WESTPORT TO WESTPORT VIA NOME

Alaska – for whoever’s dreamed of the last frontier

Micheline Egan spent a month on Northabout. The boat which sailed both the Northwest and Northeast Passage. This is her reportage for the Irish Cruising Club annual. Continuing our cruise from where Paddy Barry left us….

Changing crew in a remote location like Seward can pose problems but we were lucky, our new crew Micheline Egan, ICC members James Cahill and John Magee arrived from Anchorage by car which returned with our departing crew Paddy Barry, Ben Mc Donagh and Michael Mc Garry. Michael Brogan (ICC) arrived by bus next day with fiddle under arm, ready for action.

Imagine a village with six people including children. The only way in is by boat. Their nearest town is an hour away. And they live in the remains of what used to be an enormous canning factory complex, which employed more than 3,000 people 10 years ago.

That’s Namu Canada, which Northabout visited this summer as it snaked its way down from Nome, Alaska to Westport, Oregon.

The Namu villagers paid us the greatest compliment. They extended the generator to power their village one-hour past their normal bedtime. They thought a fiddle, two harmonicas and some Irish sailors warranted this reception.

We sat in their machine shop and swapped songs and stories up to midnight.

Alaska, summer 2002 was jam packed with lovely experiences and some great cruising in the most pristine scenery. We cruised the Inside Passage – possibly one of the longest and most interesting waterways. The Passage was formed when the great glaciers of the last ice age retreated 12 to 14,000 years ago.

The first crew change took place in Seward . A scenic town sandwiched between rugged mountains on one side and the salmon filled Resurrection Bay on the other. It’s the only town on the eastern side of the Kenai Peninsula – and the only city of its size in Alaska without a McDonalds. The entire crew attended an art exhibition in the Resurrection Bay Gallerie and even purchased a few items, which were then stored under bunks. An impressive attraction in Seward besides the Yukon Bar is the Alaska Sea Life centre. The $56 million centre was funded by money from the Exxon Valdez oil spill settlement. It’s the only cold-water marine science facility in the Western Hemisphere.

On July fourth we stopped in a village called Yakutak. We hitched a ride from the tiny marina in a pick up truck to the archetypal village store. We drank in their one community pub and received a great welcome from the Tlingit Indians. The village elders were delighted to have an Irish float in their Fourth of July Parade so the Northabout Arctic Band was called on. After the parade, a migrant fisherman from Hawaii drove us to the village dump to watch brown bears and their cubs scrape rations from leftovers. Bald Eagles swooped around as we sat in his pick up and slowly rolled down windows to record the moment on Kodachrome.
Lituya Bay with its three glaciers was our next stop and a welcome break from the heavy weather outside. The eerie sound of thunderous ice calving from the glaciers and the sky cold blue aren’t easy to forget. We climbed up the side of the glacier and followed that with a walk on a moon-like beach. Dinner that evening was a 20lb salmon, which Jarlath hooked by just throwing out a line and Mick, our gourmet cook baked beautifully in the fish kettle.
In 1958 an earthquake at the head of Lituya Bay created a tidal wave that sank several anchored fishing vessels. Earthquake and Tsunami warnings are a feature on this coast, with a weekly siren test at 2p.m. on Wednesdays.

The standard of food on board Northabout was incredible. James Cahill prepped the breakfast porridge and served with whiskey. Micheline acted as short order cook and Mick Brogan served three and four course dinners every night with aplomb.
After a thrash across the Gulf of Alaska to Cape Spencer we entered the calm waters of Cross Sound where we secured Northabout in Elfin Cove Marina. There we got our first opportunity in a week to shower and a chance to wash clothes. Apparently it’s got the United States’ smallest highway. The village is entirely built on boardwalk. We ate breakfast out and left some Euro notes for their collection. This tiny village built on timber boardwalk hugged a lovely bay.

Hoonah and its harbour master were next. Paul the harbour master bumped into us in his local pub and offered the crew e-mail facilities and showers at his office.
Glacier Bay, which requires a special permit, was our next stop. We sailed to their visitor centre at Bartlet Cove and anchored there for the night. In the early morning we all toured their museum. We then sailed for hours up Glacier Bay to view the wildlife and the spectacular Reid Glacier. It was 12.00p.m. before we moored at the visitor base that night. Mick served a midnight feast. Captain John Magee (ICC) of Warren, Rhode Island was pleased. We had reached the goal of his journey. Whales, steller’s sea lions, orcas and seals were abundant. The humpback whales which winter in Baja and Hawaii migrate annually to summer feeding grounds in Southeast Alaska. The exhibitionist whales put on some great shows and we were able to slide up alongside and have a great view.

We then set sail and headed for Juneau – the only North American capital which can’t be reached by road. Alaska’s state capital has more than 100 miles of paved road around it, but none goes anywhere. The debate rages about whether Anchorage – the largest centre of population should be the capital. This uniquely remote town is often described as little San Francisco. Float planes buzz in and out of the waterfront all day. Thousands of tourists from the cruisers go shopping in this town which was founded on gold nuggets. We ate in the “Twisted Fish” that night and followed dinner with a few beers in “The Alaskan” – a hotel bar reminiscent of the best little whorehouse in Texas complete with bat wing doors. The following evening we went to the Glacier Cinema. An Irish family living in Juneau found us and we were the star attraction at the town’s Irish pub. In fact James Cahill was embarrassed by their generosity. Every time he sang an Irish song, he found dollars stuck in his pockets. Mick played his fiddle on deck and at dinner which made us really popular. We said goodbye to Captain Saggy – John Magee at this point.

