Shelikof Beach, Kruzoff Island, Sitka, Alaska

I was looking at some of my photos today.  This was taken on Shelikof Island which is outside of Sitka right on the Gulf of Alaska.  ML and I took the bicycles over on the boat, rode across the island on an old logging road, and then walked another mile to a Forest Service cabin.  It was early September in 2009 and we hit a beautiful stretch of weather.  The cabin is right in front of a wide and beautiful white sand beach.  

This night, we built a fire on the beach and watched the sun go down. 

The moon was rising in the other direction.  For those of you who have been in Sitka, you're looking at the back side of Mt. Edgecumbe. 

It was a fantastic trip, and the boat didn't even drag anchor by the time we got back to it!

It always makes me think, too, how many great experiences and fun that ML and I have been lucky enough to have - with others and just us two.

Building the Expedition Wherry - Part XI Finished and ready, but not so fast . . .

Here she is - all finished and ready to go.  But . . . hmmmm - how do I get it to the water??   It's a bit heavy for ML and me.

The sliding seat rowing unit is put together (with great consternation, I might add - either the directions were not very clear . . . OR, and I'm sure you won't believe this, but it could be I'm not very skilled at reading and following directions.

Surprisingly, our neighbor had a little wheel dolly unit that was slick.  Luckily, the same neighbor has water access.  I think, NICE!, I'll just wheel it across the street, into their backyard, and ML and I can slide it into the canal. 

NOT SO FAST.  Neither the wheel dolly or the boat would fit through the gate.  This was the day before I was due to leave for Alaska, so no-go.  It'll be there in September.


So there you have it.  All ready to go and no way to get it there.  I think it's going to really look sweet in the water. 

I better get started designing a bicycle trailer so I can ride it around to the Yacht Basin and slide it in the water without lifting it.

Building the Expedition Wherry - part X - painting and varnishing

If I remember correctly, which often times I don't, I left the boatbuilding project writing about sanding.  I can honestly admit that I did a lot of it and still  have more to do.  But, there has been progress.

 For some reason, and I'm not totally sure why, I started the final finishing process by varnishing the rails.  In this case, I'm not sure if it really matters what order. 

By the time I put a coat of final epoxy on them, sanded that down, and then put 5 coats of varnish - it took a week of total time.  I think they look good, though, and feel smooth.

The next task was to paint the hull.  I primed it with Interlux "Pre-Kote" primer.  The goal of the primer is to fill all the little imperfections that still exist.  So basically, you roll on a coat of primer and then sand it all off!  Hmmm.  What fun!


This photo shows the general idea.  I'm about finished sanding the primer.

Although not a great photo, you can see in this closeup the scratches and small imperfections that the primer fills. 

It took me much longer than the average human, but I finally realized the finished product is what I and everyone else will see forever.  It's worth making it look good.

And I like it! 

Modern paints, in this case "Interlux Brightside Polyurethene," are amazing.   This is two coats that I rolled and then "tipped out" with a brush, which means just running the tip of the brush across the paint.

I did the cockpit in the same "Seattle Gray" color.  I really like nice smooth paint offset by varnished rails.

Now I need to do the whole process over again for the deck. 

Bicycling the "Florida Overseas Heritage Trail" - Day 9

Bob got up a little earlier than we did.

He caught the sunrise, the moon, and one of the planets, not sure which one it is.  He deserves full credit for the photo on the right.

 I got it a little later just as the sun was coming up over our tents.

Nice spot!

We rode down toward mile 0 in Key West.  We had until 5 p.m. when we had to get on the ferry for the ride back to Ft. Myers.

Here's a commuter in Key West, complete with dog and bicycle.

We stopped at the Key West Garden Club, and wandered about a very nice garden planted on an old fort site.  Plus, we got a preview of a orchid show that started the next day.  Amazing orchids, to say the least.

I like these hackneyed photos of receding doorways. 

We rode by the "Southernmost Point" in the contiguous U.S., but didn't stop.  After all, there might be a coffee shop or bakery nearby!

We made it to Mile 0 of U.S. Route 1!!

OK, that's done.  Let's get to the bakery around the corner!

Hmmm.  The process of getting on the ferry was pretty miserable.  But we did it.

Plus, we got to talk with Waldron, who emigrated to Canada from Germany when he was 20 years old and eventually started his own elevator company.  His story helped make the ferry trip go faster and Bob got to talk with him in German.

 I'll leave you with another of Bob's photos, taken from the ferry.  Maybe it's the shrimper I took a photo of on the first day of the trip.  And maybe not.

Another day leaves us and another successful trip.

