I dropped anchor just in front of the little Harbor at Old Harbor on Kodiak Island just before noon. My passage is over.
I’m in Alaska.
I’m happy!

It took me 16 days and 4 hours for the 2.250 nautical miles from Honolulu, Oahu Hawaii to Old Harbor, Kodiak Island Alaska. ZERO performed very well!  Way better than I expected. She was so fast, unbelievable. I think I finally learned how to sail her.. At least a bit better..

We had strong trade winds the first week with a maximum windspeed of 28 kn and Sunny and warm weather.  After passing the Pacific high the weather changed pretty quick. Water temperature decrease fast from 25 to around 20°C within a day.
That changed everything. The clear sky turned overcast and I had foggy misty cold weather. For a period of 3 days it stayed like this and water temperature dropped to 12 °C. Everything was wet and it felt very cold. That was the time I started the heater.
When the skies cleared the weather was way more comfortable. Still cold but it felt better.
The last 2 days I was blessed with breathtaking sunsets and sunrises..
This morning I woke up from a huge red fireball emerging from the horizon.

We only had 2 days almost no wind and I followed the advice from a long time French sailor who sailed the high latitudes for over 25 years.. ” you don’t wanna be out there drifting around and increase your chance for a storm.. ” And set the iron genua..

Altogether it was a very nice ocean crossing. Different to the last one but not less enjoyable..

After setting the anchor, I cleaned up the boat, cleared all lines, launched the Dinghy from the foredeck and as soon as I was confident that the anchor  will hold I went ashore.

Old harbor is a very tiny little settlement. Has around 30 houses (I could see), 1 store and one Russian Orthodox church. I only saw unpaved roads and the people living here are very friendly and everybody was greeting me when they passed me in a car, an ATV or walking. There is NO bar and NO restaurant here. It has a little school but its summer break and it looked abandoned. NO cellphone coverage so I can’t post any pics, sorry..

I walked from tip to tip and could see ZERO swinging in the current all the time. She’s the inky boat here anchored and the only sailboat at all.  I talked to a couple residents and went back to the boat to check the charts and tides. I’m going to Kodiak tomorrow and wanna pass the narrow and shallow passage within 3hrs +- high tide. That means I’m leaving tomorrow at sunrise. That gives me enough time to make the 70 nm trip to Kodiak within daylight. An advantage of the long days up north.. Sunrise will be at 5:17 am and it sets at !! 23:13!! Its one of the longest days of the year.. And because of the almost full moon its not getting really dark at all.

So let’s see how Kodiak will be..
Aloha
The happy captain