We got off to a late start, knowing we would have to anchor for the night to time the currents right. The winds were light and we motored most of the way, but there was a strong enough tailwind to run wing and wing down scenic Olga Strait.

Issuma is leaving Sitka.

As my satellite phone is broken, I will only be able to update the blog and read comments when in port with internet access.

Where is Issuma going? Stay tuned…

Photo by Jody Javersak.

Floatplanes are a familiar sight in the north in the summer.

There are a lot of sea lions around the harbor now.

I’ve been anchored out for the last few days. The view is quite nice. Sitka High School is the building on the right.

I’m not sure why the beer can is in this picture, but (at the risk of looking like an advertisement) thought it looked interesting. I also wanted to check out how a slightly different position looked on the map.

Issuma’s decks have been painted with a two-part epoxy paint (Ameron 235) with sandpaper grit mixed in. This works well in most conditions (though the grit is sharp, so it is tough on clothes and sails), but not in packed snow (ie, snow compressed by boots) or ice. The best thing I know of for a non-skid surface in packed snow and ice is Treadmaster, which comes in sheets that you cut to size and then glue onto the deck.

I bought a couple of sheets of Treadmaster on EBay, and cut them into pieces to go along the decks beside the pilothouse (the highest-traffic areas).

The UK company that makes Treadmaster sells glues for attaching it to the deck, but they are not designed for application in Alaskan winter temperatures. I’ve learned by trial and error (mostly error) not to try applying adhesives in temperatures below what the labels say to apply in.

I tried the following for glue:

• Ameron 235 two-part epoxy. This is a paint, but I have successfully used it as an adhesive many times.


• PL 400 adhesive sealant from the local building supply store


• OSI Quad sealant from the local building supply store

So far, all the glues have worked well, but its only been a couple of months. If I find one is better or worse than others, I’ll update this.

Note that sails are bent on, so I think Woniya sails some of the time (or else just uses the sails to reduce the rolling).

This fishing schooner was in Sitka a while back, I didn’t get a chance to talk to the crew, but they definitely were here for the commercial fishing.