Im w tedski on this one Mr. X.   There seems undue aggregate risk, and this is coming from a lawyer who just last week rode my bike down to LA solo w no SAG.  Ppl called me crazy to do it at all let alone in three days, so i fully appreciate the adventure lust. 

Id hate for the community to lose u, brother. 

Peace n safety b unto u Mr X

I hate to be a nay sayer and I don't intend for this to be mean or judgemental -- I hope you can take this as constructive, yet firm advice.  Your last two trips showed that you are not experienced enough to do the R2AK trip.  You were literally scared for your life in moderately severe conditions within immediate rescue range.  The R2AK is the opposite of that.  You had very near disaster moments due to poor judgement and lack of seamanship that could result in your death on the R2AK. 

Remember that you may be 1-2 days away from rescue when you press your PLB button, if you can get your frozen hands to work.  When you are malnourished and severely dehydrated, you won't have the sense to push the button because your brain will be starved.  When you're not dressed properly and your crack reappears, your survivability in those waters will be measured in hours, not the days it will take to find you and rescue you.

As evidenced in this thread so far, though, you will not heed this advice and you will do this trip anyway.  So, before all else, make sure your family is whole and update your life insurance policy for current needs and costs so that your poor decisions don't financially burden them. 

Just my 2 cents. 

That will be quite the adventure. Everything I’ve read about the inside passage gave me goosebumps w its brutal currents and unpredictable chaos

Hi Bluekayak,

Thank you for your information, sadly I have to use this repaired Kayak, I will be good

So cool to see all the pics and read all the reports and stories!!

I wish I could've made it but just wasn't possible.

Miss you all and hope to see you up there next year or out OTW somewhere else before then...

Thank you Eric for all your work and for keeping GS alive.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Just for the record, my wife bought a Tesla Model Y, so I inherited her 2019 Subaru Crosstrek (my favorite color, "Home Depot Orange"). The first thing I did was install a hitch and then an "Ironman" lift kit, which raised it about 2 inches. I've been trying to abuse the tires ever since, so that I can put on some bigger ones, but unfortunately, the tires have proven hard to kill. Anyways, it's a bit small for sleeping in, but it is possible in a pinch (I'm about 6' 1"). It works great to haul around my AIs (yes, that's plural), and I expect to get many years of use out of it.

As for the 2004 CRV, after painting it rattlecan-orange, I managed to keep it running and used it pretty regularly until this winter. It sat unused for a couple of months during the rainy season and got some serious mold growth inside. So, I gave it away to Goodwill and they auctioned it off for $800. If you see an orange CRV, it has to be the one...