I Have a Plan

Northering

June 20, 2019 Comments (0) journal

The Devil in the Details

Two weeks from tomorrow… that’s when I get on the Alaska ferry in Bellingham. Me and Lucas, with four kayaks strapped onto two carts, hopelessly overloaded, no doubt. It’s a 2-day voyage up to Wrangell, and we’ll have a couple days in town to get the logistics dialed in before going out to Cape Decision.

The food has been bought, most of it. Dairy, meat and fresh produce will all be purchased in Wrangell but the more durable stuff makes sense to buy here and ship up on the weekly barge out of Seattle. We’ll be making up the pallets on Sunday, getting everything wrapped and packed, then up to the shipper on Tuesday. There’s more than just food – kayaking supplies, tools, super sacks and a whole lot more. Most of it is hard to get up there (or impossible), and buying here and shipping there is a good idea. It’s not cheap, however. Nothing about Alaska is inexpensive.

As to the kayaks themselves, three are donated (Thank you!) and the other is one that I was going to take up to Cape Decision last summer, before plans changed because of the fire in the ferry’s engine room. They all need work, some more than others. Some of it is relatively easy: bungees and deck lines, rudder cables, things like that. I do need to do a few surgeries though: seat replacement, bulkhead repair, rudder install. Some of these will take some time and I’m not entirely sure that I have all the parts I’m going to need.

It’s already an adventure.