GSSR 2009, a month away

Greetings all!

You are reading the blog, of Ken Williams, from the Nordhavn 68 named Sans Souci. This is my first mailing to most of you in nearly a year, so you may have forgotten who I am.

The last time that I sent out my blog to my full mailing list, Sans Souci was in Costa Rica, and we were struggling to get it to Seattle in time for a summer cruise to Alaska. Unfortunately, getting the boat back from Costa Rica turned out to be a longer, and rougher, proposition than originally planned. We were very disappointed not to be able to cruise Alaska last summer.

However… we’re about to make up for the lost cruising, and then some… A month from now, Roberta, Shelby and I, aboard Sans Souci, will begin our next big adventure!

Starting April 23rd, Sans Souci, and two Nordhavn 62s will be venturing from Seattle to Japan, taking a most unusual route. Roberta and I were disappointed to have missed Alaska last year, so we’re heading north this year. After Alaska we’ll cross the Bering Sea, visit Siberia and arrive in Japan sometime this August.

Some of you may still be reading that last paragraph and shaking your head in confusion. Yes. You did read it right. We are going to “that” Bering Sea; the one you may have seen on the show TV Deadliest Catch. No worries though. We’re going in the best possible month, and whereas it probably won’t be flat seas, we’re not expecting anything too crazy.

There are some great reasons why we chose this particular routing.

• We all wanted to cross the Pacific, and this gives us a way to “get to the other side” without ever being more than about 500 miles from land. Instead of a fifteen to twenty day cruise across open ocean, we instead have a spectacular trip with plenty of places to stop.
• We have a “once in a lifetime” chance to visit a cruising ground that few, other than commercial fishing boats, have ever visited. How many boaters can say they’ve docked in Siberia?
• It’s tough to get three highly opinionated captains to agree on anything. We wanted to cruise together, and couldn’t agree on Tahiti. I don’t know why.

The other two Nordhavn 62s are:

• Grey Pearl, Braun and Tina Jones. Some of you may recall that Grey Pearl cruised alongside Sans Souci across the Atlantic a few years back.
• Seabird, Steven and Carol Argosy.

Over the past few months I have been writing my blog, but only sending it out to a very small group. This is the first email that I’ve sent to the larger group (several thousand of you!) that have been following Sans Souci’s adventures through the years. I’ll probably write a few more blog entries over the next month as we get ready for the trip.

Before the GSSR blog really gets rolling, this is a good chance to register anyone else you think might want to receive the blog. Just give them this link: http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/m/509305 Or, click the link and register them yourself. You don’t need to register, or you wouldn’t have received this email.

Similarly, if you have received this email, and can’t remember how or why you registered, and don’t really want to receive any future updates, then NO PROBLEM. There is a link at the very bottom of this email that tells you how to “unsubscribe” from the mailing list. Just click it and you won’t be pestered any more.

For those of you who have not been following the blog the past few months, here are links to some of the past blog entries that had to do with trip planning, and getting prepared…. You’ll be reading them slightly out of context, but I’m sure you can figure it out. Or, ignore these links, and just enjoy the adventure, as you please.

Early trip planning:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=15923

Meeting Bill Harrington (an Alaska Commercial Fisherman who will be accompanying us):

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=17026

Thinking about diving in the Aleutians:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=17303

Detailed Trip Schedule:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=18480

A chat with a 62 owner who previously made the trip:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=17354

Trip Planning:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=17272

Clothes for the trip:

http://www.kensblog.com/uploads/16765/20090221Launchingtheboat/TGSSR-PACKAGE.pdf

When we’re not out cruising, my blog gets a little “techie”. If you are into mechanical things, you might enjoy these blog entries:

Work done on the boat:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=16808

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=18172

Bulbous Bows:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=17072

Fractional Ownership of Boats:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=17491

Storm Windows and Stability Curves:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=17584

New type of Sonar:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=18146

New type of Radar:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=19175

Shipping Containers:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=19040

Oil Bypass Filters:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=18981

Prop Pitch:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=18724

LED Lighting:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=18598

Retiring on a boat:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=16772

Mechanical Space Cooling:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=16653

Boat Security:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=16591

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=16244

Night Vision:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=16351

Complexity:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=16345

Inverters:

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=16307

http://www.kensblog.com/aspx/blob2/blobpage.aspx?msgid=463430&beid=16322

Thank you!

Ken Williams

Nordhavn 68, Sans Souci

http://www.kensblog.com/