Trip Report: Aiviq on the Inside Passage

Jim (Alvig)-

What did you do once you arrived at Whittier on the ferry with the boat on the trailer?

Ship it back to Washington?

Leave it in Whittier for later use on Prince William Sound?

Trail the boat on the trailer through the R.R. / Highway tunnel to Anchorage for storage to use later?

What are your future plans, or have you gotten that far yet?

Are you planning to retire in the Northwest down the road?

Certainly raises some very interesting questions about folks ability to make adjustments to dramatic climatic and environmental changes during their lives!

Thanks again! Joe.
 
And how do you pronounce "Aiviq" anyway? In my mind I am saying "Eye-Vick" - is that close?
 
Pat,

Take a look at http://www.alaskool.org/Language/dictio ... ionary.htm

It has a pretty good explanation on the pronunciations.

ai is pronounced like "ie" in "pie" and ia is pronounced like "ea" in "area" in North Alaska dialect. In Kobuk River dialect, they are pronounced alike, as in "air".
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and
i is pronounced like "i " in "police". Next to b and q it sounds like "i " as in "tin".
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Looking at that I get "eye" + "veek"
 
What did you do once you arrived at Whittier on the ferry with the boat on the trailer?
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I'm originally from Anchorage, and now own a house in Seward. When I arrived in Whittier, my dad met me with a pickup to haul the boat off of the ferry. We towed it to Seward for some fishing in Resurrection Bay. The boat is now back in Anchorage in my sisters back yard. My plan is to use it in Prince William Sound, Seward, and maybe trips as far as Katchemak Bay when I'm in Alaska for home leaves and R&Rs. I'll eventually retire in Seward. Some people question the economic viability of owning a boat in Alaska while living in Africa (my wife is one of them). but my rationalization (or delusion - take your pick) is that if I can average 2 weeks of vacation time every summer in Alaska, and spend most or all of it on the boat, I'll get an average of 14 days of a year of use out of it, which is probably not that far from the amount of time most working people spend on their boats. And I think the 2 weeks average in Alaska is conservative. There will be years when I won't get there at all, but on years when I have home leave, I can always get at least 4 weeks, and sometimes as much as 6 weeks off. The main fly in this ointment is that my wife is unlikely to buy into it. I'm hoping we can reach some compromise where she spends a few days on the boat, and the rest of the time in Anchorage, while I do visa versa.

And how do you pronounce "Aiviq" anyway?
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The word Aiviq means walrus in both Inupiaq and Yupik, and Gary is correct that pronunciations vary across the vast regions where those languages are spoken. I first came across the word in Kivalina, near Kotzebue more than 20 years ago, and my recollection (and the way I pronounce it) is with the ai pronounced like that in "air", and viq pronounced like "vick" (although "veek" is probably closer to the correct pronunciation). I recently saw a post from a C-Brats member in Kotzebue. Maybe he can correct my pronunciation.

Jim
 
Thanks for the info Jim! BTW: How do you like the extra power from the new motor? Does it offset the extra weight? I know you said you had trim problems but what is your overall feelings on the motor?

I have to figure out what I'm going to do to repower my 27'. Right now I'm leaning towards a new long block but I might see if I can pry loose a few more boat bucks and get a new fuel injected motor.

BTW: I talked with Gene formerly from C-Dory at the Boats Afloat show and he said that he had built 10 of the 12 27s. So you and I have very rare boats!
 
The boat was underpowered with 130 hp, and it clearly does better with 190. I probably need to work on finding a better prop than the stock one I have on it now. I do get a bit of water coming in through the scuppers now, but not to bad. If I'd been able to repower in a time and place of my own choosing, I would have given strong consideration to outboards on a bracket ala Haliey's (sp?) commet (although probably not as big as he used), but overall I'm very satisfied with the performance of the boat.

Jim
 
Great story and even with all the problems a great trip. I do have say that your brother would have ended up swimming to port after letting you hit that log, but I would not have to explain his absence to your mom so I understand why you did not water test the boy.
 
I've read and reread this story to check my reaction to it. I admire the vision to tackle the Inside Passage, but to take a inexperienced young family (passengers really) into this type of undertaking with no additional crew for backup seems a very big risk to me. Even the brother seemed better suited to enjoying a boat ride than sharing any responsibility for the safety of the boat. Preparation and caution all seem to have been sacrificed for the sake of doing "the trip of a lifetime". I feel this is a cautionary story, but then, I guess we all have our own comfort level.

Ron B.
 
Jim,

Thanks for the info on the 190. I've got the Volvo AQ175 V6 in mine and when I change the motor I was thinking of putting in the 190hp version. I've also seriously thought about putting in a Kodiak Jet with a 275 hp V8. If I could get the better half to release the boat bucks for the jet I would do it in a heart beat.

At least now you know the boat is ready for next year! Too bad you couldn't have spent more time on it after you got to home port! It must have been hard heading home to the heat after the wonderful/painful adventure.
 
Ron B:

For those who are used to being protected from cradle to grave by regulations, big government, and the safety of the "known" ; this trip may have seemed like an unnecessary or foolish risk. Personally, I enjoyed the read and admire Aiviq and his family for having the intestinal fortitude to take the trip. I would be more fearful of puting my family in a minivan and driving through Calgary's traffic!

