The following post is from Captain Bob...

Aug 16
It’s 7 a.m. and much nicer this morning with about 6-8 ft swells and 10 kt winds still coming from behind us. It’s mostly cloudy at the moment but looking ahead I can see sunrays filtering down in a few places. Our current ETA Newport is about midnight tonight. We will both sleep onboard the rest of the night and get up around seven to get the day started. I’ll be packing my things up to drive about two and a half hours south in my pick up truck to my home in Coos Bay. Willie will get started on quite a list of things that need to be accomplished prior to us getting the ship underway again. We are scheduled to depart in about 2 weeks heading south in the direction of Southern California. Once there, we will be seeking out Blue Whales and Humpback Whales to tag for satellite tracking. This tagging operation has continued to be a successful tool for the scientific community by providing data on exactly where these beautiful animals go and when. And, there is still so much more to learn.

Willie and I both feel that having been part of the expedition we are about conclude and part of those like this next one ahead of us is a real privilege. There is so much data and information to be gained and analyzed that will all help protect and preserve all the world’s oceans and all life the dwells within them. One can’t help but feel good about this kind of job.

It’s now noon and we are about 60 miles due west of the mouth of the Columbia River which borders Washington state and Oregon. We have about 110 miles left to the Newport Harbor entrance and that still looks like an ETA very close to midnight. The seas and winds continue to go down. That, along with the current going south from the Columbia River may start to help our speed a little. Every little bit helps. We just passed another boat from Newport and he gave us a call on the radio. They are out here Albacore Tuna fishing and doing okay. We frequently see and talk to him on the dock so it was kind of interesting to be this far away and this far off shore and cross paths. It was fun to touch base with him again and get caught up.

It’s 6 pm now and we have been doing 9 kts plus for the last couple of hours and now we are down to 8.4 kts. We have an overcast sky, the swells are down to about 2 feet and winds down to about 5 kts. The conditions are great now and I just saw another albatross. We are 30 miles off shore and 49 miles to the Newport whistle buoy.

It’s now 12 midnight and we can see the lights of Newport. We have 4 more miles to the entrance buoy and we’re both smiling. I still can’t see the light on the buoy but I know it will be any minute and I can hardly wait.

We are back, it’s 1:15 am, we are tied up and we are ready for some sleep. It’s really great to be back in Newport again. It will be even greater seeing my beautiful wife Shirley as soon as I get home to Coos Bay. It is with mixed feelings that I’m about to click on the “send” icon which will be like flipping the off switch to officially end this expedition. I sincerely hope that this is not the end of the story but only the end of a chapter in the story that will continue. Willie and I hope to be a part of the next chapter as well. To those of you I know and those I don’t know (yet) thanks for riding with us to port. It has been like having caring friends along with us even though we haven’t spoken directly.

In closing it is my sincere hope that you and all those close to you do what ever you can, large or small, to help protect our planet above and below the water. I wish you all the best till next time. Good night.

- Captain Bob

The following posting is from Captain Bob...

Aug 15
It’s 7 am and the weather has come upon us. We have an average of about 8 foot seas and 35 kt winds. While we are rolling quite a lot it’s not as bad as it could be. The swell and wind are coming from directly behind us so it’s trying to push our stern to one side or the other. Our auto pilot has to work overtime and is doing great. At least we don’t have to deal with it from the side. That would be dangerous. I would have to change course if that were the case. Also the sun is in a mostly clear sky and that’s nice. This weather forecast said that this will last through tonight. Bummer!

It is often said that timing is everything and most people can relate to that. I went down into the galley, fixed a bowl of cereal (healthy type), came back up to the wheelhouse, did a quick scan of the area ahead of us and about 100 yards off the starboard bow I see a whale spout. After my double take it did it again. With so many “white caps” due to the high winds, it was amazing that I was able to see it. I saw two more spouts and then it retreated to the calm under the stormy surface. If you were 20 feet under water you wouldn’t know there was a storm above.

We just left the “traffic control” area that started when we entered Canadian waters. We had to check in by radio every so often at check points that they assigned to us. Also, every so often they would call to update us about other ship traffic in our course. It’s a nice service especially in congested ship traffic but I’m glad we are finished with the reporting. Now all we have is one waypoint left and that’s the one at the entrance to Newport. By this time tomorrow…we’ll be another day closer.

I sure hope Willie is able to get some sleep. He didn’t sleep well before he relieved me at 3 am so I hope its better this time. Just saw another albatross. I love watching them. He did sleep better and gave me a chance for a little nap. Willie saw some humpbacks while I was sleeping.