Bicycling the "Florida Overseas Heritage Trail" - Day 8

Part of what I like about camping is "returning" to the rhythms of nature.  Although we use headlamps to read in the evening, for the most part we went to bed early and got up early.

So we were up early on another sunny and warm day for our 29 miles. 

But then I went back and looked at the time of this photo and it's a sunset photo!  Pretend it's a sunrise. . .

Two miles down the road took us to a breakfast place.

Sugarloaf Food Company provided some great baked goods and an iced latte.

Glenda had some great Key Lime pie.  She had been looking for the best all during the trip and she judged this mid-morning pie snack as the "Best of the Trip."

By now the riding was getting "old hat."  The worst part of the whole ride was trying to cross the road.  Here we are impatiently waiting for enough of a gap in the traffic to get across.  Sometimes it was a bit harrowing.

It was fall in the Keys!  These Sea Grapes were in glorious fall colors.

Sometimes it's a small world.  At another coffee stop (?), ML and Glenda said, "Doesn't that look like Joyce getting into that car."  And yes, it was!

Joyce and her sister Mona are from Hoonah, Alaska, where ML and I used to live and Bob and Glenda currently live.  It's 4,582 miles away - not including the ferry ride. 

Pretty amazing.

"Gee whiz, where should we put our tents here at Boyd's RV and Campground?"

The decision looks good.

Bicycling the "Florida Overseas Heritage Trail" - Day 6 & 7

Our biggest day yet at 38 miles.   Luckily, our butts were conditioned (to a degree) and we were getting in a little better bicycle riding shape.  Plus, although there wasn't a lot of wind, what little we had was blowing us in the right direction.

We took off without breakfast and it was an hour and a half before we found The Outpost.  I guess it could have been we were hungry, but it was the best breakfast yet.  ML had Challah French Toast.  Mmmmm.  Plus, the coffee was good and it kept coming.

Pelicans are always fun to watch.  Plus, they like to "hang out," which is what these were doing.

We watched a V-22 Osprey do practice run after practice run: up, down, around, and again.

We stopped at Crane Point Nature Preserve.  The bronze doors into the museum part were amazing.

We went for part of a tour - very interesting but so long that we made our excuses and skedaddled.  It was great to see the way the Keys looked before volumes of people showed up.

ML dressed for the occasion when she parked her bike at a lunch stop next to the bougainvillea.

Our campsite at Big Pine Key Fishing Resort.  It had been reviewed well and deserved the good reviews.  It was clean and the people were very pleasant. 

"Key Deer" visited us from time to time.  Not a very good photo, but they were definitely small.

There was no restaurant very close, so Bob and I rode up a mile or two to a bar/restaurant.  It was crowded but we ordered food "to go" as well as a beer to help us with the wait.

No food, no food, no food.  Finally, Bob asked the owner and in another 10 minutes we finally got the food and bicycled back in the dark.  We were happy for the food, though, even if we had to wait over an hour.


The next day, 2/24, was a layover day.   I can't say we did much but it was nice to have a break from breaking camp and loading and unloading gear. 

Bicycling the "Florida Overseas Heritage Trail" - Day 5

We awoke to another tough day in the Keys.  Although it seemed to continue to get warmer, or for some of us, hot.  As long as a person was riding and created his or her own wind, it was fine.  Just don't stop.  Today was one of our longest mileage days: 32.  We turned around and pointed our bikes south. 

 Luckily, it was Saturday and there was a HUGE NAUTICAL FLEA MARKET in Islamorada!  Yay!  And yes, there were lots of people and cars.  For awhile, there was so much traffic that we were going as fast as the cars.

Oops, had to stop for a bridge raising.

A U.S. Coast Guard tender needed to go through.  It's always kind of fun to see the difference in locations.  This buoy tender has its own pilings to set down so it can work.  The Sitka buoy tender doesn't have that luxury, with nothing but deep water to work in.

 
Back over one of the longer and higher bridges.  Not much shoulder and here's the hill!  Lots of traffic whizzing by at 55 mph.

I saw two turtles come up for air this time.  Plus, we weren't fighting the wind and it was much easier!

Fiesta Key Campground was a little more packed in and wasn't as clean and nice as some of the other ones.  But, the location was very nice.

 Bob found an empty chair.  Even he doesn't haul a plastic chair around.  But sometimes he tows the dog, but it was good that Haagu stayed behind.  I don't think he would have liked the heat.

We were off the beaten path at Fiesta Key, with no restaurants close by.  Luckily there was a cafe at the campground.  It was a great setting and they had draft beer.  Sweet.