explore that part of Alaska for sure.

Our location as of 4 pm today was N 29 degrees 42.707 feet and W 116 degrees 09.327 feet. We are about 2/3 of the way up the baja coast.

Everyone's sick!

Today has been a pretty rough day at sea. It's interesting to see how everyone is handling it. Pretty much all of the stewards, and the purser are so sick that they can't even think. One of the deck hands isn't faring all to well either, but the other three are seemingly doing pretty well. As the trip progresses the waves are going to get bigger and bigger, so I'm sure that the condition of the group will worsen as well. I'm still holding up real good, I just try and keep busy, keep my mind occupied and it's working pretty good for me. Sitting and doing nothing only makes it worse.

I have plans to try and spend a little time on the bridge this trip, the second mate said that it would be cool to hang with her and keep her company while she drives. It's a pretty rough ride up there, so I'll probably just try and find a good time where I won't be too much trouble, then hang out for as long as I can. I'm sure that someone to shoot the breeze with for a while is never too bad of a thing, especially early in the morning when it's usually a time when you would be sleeping.

The captain did an ETA for San Diego based on our current efforts and we are moving a bit slower than we had hoped. It looks like we are going to end up being about a 1/2 day behind schedule. Kind of a bummer, but that might mean we will get a little bit of free time to go trip around the port, so I'm not really hearing much complaints. I would imagine most of the people on this boat are going to be kissing solid ground when we get there, so I'm sure it will be a sight.

All is good in the Galley, we are getting things cleaned up nicely and we are using our stores quite well. Since we are on schedule and the boat is behind schedule we are looking very good. I steam cleaned the ovens last night and the hard to reach spots in the Galley tonight, so there isn't a whole lot left to do. All we really have left is cleaning the main refrigerator, and getting things buttoned up. No big deal. Our Galley team is on top of things, thank God! The Stewards are going to be cramming the last couple of days to get caught up, I hope that it works out for them.

First full day at sea....no land in sight!

Today has been our first full day at sea on our voyage to Alaska. It's been a little rough, but really nothing all too bad. Mostly just the bow of the boat bobbing up and down the whole time. Like I said before, this is far better than side to side or even worse is both. The weather forecast is still the same as yesterday, so it looks like the next couple of days will be a bit rougher. Not too big a deal, I've been just finding as many things to do to keep myself busy as possible, so that way my mind stays off of the motion. I noticed that the ones who are not handling things well are the ones that aren't really doing anything. My logic makes sense to me, anyways.

I am officially as far north on the Baja peninsula now as I have been so far, we passed Magdalena Bay at about 4 pm today. I've been learning about the boat quite a bit lately, it's been pretty cool. The boat is traveling at about 10 nautical mph, and from what I understand there are 1.3 miles in a nautical mile, so we are traveling at about 13 mph in Lehman's terms. That's why it takes 12 days to go from La Paz to Seattle. I couldn't even imagine driving a car that slow for that distance, but luckily in a boat it's plenty fast considering the road is a little bumpy so to speak. We are pretty much headed in a straight line up the coast so there are times when we actually can't see land at all, this is kind of strange for me, it's the first time really. It's an interesting feeling for your mind, to not see land anywhere on any horizon. Very interesting indeed.

If you didn't notice, I change a couple things on the site yesterday, most noticeably the colors on the blog. It's a bit easier to read this way so I hope it's better for you. Most of my plans to better the website have been put back by crappy internet connections, so I will just continue to hoard my thoughts till a later date when I can make them known to all. It's frustrating, but what do you do?

Most of my free time now is spent day dreaming of the places that I want to go next. Putting me on a boat in the ocean with a bunch of books that are all geared towards travel has shown me much good information, as well as given me plenty of time to go over it. That Siberian Railway trip is sure looking mighty fine now, I want to see Lake Baikal within my lifetime. It's right up there with Machu Picchu, and I'm going to make it happen. That and overlanding in Africa, the Kalahari, those are the three that I have my sights set on.

....And we're off!!

