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Alaskan Sailing Adventure
Alaskan Sailing Adventure
Alaskan Sailing Adventure
Ebook211 pages3 hours

Alaskan Sailing Adventure

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Four teenage cousins have worked and studied for two years preparing for an "Outward Bound" type sailing adventure in Alaska. They expect to see the scenery of Kenai Fiords National Park and do some fishing. Their captain has far greater plans for them and expects them to become sailors capable of surviving on their own. Their skills develop quickly and they even get to experience blue water sailing with the challenge of taking watch at night in the vastness of the ocean. They learn their own strengths and more importantly the need to work together. With the captain's life at stake the boys must use everything they have learned to save him.

This work of fiction is based on the authors 30 years of sailing and fishing in Alaska. All of the adventures are real but times, names and places were changed as needed for story continuity. The Sea Shanty was the boat I built out for my own long dreamed of cruise to Alaska. She is a rugged good sailing vessel.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 28, 2017
ISBN9781370275564
Alaskan Sailing Adventure
Author

Charles Kaluza

I am a retired ENT, Head and Neck Surgeon with a love of Science Fiction. The science and medicine in my books is based on reality with some room for growth.I was forced to retire because of medical problems but still enjoy life with a little fishing, flying and sailing to supplement the joy of my wife, children and grandchildren.

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    Alaskan Sailing Adventure - Charles Kaluza

    Alaskan Sailing Adventure

    Charles Kaluza

    Philip Kaluza

    Copyright 2017

    Smashwords, License Notes

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

    Forward

    This work of fiction is based on the authors 30 years of experiences sailing and fishing in Alaskan waters. All of the adventures are real. Times, names and places were changed as needed for story continuity. The major glacial calving and rock slide which produced the tsunami are historical. This project was started to share my love of the wilderness with my grandchildren. As my brother, Phil, began to contribute his stories it turned into an adventure book.

    Sea Shanty was the boat that I built-out for my, long dreamed of journey to Alaska from Oregon. She is a rugged, good sailing vessel and carried me safely to Alaska and back.

    This book is dedicated to those who taught me to love and respect the wilderness.

    If you have comments or suggestions, please contact me at: DocKaluza@gmail.com or https://www.facebook.com/doc.kaluza/timeline/

    Day 1

    The two tall teenage boys with their oversized backpacks stood yet again at the Lufthansa terminal, in the Anchorage airport, to check on the arrival of the flight from Germany. The desk lady smiled at them and before they could even ask about the arrival of their cousins, she said, The plane has landed, but the passengers still need to go through immigration and customs.

    Quinn, the younger of the two, said, I hope they hurry up because we don’t want to miss our train.

    The lady looked at the clock and said, They should make it in time. Did they check any luggage?

    Kade answered, No, they just have backpacks like us. The rules said only one backpack per person on the boat.

    Let me call the train and tell them you are waiting for your cousins. Maybe they can wait a few minutes for them.

    Kade spoke for both of the brothers saying, Thanks as they wandered off towards the international waiting area. He asked Quinn, Do you want to go look at the brown bear again?

    No. I’ve seen enough dead animals for now, they are everywhere in this airport. Let’s get something to eat.

    Quinn, you have already had three ice cream cones.

    But I’m hungry.

    Remember we promised mom we would eat right. How about we get a hamburger?

    How about we get a hamburger and an ice cream cone?

    Kade responded, "OK, but then we need to get back to the waiting area. We don’t want to miss Johnathan and Mikey.

    People were streaming out of the customs and immigration area but nowhere were Johnathan and Mikey to be seen. At least a couple hundred people came out before Quinn spotted their cousins. They barely said hi to one another and Kade was leading them on a wild run through the airport terminal to the waiting area for the train. As they exited the terminal building, Kade turned to the left, and Quinn yelled, That’s the wrong way! Kade turned around and headed to the train terminal. The conductor was looking at his watch and pacing back and forth as the boys ran up.

    They were motioned aboard and did not even have time to find seats before the door closed and the train started to move. The train car was only about ¾ full and they found four seats together. They stowed their back packs in the luggage rack and finally had a chance to visit. The train was passing through the older area of Anchorage and there was not much to look at…it looked pretty much like any other city. Only when the train finally turned to follow the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet did their world change. The train tracks were wedged against the ocean on their right and a massive cliff on their left. Kade and Mikey had their noses pressed against the windows on the cliff side looking for moose or maybe even a bear. Johnathan and Quinn were on the opposite side staring at the ocean looking for signs of a whale. Quinn asked Johnathan, What do these Beluga whales look like?

