SVSoulsticeAdventures: Juneau

No Journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within. ~ Lillian Smith

June 12th to June 15th, 2023 in Auke Bay, Juneau

June 12th, 2023

After the harried move off the dock outside the breakwater with the help of the fisherman, Soulstice found a nice home off a finger dock of Dock D, the transient dock. The rest of that day was spent with Dave. We went out to a yummy breakfast downtown with Dave and then he was kind enough to invite us to his apartment which resides on the waterfront to do laundry. He lives only a mile from Auke Harbor in a great apartment with a generous view of the water through his bay window. He also drove us around town for a mini tour of Juneau including seeing Mendenhall Glacier.

We were all tired from our celebratory night before, the crazy boat AM boat move shenanigans and so just laid low the rest of the day. Later that evening, we checked out the local brewery, Forbidden Peak Brewery, and then he drove us back to Soulstice and we passed out!

June 13th, 2023

Today, Stephen had intentions of evaluating the solenoid/starter/ignition key. He bought at O’Reilly’s a relay switch set up and an ignition switch. He decided he was going to put 10g wires with connectors onto the ignition switch and wire it into the starter and solenoid to create a remote ignition switch.

During this time of mechanical/electrical creativity and problem-solving, I left for a run- HA! Stephen does better if the boat is empty for his thought process, elimination of distraction, and well, frankly room to spread out tools, books, and computers to watch YouTube University. I took off up the road and discovered there was a trail close by that rims Auke Bay. This is a tiny adjacent lake from the harbor. Score again, as I and my feet prefer a trail run over asphalt or concrete. It was cool to see 2 seaplanes parked in a grassy field along the lake too.

It is a short trail but I could lap it and would have an easy run back to the boat. When I returned, Stephen was still hot in the middle of a project. He was also calling around about ordering our solenoid and starter. Juneau is the capital but still, it is small. The marine stores here will not carry our part. They would order it just like us and upcharge it as well for being the middleman. So we decided to eliminate the middleman and do the ordering straight from the vendor ourselves.

After my run, I checked out the marina showers. Very spacious and roomy but not free. Quarters were needed and this is not uncommon. I packed up my stuff after the shower to head for a walk to Safeway to get some WiFi. We have 3 to 4 bars on the boat on our phones but still the circle of death. We use T mobile. AT&T and GCI are the cellular carriers but apparently T Mobile is not using these towers? Idk but we have no ability for internet despite seeing 3 to 4 bars. Safeway is 2 miles away. I did look for an Uber and they wanted $15.65 to go 2 miles. Cheap me said, no way, I will walk. Maybe I’ll take one back, I thought, but I never did because I wanted my glass of wine to taste more delicious later:)

When I returned after my blogging session, Stephen had a very successful day and was happy to share his good news. His remote ignition key WORKED to start up Soulstice. I was invited to see his success him turning the key of the new remote ignition switch and YAAASSS! Immediate turnover and the engine was going! Success! Also, he got our starter and solenoid ordered. Instead of $600-$700 to get a "Yanmar" one, the informative worker at the marine shop whom Stephen knew well from back in our Seattle days, let us know that Hitachi is the manufacturer of these starters for Yanmar. Stephen called a Hitachi dealer, matched our serial numbers/Yanmar parts #, etc… and the price instead became $140 plus $60 for shipping!!! FANTASTIC news! And 3-5 business days to mail it. Even better news!

The marina in Auke Bay does require all transient boats to move every 10 days. This way it keeps spaces available. Unless you have a permanent slip, and there is at least a 7-year waitlist here, you have to move your boat. I was able to write a letter to the harbormaster and ask for leniency until we got our parts. We can start her up but still would like the proper fix for the issue before we move here again. Hopefully, we can get the part and install it, and then move Soulstice before we fly out to Anchorage. And hopefully, we can find another good spot.

That evening before we went to the boat, the mechanic we had scheduled to come out this week said he could come the next day. We felt so grateful that everything was working out so far.

June 14th, 2023

The mechanic, Jim Betts, who is well-known in Juneau, was coming out to Soulstice around 10 am. Stephen wanted to prepare the boat space for him. They would be occupying the area of the companionway steps, as the engine sits underneath. We had scheduled with him back in Ketchikan for a tune-up for Soulstice. We were having some faint blue smoke at start-up and this can be indicated your valves need adjustment. We had this service done in Mexico in 2020 so had it been a while. Soulstice has 6000 hours, literally just rolled the Hobbs meter to 6000 in Petersburg, AK, so we try to love on her to keep her going. Diesel engines can have a long life span if well cared for.

The boat gets even smaller when projects occur, as I mentioned a few days ago, so I decided to leave again. I walked 2 miles to a local gym for a workout and a FREE shower :) Dave kindly gave me a ride back to the boat after I was finished and we met up with Stephen and Jim Betts, the mechanic, who were just finishing up the tune-up. Great timing! Stephen actually did the work and had Jim walk him through, so that way next time we would not request a mechanic and would just do the work on our own if just a tune-up. Stephen did learn in Mexico but it had been such a long time, he wanted another mentoring time. Additionally, we just wanted a professional to give our Yanmar 4JH2E a good look over and discuss our starter/solenoid issue.

