Back from Alaska

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Andrew Cooper

Sunrise over Georgia Strait

Sunrise over Georgia Strait

The Nordic Quest is now moored in Anacortes for the winter. We had a great time bringing her down the inside passage. Leaving Juneau on September 1st and arriving Anacortes on September 18th, plenty of time for a little exploring here and there. We got in a little fishing along the way as well, arriving with all the freezers full of salmon, halibut and crab.

You want to hear about the trip? All the fun details? Just stay tuned to the blog! There are dozens of posts written about our voyage scheduled to post. The hours and days of cruising provide ample opportunity to pull out the iPad and write. There are descriptions of the fishing, the adventures and useful notes on each harbor and anchorage we used for the trip.

I shot 1,843 photographs during the voyage, about 43Gb of photos. This does not count the thousands of timelapse photos and dozens of video clips. The best of these photos are now posted as photos of the week, scheduled from this week through next summer.

The result of this fall’s cruise is plenty of great material to enliven the pages of NordicQuest.com!

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British Columbia from Above

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Andrew Cooper

Winging North

Looking down on the mountains and glaciers of British Columbia from a flight headed north

How many times have I flown up this coastline? I look down on the many islands, waterways, fiords and glaciers of British Columbia. I have oft wondered what beauties could be discovered by boating through that maze of water and forest. Soon I will see, the return trip will be by boat, not by air, a chance to see this scene from a different altitude, a different attitude.

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Fall Equinox

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Andrew Cooper

Fall equinox occurs today at 06:49ADT. Today there will be little difference between the length of the night compared to number of daylight hours. This is the first day of fall as marked by many cultures in the northern hemisphere.

2012 Solstices and Equinoxes
Perihelion Jan 5 03:59UT Jan 4 18:59AST
Spring Equinox Mar 20 05:14UT Mar 19 21:14AST
Summer Solstice Jun 20 23:09UT Jun 20 15:09ADT
Apehelion Jul 4 10:59UT Jul 4 15:59ADT
Fall Equinox Sep 22 14:49UT Sep 22 06:49ADT
Winter Solstice Dec 21 11:12UT Dec 21 02:12AST

Source: USNO Data Services Website and the NASA Sky Calendar

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New Moon

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Andrew Cooper

Young Moon

A very young moon, this is only 26 hours after new, visible to the unaided eye as a sliver in the fading glow of sunset

New Moon will occur today at 18:11ADT.

Continue reading →

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Departing Juneau

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Andrew Cooper

Anchored in Ford's Terror

The Nordic Star anchored in Ford’s Terror

Time to cut the connection, for the next few weeks there will be little oportunity to slake my digital thirst. Marine radio offers little bandwidth, limited to simple audio and the daily marine weather forecasts.

For the next three weeks we will be cruising from Juneau to Anacortes. Three weeks of fishing, sightseeing, whale watching and photography. It should be a good trip, time spent with my father, an uncle and good friends.

There will be the occasional opportunity for contact, brief stops along the way to get fuel and supplies, places that may also offer a 3G signal. Those moments will be brief, just a chance for updates and perhaps a phone call to my wife to let her know I still exist. I can only consider the mountain of messages that will await my return to the digital world.

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Provisioning

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Andrew Cooper

It is a rather long list.

Fred Meyers Aisles

Looking down the aisles of a Fred Meyer grocery section

Three weeks of food for half a dozen people reduced to a spreadsheet printout. As usual, I draw the shopping detail, a few hours in the Juneau branches of Costco and Fred Meyer. The result will be a vehicle filled with food.

After it is all purchased there will be the chore of carrying it all down the dock and stowing it away into the many cupboards and freezers aboard the boat. Invariably this will occur at low tide when the ramp to the dock is steepest.

  • 5dz eggs
  • 3 bags frozen potatoes o’brien
  • 5lbs sugar
  • 1 box tea, assorted
  • …this list goes on…

The procedure is fairly well practiced at this point, this is not the first time we have done this. I know where to find everything, in a supermarket I visit about once a year. The list is refined each year, it has a history now, the failures removed and perhaps a couple new menu ideas included.

We will rely on catching a few fish along the way. If the lines come up empty the menu may get a bit monotonous. But this is Alaska, we will catch something.

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Full Moon

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Andrew Cooper

Full Moon

Full Moon taken 27Aug2007, 90mm f/12 APO and Canon 20Da

Full Moon will occur today at 05:58ADT.

Continue reading →

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Photo of the Week – Passing Eddystone Rock

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Fred Cooper

Eddystone Rock; Photo by Fred Cooper

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Entering Misty Fjords

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Fred Cooper

Misty Fjords, Photo by Earl Cooper

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Fair Winds and Following Seas

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Fred Cooper

Well it is less than two weeks before I turn the Nordic Quest southward. There has been some nice weather the last couple of weeks and the fishing has picked up. We hope it continues and we are able to fill the freezers plus have plenty of fresh fish and crab for the galley.  We’ll spend a week cruising down to Ketchikan, enjoy some sightseeing and drop a couple of lines at some of my favorite spots. I’ll have Doug and Jennifer Loney, friends from Portland on board for the first week as far as Ketchikan then pick up a couple of buddies to help me drive the boat on south.  From now on checking the winds and wave height for Cape Edgecumbe buoy and West Sea Otter buoy is a daily occurrence. Again, great conditions now and would it be asking too much for things to continue? So here’s to fair winds and following seas and a snug anchorage each evening.

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