Our repositioning has officially begun. We left La Paz, BCS at noon PST and have been underway ever since. We should be rounding the other side of the peninsula in the early hours of the morning into the Pacific Ocean. From what the Captain has seen of the weather reports so far, the weather should hold out until we get up to San Diego, but what we thought might happen looks to be the case. The long term weather is looking like it's going to be a rough ride for us from San Diego up to Seattle. Let's hope that weather forecasters are wrong as usual and we have a good trip. I sure hope that they aren't right this time.

Great fully I got to spend some time on the phone this morning. I got to talk to Sonya quite a bit and Mia for a few minutes. I also called my best friend Tim to let him know that I was alive and well. We are going to plan a trip over the Rubicon Trail for when I get back home, I am way excited about it. Other than making those plans it was just a good round of phone calls all around, everyone is holding up well. Mia is cute as usual and missing her daddy. I ordered her a late birthday present the other day, I hope it's not too advanced, but I got her this really cool MP3 player that has a karaoke thing going and also can be hooked up to a TV. I'm not too sure how it works, but I'm sure that she will figure it out. They have the coolest things for kids now.

Sonya is doing good, not showing too many signs of pregnancy yet, but I'm sure that will change soon. She has been complaining about the drive into town quite a lot, because apparently the price of gas is pushing $4 a gallon now! Holy moly am I glad that I don't have to drive 40 miles a day anymore. One more benefit to working on the boat! Anyways, we are going to have to find another place pretty soon so she can be closer to town and all of the things that she needs. I guess when I get back we will try and arrange something, but I have no idea what.

I've been going through the flyer that the company puts out about all of the trips they do and it is amazing. I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but I get one free trip every six months I work for them, so I hope to capitalize on that. The couple that stand out are a train tour on the Siberian Railway, a south America tour that includes 7 days cruising the Galapagos Islands then heads over to Peru to take a trip up the Inca Trail, and then of course Antarctica. I'm not quite sure how I'll swing it, but I'd like to hit as many as I can while I can. It's an outstanding opportunity, good thing I plan to be with this company for a while.

Last day of our baja tour

Today was the last day of our last trip in Baja. It's been a good one, we have seen so much down here it has left a permanent scar. The good kind of scar of course. I know that Alaska is going to be amazing, but I'm not sure if it will be better or not. It's been my dream to go to Alaska for much of my adult life, it seems unreal that I am finally going to realize my dreams. It's amazing that a small town boy with a dream of seeing far away places and not fitting into a mold can do this type of thing. I'm so in love with the travel lifestyle I won't ever stop, I know this in my heart. Not only do I want to see the world, but I want to be so affluent in it that I can take my family and friends to any place and show them all the most amazing things. I know that this is a dream that is attainable, so here we go....

After my next rotation there is a group that is heading to La Paz, Bolivia for a special training session for expedition staff, and I am going to actively try and get on board. Not only do I think that it would be an amazing chance to see a part of the world that is very beautiful, but the training would be invaluable. It's basicly all about being a guide, everything from safety to how to show people a good time without being to in the way. I'll keep you posted on what I find out about it as info comes in.

I'm going to try and spend a little time on the front page of my website the next couple of days and see if I can't spruce it up a bit. I've been getting a ton of visitors, so it would be nice to have something a little better anyways. The internet is just so expensive out here, it's hard to do very much. It's also so slow that doing anything too advanced is probably just not going to happen. I have some good ideas for when I get back home, though.

I can't wait to talk on the phone tomorrow and see how everyone is doing back home. I believe that all is well, but it will be nice to hear it from them for sure. It's always nice to check in anyways. To all that I don't get to talk to, I miss you and can't wait to be back home to see you all again.

Getting ready for the big trip

The seas have been pretty rough today, but fortunately we are headed with the winds so the boat isn't rocking all too much. It's when the waves are hitting the side of the boat that you get rocking that is hard to deal with. I witnessed an amazing sunset tonight, the waves crashing all around made a haze come up off of the water that turned the sunlight going over the horizon an awesome array of colors. I am truly spoiled now by the sunrises and sunsets that I get to see every day.

