Seattle to Connecticut (and back) Holiday Road Trip

Ironically, we did not take many photos during our road trip. There always seemed to be something exciting going on that photos couldn't possibly do justice to, or people took photos for us. Here is a somewhat random assortment of the ones that survived the trip:


Josh and his father Jim worked hard over the holidays in Connecticut to restore a vintage Red Wing boat engine, (which was estimated to be over one hundred years old). The engine was found by Josh in a Seattle machine shop and transported to Connecticut in our Ford Focus.


Josh fabricated new pieces for the engine in his father's basement machine shop, including check valves and a fuel can.


The newly restored engine, complete with new/old ignition coil (Model T), new battery, and new paint job. With the assistance of Josh's brother Mike, the Haury men were able to get the engine to turn over and fire on our last day in Connecticut.


Christmas in Connecticut: Emily, Josh, Jim, Kathy, Megan, Ellison, and Mike


Emily learning to fire the new family Nerf automatic machine gun. Note the fired casings on the floor adjacent to the gun tripod.


Josh, already a master of the Nerf automatic machine gun, pondering his next move against Scooter the family dog.

Redwoods, Segways, and Hurricane Rick

We left Seattle October 9th on the M/V Ursa Major for Mexico under a beautiful Puget Sound sunset. The seas were relatively calm and the crew, (Josh, Sheila, Teal, Becky, Nick, and myself), was excited for the journey ahead.


Three days into our trip south, a strong southerly storm approached Oregon and California with predicted 50-60 kts wind and heavy seas. We headed into Eureka, California on October 12th to wait a few days for the weather to clear.


Coincidentally, it also happened to be Teal's birthday. It only seemed appropriate to hit all the quality watering holes in Eureka to celebrate accordingly. We dabbled in (chip) hot dogs and pool at "Dave's", beer sampling at "The Lost Coast Brewery", and not to forget some extreme ping pong at "The Shanty".


The following day we rented a miniwan and toured the Loleta Cheese Factory and Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The mirrors had to be folded in to get to through this particular redwood.


Becky, Sheila, and I decided to get out of the storm inside this redwood tree house.


After spending time with the redwoods, we headed toward the Lost Coast to investigate the sea state and wind conditions. We stopped in the hamlet of Honeydew for gasoline and snacks. Besides this sign, the only other structure in Honeydew was the gas station itself.


The road to the Lost Coast with Cape Mendocino in the distance. Note the storm clouds and crashing surf in the distance.


Teal and Sheila on our favorite Lost Coast beach.


Josh pointing the way to open water. Only two more land days to go!!


The Fishermans Memorial Statue at the Woodley Island Marina in Eureka. This photo was taken just hours after the storm abated. We left the following morning for San Diego.


Almost four days later, we found ourselves in San Diego awaiting the passing of Hurricane Rick on the western coast of Mexico. As always, we managed to find entertain ourselves in some fashion. The above photo was taken at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.


Later that day, we took a segway tour of downtown San Diego. Most of us were new to the segway experience but we were able to see quite a lot in a couple of hours. Next to us is the ship used in the film "Master and Commander".


Our crew photo for the trip from San Diego to La Paz. Sheila and Teal "jumped ship" in San Diego for a vacation in Vermont and Bill, (center of photo), joined us for the remainder of the journey.

An Aero-tastic Adventure....

During the final week of our stay in Seattle before departure for Mexico, Josh and I finally accepted an open invitation to go flying with a favorite (and repeat) guest of ours from the M/V Ursa Major, Bruce Booker. The following photos were taken by yours truly from the backseat of the aircraft because our regular blog photographer, Josh, was otherwise occupied flying the airplane with Bruce!

Alaskan sunset

Josh took this photo our last night in Sitka. Mt. Edgecombe is seen in the background.

More photos to follow soon......

Octopus!!!

Despite current economic conditions, Josh and I have been quite busy with our charter work on the M/V Ursa Major all summer and have had little time to work on our blog. Until we have time to catch up, here are some interesting pictures of an octopus that was caught on a bottom rod this past week near Sitka, Alaska.

Summer Solstice

Since our last posting, we completed two charters on the M/V Ursa Major between Petersburg and Sitka. We had the opportunity to visit Tracy Arm, an ice-choked fiord south of Juneau.


The ice found in Tracy Arm is from the South Sawyer Glacier, (seen above).


Josh drove the M/V Ursa Major within two miles of the glacier face and close to many harbor seals and waterfalls.


My duties for the trip in Tracy Arm included netting small ice chunks for cocktails with the fish net and pushing ice out of the way with the boat pole.


Josh photographed these two brown bears near the Hidden Falls hatchery on Baranof Island. Brown bears can range in color from light tan to black. It is the shape of the head that distinguishes true brown bears from true black bears.


This family of killer whales were photographed outside Tracy Arm feeding on herring.


Dall's porpoise are known for their rooster-tailing behavior and are common bowriders on boats. These marine mammals are prey for killer whales.

Fishing in Sitka Sound

We took a day off last week between charters to enjoy rare sunshine in southeast Alaska and to fish in Sitka Sound.

Joyce, our fearless leader of the M/V Ursa Major, reeling in her halibut just off Cape Edgecombe.


Josh holding the fruits of his labor for the day. He caught the first halibut of the day.


Emily hoisting up her delicious halibut. This one proved to be quite the fighter.