Finally home, ready for Mexico.
Posted: October 25, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »The first two days were rough but the seas calmed right down by the time we were south of Oregon.
We arrived into San Diego on the 21st of October.
The crew is anxious to have some much needed time off and the boat is looking forward to some extensive TLC.
Next Stop Mexico…
Glaciers and last minute stops
Posted: October 19, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: glacier bay, juneau, ketchikan, san diego, tracey arm 2 Comments »We cruised through Glacier Bay and into Juneau. We definitely arrived late in the season. We are the only yacht or cruise ship here. It’s nice to walk the shops in Juneau without having all the crowds. The stores were happy to see some last minute crew spending some money.
We left Juneau on the 5th of October and started to cruise south the Ketchikan. Our first stop was Tracey Arm. The fog was thick as we approached the entrance. We were nervous because this was our only day to experience the arm. Five minutes up, the fog decided to lift. The sun came out and the conditions were perfect. The ice was super concentrated but we pushed our way all the way to north Sawyer. We were moving chunks bigger than Volkswagens. It has been 6 years since I’ve been to Tracey Arm and it was scary to see how far the glacier has receded. We drove almost half a mile off our electronic chart to get close to the glacier. A massive chunk fell off the glacier and sent a 6ft swell throughout the bay. It was unbelievable. A few brave souls jump in the freezing water and Charlie paddled his way out through the ice. We had an amazing day.
We steamed over night to arrive in Petersburg the next morning in order to meet our pilot to take us through the Wrangle Narrows. The fog was super thick so we needed to wait for an hour in order for the float plane to land. Once we got through the narrows, we headed straight for Annan National park. The weather was stunning and we took a beautiful walk through the forest.
We arrived late that night into Ketchikan. Once again we were the only boat in town. A few of the shops were closed but all the locally owned stores stay open. They’re the best shops for any type of authentic art or souvenirs.
We departed Ketchikan on the 10th to head south to San Diego. The weather had a different idea and we ended up pulling over in Seattle.
We spent two nights in Seattle. It’s always a great stop on the west coast.
Looks like the weather will be slowing down a little bit and we should be able to squeeze through some fronts on the 15th.
Next Stop San Diego.
Sea Creatures
Posted: October 9, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 1 Comment »We decided to do one last night at anchor in Kodiak before heading across the gulf. It ended up being an awesome decision.
Sea Otter. Photo taken by Michael Power.
We cruised around the east side of the island and found a massive group of sea otters. They were super curious and a couple of them swam right up to the boat.
A few hours later we spotted some whales about 5 miles away from the boat. None of us have ever seen such big sprays. Fortrus drifted around for a while as the whales came closer. They were enormous. One decided to say hello by surfacing just a few feet off the bow. They were Blue Whales and absolutely incredible.
We are half way across the gulf right now and should be arriving in Glacier Bay tomorrow.
Let’s hope that our experience over in the southeast is as amazing as our time in Kodiak.
Group of Sea Otters. Photo taken by Paul McDonald.
Whales. Photo taken by Erik Aubry.
Whale. Photo taken by Eric Aubry.
Deadliest Catch and Fortrus
Posted: October 1, 2012 Filed under: Port of Call | Tags: deadliest catch, FORTRUS, kodiak, sea lion, seafood bbq 2 Comments »We made it past Dutch but we didn’t end up making it all the way to Juneau. We pulled into Kodiak, Alaska and are waiting for the weather to break in the gulf before we cross.
Crew of the m/y Fortrus on the Cornelia Marie. Photo by Natasha Kovalenko.
Fortrus pulled into the second largest fishing harbor in America. We docked beside the Cornelia Marie from the Deadliest Catch. The Time Bandit is out of the water with the hopes of being splashed next week. Fortrus and the rest of the crews ended up meeting out one night. Tony Lara, the captain of the Cornelia Marie has been a huge help. Paul and the crew invited Tony on board for dinner and he returned the favor by having us and bunch of fisherman over to his place for a seafood BBQ. We had a great time and everybody here in Kodiak have been awesome.