Sounds like someone who lives in Niger and keeps his boat in Alaska is not afraid of be adventurous. Keep the storys comming.
 
to take a inexperienced young family (passengers really) into this type of undertaking with no additional crew for backup seems a very big risk to me
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Doing the inside passage is a big trip, but I think it's within the capabilities of most C-Dory owners with a modicum of experience. It's certainly a popular route, and lots of people do it every year in all kinds of boats. I've actually made the trip before, albeit many years ago and in a bigger boat.

The main safety issues (other than those inherent in being in any boat anywhere) revolve around the remoteness of many parts of the route. As someone who grew up in Alaska, and who has lived in Africa for the past 14 years, I've come to grips with traveling in remote, and even dangerous areas (heck - I've been to Timbuktu. It's not far from here).

The issue of taking young kids along (mine are 4 and 5) is indeed something to think about. My wife was certainly concerned, although more from the "cooped up in a boat for 10 days" standpoint than anything else. Safety wise, bringing them didn't exceed my comfort level, but then I've driven them from Niamey to Ouagadougou traversing country which is undoubtedly more remote, and probably a good bit more dangerous than anywhere on the inside passage.

It's possible that my comfort level has been shaped beyond that of lot's of people, but I do know its limits. A few months ago there was a lot of discussion on the site about the possibility of taking a C-Dory across the Gulf of Alaska. Now that’s something that exceeds my comfort level. I played it safe and shipped the boat across in the hold of a ferry, and I wouldn’t have considered taking my family across the Gulf for anything.

Yes, it's important to prepare. It's even more important to adapt, which is, if anything, the message I'd want people to take home from my account.

I once read a quote from an early Africa explorer who said, "While an adventure is transpiring, it's merely physical and/or emotional discomfort. It needs time to age and mellow, and only actually becomes an adventure when recalled later in comfort and repose". If you want to have an "adventure", you have to be ready to experience a lot of things, not all of them good. I certainly don't believe in looking for trouble; my kids wear bicycle helmets and fasten their seat belts, but I don’t want to raise them in a cocoon, either. You've got to get out there and live life.

Jim
 
This was a very entertaining trip report, Aiviq. I especially had to laugh about your contraband orange situation. I don't know if it's still going on, but the Canadians have recently had a thing about potatoes, perhaps in retaliation. We actually got checked on the Canadian side of the lake this summer by some Customs/Immigration officers and they actually said to us, "Do you have any potatoes with you? ...and if you do, don't tell us about them." LOL
Al
 
Aivig: Sounds like you are following Maya Angelou's advice "life loves those that dare to live it. After recovering from a temporary fatal heart attack, the one I stress to my employees and family is "eat dessert first". And my C-Dory is a fine bowl.
 
Don and I had the experience of taking the trip in reverse. We went from Dahl Island to Ketichan and down the inside passage to Port Townsend. It was definitely a trip to remember and we plan to take our boat up sometime in the future. With the comments I have read questioning whether or not the trip should have been taken, I have to add....

We left Dahl Island early in the morning. We came out of the sheltered cove which we were moored in into high winds and 8-10ft seas. We cruised for 10 hours in what I considered to be very scary conditions (though you get used to it after a few hours). I thought I had been through quite a lot but happy to have done it. That was until I got to the dock on that September day, where I heard that thousands of people had been killed while sitting at their work desks.

I am not quite the intellect that those before on this thread appear to be so I will quote Jimmy Buffett

"I'd rather die while I'm living than live when I'm dead!"

Just my two cents ---Deb
 
PS. Loved hearing about your adventure.
 
Great story, we enjoyed it very much. What an ordeal!

Everyone has their own comfort level based on their experience. Since we're spitting out quotes, here's my favorite...from my favorite man in history.

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of good deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt


Rick
 

The man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end triumph of high achievement

By golly I'll nominate AIVIQ for this worthy title!! Great Story, what an adventure! Even the blood part!! Don't think he even came up short, or err'd at all!! :D

Charlie
 
Someone, I haven't a clue who, once said that "Life is an adventure or it is nothing". I agree. As one whose daily work involves analyzing the ratio of risk to benefit I believe that there is a great deal of risk in doing nothing. There are a lot of factors that enter into the whole equation, including life experience, education, judgement, skill, luck, attentiveness, strength, IQ, equipment, etc. You get the picture. One can ask, what is the worst that can happen in any given situation. Some might reply that one could die. Another might reply "nothing". For those of us who live in or moved to Alaska, what seemed at times to be pretty big risks, pale when compared with the thought that we had never come to be here. Risk vs benefit. Great inside passage story, sorry about the bloody shin.
 
Hi Jim:

Thanks for your thoughtful response to my post. What was meant to be open concern regarding safety issues came across as trashing your story. I'm sorry about that. I read your story several times and was completely engrossed each time. I sold our sailboat a few years ago because I felt uncomfortable being the only person who could handle it in difficult situations. My situation is unique in a way as my children are mentally disabled and I couldn't imagine being out there with them at risk if something happened to me. I guess this story hit a little too close to home for me in that way. I do hope we can discuss issues regarding safety and such without it appearing that we're passing judgement on this site. I'll admit to more than a little jealousy that you're out there living the dream and I'm reading about it. Your story brought out an issue I thought others may have an opinion on. I'm the first person to believe that if there's an opportunity out there for adventure...do it. I wish you many happy voyages on Aivig. What a great boat for a family.

Ron B.
 
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