Tug Adak

Sitka, AK
Brendan, the owner of Adak, stands on the port side of the engine. The engine is connected directly to the prop shaft, there is no transmission (marine gear). The engine is air started. Changing from forward to reverse involves stopping the engine and restarting it in the other direction. One cannot frequently change from forward to reverse and back again because it takes time to build up enough air pressure to stop and restart the engine. This makes for interesting boathandling.

Presentation on Sailing the Northwest Passage

For those readers in New York, I’m giving a talk about Sailing the Northwest Passage on Wed January 18. Details are at http://www.meetup.com/gotham-city-sailing-association/events/42647082/Today in Sitka there is a storm. It is pleasantly warm and dry below on Issuma, tied to the dock, listening to the wind howl in the rigging and heeling over in the gusts. The picture: In July, we spent two weeks at the dock in Cartwright, Labrador, fixing the engine and converting the forestaysail from (broken) roller-furling to hank-on (shackle-on actually, as I could not buy hanks in Labrador). For our departure, the wind was favorable, so we sailed off the dock, out of the harbor, and on to Greenland. Blair Gillis took this picture as we sailed through Cartwright harbor.