Alaska @ Summer 2024
Timeplan:
Departure on 13. July from Vienna and arrival on 13. July in Anchorage
from 14. - 18. July in Seward
from 19. - 25. July sailing with SY "ENCORE"
from 26. - 29. July in a Jurte on ORCA Island Cabins
Return on 29. July to Anchorage
30. July flight back home and arrive on 31. July in Vienna
OE3KJN Herbert = AI6HN
QRV on HF and VHF with FT100D
Chapter 1: Preparation
4. June: Longwire Antenna arrived
10. June: Antenna Tuner arrived - it has internal rechargable Battery
and seems to operate with above Longwire Antenna quite well
11. June: Update the firmware of the Iridium Sat Phone and check the batteries.
Our Phone Nr is +881632706122 You can send us SMS free of charge at following link
Iridium 9555 with external Antenna
Audio file for Austrian wide Ham Radio broadcast on Sunday in German
Chapter 2: Anchorage and Seward
Departure from Vienna on 13. July
We used public transport (U3 and S-Bahn) to go to Vienna Airport.
I`ve never bought such an expensive Water bottle - let`s see the prices in Alaska
We are right on Time
All went smooth and the luggage came with us this time.
Here the position report of our suitcases in Frankfurt.
We are happy and in good mood for the flight to Anchorage with Discovery Airlines
It is really confortable during the flight and we get good food, watch flims and can sleep a lot.
Our flight is quite near to the North Pole - up to 80°N
Our flight over Greenland
and over the Beaufort Sea
shows us the beauty of our northern Hemisphere.
Landing in Anchorage from the west.
Transfer to the car rental
and hire the car to go to the hotel.
Its raining but we are prepared for that!!
We do the check in and drive to Walmart to get something to drink and some snacks.
Thereafter back to the hotel - its about 22:30 and we are very tired. 
I`ll update the configuration of my APRS with correct call sign and do the first position report:
We sleep really well!!
Here the view of Anchorage from our 16th floor room towards SW
14. July: Shopping and the way down to Seward
Getting up very early - Brigitte has to repair her buttons on the coat
and I update this website.
Breakfast down in the hotel - It was enough for the whole day !!!
The girls want to buy books at BARNES&NOBLE and I`d like to buy some maps from Alaska.
It seems that I forgot my socks at home and we drive down to target - another big shopping centre.
We need to repair Veronikas phone since the sim-slot does not open
and drive to the ZAGG shop at diamond Center where they tried to fix it but did not suceed.
The other option would be to buy a "feature phone" at best buy in the same building....
... we will provide a WIFI hotspot if Veronika needs Internet.....
I think we`ve visited all major shopping centers in Anchorage and completed one target of our girls sucessfully 
Then follow the road down to Seward....
... there was quite some traffic and light rain...
... some sunny patches ....
... along Gulch Creek where digging for Gold was important in former times....
...and some road with work...
...and at the end we reach Seward.
Here the view towards West.
We do the check in at Bell in the Woods
and we are happy that we found this place to stay.
Back in Seward we go for dinner at AFOOD
... next time we will go somewhere else for food!
Again we are tired from all the new beautyful impressions we got and early we go to bed.
15. July: Glacier Exit and Sea Life Center
We get up early and do a short walk around the house.
....and get a nice view towards the mountains above the Glacier Creek
Breakfast at 8 o`clock .
It tastes really good and 3 courses are enough for us to be prepared to visit the Kenai Fjords National Park
...and all is well documented
....and easy to do the Glacier
View Loop Trail to see the end of the Glacier
Overview of Kenai Fjords National Park
We see some signs of bears
....but we are
well prepared with "Bear Spray"
It is really a lovely place and we get some useful infos about Bears in the presentation of Ranger CJ Rea.
She tells us where to find a lady from Swiss in Seward and where to find Salmons.
We try to follow her description to see the Salmons and suceeded
up there at the exit of beautyful Bear Lake
We decide to visit the Alaska SeaLife Center
In front of it a memorial of Alaska "Trail Blazers"
Inside the SeaLife Center a exceptional well prepared overview of sealife
We are very impressed and after several hours we need some power and go for dinner at the nearby Restaurant.
Very soon we are in bed with beatiful impressions from the day.
All equipment is working and APRS is fully funcitonal here in Seward as well.
See your current position here
16. July: Whale Watching
We get an exceptional breakfast - it tastes sooooo good!!
The start into the day is the most important thing
We start at 1:30pm at the office of Northern Latitude Adventures.
Kyle is our Captain and after the safety breefing we are heading out to Resurrection Bay.
Just at the topmark of the entrance to the harbour there is a Bald Eagle and further along the coast a pair of Sea Otter
... and a Seal
We are serching for Humpback Wales and we are lucky to find a mother with its young
... what a wonderful nature we are living in!!!
On the way back to Seward with around 20kts:
Again a breathtaking day and we are tired and fall asleep early.
17. July: The helicopter flight
Again an exceptional breakfast - it tastes sooooo good!!
We are prepared for the flight with Marathon Helicopter today. It was scheduled for 10:30 but I got a call that it`s postponed to 12:15
No problem at all - the weather should be fine at noon as well!
We get a short safety introduction and on time we lift of - Mike
is our pilot and he explains uns what we see down there on the intercom.
... we fly up to the Godwin Glacier - make a turn around the tent camp up
there - see goats - eagle nest .... and the beautyful colours of the
white shades of the glacier ... the extraordinary blueish Resurrection
Bay from above inside the green from the surrounding woods in the
sunshine.
...really amazing experience !!!!!
We reserved a table at for dinner at Ray`s Waterfront and it tastes excellent - really good food!
Mojito
......and Salmon
After a short walk around the harbour we drive back and for some reason all are very tired and fell asleep.
I am down in the lobby preparing for the sailing trip next week - downloading latest nautical charts on my laptop
- check where we can get weatherforecast and check for options to anchor overnight.
What an exceptional day...
18. July: Preparing for the sailing trip
We need to wash our clothes, get the fishing license, contact the owner of the boat, etc
Jeff N8EX ftom the Seward Amateur Radio Club already provided us a 12V Battery to be QRV on HF.
... unfortunately I had no time to use my HF-radio yet 
We go to Laundromat to wash our clothes and thereafter meet Jeff at Resurrect Art Coffee house which is near to the Laundromat.
At 5:30pm we`v got a meeting at the yacht ENCORE to get an idea what we need to buy for the stay on board.
Back at Bell in the Woods we enjoy some tea with cake.
Tomorrow we will leave B&B, buy the supply for the boating trip and return the car.
There will be NO mobile Network and NO Internet access for several days!
Most likely you can reach us only on Iridium Sat Phone +881 632706122
or via HF email: oe3kjn@winlink.org
last update: 16. August 2024
H. Koblmiller