Here we go!
One Ocean has just set off to cross the Gulf of Alaska! We will take approximately 6–8 days. The forecast looks unusually calm for the week ahead—hopefully smooth sailing all the way!
You can follow our route at www.oneislandoneocean.com.
We have a live classroom session with Exploring By the Seat of Your Pants coming up on Monday, June 23, 2025 at 11 AM PST / 2 PM EST. During the session, we’ll deploy our very first SWIFT buoy from One Ocean!
The Surface Wave Instrument Float with Tracking (SWIFT) is a free-drifting system that measures waves, winds, turbulence, and ambient noise at the ocean surface. Students will be able to follow the buoy and explore its data for up to a month. The Around the Americas SWIFT Buoy Deployment Program is sponsored by Sailors for the Sea Powered by Oceana and partnered with the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Lab.
Curious what kind of data the SWIFT buoy collects? Check out this link.
Want to join the live classroom?
🎓 Head here: www.oneislandoneocean.com/education
Teachers can register for free, and students can ask us questions live while we’re out in the Gulf!
Sailing to Juneau was incredible. We left Haida Gwaii and headed north on the outside track up to Sitka, braving intense weather and heavy seas. By the time we turned toward Frederick Sound, we were all relieved to get out of the rough stuff. The conditions improved dramatically and so did the whale sightings! We could barely sip our tea before another whale was spotted by our resident whale whisperer, Grace. (If you haven’t read her blog What the Fluke, you’re missing out!)
Just before we arrived in Juneau, we raised our new spinnaker in perfect wind. As the drone flew overhead, a cruise ship passed by, an unforgettable moment. It was especially meaningful for our captain, who watched the iconic North and South America spinnaker fly again in the same place it did during the 2009–10 voyage. A true full-circle moment.
Juneau was a whirlwind. In just four days, we hit up Ace Hardware, Costco, and Fred Meyer, stocking up for the next eight weeks and tackling the final to-dos from our major refit. We’re feeling dialed in, but the amount of work it’s taken to get here has been immense. We also had a crew change. We said good bye to Tim and Grace (Grace will rejoin in a month). It was very hard to say farewell to both. Incredible crew, fantastic people and we had a blast. Thank you.
However, we had Tess join us! So we are delighted to have her on board with her new energy and excitement!
Before we cast off from Elfin Bay this morning, we’re squeezing in one last round of safety drills: setting up lee cloths in the bunks, attaching ocean signals to our life jackets, and finalizing our crew watch schedule. It’ll be 6-hour shifts during the day and 4-hour shifts at night for the next week.
We’ll post again once we reach Dutch Harbor, Unalaska. Until then—hope to see you in the classroom on June 23!
Over and out for now.
Jenn