Stellar Sea Lion Research Trip aboard Ursa Major

Following our Summer Solstice trip, Ursa Major was the mothership for an Alaska Department of Fish and Game Stellar Sea Lion research trip in southeast Alaska.  Over the course of the 16-day trip, we traveled to a wide variety of Stellar Sea Lion haulout and rookery sites, some of which were new to us, and very much off the beaten path of our usual cruising grounds amongst the beautiful islands of southeast Alaska.  It was an amazing trip for everyone!

 

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game crew!

The Charter Boat Ursa Major at Anchor in Red Bluff Bay - a Drone's Eye View

This was one of Josh's first drone flights in Alaska last summer at anchor in one of our favorite spots, Red Bluff Bay, on the eastern side of Baranof Island.  This side of Baranof Island is known as the "Waterfall Coast" because of all the year-round continuous falling water found there in the form of immense waterfalls and rivers.

Enjoy the video, and please feel free to share with all enthusiasts of the Ursa Major! 

The Waterfall Coast of Baranof Island

We just wrapped up a truly amazing trip to the Waterfall Coast of Baranof Island, and to Tracy Arm to view calving glaciers.  Our guests this week on Ursa Major were from New Zealand and Australia, and we enjoyed beautiful paddles, hikes, and hot springs.

Sawyer Glacier, Tracy Arm, Alaska with our guests Bev, Gordon, Shan, and Tony

 Takatz Bay, one of many beautiful anchorages on the Waterfall Coast of Baranof Island

 Paddling in Ushk Bay, Peril Straight, with Gordon and Bev

 Hiking in the Brothers Islands, Stevens Passage, on our trip last week

Petersburg, Alaska with Tony and Shan

Our return to Alaska aboard Ursa Major!

Our early May arrival in Alaska for our charter season allowed us to experience the best of the early summer here, including the Little Norway Festival in Petersburg, Alaska, and the Memorial Day celebrations in Sitka, Alaska.  Petersburg and Sitka are two of our favorite towns in southeast Alaska, and we utilize both towns our departure and arrival points for our charters.

 We made our Alaska landfall aboard Ursa Major in Ketchikan, Alaska

Little Norway Festival; May 14-17, 2015; Petersburg, Alaska

 

 Little Norway Festival; May 14-17, 2015; Petersburg, Alaska

 Little Norway Festival "Lop the Loop" 7K Run; May 14-17, 2015; Petersburg, Alaska

Little Norway Festival "Lop the Loop" 7K Run; May 14-17, 2015; Petersburg, Alaska

Sitka, Alaska this morning with Mt. Edgecombe in the background

Moto Guzzi Ride to the Olympic Peninsula

With rain (finally) in the forecast for Seattle, (following a very dry and warm winter), we decided to take the last two days before the rain returned to ride our Moto Guzzi motorcycles to the Olympic Peninsula.  I wanted to put some miles on my new bike, (a 2013 white V7 Stone 750), and Josh wanted to take his 2007 Griso 1100 for a non-Seattle ride (i.e. long stretches of open road with less city stop-go traffic).
 

Our first stop was the local Moto Guzzi store, (Moto International in Seattle), to pick up spare oil for the bikes, and the new license plate for my bike.  We cannot say enough good things about Moto International, as everyone there is always friendly and helpful with all things Moto Guzzi.
 

Next we headed to downtown Seattle to catch the Washington state ferry to Bremerton, on the Olympic peninsula.  One advantage of riding motorcycles in Washington is that motorcycles can always cut to the front of any ferry line, bypassing all cars in line.  This is especially handy on a sunny day when the ferry lines are notoriously long.   
 

After arriving in Bremerton, we headed north along the eastern side of the Olympic peninsula, past Poulsbo and Kingston, and crossed the infamous Hood Canal Bridge, one of the longest floating bridges in the world.  The view of the Olympic Mountains was spectacular, and it felt great to be cruising along on our Moto Guzzis in the warm weather!

Following the Hood Canal Bridge, we continued north along the Olympic Peninsula to Port Townsend, where we decided to spend the night and explore the small town on foot.   We stayed at the historic Waterstreet Hotel, a Victorian style hotel with quirky rooms, friendly owners, and motorcycle parking out front.

Port Townsend is rich in wooden boat history, so we took time to walk through the active shipyards in town.  The wooden vessel seen in the above and below photos is the Western Flyer, the vessel used by John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts in their infamous trip in Mexico's Sea of Cortez in the 1940s.  Their book, The Log from the Sea of Cortez, remains one of our favorite books, and to see their vessel in Port Townsend, being restored after sinking at least twice, was one of the highlights of our trip to the Olympic Peninsula.

To read about the restoration of the Western Flyer, please click HERE.  I cannot wait to see what she looks like a few years down the road.  Port Townsend is definitely the place for her right now!

Back aboard Ursa Major!

We are proud to announce that Ursa Major will be returning to Alaska in 2015 for our 15th season, and we have a BRAND NEW WEBSITE for Ursa Major Charters!  

Included in the new website is our updated 2015 SCHEDULE, as well as new information on our different types of trips available (Sea Kayaking Adventures, Wildlife and Photography, and Trawler Training) and new photo galleries.

Greetings from Alaska!

Josh and I are working aboard the M/V Alaskan Song in southeast Alaska this summer, and we frequently visit the Tracy Arm/Ford's Terror Wilderness Area, where this photo was taken recently.  Waterfalls galore!

Lisboa!!