    Johnathan replied, They are not real big but they are all white. The book says you usually see the spout first and then the top of the whale as it dives. They are supposed to be pretty rare.

    Their conversation was interrupted when Mikey called out, Look at the mountain goats on the cliff!

    All Johnathan could see were some white spots on the cliff until Mikey handed him the binoculars. Sure enough, there were white animals walking on an invisible ledge along the face of the cliff. Johnathan said, They are not mountain goats. Those are Dall sheep. Kade spoke for them all when he said, No way would I try and cross that cliff. How do they keep from falling off?

    The train was traveling fast enough that the sheep were soon left behind and the search for wildlife resumed. Mikey reminded Johnathan that they were supposed to call home. Johnathan pulled out his cellphone but had no service. He said, No way to call, but I can use the ‘Spot Locator’ to tell them where we are and that we are fine. Johnathan dug through his backpack and pulled out the emergency locator. It needed exposure to the southern sky so he activated it with the OK button which would relay their position and satisfactory status from the satellite back to their mom and dad. He carefully set it on the edge of the window facing south and checked his watch because the unit needed to be on for 30 minutes to insure the satellite was in position to receive the signal.

    As the train travelled through the wilderness the boys did not say much because they were so busy looking at the world around them. They must have crossed the mountain range because the land to the left flattened out and the ocean to the right was mostly a mud flat. Kade was sure they would see a moose now that there were more areas of swamp but if they were out there they were well hidden. The train began to slow as they pulled into the station at Portage. It was not a town, just a place where they re-arranged the cars with about half the cars going through the long tunnel to the port of Whittier and the others continuing on to Seward. It seemed to take forever before the train began to move again. Most of the people who were in their car got off to continue on to Whittier and their cruise ship. Other people got on to join them for the train ride over the mountains to Seward.

    Johnathan checked his watch and it had been over 30 minutes so he went to retrieve the Spot locator. It was gone. The four boys searched everywhere in the train car for the unit asking people to stand up so they could look under the seats. Their emergency locator was gone. Mikey said, Someone must have thought it was forgotten and maybe turned it in at the lost and found.

    When the conductor came through they asked him about the unit. He replied, Nobody turned anything in to me. Maybe it will show up. Are you sure you didn’t already put it back in your pack?

    Johnathan replied, I’m sure, but I will check again.

    Kade tried to calm everyone down by saying, We are going out with a professional. Why do we even need the locator? He will have radios onboard and grandpa has known him for 40 years and says he is the best.

    The conductor pointed to all of the dead trees and said, This was a forest before the big earthquake. The ground sank so much that the ocean flooded the area and killed all the trees.

    The dead trees went on for miles and the force that lowered the land so catastrophically just did not seem real to the cousins. How could a whole forest sink enough that the ocean swallowed it. The train was working hard now as it began ascending the mountains. The trees were left behind as they climbed above the tree line into the tundra. At times, it seemed as if you could see forever and at other times the cliffs closed in. Snow and ice were still covering all of the higher areas. Johnathan said, It is the middle of June and there is still all of this ice and snow. Quinn replied, Could you believe all the snow and ice we flew over and it is summertime. It was worth the trip just to see all those glaciers from the airplane.

    The pass they were travelling through finally began to open up and off in the distance they could see some lakes. Mikey was excited because of the turquois color of the water and did not really listen to Johnathan’s explanation of glacial runoff producing the color. The color varied in intensity and at the upper end of the lake where the stream entered it produced a pattern of swirls. The sketch pad was opened as Mikey tried to capture the flow of the color pattern. The other cousins continued their search for a moose. Quinn got excited as he pointed to a brown something off in the distance. When Johnathan used his binoculars, he said, That is not a moose. It’s a bear, a big bear. Now they all wanted to use the binoculars just to confirm that Johnathan was right.

    The train began its downhill run into Seward and a few houses were visible in the distance. They gave up on seeing a moose as the train began to slow at the edge of town. To the left was a swampy area and right next to the tracks stood a bull moose with seaweed hanging from its antlers. The moose dipped its head below the water and then came up with a face full of seaweed that it casually munched down. High fives all around.

    As the train pulled into Seward the boys put on their backpacks and checked the area to make sure they did not leave anything else behind. It was several blocks to the marina from the train station and as they were walking by some old railroad cars the smell of barbecue was unmistakable. Quinn said, I think we should stop and get something to eat.

    Kade disagreed saying they were supposed to be at the boat in less than an hour. Johnathan pointed out that the marina was only a few blocks away and some food would be nice. A vote was taken and food won out. They climbed the old steel steps into the old railroad passenger car and the smell of barbecue almost overwhelmed them as they opened the door. Inside was a modern little diner hidden in the old rusty railcar. A nice lady who seemed at least as old as their grandma took their order. When Kade said, they were in a bit of a hurry she said, Things move slower here in Seward. If you are in a hurry maybe it would be best if you chose the pulled pork sandwiches.

