We awoke early on the day we had scheduled to leave Marina Pescaderia. There is a lot to get done when your vessel has been stationary for a long time. A sailboat has to be many things to its owners. A sailboat must be well built to withstand the high seas. A sailboat must be self-sufficient for the times when you are off-grid for days, weeks, or months at a time. A sailboat must also be comfortable when moored and at sea. Many times all these things contradict each other in the real world. No matter how much money is thrown at a vessel all liveaboard sailboats are a compromise.  So they need to be transformers to get close to making all these requirements a reality. At a marina, your boat is hooked to power similar to your home. You have unlimited fresh water. It is as simple as stepping off your vessel to get to the store. No tender ride required. Unwritten Timeline was sitting comfortably in a marina so we needed to get up early to ensure she was ready to safely take us on the open ocean. We topped off our fuel and water tanks. We disconnected the shore power cords. We removed all the covers from our enclosure so we could see 360 degrees around the vessel. We checked the navigation systems. We ensured all our lights worked. We started the engines. Once we were confident our vessel was safe and ready we started cutting the lines holding her snuggly to the marina. Lisa was at the helm while Dave managed the lines and maintained lookout on the bow as we slowly departed Marina Pescaderia. It was a great stay but ports farther East were calling our name and it was high time we listened.
 
We wanted to ease back into sailing and being on the move so our first stop was just around the corner of Puerto Rico. It was 26 nautical miles or about 5 hours to Bahia Fosforesente. This tiny bay is protected on all sides with a narrow channel from the South West. We wanted to see the marine life at night. The bay is named because of the bioluminescent marine life. At night if you jump into the water and splash around thousands of tiny sea creatures illuminate the area around you. It is similar to being surrounded by stars while you are floating in the blackness of space. Swimming at night was just as amazing as it sounds. We stayed at anchor for a few days enjoying the seclusion and slow pace of our new home on the water. During the days pelicans were busy diving on fish. There seemed to be an almost constant splash. The pelicans would circle an area looking for fish.  When they were ready they folded their wings back and careened headfirst under the water to get their meal. We even had a couple of dolphins swim by the boat to check us out. There wasn’t much in the way of a sandy beach in the bay but we did take the tender out for a little exploring through the mangroves.
 
This was a great leisurely start to our Caribbean tour. Check back next time when we continue on along the Southside of Puerto Rico.

As September rolled around the workload with Allen Marine Tours became less and less. My 15-hour workdays became 10 hours, then 8 hours. I even managed to get a couple of days off in a row. Towards the end of the season, the tours subside and you get a respite from the long hours.  it’s a good opportunity to do a little sightseeing around Alaska. If you love the great outdoors there are a thousand things to do a few steps from your living room. I took the opportunity to take a few hikes around Mendenhall Glacier and the Inland Waterway shoreline.  During one hike around the Shrine of Saint Therese, I saw a humpback whale swim about 100 yards off the shore. As I sat there on the rocks he meandered south. The humpback whales are migratory animals. As the season ends and the temperatures cool they make their way to warmer climates. The humpbacks around Juneau predominantly come from Hawaiian waters, although some spend their winters along the Pacific side of Central America. Neither location is a bad place to spend the winter.
 
Speaking of tropical waters for the winter, the days started growing colder. It was becoming reminiscent of when I first arrived 5 months ago. Lisa and I started planning our trip from Puerto Rico through the Caribbean for the winter. We put our trip on hold for 6 months so we could build up our sailing kitty.  Now came the time to finally get started again. There are so many great places to see in the Caribbean; the USVI, BVI, French Islands, Dutch Islands and everything in between. Each island has it’s own unique culture and cuisine to enjoy.
 
Before we could get started again there was one more trip planned and few projects to tackle when I got back to Puerto Rico. We hadn’t planned on going to the Annapolis Boat Show in 2019 but my season ended October first.  The Annapolis boat show is always at the beginning of October.  Since I had to fly all the way back to Puerto Rico, Lisa decided we should meet in Annapolis. We could have a small vacation before we start our large vacation in the Caribbean. When my contract was up in Alaska I flew to Annapolis. Lisa asked our friends aboard Libertad to watch Bastet, our cat, for a few days and she packed her things for the trip. Lisa met me in Annapolis and we saw each other for the first time in 5 months.
 
Be sure to check back for next week’s blog when we talk all about the boat show and Lisa’s new best Bud.

​A day in the life of a tour boat crew in Hoonah isn’t the worst there is but they are long days for sure.  In the beginning it’s all new and exciting and the grind hasn’t really gotten to anyone yet.  During peak months when you’ve run 4 tours a day for 7 days straight it really starts to wear on everyone.  Luckily since it’s a short season in Alaska by the time you’re ready to throw your co-workers overboard or just say screw it and jump on the next plane south the work load starts to subside a little.  You start running just 3 tours a day.  Then it’s 2 and you’re thankful for the respite.  Then the middle of September rolls around and you’re doing one tour a day and you start cleaning the vessels for winter storage.
 
0330:  Wake up and pack my bag.  The first day of a week in Hoonah always starts early.  We have the 2 hour trip to get there but the tours start the same time regardless if we travel or not.  Usually by 0430 I’m out of the house with my bags packed for the week.
 
