Trip to Cordova

Valdez to Cordova Alaska was the planned trip for this weeks vacation. The weather did not cooperate at all, we had rain 5 days straight. Winds were high and Prince William sound was unusually quiet of fishing boats and sport fishermen. We arrived Thursday about 5 pm. Set the mast up in the rain, kept forgetting things to do before raising it. Forgot the wind vane at the top, lowered it to

put it on, forgot the lazy jacks, lowered it again, then forgot a sail tie on the furller , and lowered it again. So this was not a good start. Then came the weather forecast of winds and rain for the next 5 days and expect no change.

We left the harbor Friday morning headed for Cordova about 85 miles away. We were loaded with 40 gallons of fuel , 10 gallons of water and provisions for a week on the water if needed. I also was experimenting with a new cupped prop. At 4500 rpm we were cruising at 14 mph. The cupped prop was good for fuel economy put loss the ability to rev to 6000 rpm. Which means the engine was lugging. For the first 4 1/2 hours we had light 2 ft waves and running with the wind under power. Weather was too iffy to sail and stay in the open waters of Orca Bay longer than we had to.

The wind picked up and so did the waves, we were surfing down waves at 17 mph and I guess them to be about 5 ft. The boat pitched 20 degrees back and forth as we were running with the waves and wind. The nose was too light and boat was hard to control. The wife had set off the screaming alarm and was unsure of life after the last few big waves. We loaded the ballast for better stability and safety. This helped the tossing of the bow and set a heading at about 55 degrees of the waves. The water was rough for the next hour until we hit the bay that Cordova is in. We checked out the town for the next three days.

Cordova is a real fishing town, there were hundreds of gill net boats called bow pickers.

Monday morning we headed back for Valdez, the weather had a break, the the forecast was for winds to pick up for the rest of the week. It was raining and I was layered up for warmth and rain gear on. The trip was good until the last hour before Knollshead, a place were rip tides and currents are strong. The waves built to 5 feet and once again we were running with them, we had to ballast to steady the boat. The boat was in no danger of sinking but was pitching and shaking up the crew, and once again had to angle off to 50 degrees of waves. About this time we spotted 5 Orca Whales and the wife was concerned we were going to hit them. They dove down and were not seen

again. My mind was on the waves at hand and getting to a bay. This was a 4 hour trip nonstop and I was wet and cold I was glad to pull into Landlock Bay for the evening.

We stayed in Landlock one night then headed out for Valdez harbor. The weather was a light wind and sprinkle with winds picking up about 3 pm as they always do in this area.. The second mate has sworn off going into big open water in the future.

I came away from this trip with a better understanding of the boat and its abilities and weaknesses. Ballast at waves over 2 ft, don't wait. If you lost power in 5 ft seas and was side ways to the waves, your going to get pitched back and forth at 45 degree swings. If your in open water for long periods of time a sea anchor is needed for safety in case you loose power to keep headed to the wind. Also, even thought we had no plans of sailing due to approaching bad weather we should have reefed the main in advance in case we did loose power and had to sail. Next trip in in July that will be the fishing trip to load the freezer with Halibut, and try shrimp pots for the first time.