Stephens Passage and Fredrick Sound took us to Petersburg – our next destination. One of the most exciting sections of the Inside Passage. Petersburg is a busy little Norwegian town and has the largest home based halibut fleet in Alaska. The town processes more than $45 million worth of seafood annually. The canneries and cold storage plants draw thousands of workers from the lower 48 states. The canneries sit on pilings overlooking boat harbours. It doesn’t have a deepwater port so it’s not visited by the cruise ships. The locals have a peculiar habit of putting salt in their beer. When their catch has been good and they want to buy everyone a drink they signal this by ringing a bell suspended at the bar. We fished for herrings for breakfast and combined these with fried potatoes. Richard had an accident with the fishhook one-day, we were glad to have the ship’s doctor – Dr. Mick Brogan to perform surgery. After Petersburg we threaded our way through the various turns of the Wrangell Narrows. This is a 22-mile channel that’s only 300 feet wide and 19 feet deep in places.
We continued down the Alaskan Marine Highway and entered Canada at Prince Rupert. A customs official boarded the boat and questioned us about guns, cargo and the nature of our journey. Since 9/11 the customs officials have become sticky but this guy presented each of us with a maple leaf badge and welcomed us. That night we attended our first Karaoke in a bar full of immigrants.

Sailing down Grenville Channel, Wright Sound, McKay Reach and Fraser Reach took us to the abandoned cannery at Butedale with its collapsing buildings beside a waterfall.
Bella Bella didn’t live up to its name. Namu was our best night yet. At Port Hardy on Vancouver Island the crew started to break up with James and Micheline leaving for home. But not before we toured the Museum of Northern B.C. which made up for the disappointing show at Glacier Bay. This museum showcases the art and artefacts of Tsimshian and Haida natives who lived in this area for centuries. Port Hardy is a typical logging and commercial fishing town. At the friendly marina we were moored beside an Italian owned gin palace called Anam Cara.

With a reduced crew of Jarlath, Mick and Richard we at last had a favourable wind as we sailed down Johnstone Strait, having visited the Museum at Alert Bay on Cormorant Island.
Johnstone Strait, Discovery Passage with its narrow gorge leads into Seymour Narrows with its fearsome tides were all crossed without difficulty by careful planning to take advantage of the tides. At times the GPS indicated that we were travelling at over 12 knots.
We had an interesting night at Lasqueti Island where we had a party with some ageing hippies. Richard demonstrated his entrepreneurial skills in trading some of our surplus tinned salmon for 72 cans of beer. He will go far!

A days sail across the Straits of Georgia took us to Vancouver City, British Columbia. This was a complete contrast to the previous weeks in the wilderness. The traffic and skyscrapers appeared menacing. Mick departed here, while Richard and Jarlath waited for the repaired autopilot computer to arrive. The autopilot followed us around Alaska, always arriving late at our port of call.

When it finally caught up with us in Vancouver we were overjoyed. But not for long as it still wouldn’t steer the boat due to a fault in another part of the system. In the Maritime Museum the St.Roch is on display – Captain Larson’s vessel which sailed the Northwest Passage in 1942 and returned in 1944.

We had wonderful sailing and anchorage’s in the Gulf Islands. Victoria Marina on the south of Vancouver Island was surprisingly inexpensive, compared to Oak Harbour nearby which had poor facilities.

The city of Victoria has many attractions – musicians, artists, and of a maritime interest, the harbour wall has bronze plaques honouring the achievements of various sailors such as John Guzzwell and Captain Voss in Tilicum. Incidentally, Tilicum is preserved nearby in the Maritime Museum.

We had an invitation to the Metal Boat Festival in the other Vancouver in Washington State. Richard’s father, Michael Browne joined us for that trip. We sailed through the Straits of Juan de Fuca and round Cape Flattery into the Pacific Ocean.

We diverted into Grays Harbour to visit Westport, Washington to exchange greetings from our home port. We found the locals were more interested in collecting mooring fees than they were in welcoming us.

Vancouver is 80 miles up the Columbia River. The bar at the entrance has a fearsome reputation for breaking seas, in fact the US Coastguard do their heavy weather training here.
The Metal Boat Festival was a great success. We met many like-minded new friends, attending technical seminars with Northabout being the showstopper.

From a contact made at the Festival we found a quiet, private marina at an affordable rate in another Westport. This time Westport, Oregon. We finally laid up Northabout for the winter.

Our weather was benign. No rows took place. And we saw an Alaska, which recalled Russian fur traders, greedy gold prospectors and ancient American Indian civilisations. Alaska really was amazing……British Columbia was beautiful and the Columbia River an education.

Distances – total logged 3,644 nm Nome to Westport. Engine hours 1,340.