To All Summer Sailstice Sailors:
Greetings from 55N from the 64-foot cutter Ocean Watch, currently en route from Juneau, Alaska to Dutch Harbor, Unalaska in the Aleutian chain. We’re a little over a week out from Juneau, currently motorsailing upwind in about 20-knots of southwesterly breeze. We’ve had a good trip so far in a mix of conditions, but are very pleased with our 44-ton cutter after our first hard sailing since the boat was refit in Seattle. We’ve topped 10-knots under sail in very rugged seas on a couple of occasions and have had nice, long stretches knocking off average speeds of 7-9 knots.
We’re about a day-and-a-half out from Dutch Harbor, and from there we’ll head first to Nome, and then to Barrow, where we’ll monitor ice reports and prepare for our attempt through the Northwest Passage. The early ice information is encouraging. We have updated position reports and regular dispatches from onboard on www.aroundtheamericas.org.
The highlight of our Summer Sailstice today was cruising through a massive pod of pilot whales at dawn and some intermittent sunshine, the first we’ve seen of it in a few days. We hope sailors everywhere are making their own sailing memories today and sincerely thank John Arndt and all the Sailstice sailors who’ve made a pledge on our behalf.
Fair winds to all and thanks again,
Skipper Mark Schrader and the Ocean Watch crew