After 13 years packed with amazing adventures (and occasional moments of outright terror), we have decided that it is time for us to move on. We are selling the Gyrfalcon, and will be looking for a smaller boat that will be easier for 2 senior citizens to handle. As you know, the Gyrfalcon has undergone…
For the past 12 years, we have had 5 grey painted plywood hatches along with 2 fir hatches in our stateroom. At some point, there must have been either fir hatches that got replaced, or a fir floor that was cut up for renovations and replaced with ply. Mostly the hatches are covered up…
One of the best parts about Alaska was the wildlife. Thanks to our guests Glenn, Vicki, Sean, Colleen, John, and Ellyn for sharing their photos…at times, we’re too busy with captaining and hosting to shoot photos. This blog will be about marine and terrestrial mammals. Whales and dolphins The whales were amazing. We saw mostly…
It doesn’t seem like a year since we posted last on the blog. So much has happened in the world, and with us. We’ll get to boat updates later. Our biggest news is that we are taking the Gyrfalcon to Alaska in a few weeks. Peter has fully retired and Nancy is taking a leave…
2016 to 2018 were busy years. In the beginning of 2017, Nancy returned full time to Seattle after working in South San Francisco for 2 years. Before her return, we managed to get in a few boat projects between round trips to/from SFO/SEA, but not as many as we wanted. There are always unfinished projects…
Life is never dull on a boat. Our friends Andy, Joellen and Katie Hathaway have been staying on the Gyr while their boat, Twin Isles is on the hard in Port Townsend. Before they arrived, we arranged to have the holding tank for the guest head pumped. For those of you who live on the…
Water in the forward bilges We have 14 bilge pumps on the Gyrfalcon. In each of the largest compartments, there are 2 pumps deep in the bilge and a larger emergency pump above them in case the primary pumps are overwhelmed. Last winter, we noticed that the pump in the forward bilge was working quite…
Note: This is a long post about our extended time on the hard in Port Townsend from January to May 2015. We have divided it into two parts. If you hang around wooden boats long enough, you get to learn a lot of new terminology. This year’s major new word was Delignification, defined as “removal…
We are pleased to announce that Nancy has successfully completed the coursework and examination for her Coast Guard Captain’s license, and is to henceforth be addressed as “Sir”, or is it “Madam”? I’m not suggesting that this has gone to her head, but as you can see from the photo, it is fairly clear who…
We had our first overnight guests last week. My daughter Emily, her husband Jeremy, and their friend Nataly came to Seattle for a week. We had been using their visit as a hard deadline for some of our projects inside the boat. We have been staging the painting in the various staterooms. Our stateroom is…