0500:  Walk on board the Katlian Express and fire up the systems.  The deckhand and naturalist make sure we have enough supplies for the week aboard the boat.  They check the engine room and safety equipment while I look at the weather, route, and look at the schedule in dock office for any last minute changes.  There are always changes.
 
0600:  The crew unties the lines as I guide the boat off of a raft of 3 other 78’ aluminum catamarans.  The dock in Juneau only has about 8 spots but they usually carry 13 vessels tied to the dock at any one time.  This means several vessels are rafted together in the same spot.
 
0730:  This is my morning check in with Shawna to confirm our tour load for the day.  Again there are usually changes with the schedule so this is a last confirmation for the daily activities.  We pull up and tie to our designated slip and await our eager guests.  The crew completes a last walk through of the vessel before we start allowing passengers aboard.
 
0745:  We pull away from the dock in Hoonah, proceed right across the bow of the cruise ship giving everyone aboard a view of their ship from almost right under the bow.  The crew and I conduct our safety speech and demonstration.  We give the guests a quick overview of what is planned and then I slowly bring the large diesel engines up to wide open throttle as the jets quickly propel us to over 20 knots and we’re off hunting for wildlife.  We pretty much know where the humpbacks will be within 5 miles or so.  They are creatures of habit and so is their food source.  You still have to pay attention to make sure you get that guaranteed humpback whale sighting though.  It’s kind of amazing how a 50’ long 40 ton animal can hide from you in the vast ocean.  Eventually we find a few humpback whales, maybe some sea lions, seals, or killer whales.  There’s always a few bald eagles flying around as well.  Once the guests are amazed and they have great pictures or video to take with them we start heading back towards the dock. 
 
1045:  The first tour of the day is offloaded and we are already taking on our next group of guests for another great tour.  This process is repeated at least one other time for an average of 3 tours a day.
 
1800:  The final tour of the day is dropped off, usually right alongside the cruise ship so they can get back quickly and meet their “all aboard” time.  The crew and I finish paperwork for the day, clean the boat, make sure we have fuel and water for the next day’s tours and collect our bags to take our things to the Hoonah house.
 
1900:  Arrive at the Hoonah house, unpack and unwind for a little bit.  There is usually enough time to relax, grab a bite to eat, shower and get ready for bed.  The next day will start around 0500. 
 
It was an average of 14 hours a day for 6-7 days a week.  It was long but it was fun as well.  Most people save up for years to go to Alaska and spend 3 hours on a whale watch tour looking at wildlife.  I was able to do that for 12 hours a day, every day.  I saw a ton of amazing things that few people get to experience.  The hours were long and the days were longer but it was all worth it in the end.

​Once the season was in full swing and I was running tours with my crew the days just got busier and busier.  We would be doing 3-4 three hour tours each day 6 or 7 days a week.  Allen Marine Tours in Juneau guarantees seeing at least one humpback whale each tour.  This is usually pretty easy to accomplish.  Juneau and the area around Icy Strait Point where I worked was a popular feeding ground for humpback whales and several of them would return year after year.  I did enjoy the hunt for the whales though.  It reminded me of younger days flying around hunting for things.  This time I just found them and let my guests shoot them, with their cameras. 
 
The days were long but usually enjoyable.  Allen Marine was based in Juneau, but I spent a lot of my time working tours out of a little town called Hoonah.  Hoonah is a small village just west of Juneau that has great wildlife around the area.  In 2019 it was still small enough to be fun to run tours there.  Juneau is a big cruise ship spot.  They can have 5 large cruise ships a day.  Sometimes more if they get some smaller ones in port.  This means there are a lot of boats viewing the wildlife.  Hoonah can only handle 2 large cruise ships at a time, so the wildlife viewing is still fantastic.  Maybe 5 tour boats would be looking at the same whale when it is busy.  In Juneau there would be 15 boats on the same whale during the busy times.  The added tour boats don’t seem to concern the wildlife.  They have grown accustomed to it and they seem to know they are the star of the show.  But it isn’t as good for the guests or the boat crews to be jockeying for the best view spot with so many other boats.  Hoonah is a much more relaxing place to see Alaskan wildlife and I was thankful to run almost all of my tours from there.
 
I still had a place in Juneau since that’s where the Allen Marine base was located.  Usually I would drive to Allen Marine early one morning with a bag packed with 3-7 days worth of things and jump aboard the Katlian Express.  The crew and I would make the boat ready for sea.  We would cast off the dock lines and make the 2 hour boat ride to Hoonah for a few days.  I always enjoyed these trips.  The crew would be down making sure the vessel was tour ready, as we always had a tour when we first arrived. I would sit in the wheelhouse just watching the Alaskan landscape go by at 20kts without guests aboard.  No real stress, just a nice boat ride.  It was a nice way to start the work week.  About 30 minutes away from the dock at Hoonah I would contact Shawna, our tour organizer there to confirm tour times, guest count, and pickup locations.  It was great working with her.  She always had a handle on all the tours and if we needed anything she could get it done.  We would pull up to the dock for our first tour, tie up the Katlian and set up the ramp ready to take guests out to see some cool whales, and who knows what other wildlife.  When our daily tours were over we would take a van to the “Hoonah house”.  This was the crew house Allen Marine purchased to house all the crews that worked in Hoonah so we could have a place to rest at night.  It was a nice house with twin beds for the crews.  The views were amazing and made it a nice place to rest up for the next 12 hour day of being on the water.