We've been getting ready for the trip up to Alaska, and it's been interesting. The biggest problem is that we can't bring any food that we bought in Mexico back into the US with us. There is a customs check in San Diego and we pretty much have to have no food on board when we get there. What the plan is at this point, and I know it sounds crazy, but we will order a little bit to get us through till we get up there, then what ever is left over when we get to Tijauna we will pitch off the boat while we are at sea. I won't even really get into how much food we throw away every day, it's enough that I almost got sick when I first saw it. The sad thing is that there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. The nature of the beast. Anyways so we are trying to get everything all lined out food wise for the trip right now. We plan to not only have no food, but we also plan to have everything so clean that the CDC will not even think about doing a full on inspection. It shouldn't be too rough. We are going to be cooking some crazy huge and good meals for the crew on the trip up there. Then once we get through all those fun little inspections, we will get in a huge order of food and be on our way again. The best part is that we are only allowed something silly like 4 hours in port at San Diego to do all of this. It should be pretty interesting.

I finished all of my initial training today. I had no idea that I would need to know so much, but it really is a good thing. If you think about it, it really does make sense, there is only so many people on the boat so everyone has a job. If for some reason someone can't do their job then someone else has to do two jobs. It's actually great to learn about fire fighting, CPR and rescue issues on the boat, I am happy to be a part of anything that will help out. I will also have to do some more training when I get home, and keep up with it as well. I'm glad.

If I have time in La Paz on Saturday I will get over to the internet cafe and try to post up some of the amazing pictures that I have. No promises, but there are some amazing ones. I'm not positive that I will have time, but I hope so.

My first "normal" day.

Today has been about as average of a day as I have had since I got here. There is really not all that much going on right now that is really different, we spent the day at Isla San Marcos, the bird sanctuary that we were at last week, and while the birds were interesting, they weren't really interesting enough for me to go out of the way for a return visit. That coupled with the fact that in just a couple of days we will be headed over some rough seas on our way up to Alaska. The Captain gave a pretty good description of the conditions on the way up there, so in essence we are going to get pummeled for most of the trip. From the description that he gave we are to expect to see 15 foot swells on average for most of the journey. From what I understand there will most likely not be anyone on the boat who at least isn't going to feel a bit under the weather, of course some will handle it better than other. I have decided to ingest as much ginger as possible between now and when we arrive in Juneau so that I can have everything going for me possible.

I do hope to get off of the boat at least one more time, since this will be the last time I'll be in Baja for a while, anyways. We have two more full days here and as always they will be amazing, so with any luck it will happen. I'm starting to get more and more in tune with the food and the galley, so finding time is getting easier. I'm sure that by the time we get up to Alaska I will have the whole thing down enough to really get to see the part of the US that I have been longing to see for so long now. I plan to do a little research in the next couple of days to see what the weather has been like up there so I have an idea. It's God's country, I'm sure.

Tomorrow I'll talk about what we are doing to get ready for our big trip north and I'll also talk a bit about what some of my plans are for when I get home in June.

Finally got to go for a hike

Today has been another incredible day. Just after breakfast we ran into a small group of Orca's, which is supposedly very rare for the area that we are in. It's pretty incredible what happens when these things are in the water, I would say it's like when an eagle flies through the air, you don't see a bird trying to oppose it and you sure don't see much prey running around. It's the same with the Orca, the water just got eerie dead then they showed up. Very interesting indeed. From what I understand this type of Orca Feeds on dolphins and we have seen a million of them the last couple of days, so it makes sense that they would be here. I'm kinda glad that we weren't privileged enough to see them chowing down on a dolphin, some things are best left alone.

We spent the afternoon at Isla San Marcos, and I FINALLY got to take a hike! This was the first one of the trip and boy was it good. I made it to the top of the highest peak on the island and the view was amazing. From there I felt like I was on top of my own little world, and boy did it feel good. It also felt great to get the exercise. I hope that once we get up to Alaska I will have much more chances, but I can only hope. For now I just have to get exercise when I can, and where I can, then when I get home I can hopefully get a couple of trips in.

The only other major development is that I am getting pretty good pressure to take the head chef position that is becoming available when the person I am working under heads off to work on the Explorer in August. They have been giving me a offers, but nothing to concrete. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it at this point. I will need to think about it some, but it wouldn't be too bad. I know that I could do it, this is way less to deal with than Citizens or Cirino's were on slow days. I'll have to see how it all works out, but I'm sure it will.