On deck with Captain Tony aboard the m/v Cornelia Marie. Photo by Natasha Kovalenko.
Tony gave us all a great tour of the Cornelia. It’s an amazing fishing machine.
Captain Tony Lara of the m/v Cornelia Marie giving some fishing pointers.
Hanging in the mess of the m/v Cornelia Marie.
We’ve seen sea otters, whales and we’ve been getting way too close to some sea lions.
Swimming sea lion. Photo by Natasha Kovalenko
Sea otter. Photo by Natasha Kovalenko.
Fortrus has had a great time in Kodiak and will be bummed to leave the island life.
Sea lion. Photo by Michael Power.
Fortrus with the fleet in Kodiak. Photo by Paul McDonald.
Contractors, vendors and people that helped Fortrus get through the NW passage.
Posted: September 24, 2012 Filed under: super yacht, Supplies, trip 1 Comment »
A&R Engineering: Metal works, design, welding and powder coating
N&G Engineering: Main Engines and Generators
Décor Modern Metals: Metal works, design, welding and pipe work
Hull Technologies: Welding and Modifications
Premier Marine (Halifax): Canadian Agent
Blue Water Shipping: Greenland Agent
Alaska Yacht Services: Alaska Agent
Steve Hubbart: Captain M/Y Indigo
Pemba Marine: Paint and Varnish
Saltwater Boat Works: Carpentry and design
Dennis Boat Works: Carpentry and design
Island Marine Electronics: Nav equipment and overall electrical work
Cote Marine: Electrical work
GBR Marine: Atlas Tech
ABT TRAC: Justine Rhodes
ION: VSAT internet service provider
Paradise Marine: Electronics
Maritime Summit Shop: Sarah (cold weather gear)
Seven Seas Yachts: Scout dealer
Andrew Lebuhn: Broker (Camper and Nicholson)
Kardinal Marine: Management
Murray and Associates: Naval Architects
Pete’s frootique: Halifax
Newson Provisioning: Beth and Brian Fresh fruit and veg
Marc Jackson
Streamline Computing: All I.T. and A.V. work done on Fortrus
The whole team
Amanzi Marine: Yacht provisioning, fueling and overall planning
Blog design and hosting.
As the Captain of Fortrus, I recommend all the above people or vendors.
Thanks for helping to make this trip a success,
Captain Scott Newson
We completed the Northwest Passage!
Posted: September 20, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 6 Comments »
Powering thru the waves.
Dragging the Scout thru heavy seas.
Cambridge Bay
Posted: September 10, 2012 Filed under: Port of Call, Uncategorized, voyage | Tags: artic char, cambridge bay, FORTRUS, muskox, quads, tracking fortrus, weasel 3 Comments »Due to some weather, we decided to stay in Cambridge Bay for a few extra days. Levi and Charlie took the guests fishing up a fresh watercreek. They pulled in some good fish and had a great time. They met a retired local named Jimmy and made arrangements to meet up with him the next day.
Quads alongside Fortrus. Photo by Stephen McDonald.
Photo by Stephen McDonald.
Jimmy came by the boat and took us to meet his sister and brother in-law who rented us some quads and a truck. We followed Jimmy up to Mount Pelee. The weather was fantastic and the ride was super fun. A few of us ran up the mountain and Jacob spotted a small herd of Muskox. Steve got some amazing video of the herd running strait down at him. We were lucky enough to get some great pictures right up close to these wild creatures. Amazing… On the way back we found a weasel and also pulled in some Arctic Char with Jimmy.
Muskox. Photo by Michael Power.
Photo by Michael Power.
The people of Cambridge Bay have been very helpful and Fortrus is now fully provisioned for the next leg of it’s journey. We tried to fuel while we were here but due to ice the town’s delivery of winter fuel is late and they can’t afford to deplete their supplies any more.
Weasel. Photo by Michael Power.
We all had a very memorable time in Cambridge Bay….
Next Stop, Tuktoyaktuk.
Trick photography! Photo by Michael Power.
