(58 deg 20′ N, 164 deg 51′ W) Last night wasn’t as bad as forecasted. We had 15 – 20 kt from the SE instead of 20 kt from the NE. We continue to experience failures aboard Geraldine. Last night the blades from the defrost squirrel-cage blower broke off. Wow. I have never heard of that happening before – ever, but it did to us last night so we are without defrost. Fortunately, it is 55 degrees out so the need is not as great right now. In addition, the variable mechanical governor is still slow to respond even after elixirs were added to both the oil & diesel fuel in Nome. We hope to have it looked at in Dutch Harbor.

Today is Pat’s Birthday. He celebrated the first hour of his watch in bed! That was followed by a latte and singing of Happy Birthday (maybe that is why Geraldine is breaking… bad singing?) Kathy just called too which got him beaming.

We are currently about 275 miles north of Dutch Harbor. At our current rate we will arrive very late Sunday or early Monday. Please pray for favorable weather. We are exactly where the “World’s Deadliest Catch” was filmed. The entire Bering Sea seems to be 100′ deep – perfect for crabs but lousy for waves with a long fetch.

This morning Geraldine will have completed 6000 NM since departing Maine.

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We are now just between Nunivak Island (known for its reindeer herds – though we won’t see any with the fog and cloud cover) and Cape Vancouver in the Etolin Strait.  We have Southeast wind about 15 knots turning to Northwest tonight.  It is forecasted to be lousy through next Wednesday.  We are going to “run” for Dutch Harbor and try and stay in front of the worst – at least during the night.  All are doing fine.  Pat made another loaf of his now-famous bread – cracked wheat and rosemary – delicious!

10 PM update: It’s still daylight.  Seas are rough (59 deg 35′ N, 165 deg 19′ W).

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We are 75 miles south of Nome approaching the Yukon River Delta. This river is huge and the delta area looks like the Mississippi; all kinds of low islands, shallow sloughs, and spoil areas. It is also populated with several native villages. It would be great to explore in the daylight especially with local knowledge, but we need to make tracks. We departed Nome at 6:20 AM in the dark. What a new experience after all the daylight we have had. Sundown was about 10:30 PM last night so we have quite a bit of darkness now. Seas are varied and sloppy, up to 2 meters. Crew changes are hard. We are missing Kip. At the same time we are breaking in Ed; so far so good; he is doing great.

I called Walt from the San Jose Airport at 8:30 am and was glad to learn his cell was still working. They had left the dock in Nome at 6:30 ADT and were encountering two meter seas as they left the Norton Sea heading for the Bering Sea. The weather forecast was for two to three meter seas on Thursday with winds and seas calming Friday and Saturday. As Randy said, they are headed for the area where the World’s Deadliest Catch was filmed and have more than a thousand miles to go before the trip is finished.  We know that they will continue to sense God’s protection as we surround them in prayer.

Walt reported Pat’s culinary skills were a big hit with his beans and fresh baked bread!