Dave Logan, friend/sailor/thinker and accomplished tinkerer recently joined the crew of the good ship One Ocean, currently tied to a dock in Nome, Alaska. Many of you will remember that Dave was instrumental in preparing Ocean Watch for our circumnavigation of the Americas in 2009/10, as well as completing that challenging 12-month journey as Mate, Thinker and Tinkerer. He expressed some interest in more arctic sailing when Jennifer and I started looking at “Capaz’’ now One Ocean, as a serious possibility for AtA round two. Understatement to say, we both welcomed his interest and his offer to join us for the arctic passage.
When we provisioned in Juneau prior to the Dutch Harbor/Nome legs, Jenn asked Dave via phone if he had any special food requests – as in, allergies, dislikes, etc – he matter-of-factly stated he would require a pork shoulder! An unexpected response for sure. although freezer space is compact aboard Oo we did make room for his request. It was obvious to me that Dave had been cruising with friends on larger vessels since our last go-around, also obvious that we were in for some delicious culinary treats from Mr. Logan. While just waiting and not sailing, food becomes a major focus and I’m very happy to say we have some great cooks aboard. Food stories will be the subject for another day.
One Ocean sits proudly at the head of a small floating dock close to the Harbormasters Office. Anyone visiting the harbor or walking to town will see her all neat and tidy with sails and gear properly stowed. Thanks to Engineer Mike she is very ready to go. Yesterday we moved to the ‘fueling’ dock in another corner of the marina at our arranged fueling time (delivered by truck and hose) and we were a little worried ‘our’ prime space might be claimed by any number of commercial boats looking for better places to park. This is sort of the wild west when it comes to marina matters – find a spot and take it, tie to another boat or raft three across and hope for the best. So far, we’ve been very lucky. To protect ‘our’ space Jenn and Tess rolled out their yoga mats on the dock, added folding chairs and made the vacant dock section look uninviting to others. However, two very fit women exercising in yoga clothes had exactly the opposite effect. As they waved off the last boat we were fueled and ready to return to ‘our’ space. Smiles from the assembled onlookers, gold miners and boaters made the whole exercise more enjoyable than expected – for all! Thank you, Tess and Jennifer.
On the whole Nome and environment look more organized and ‘successful’ than they did to us 15 years ago. There are lots of newer buildings, a very large and attractive hospital complex, a great museum and library as well as some new amenities in the town including a Recreation Center for kids (closed on the weekends!?), a couple of gift shops catering to visitors (small cruise ships) and ‘birder’ groups and even a ‘resort’ center catering to folks who want a gold-mining experience – complete with mosquitos, muskox, deer, bear and dust! No complaints from this crew regarding interesting things to see and do. And even though we arrived in time for the 4th of July parade (and added our education tent to the main street activities) we didn’t represent well for the half-marathon event up Anvil Mountain. I didn’t have the right shoes, and I was over the age limit. Excuses from others were equally as flimsy – three experienced recreation runners in our group!
The Discovery Channel has made some of the underwater gold-dredgers famous and wealthy – and has encouraged dozens of others to build floating platforms of various sizes, shapes and integrity for the business of finding riches under the water – or ice! With Mike’s help I’m sure we could turn a perfectly good sailboat into a gold dredge but none of this looks very glamorous, fun or lucrative and we’re just observers here. . . . sailing through the arctic probably doesn’t look sensible or fun or lucrative to these folks either.
Waiting. We all have work lists, everyone shares in the cleaning, cooking and fixing departments and we all participate in presentations and zoom calls. We are good at all of those things, but we are impatient ‘waiters’! Sunshine and favorable winds in the Nome area now but ice and contrary winds 300 miles north means we aren’t going anywhere until the ice retreats a bit. There is one safe port 40 miles north of here, but it doesn’t have any of the conveniences or amenities we are now enjoying. Beyond that port are two possible sheltering points with no real relief from advancing ice or contrary wind and Utqiagvik doesn’t have much to offer shelter-wise. We have lots of ice data available to us thanks to Harry Stern from APL and real-time images from Utqiagvik. Harry’s advice is to be patient. The western approaches are still blocked but he is confident the eastern end of the passage will be passable through August and early September – so no real hurry. The ocean camera in Utqiagvik says the same thing – stay way awhile, maybe a few days or…?
So, time to think, write, walk and talk. A place called “The Board of Trade” is the chosen watering hole for travelers, mushers, birders, sailors, locals and other storytellers. After chores and projects, we will do our best to represent, while waiting.
Happy to report, all are well aboard One Ocean.