He gave us praises for our good care of Soulstice which was nice to hear. The tune-up and valve adjustment did take out the “pinging” noise we were hearing and Soulstice now purrs! No engine noise is pleasant really and hence why we enjoy sailing but a well-tuned engine does sound a LOT nicer. In terms of the blue smoke, we need to have more start-ups to evaluate. It was only a little bit we noted when we first started her up but then it seemed to dissipate. I think a better evaluation of this will be when we are back cruising. Nothing else was noted on the inspection by the mechanic so that is reassuring.

After the mechanic finished, it was only noon, so we HAD time for a hike!!!! The reality is with the long hours of daylight, time for a hike is relevant. It is more related to your personal energy level. We decided on the Perseverance Trail which is 6.6 miles and about 700ft vertical, with Granite Creek running alongside it and a great view of Ebner Falls. It also is the trailhead for Juneau Peak which we will do another day. It is in the neighborhood of other alpine peaks that are still holding snow and we saw a snowboarder returning back down the trail after making some nice corn runs. This trail originally was the 1st major road in Alaska. In 1889, the canyon below Ebner Falls was blasted and a road was made, and log trestles were manufactured for mining Gold, which eventually became this trail.

At the end of that day, we reconnected with the fisherman, Don, who helped us that morning get off the dock. He is originally from Baltimore! We had a great discussion about home and familiar places. When he is not commercially fishing, he lives in Bellingham, which is just 30 minutes south of Blaine, WA, the home harbor for Soulstice's permanent slip. And of course, he has Old Bay in his spice rack! I had to ask- bahaha! He also knew of my undergrad stomping grounds, Deer Park, a great place for nachos and beer in Newark, DE on the University of Delaware campus. Small world.

June 15th, 2023

We invited Dave over for a big breakfast on Soulstice and then had plans for the museum since it was going to be rainy. Also, later in the afternoon, there was a send-off ceremony for the Hawaiian canoe, Hōkūle’a, at the University of South East Alaska, which is right in Auke Bay we wanted to attend. The canoe was on D dock and we toured it 2 days ago. The event later this afternoon was to celebrate the departure of this twin-hulled, wind-powered canoe, that was carved over 50 years ago and has traveled over 40,000 miles around the globe.

See local article:

https://alaska public.org/2023/06/06/hawaiian-voyaging-canoes-latest-journey-starts-in-alaska-the-ocean-is-what-connects-us/

After our bellies were full of eggs, sausage, and homemade sourdough bread toast we made, we drove to the state museum. The Alaska State Museum is extremely well-curated and includes a timeline of Native Alaska, Russian Alaska, and American Alaska. The collection of artifacts is quite impressive and really enabled you to appreciate the incredible intellect and creativity of the indigenous peoples. The difficult part but the part that needs to be acknowledged daily is where other humans of different races, ethnicity, and religion imposed their belief systems and language onto the indigenous people. Why these humans felt their way was superior is still mindboggling. There never was and still is no harmony for these righteous folks that still exist in our world. The only true lesson to be learned is from how the indigenous people lived. The indigenous are a group of people living a collective lifestyle including Mother Nature in the family. They lived in nature and among nature and did not feel the need to exploit the resources of the planet.

The guests of this event were primarily the Indigenous peoples of Oceania including the aboriginal Australians, Papuans, Melanesians, Micronesians, and Polynesians. Another title is First Nations People and this event was hosted by the Alaska Natives: Aluets, Inupiat, Yuit ( Southern Eskimos), Athabascans ( Interior Indians), and Southeast Coastal Indians ( Tlingit and Haida). The purpose of the Hawaiian Canoe and its circumnavigation is to connect these indigenous people and restore their "collective breath". This was a phrase used by a speaker that I liked. The energy in the room was hopeful, supportive, and loving which is enormously refreshing!

It was a celebration about de-colonization, reclamation, and re-indigenizing! Another phrase spoken that a native leader said his dad would say is “ Make your names good.” Which I interpreted as bringing honor to yourself and your family by your actions. Do the right thing. Another really poignant reference I took to heart is to see the forest and the trees as “our children” and the land and the sea as “our relatives” and that we ARE ALL FAMILY! If people treated this planet more like their family, and I will use family to mean the people you hold near and dear whomever they may be, then we would be headed in a better direction.

It was a day of culture and education in Juneau and we enjoyed it immensely. Our timing on being in Juneau for this celebration and send-off for Hōkūle’a was perfect. So grateful for the enlightening experience and also to learn more about Polynesian navigation.

Tomorrow, Dave works a 24-hour shift at Airlift NW where he is a flight RN and it is supposed to be rainy. We will be able to borrow his car for the day and do some errands. The few days after are supposed to be sunny so we will plan some hikes. The tracker for the starter is showing a Tuesday evening arrival right now as well.