It’s 11:45 pm now and the sea/wind conditions are still the same, as expected. We are currently about 85 miles off shore and 80 miles north of the Colombia River. Hope things settle down soon ‘because this is getting old.,br> By this time tomorrow we should be pretty close to tying up in Newport, OR our home port. I’m really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again but after 8 weeks at sea I expect it will take a little getting used to being on solid ground again. I’ll tough that part out though with no complaints.

- Captain Bob

The following posting is from Captain Bob...

Aug 14
It’s a nice morning again with patchy clouds and some dark ones straight ahead on the horizon. Hopefully they will be gone by the time we get there. We are still on the inside of Graham Island and headed south. We had some heavy rain for a little while last night and I had to briefly change course to pass the north bound Canadian Coast Guard Cutter Vector. The slight wind and wind waves that we have now are coming from directly astern and we are making 8.7 kts. Not bad and I hope it lasts.

9 pm and the day passed as above. It got sunny in the afternoon and stayed that way till sunset. And it was a very nice sunset indeed. We have just passed the northern end of Vancouver Island and set a direct course now for the entrance to Newport, OR harbor. Current ETA 2 days, 2 hours and 35 minutes, but who’s counting? Me!

Since we are back on the ocean side of land we have rejoined the ocean swells. They are coming from the northwest and have us rolling quite a lot. I expect we’ll be tired of rolling like this by the end of these 2 days, 2 hours and 25 minutes. But what fond memories there are to reflect on during that time. Willie and I were talking about some of them today and we are both hopeful we can do it again next year. Many good things were started on this trip and it would be great to see them continue and grow.

- Captain Bob

The following posting is from Captain Bob...

Aug 13
Willie let me sleep an extra hour again this morning. As I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes to saw a small island. LAND! What a beautiful sight. As I took over the watch from Willie so he could go down and get some sleep, I saw an albatross, the first one in weeks. Those birds are a work of art in themselves. Their wingspan to body ratio allows them to glide with great efficiency. They can ride the wind currents just inches above the water surface and seldom have to move their wings except to adjust to the gentle rise and fall of the swells. It’s like poetry on the wing.

As we slip into Dixon Entrance, the area at the northern end of Graham Island we are encountering some current. For a very short period we slowed down to as low as 6.7 kts but mostly 7.5 kts plus. It looks like the currents should turn soon and aid us during the next 10 hours that we need to travel before we will turn south on the inside of Graham Island toward Vancouver Island. Once we make our turn south it will be about 230 miles to the northern end of Vancouver. Then we’ll have about 400 miles, (about 2 days), to the entrance to Newport, our home port.

The currents did turn and did help us for a while up to 9.5 kts. As we were ready to make our turn to the south we noticed on the radar a line up of what looked like about 10 salmon fishing boats right where we needed to go. So I slowly headed for one end of the line and then one boat near that end changed course and gave me a clear path through. Nice guy. By the way, fog settled down so not much visibility now.

It’s 10 pm now. It’s dark and I can see a cruise ship on the radar that is headed north and passing about 5 miles off my port side. I know it’s a cruise ship because I heard them talking to the Prince Rupert Ships Traffic Control. As it turns out, because of the size of the ship, I had to go under their traffic control as well. I have to call them on the radio as I reach certain check points that they provide, tell them my current course and speed and then they give me the next check point. I’ve never had to do this before so it’s another new experience to add to this trips “list of firsts”.

The water here on the inside is smooth and the wind is about 5 kts from behind so we’re cruising along at a nice 9.3 kts. It’s a nice evening cruise and Willie just went down to get some sleep.

- Captain Bob

The following posting is from Captain Bob...

Aug 12
Go figure! It’s midnight Saturday morning and we’re 259 miles to our next waypoint at the north end of Graham Island and I have a container ship 1.4 miles off my port side that just crossed my bow. It’s a container ship headed for Anchorage. All this space out here and we come this close to each other. That’s a little bit like walking for hours into the back country somewhere and stepping on a piece of bubble gum. Well, that happened to me once too but that’s another story.

I woke up on my own this morning at 5 am and Willie had let me sleep an extra hour. Nice guy. The sun is shining through a patch of blue sky, seas are down slightly and the winds are down substantially, at least for now. They are forecasting a little higher sea and wind this afternoon but down again for this evening. By this time tomorrow we should be inside Canadian waters and headed south inside the protection of Graham Island. I hope it’s as nice going south through there as it was going north at the start of this trip.

Well it’s 9 pm and getting dark. The winds are down to about 5 kts and the seas down to about 4 ft. The ship is very slowly rolling back and forth and Willie just went down to get some sleep before his watch. He should sleep well. Skies are overcast with some dark clouds but it’s been that way most of the afternoon. Only 90 miles to Graham Island and we’ll be there in the morning. It will be nice to see land again after 3 days in the open waters of the gulf.

- Captain Bob