The last post from Yakutat didn’t went through that day. The Internet in Yakutat was very weak and broke down often. But it went online now. Better late than never..

BUT..

When I was at the Yakutat airport, waiting For Rebecca to land I couldn’t believe what happened and what it will lead to happen next..

The plane couldn’t land because the clouds where to close to the ground and the pilot decided to fly to Juneau after 3 attempts to land. Damn. Rebecca was caught in the plane and a bunch of people who wanted to leave Yakutat were caught in Yakutat. 

Nobody knew anything in fact and we waited in the little bar at the airport Lodge for further information.  I ordered a beer and got in contact with the some of the other people. The Information came piece by piece but finally they told us our possibilities.. 

There would be another plane from Juneau to Yakutat leaving the next day in the morning. But the weatherforecast predicted strong rain which means the plane probably can’t land and then Rebecca would be back in anchorage waiting for another flight. Someday..?
That wasn’t very satisfying at all. What could I do?

 I decided to set sails immediately and send Rebecca a mail that I will come and pick her up in Juneau. Don’t get on that plane..!

The weather forecast predicted some strong winds coming on Sunday but if I leave tonight I would be ahead of it and use the SW wind to sail into the Icy strait to Juneau. A couple people at the bar asked me if they can come with me and at the end  I had a crew of two joining me for the trip to Juneau. Marfil and Gerry always wanted to sail on the ocean.

We left Yakutat harbor with the last light of the day and pointed ZERO towards the open ocean..

The weather forecast said 15-20 kn SE shifting into SW, gusts with 25 kn possible. What we had after hitting the open water was quite different.

We had 20 kn rising to 30 and even 35 kn. Coming straight onto the nose from SE and waves like mountains around 20’+ coming from both SE and SW playing ball with us.

We had spray coming over like being in a car wash and with all hatches closed we watched the spectacle from the pilothouse. It lasted for around 6-8 hrs before the wind dropped to 5 kn but didn’t turn to SW. 

ZERO performed very well, way better than her crew but suddenly we had smoke in the cabin. 

It smelled like exhaust smoke and we found the leak pretty fast. One of the rubber gaskets from the exhaust had a tear and let the smoke and cooling water into the engine room.

First we killed the engine of course and then thought about a solution to fix it with what we have on board. I didn’t have a spare gasket but with a peace of rubber lots of ductape we could fix it.. For a while. 

It came off a couple hours later and we tried more tape which didn’t last 5 min. 

The next patch was better. We cut a bigger piece of rubber, put butyl tape on it and strapped it on the tear with hoseclamps which we daisy chained to fit the big diameter. That looked very promising. 

Once we entered the Icy strait we definitely needed a reliable engine. The tide currents can reach 6-8 kn on the narrow passes and even when we tried to ride with the tides there won’t be much wind to sail with.

Rebecca, in the meanwhile, was on a friend’s sons fisherboat, who I met in Yakutat a couple days ago, with a family of 7 kids waiting for me while fishing close to Juneau. She had a horrible journey from Germany to Alaska. But more about that later..

It lasted for around 6-8 hrs before the wind dropped to 5 kn but didn’t turn to SW. 

We sailed the whole night and had a couple moments were we actually could use the sails but mostly run the engine and next day, after 2 1/2 days, we tied ZERO alongside the fishing vessel RAMBLER and I could hold Rebecca in my arms the first time after 4 month. It felt great!!!

Were now docked at the harbor in Auke Bay, Juneau, and Rebecca told me the whole story of her journey.
It started with traffic, of course! on the way to Frankfurt intl. Airport. Usually a 2 hrs drive, took way longer.  Arriving at the airport the carpark was completely full and the only spot available  was on 14 th floor, rooftop. Another loss of time.

In the terminal it went crazy. Someone..? abandoned or maybe just forgot his bag and the authorities evacuated the whole terminal. So Rebecca and all the other passengers had to move to another terminal. The intentionally plenty time to say goodbye to friends got very short now and queuing up for ages didn’t make it better. Her hoarding started and they opened a priority lane for those who were supposed to board already. Things went faster now.. 

UNTIL..

The officer who checked  the passports took her aside. “we can’t let you depart. WHAT? There must have been a mix-up with another person who probably had some legal issues to deal with. 

NOT REBECCA! 

She was confused, tired and upset but could clear the mistake and finally board her plane. 

The flight was relaxed and she arrived in a better mood in Anchorage then leaving Frankfurt. 

UNTIL..

The friendly customs border protection officer, which I had the pleasure to deal with a couple days ago, picked her out and questioned her. For any reason they knew she belongs to me, the Alien captain. He interviewed her in the same manner he did with me and told her in detail that I have to leave within my given time or I will face more trouble. 

I got no idea how they figure out that she’s with me..?  But anyway..

Now she was in Anchorage and all she had to do is board the other plane next day and do the short flight to Yakutat.  Easy!  

UNTIL..

You got it.. The story ends with 7 kids on a fishing boat..

Life is full of surprises.. 
Aloha.

The reunited Captain &Quartermaster