The last few weeks...

 So, from the last few weeks...  Two weeks ago I saw the Maria Cleofas, in Sitka.  I'd seen this boat in Mexico a long time ago and it was neat to see it here.  Shortly after that, in the Magouns, I saw some otters mating, and they are fierce...

 Another view, you can see the male is biting the female's neck to hold on.

 And the resident eagle in the Magouns was there, watching...

 Also a Black Bellied Plover!

 Closer to the plover.

 During a transit, I got my first Shooting Stars of the season.

 And A view of the Wilderness Discoverer in front of the Baranof Mountains

 And some close up whale views...

 More.

 Then in Pavlof Harbor I found a Beaver.

 And some Orca after that, in Cross Sound.

 Also a Sea Lion inspecting our skiff.

 There are also Otters in the Inian Islands

 And I found a Red-Necked Phalarope

 Then we went to Lamplugh and looked around

 and I went for a walk in front of the glacier

 There is a lake forming and it is most awesome.

Sitka

 So we got to Sitka for the first time this year, and it was a nice trip.  It started off in Glacier Bay, with a porcupine.  This little guy was a super cutie, and he was just munching on grass in the middle of this clearing near the beach, and some of us spotted him.  I got there a little while after and sat down to get some shots, and some video, and he just kept munching and scratching, because I guess there is a lot of itching to be done under the quills.  Then just as our time was running out he spooked a little and started running towards me.  Enough to get the heart pumping a little bit!

 After Glacier Bay, we went back to Neka Bay again, and found two bears this time.  One was shy and hid in the trees, which is good because its bear hunting season there, and the other was bold and eating crabs on the beach.  In this photo, see if you can spot the crab wiggling as it is being eaten alive.

 Then we went to the Keku Islands and then Halleck Harbor, and both were nice places, but I got to do a transit during lunchtime, so I was driving a skiff across between the two places and stopped for a short crawl out on a slippery rock.  I managed to get up on top and find that an eagle was still up there, and it gave me one stern look and I decided to abandon the rock and go back to the skiff.  They have a pretty powerful look when they want to give it.

 We found a big fat black bear on that transit also.

 Then we went to Big Bear Baby Bear State Marine Park and I kayaked with a bunch of shorebirds and got really good looks at them.  There is so many migrating birds and so it is really pretty to see them all. 

 Here is a Dunlin in breeding feathers

 And a nice Western Sandpiper chowing down on the low tide treats. 

 I also found a cormarant with a red face, but I think it isn't a Red Faced Cormorant, but rather a Pelagic, but I can't be sure...

 And some Brants.  These were tolerant of me kayaking near them, which I find unusual.  This was in the Magouns.  The people were all nice and good and we had a nice time. 

Back in Alaska

The northbound!  We started in Olympic National Park, on Easter Sunday, so I got a gosling for the first picture, then added a camp robber, or canada jay, or scrub jay.

Then on and found a goldeneye!

and nice mosses blowing in the wind...

And some trillium.

Here is a nice close up of a duck, and you can see the teeth on the sides of the bill, so that is where they dabble with...

Then some Harlequin Ducks that we found at Sucia Island

and a nice Great Blue Heron

And a Rufus Hummingbird that is checking me out.

When we got to Misty Fiords, we found some mist...

and a real close seal that let me look at them for a while.

Here's our new Expedition Leader, Ben, talking on the microphone, looking like a wedding singer.

The Sandhill Cranes were heading north and passed us in a blue sky

We had lots of sunshine, in fact.  Here is the Baranof Island mountains behind the boat

A Scooter.  With black feet

Here's Sarah, our old Expedition Leader, looking stylish in the sunset

And a wavy finned orca.  We had a lot of orcas, some in BC, some in southern Alaska, and this group of about 30 in Chatham Strait

There were a few frisky ones...

More goldeneyes.

We went to Glacier Bay and the Bartlett Cove area is beautiful

and found some Long-Tailed Ducks flying around in the bay.

Here is the Wilderness Adventurer (WAV) with Tidal Inlet in the background.  The slope above the ship is a slipping slope, one that is falling down and will someday have a gigantic landslide.  So this photo is Tidal WAV!

A praying otter

Tall peaks in the north end of Glacier bay

Walking around at Lamplugh Glacier.  We had a great walk on the moraine and saw a calving from land

Kelly, who I've worked with in the past, getting eaten by an orca

A bunch of Sea Lions, and if you look closely, you'll see an extra appendage...

We had a great bear in Neka Bay on our last day, with everyone getting great views.  From the skiffs...

And from my skiff later on...

And then to cap it off at the end of the day, on the last day, we had a whale lunging in shallow waters.
It makes me feel great to be back in the north.

Altair is Sold

I am no longer living on water.  I have stepped off the decks of Altair for the last time, and onto the terra firma, with only a truck to transport my toys.  Lord Nelson is in great shape and i'm happy with the decision about this, but it is still a sad day to be no longer afloat.
Let's take a short trip through the last 11 years of Altair ownership!  When I bought the boat, I began adding things, and here is my friend Danny with the first build of a dodger, the black cloth thing behind him that keeps the wind out of your face.  This is from my trip up to Alaska in 2009.

 An overview of Altair sitting in Glacier bay (in Berg bay to be specific, a place I have never been back to since this time).  You can see I've got a dodger and a roller furling already, and a bit of a bowsprit.  Its exciting voyaging times.

 Then in 2010, I began my first trip down the west coast, and I added Lafawnduh, the steering system on the back in this next photo.  This shot is from Bahia Maria, on the west coast of the Baja Penninsula.  Also with Danny, we had a great two week trip from San Diego to Cabo, and this is when I learned about how to fly a camera with a kite.

 In 2011, I came to Bandaras Bay, which is the bay of Puerto Vallarta, for the first time.  I met a surfer named Stefan, who had a small sailboat like mine, and we raced against each other and surfed together a lot.  He took this picture during a race.  I've rebuilt the roller furling a few times, but it is still my own invention, Lafawnduh was working great, and the main sail is looking quite tired in this shot. 

 I did a trip that fall up into the sea of Cortez, and picked up my dad for a trip.  We took this shot in San Evaristo, one of my favorite little towns up there.  By now I've added the white hard dodger and a few more solar panels.

 In the spring of 2012, I set out for Hawaii, and after arriving, I promptly tore the mainsail in half, and this picture shows the new mainsail I got shipped out to me, and some new Lafawnduh re-designs.  I've also got a tire on deck, because that's an important piece of ocean crossing equipment, you never know when you'll get a flat.  Actually its a cheap and easy thing to drag behind that helps keep the boat going straight while sailing downwind.

 Back in Bellingham bay, in the winter of 2013, I've added a Profurl roller furling system to the bowsprit, got a brand new jib for it, added a kayak rack on the side, added another big solar panel, and then (with Lafanduh's help) put up FOUR sails and scampered to the top for a photo of the whole shebang.  A mighty fine Altair you might say.

 I returned down the coast to Puerto Vallarta again in 2014-15 and this time I perfected my kite flying skills, and here I am anchored out in the Marietas Islands.  Turns out, I sailed Altair 27,700 miles over the time I've had her.  I've got many memories, and though it was a happy day to sell the boat, it was also a sad one.

Southbound Video

I made a video of the trip south, and here it is!