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Starlink Crapped Out!

Hey everyone,

We are going to be offline for a bit as our Starlink Crapped out.  We are in a little cove, hunkered down in a storm, trying to connect to our neighbour's starlink to get this message out.

First - sorry for not getting the Wheelhouse Weekly out.

Second - I will try hard to figure out how to get the refit video up - it's a good one this week - but it probably won't be early.  When it's up - I'll schedule it right away for release.

We will be in this bay, Devilfish Bay, for a couple of days as it is dark red/black right above us on all the weather apps however our anchor is holding strong.  Poor Maggie isn't even getting to shore!!

Take care everyone - and please don't worry.

Thank you for your support,

Blaine and Janis

PS...we have some AMAZING news coming up in the next few weeks and I promise you, our online crew, will be the first to know!

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Early Access – Exploring One of Canada’s Oldest Ghost Towns

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Halibut, Hole in the Wall & a Gale (of course)

This week on the Great Siberian Sushi Run, we’ve been working our way up the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. We stopped in Hydaburg, the largest Haida town in the U.S., and Craig, where Tangaroa was once registered when she was called Windbarker.

Our favorite stop so far? A tucked-away anchorage called Hole in the Wall on the west side of Dall Island off Diver’s Bay. It took some effort (and cost us one bowl along the way), but it was worth it.

We did some hardcore beachcombing and came away with two big bags of Japanese plastic bottles and one perfectly good stainless-steel thermos — which was funny, since we’d just said that morning we needed one onboard.

We dropped a few lines too. Hooked a halibut right off the bow, but couldn’t figure out how to land it with a 9-foot freeboard. It flipped off and took off before we could grab it. I would’ve used my net… but it blew away in one of the last storms. Go figure.

We caught a few rockfish and used a descender for the first time — a small device that returns deep-water fish back to the bottom safely, preventing the pressure damage they’d get if you just tossed them overboard.

On the boat side, the engines are running great, fuel burn is still under 5 gallons an hour, and Blaine finally wired up the windshield wipers with both fast and slow speeds. It’s the little wins that make this life easier.

And as I’m writing this — a Gale Warning just popped up on the screen. Because, of course it did. Welcome to Alaska.

Only four days left to grab your 15% off Tangaroa hats and toques for Hat Month! Use code HAPPYHATS15 at checkout on onboardtangaroa.com.

See you this weekend

Blaine and Janis

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Early Access: Should We Save Our $10,000 Teak Deck?

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11:13

Wheelhouse Weekly – Riding Out Alaska’s October Seas

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Early Access: Namu’s Industrial Ghost Town + Storm Update

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Weather Windows, Time Zero & Hat Month

It’s officially that time of year — the winds are up, the temperatures are down, and we’re watching the weather like hawks.

We’re partway around Prince of Wales Island in Alaska, and winter’s here to stay. Over the next couple of nights, we’re expecting 50 knots plus of wind, so we’re not moving an inch. The plan: stay tucked into a protected anchorage and ride it out.

We rely heavily on Time Zero for everything this time of year — tracking systems, predicting wind shifts, checking currents, and choosing routes. In the screenshots, that dark red zone means “don’t even think about it.” Thankfully, you can see where we are — right where the map is calm and green.

Being stuck isn’t all bad. I’m catching up on editing and emails, Blaine’s checking over systems, and Maggie’s just happy we’re not bouncing around.

We’ll be going live on Thursday at 5 pm PST on both YouTube and Facebook, so join us if you can — it’s always a good hangout.

And don’t forget — October is Hat Month!
We’ve got 15% off all our new Tangaroa hats (baseball, trucker, and toques/beanies) when you use the code HAPPYHATS15 at checkout.

Stay warm out there,
Blaine and Janis

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Five Winters with the “World’s Best” Diesel Heater??

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Wheelhouse Weekly – Fixing Power, Finding the Past

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Exploring a Hidden Quarry… and a Tunnel We Had to Walk Through

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