Alaskan Sea-Duction: PROJECTS AND FISH

Hey Folks!

Thanks for reading our blog!

This has been a very busy week as the stuff I ordered at the boat show last February is starting to show up…right in the middle of spring King (chinooks) season. I also put the riverboat in the water, so there are some projects on that too. The weather here on the Lower Columbia the past month has been great! We have had some 72f days full of sunshine and now we have a few days of rain, then a few days of 60+ days. The leaves and flowers are all out and we are noticing the return of birds, bug and bird poop!

Projects:

Anchor Chain: We up loaded 550 feet of chain. This was a challenge to get down to the boat. It came in a barrel and weighs about 645lbs. We first took it out of the barrel which was in the back of the truck, to the first step to the dock. This was the first 90 degree turn. Then we moved it in sections to the end of the head dock. Then I took the end and pulled to the end of the main dock, then started running the chain back and forth on the dock. Second 90 degree turn. We painted white a section of chain every 20 feet and then every hundred feet was painted with bright orange. At the two-hundred foot we painted two orange spots separated by a black border. (great idea Kay!) The reason for painting is so we can tell how much chain we have out or need. If we anchor in 60 ft of water we can expect to run out at least 180ft of chain for a 2:1 ratio, if there is room at the anchorage we want to get at least 3 to 4:1. I also have to do some long need maintenance on the windlass. I had to replace the foot switches on the bow, clean all the wire connections to the windlass motor and clean the chain locker out. With Kay on the bow, she ran the windlass while I fed the chain the last 90 degrees. We also connected our new 77lbs Rocna anchor. Now we need to practice this summer anchoring.

House Batteries: I finally finished the 2 banks of house batteries. Each bank has a total of 4-6vdc golf cart batteries which are tied together for a 12vdc bank. With the 2 banks I have a total of 8 batteries. These batteries can be charges by a battery charger when I an hooked up to shore power or running the generator. They are also charged when I am running the engines. This was one project I am glad to be over. Getting the batteries into the engine bay was hard on the back.

Washer/Dryer Combo: At first I could figure out where to put this thing. It so happens the starboard side in the aft cabin was a perfect place. So I had to run wire, water and a dryer exhaust duct. Then I had to tie in the washer water drain into the current boat drain system. No worries right? I have found out lately that regardless what I work on it will never never and I mean never work out as you plan. Everything seems to be a challenge. Drilling holes in cabinets and finding a place to run hot and cold water was that challenge. But I did prevail and now we have an onboard washer/dryer. This is important as in some places in Canada they charge you $5 to wash a load and $5 to dry. This is of course if you are lucky enough to find a marina that has laundry services.

Automatic Identification System (AIS): This unit is a class B transceiver. It transmits my position, course and speed. If you have a AIS receiver or transceiver (as I have) then you will be able to see my boat and I will be able to see you. These units are required on commercial/passenger ships in the U.S. I can overlay this program on my GPS/chart plotter.

This explains it better:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Identification_System

There are two websites that you can now track ASD on, but keep in mind there are holes in the system as recreational boats operated on a VHF signal and sometimes we will disappear. Just access the below links and find Alaskan Sea Duction. Normally we are “stopped” at our dock.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/home

http://www.vesselfinder.com/

Radar: I am almost finished installing a new tower and radar system. The old radar was from the late 80’s and was a separate unit. The new unit worked with my chart plotter and I can over lay this too over my charts. It took Kay and I two days to figure out how to run the wires from the bridge to the arch. The arch has pins that when pulled, we can lay it over showing the “wire race way.” We had to start by getting rid of all the old wire and was we pulled it out we would attach some pull line so we could pull the new wire. But…. As I stated above it is always a challenge. The arch has these recessed lights and I couldn’t get the wire around, so out comes the drill and hole saw. The tower we purchased is call a dual tower as we have our radar on the bottom platform and our satellite TV bubble will be on the top platform with a new boat light. Of course new holes have to drilled and the old holes plugged. As a temporary fix, I sealed the old holes with sealant until I get a chance to re-fiberglass the holes. I turned the radar on and it works!!! Now I have to learn a totally new system as this radar id HD color! Challenges….

The next project will be the dinghy davit system. This allows us to park our little boat on the swim platform.

While all this is going on poor Miss Kay is looking at me with those big beautiful eyes as if to say: When are you going to take me fishing? Spring Kings (Chinooks) are in and the end of the season is fast approaching. So last Saturday, we took the morning to go down river about 8 miles or so passing hundreds of boats anchored up along the Oregon side of the river. Don’t ask me to explain it, but the spring fish travel up the Oregon side and the summer/fall fish travel up the Washington side. We joined our friend Ron and Jerry who left earlier. We anchored beside them and I broke out the down riggers. It was mostly cloudy and windy, but when the sun came out it was nice. Ron had already caught one within a few minutes of lowering his rig in the water. At about 11 am, Kay’s pole started to pull hard. The hooks were set and she was into a fight. The fish came to the surface and dances on top of the water trying to throw the hooks. When that failed the fish started running toward the boat and up the strong current side trying to get the hooks from its mouth. But Kay is no beginner! She expertly kept tension on the rod and turned the fish. What the fish didn’t know was that as he turned, there was a net waiting. As soon as he entered the net he tried to get our but the “Boat Boy” closed off the escape route and we had a nice shiny chrome king in the boat. He was so fresh he still had sea lice on him. Most folks in the PNW say the springers are the best tasting of the salmon that run the Columbia.

Well this turned out to be a long story. Next cruise is to Astoria OR on the 23^rd for the annual crab and wine fest. And of course some of Kay's sunset pics.