¡FELIZ AÑO NUEVO 2014!

Viva la San Blas!

Josh and I flew down to Mexico for an 8-day visit to our sailboat Estrella, which we are keeping in historic San Blas, (a 3 hour drive from Puerto Vallarta).  While we were in town soaking up the sun and catching up with friends, we also took time to visit the local Spanish fort, and play on the beach.

New Motorcycle!

 It's that time of year.  This time, Emily got the new Moto Guzzi, a 2007 Nevada 750!

We've been out riding around Seattle, and now it's time retrieve Josh's Moto Guzzi Griso from San Diego.

Back in Seattle, and a Mount Rainier (Drive).

Josh and I are back in Seattle following a great charter season in Alaska working aboard M/V Ursa Major.  It reached 90 degrees here yesterday, so we headed to Mount Rainier National Park for a day of great hiking. 

2007 Moto Guzzi Griso

Nice day for a ride...

San Diego & Joshua Tree National Park

We are in San Diego for a couple of months restoring a sistership to M/V Ursa Major, the M/V Viking.  While not working aboard the M/V Viking, we spend our free time exploring San Diego and the surrounding area via Ford Focus and motorcycles.

The pier at nearby Ocean Beach is one of our favorite local spots with views of the incoming Pacific swell. 

We spent an afternoon at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.  Josh is seen here, steering the HMS Surprise, a replica of the 18th century Royal Navy Frigate Rose, used in the film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

The Star of India was docked next to the HMS Surprise and is the world's oldest active sailing ship.

Also at the Maritime Museum was the B-39, a diesel-electric Soviet era submarine.

The B-39 was commissioned in the early 1970s and was on active duty for twenty years, tracking U.S. and NATO warships worldwide. 

Last weekend, we drove to the high desert community of Morengo Valley to visit our good friend Alicia, and she was kind enough to give us a tour of nearby Joshua Tree National Park.

The park is a convergence zone for the higher altitude (and wetter) Mojave Desert and the lower altitude (and drier) Colorado Desert (part of the Sonoran Desert).

The Mojave Desert portion of Joshua Tree National Park features the Joshua tree, a member of the Agave family known for its slow growth (0.25 inches per year).

The Colorado Desert portion of the Joshua Tree National Park features the creosote bush (seen here in the foreground).  The closest relative to the creosote bush is found in the arid regions of Argentina.

Feliz Cumpleanos Josh!

We decided one day wasn't enough for Josh's birthday - we went for a birthday week instead.

The very beginning of the birthday celebration (the day of) at Billy Bob's Honky Tonk in San Blas, Mexico.

Some of the birthday loot Josh received.  Missing from the photo is a delicious smoked sailfish dinner (courtesy of our friends Glenda and Vick), a massing of Pacifico beer, and a late night pizza feed.

Prior to the birthday celebration in San Blas, Josh and I took a birthday week trip to the nearby city of Tepic, the capital of the state of Nayarit.  Here we are celebrating a minor mountain climb in Tepic after scaling the nearby Cerro de La Cruz.

The Cerro de La Cruz in Tepic is the home of a giant Jesus cross.  The cross is easily visible from downtown Tepic (up a small moutain), and the actual size is hard to gage in the above photo.

The view of Tepic from the Cerro de La Cruz - absolutely stunning.

Another view of Tepic from the top of the Cerro de La Cruz.  There is a paved road/sidewalk leading to the top and it is a popular climb for many in Tepic.

At the top of the Cerro de La Cruz, we also found a healthy dog population.  This particular dog had quite the overbite and was excited to see us.

The elevation at the base of the mountain is 3,000 feet above sea level.  We estimate we climbed another 1,000 feet to get this view of Tepic.

Another part of birthday week in Tepic was a visit to the newly reopened Museo Regional de Nayarit.  Most of the pre-Hispanic artifacts in the museo were from excavations close to Tepic.

As Tepic has expanded and a second hydroelectric dam was constructed nearby in the past decade, the museo has had to expand to house all the new artifacts uncovered.

 The majority of the artifacts have been put on display for the public.

An interesting, relatively new find has been an abundance of metal artifacts (as opposed to mostly clay structures).

Here are just some of the intricate metal pieces available for public viewing.  Much of what is available for viewing is still being studied by local historians for exact significance.

An older part of the museo contained photos of local, native Huichol celebrations and ceremonies.  Look for the man in the above photo with the giant clown nose and glasses on.  He popped up in a couple of photos.

Josh's birthday week started with a scooter ride with friends on the beach at Matanchen Bay, a few miles outside of San Blas.  Here we are racing an ice cream car with our friends Mark and Zaire.

After beach scootering, we stopped at the Ejido de la Palma Crocodile Farm.  Josh and I first visited the farm two years ago by panga (local boat).

The farm had undergone an extensive restoration since we last visited and it's hard to beat the value of this fantastic place ($1.00 per person).

Each adult crocodile pen contained one breeding pair.   There are also small heated pens for the baby and juvenile crocodiles.  A certain amount of adult crocodiles are released into the wild and the farm keeps enough adults to maintain the breeding pair population.

Pizza Sunday at Billy Bob's Honky Tonk.  Above is Billy Bob, Lori, Mike, and Charles.

In an unrelated photo, we saw this shrimper leaving the harbor before Christmas.  These vessels are shallow draft and we have seen them leave during very low tides without an issue.

We were also able to purchase a bootleg copy of "El Hobbit" on the beach one day for about $1.00.  And it actually worked, quite well, in Spanish!