    They all agreed and fairly quickly the food arrived. Kade mostly inhaled his food but Johnathan and Mikey took the time to cut their sandwiches into bite size pieces before eating. Kade was getting antsy about the time and as soon as Johnathan had swallowed his last bite they got up and paid their bill. A quick Thank you and the boys were out the door headed to the marina. It took a few minutes to find J dock and they made their way down the ramp and onto the dock. The air smelled like fish and the water had a milky color. There were boats everywhere in the harbor: large cruise ships, fishing boats, charter boats as well as every shape and size of power and sail boat you could imagine. They were looking for slip #39 and as they approached it they saw an immaculate sail boat that had to be 60 feet long. Quinn asked, Is that our boat?

    Nobody said anything as they looked at the layout of the sail boat with a fancy power boat hanging from the back of the boat and the kayaks stored up front. As they were staring at the boat a man stepped out from behind the power boat wearing jeans, an orange plaid shirt and rubber boots. He said, About time you four showed up. He was a small man, shorter than any of the cousins, with a bit of a pot belly hanging over his belt. The red hair poking out from under the old ball cap was unruly and had grey around the edges. His skin was leather like and red from so much exposure to the sea. The boys looked back at the boat and at this grizzled Captain because the two did not seem to fit. The man saw their looks and said, These plastic boats sure are pretty. Not much use up here in Alaska. Too many things around to break them.

    The boys did not know what to say and the man waved them around the big boat. He pointed to his boat. Big letters on the back said, Sea Shanty and he said, Here is my boat. She is made of steel with a skeg protecting the prop. Not as pretty but much tougher and we have been exploring these waters together for the past 20 years or so.

    The boys looked at the boat which had areas of peeling paint and rust. It had a single mast with two sails in front and the main sail in the back. It did look Alaskan but seemed old and small compared to the fancy boat next to it. The Captain said, Climb aboard and store your packs below. We need to go over a few things before we shove off.

    The boys did as they were told but Quinn had no sooner started down the companionway stairs when the Captain was yelling at him, Turn around and go down backwards. It’s a ladder not a stairway.

    Quinn wasn’t sure why he was in trouble but did as he was told. When they climbed back up on deck the Captain started in. I see that you all passed the written qualifications but none of you have actually sailed. You have a lot to learn in less than two weeks and you had better pay attention. With barely a breath he continued, A few safety rules. First is one hand for you, one hand for the boat. Whenever you are topside you need to be able to grab onto something at all times. He demonstrated what he meant before going on to rule number two. You always go through the hatch backwards. If you don’t and a wave hits the boat, your feet will slip and you will be thrown head first into the galley. If you go down backwards, you might get a bloody nose and a skinned knee but avoid a broken head.

    He actually stopped for a breath before saying, The first one who says right or left, or front and back instead of the nautical terms gets to do dishes that day.

    Johnathan asked, What if nobody says those words?

    The Captain actually smiled as he replied, Then I do the dishes.

    Mikey asked, "Why are the words so important?

    The Captain had Mikey face the bow of the boat and asked him which side was left and Mikey pointed to the port side. He then had Mikey face aft and asked him which side was left. Mikey started to point to his left and then said, Left and right change but port and starboard stay the same.

    The safety lecture went on for another half hour with little time for questions. He closed by saying, My name is John Cook. You can call me Captain, Captain Cook, or Sir.

    When he was finally done, Mikey asked, When to we depart?

    The Captain looked at the sun and surveyed the sky before saying, We sail in 15 minutes. If you land lubbers can get going, we might be able to make Pony Cove before dark. The Captain entered the enclosed cockpit and turned on a bunch of switches. He pressed the starter button and the diesel engine coughed and sputtered to life exhaling a black plume of smoke. He ordered the boys to don their life jackets and to prepare for cast off. Mikey asked Kade, How do we prepare for cast off and why does the engine smoke so much?

    Captain Cook overheard the question and answered, Diesel engines always smoke some until they are warmed up. This engine is getting a little tired so might smoke a bit more than normal. It will clear up in 5-10 minutes. He then began to shout orders, Johnathan, you need to attend the bow line and Mikey, you need to stand by the stern line. Kade, you must return to the dock and loosen the lines leaving a single loop over the cleat and throwing the free end aboard. Those attending the lines must keep tension on them until I say to release them.

    Quinn asked, What am I going to do?

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