Leaving Alaska, or Tinker, Tailor, Otter, Spy

A few days ago we officially crossed into Canadian waters and it truly feels like another country. We are warmer, there are song birds on the shore (including my favorites: winter wren, hermit thrush, and varied thrush), and the deciduous trees are starting to show their leaves. Quite a marked contrast from our past few weeks up north. Alaska did not let us go easily.

On the morning we pulled up anchor to leave Kassa Inlet on Prince Wales Island, our exhaust started to billow out steam, but no water (which is what is should do). Alarmed, we quickly decided to drop anchor again. We decided there must be a block somewhere in our raw water cooling system, so we began taking things apart to track it down. In the last place we looked, which was the intake hose, we found a piece of sea weed. Fucus distichus to be precise, and I will refrain from making the obvious word play here. Here's a photo of the offending piece, and the hose it somehow got stuck in.

We do have a theory about how this piece of Fucus got in our system. We suspect the sea otters, aka 'snotters' (see previous post). Many say that otters are cute and highly inquisitive, but we are not deceived. We find their demeanors wary and their behavior suspicious. Fucus would be something easily accessible to an otter, and they possess the dexterity to shove it up though a boat's underwater through-hull. The motive is obvious too - a dislike of boaters, and I can't really blame them. They had a peaceful cove until we showed up.

Canada hasn't exactly been easy either. After clearing customs via sat phone, we went to Brundige Inlet on Dundas Island to wait out a storm. We'd read good things about the protection offered by this anchorage in 'really good blows'. We must have had a really bad blow then, because we had an exciting evening dragging anchor and running around on deck in our pajamas and foulies trying to make things right again. After much flapping about, yelling, and what would have struck some one watching the scene as some very bad acting, we put out a second anchor and everything was good again, except for the adrenaline hangovers which kept us from sleeping well that night...

Stay tuned for further adventures. (And perhaps more references to Le Carre novels.)