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The Crew is back aboard
We hope this finds everyone well. After a long delay due to the Corona Virus, we are now back aboard Idyll Time. Flying through the airports was much different this year. The Nashville airport was spooky with hardly a soul around. Surprisingly, our flight was almost 60% full. I think this was because the airlines are running so few flights . Flying meant that we had to leave our two birds, Nate and Primo behind. Luckily they were able to stay at EAST a bird rescue facility in Nashville. With the BC border closed there was no way for them to stay at their usual bird camp with Dianna and Kip at “The Two Birdie Hotel” in Nanaimo, BC . They have stayed at EAST once before so they should do just fine. Kim has over 80 birds at her facility. Nate and Primo were soon settled in to their new home.
Petersburg weather was rain and 50 degrees when we arrived, a typical southeast Alaska summer. We headed straight to the boat for our 14 day quarantine. There is still snow on the surrounding mountain peaks. The local grocery store delivered groceries to our boat and Saltry Pantry an amazing local restaurant delivered several meals and breakfast goodies to the boat.
A few days after our arrival, Alaska announced a change to their quarantine policy. By having a negative covid test we would be free to end our quarantine after just six days. We headed up the hill to Petersburg Medical Center for our test. Two days later the results came back negative and we are allowed to end the quarantine. Alaska has had very few cases and let’s hope it stays that way. Petersburg has had only three. We will still “socially distance” as much as possible.
After several days of boating chores we were ready to remove Idyll Time’s winter cover.
Unfortunately seagulls made a mess of the cover this year. But the cover did keep her nice and clean over the winter. After a good cleaning, waxing of the hull, and some stainless steel polishing she was back to her old self. The impellers were changed along with some maintenance work on the windlass. Puff our diesel heater started right up after six months of hibernation.
Several days were spent provisioning the boat with groceries , filling propane tanks, getting dinghy gas, a new dinghy battery, multiple trips to the hardware store, along with a trip to our storage locker. Dick and Bridget who own the Krogen 42 Francis Stoughton were gracious to loan us their truck for all of our errands.
Our next task was to get the generator and main engine up and running. They both cranked up right away as if they were just run yesterday. De-winterizing the water maker was our next project. This is always a stressful time as our watermaker , aka The Princess, seems to have a mind of her own. There is always some issue. Not this time though! She works like a charm. All systems are now up and running. Time to push away from the docks.
This years cruising plans are written in sand. Alaska’s corona virus mandates are constantly changing but many of the smaller communities are still requiring a 14 day quarantine upon arrival. We will more than likely bypass towns this year and spend most of our time at anchor which is our preferred manner of cruising anyway. Hopefully there will be a halibut or two along with some crabs in our near future. The commercial crabbing season starts in just a few days so we need to get out on the water before the crabs are all taken.
We wish everyone continued good health during these strange times. Thanks for following along.