My first official day at Allen Marine Tours went much like any job.  Lots of paperwork, orientation, and an overview of their vessels.  They have a really thorough training period for their vessel crews.  They cover everything from customer service and retail to aspects of the vessel operation, safety, and tour expectations.  They have time allotted for refresher training on firefighting, and CPR/First Aid.  They do a lot as a company to try and ensure every crew member is well trained before the season starts.  After the 2 weeks of training it would become readily apparent why they take this time before the season really starts.  Once the cruise ships start coming into the ports of Alaska and the guests start showing up for tours the operational tempo increases pretty dramatically and it doesn’t stop until September.
 
I was assigned to the Katlian Express, a 65’ 48 passenger aluminum monohull jet boat for the season.  Most of the Allen Marine boats are jet boats.  This gives them the ability to be shallow draft and have no exposed running gear to get fouled in fishing gear or damaged by floating debris.  Most of their operations are in the Alaskan Inside Passage.  This is a mostly protected body of water similar to the Intracoastal  Waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coast.  Since it is a fairly protected body of water a shallow draft vessel is perfect. 
 
The crews were assigned and I had a deckhand and a naturalist aboard as crew.  The deckhand basically works on the vessel at dock and underway to make sure the vessel is operating the way it should.  The naturalist guides the tour and helps the guests take in and understand all the wildlife and scenery during the tour.  When arriving or departing a dock both crew will manage lines and fenders to make sure the vessel is safe and secure for our guests.  After a little time working together it’s a finely tuned crew that can depart and arrive at the dock, unload and load passengers seamlessly.
 
During training I was lucky enough to be able to get a handover of the vessel from last year’s captain.  Stu was a wealth of knowledge, a great boat handler and instructor.  We did a few trips together and soon I was operating the vessel with passengers and crew unsupervised.  It wasn’t too much of a struggle to operate the vessel.  Driving boats is driving boats.  When you take charge of a new vessel it’s more a matter of learning the new layout, systems, and nuance of the vessel.  Each one is just a little different.  Eventually you’ll be whipping it in and out of a dock like you’ve been doing it for years.  My crew and I would be doing 2-4 tours a day 6 or 7 days a week.  When you are on the water for 12 plus hours a day departing and docking that many times a day it quickly becomes second hand.  

Once I had my tickets purchased and Unwritten Timeline’s scheduled maintenance completed Lisa rented a car to drive me to the airport in San Juan.  The airport is about a 3 hour ride from Marina Pescaderia.  We decided to go up the night before and stay in a hotel.  In order to make it to Alaska from Puerto Rico without an overnight layover in an airport I had to get an early morning flight and we didn’t want to start driving at 2 am.  After a relaxing night at the hotel, Lisa dropped me off to catch my flight.
 
I had a layover in Dallas, Seattle, and Sitka before finally touching down in Juneau, Alaska.  I had arranged for a place to stay for the season online before I departed Puerto Rico.  I grabbed my bags and jumped in a cab.  I was ready to get settled and get some rest after 18 hours of sitting in coach and wandering around different airports.  The next morning I woke up and had to find a vehicle.  I wasn’t able to buy a car before I arrived and a rental car would be way too expensive for the entire season.  I had been looking at craigslist for cars before I arrived with no luck.  My house was next to a bus line so I took the bus back towards the airport to rent a car for a few days.  I wanted to get around town and look at a few cars.  After a few days my rental was due to be returned and I still had zero leads on a car.  The landlord did have an old jeep in the driveway and while talking to him one day about my car problems he said he was getting ready to junk the old jeep and asked if I wanted it.  It had a flat tire and the alternator was out.  There were also a few cosmetic issues but it ran and had heat which was pretty much my only requirements.  He let me purchase it for $1 and I would sell it back to him at the end of the season.  All I had to do was put a tire on it and swap out the alternator, too easy for a used car.  I think I was all in for under $500 including insurance and title.  Things were looking good for the season.  I had a place to stay and a car to get to work.
 
I still had a few days before my official start date at Allen Marine so I took advantage of my new car to run to the grocery store for provisions.  I wasn’t sure what my schedule would be but I was told it would be 40-60 hours starting with week one.  I took a trip down to the Allen Marine dock in Juneau to see where I would be working.  I wanted to make sure I knew where to go on the first day of work.  It wouldn’t be good to be running late on day one.  Things were looking good for the season and I was ready to get started running whale watching tours in Alaska.

We have taken a couple months off from posting to rest, recuperate, and get ready for more videos, blog posting, and of course travel and sailing.  Be sure to check back next Wednesday for our first blog of the season.  If you follow us on YouTube our first video will be out the Saturday after our blog post on 07 March 2020.  Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss it.