2017 Expedition to the Northern Edge

In the spirit of Expeditions from a previous era, the trusty crew from S.V. SEEKER is undertaking a Spring Expedition to the north-western edge of the Continental USA. The objective is to gather skilled and like minded sailors aboard SEEKER and a companion vessel ONWARD, then undertake a sailing voyage to Patos Island, and explore the chain of islands along the US/Canadian border. The primary guideline of the expedition: Sail the boat(s)!

SEEKER arrives Home

SEEKER arrived home to a wonderful welcome at Shilshole Bay Marina, friends and family arrived to greet the crew, which included a welcoming boat at the entrance. After over 5000 ocean miles SEEKER has completed the journey with all hands arriving home safe and sound, with nothing broken on the boat, and all systems up and running. This is a excellent testament to the skill of the crew and thoughtful preparation of the boat. It has been a joy and fulfillment of a lifelong dream to have completed this voyage, and a huge thank you goes out to Andrew, Gary, Gordon and Lauren for their outstanding job as crew, and to all of our families and friends who have sent their love, support, interest and encouragement. We wish you all the spirit of Aloha, and of adventure in life. The ocean is vast and crossing it with good friends on a small boat is a reminder of our own vulnerabilities as well as our strengths as people, as friends, and as sailors. My compliments to the crew of SEEKER. You have each demonstrated your skills and seamanship as sailors. It is an honor to have shared this journey with you and I look forward to crossing many more horizons with each of you in the future.

Mahalo to all

Ken Greff, Skipper
S.V. SEEKER

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Seeker cleared cape flattery just after 0100 the morning of August 17, and suddenly the fog was broken by the headlands of the cape and the lights of neah bay came out. And the wind died, so we motored most of the way to Port Angeles, where we went ashore at about 1430. After a delightful night of dining, visiting, and relaxing, we took off at 0600 the next morning and made Shilshole bay by 1730, where we were serenaded into the docks.

Seeker Out

one last night on the open ocean in the fog

Seeker is still fogbound, after some partial clearing today, visibility dropped back down to about 1/4 mile. But we have radar and the winds are favourable and we have only 175 miles to Cape Flattery.

Seeker Out
47°58.5'N
129°02.9'W

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Getting close

Winds have gone light as seeker approaches a ridge of high pressure that is parked off the coast. We have decided to motor through the night, using about a third of our remaining fuel, but it should get us to the northwesterlies on the other side of the ridge. Which should, in turn, carry us to Cape Flattery and beyond!

Meanwhile, we've found that our radar does indeed work, when we spotted a freighter this evening 7 miles off. A brief radio exchange revealed that he had already spotted us and plotted a course to miss us by 3.6 miles. Glad we're not the only ones watching out in this fog.

Seeker out
47°09.8'N
132°07.7'W

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Fog

They say that this is a big ocean, but the sailor would never know, having never seen more than 2 miles of it at any time. Amd with current atmospheric conditions, our world has shrunk even smaller to about 100 yards right now. Our radar seems to suggest that there is open ocean beyond the wall of grey, but it is rather unconvincing.

We are sailing along well under somewhat lighter conditions, winds have eased and come forward to the south at 12 kts, we are sailing NExE at about 6, plus a half knot of current. We are currently at:

46°22.3'N
134°26.9'W

Seeker out.

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favourable winds continue

Seeker still has favourable winds today, with15-20 kts on our quarter as we reach along at about 7kts toward Cape Flattery, less than 600 miles ENE. A little bit of drizzle now as the next front approaches, and where a couple of days ago the crew were trying socks again for the first time, now it's fleece and foulies.

Seeker Out

44°47.9'N
138°02.8'W

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In Between Gales and Headed For Home

Seeker saw about 30 minutes worth of a gale yesterday morning, which delivered about an inch of rain, and today we've been cruising along in decent breeze following the passage of the front. The big storm that they've been calling for in all the forecasts should reach us tomorrow night or wednesday. Or, at least the very edge of it might reach us and give us a little bit more wind than we have right now, but most of the storm is going to pass north and west of us.

Seeker Out
43°31.4'N
141°22.8'W

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oops

Forgot to post last night, we're making good progress with west-southwesterlies, and we're heading straight for home. Last nights position would have been:

42°32.4'N
144°38.5'W

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Movin' right along

Good prefrontal southwesterlies today, Seeker was averaging 7 kts for the better part of the day. A system is likely to pass over us tonight, but the one we have our eyes on is still developing off the aleutians. The 96 hr forecast is showing a 975 mb low tracking along 50° N, with gale force winds stretching down below 45°, hence the easting that we're putting on to avoid it.

41°32.1'N
148°09.2'W

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