07/07 - 07/08 - PWS Round 3 - Billy's Hole, AK

Weston & crew,

Sounds like a winner. Looking forward to tagging up with you. It'll be a fun time as these gathering always are. Shucks, I'm even going out on a limb and predicting fair weather! Maybe the reds will be in as well.

See you there!
 
Two things I always wanted to do - Edit one of DoD's posts and put him in charge of something. Well, today I did both. This one has been added to the Calendar and got itself a Signup list.
 
I'm doing my best to get the time off to attend this years gathering. Looking good so far. Question, this seems like a pretty long distance, where do you guys refuel?
 
Billy's Hole is about 50 miles from Whittier so if you have 50 gals that should be in the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 emergency if you avg 3 mpg. I plan on taking an extra 15 gals for play time, but I will be coming from Cordova so I've already done 70 miles or so when I get there.

What's your fuel consumption curve on your Yamaha?

Tom
 
I consistently average 4.6 miles/gallon with twin forties and an "average" load. We have been going from Whittier to Montague - 70 miles each way 3 weeks in a row now with no problem and approximately 1/3 to 1/4 fuel left in each tank. I think that 50 miles should be well within your range, depending on the seas of course. Throw a couple of extra 6 gallon portable fuel tanks on board for the additional safety margin. We plan on leaving from Whittier and heading to Valdez first, refueling and then heading back to Billy's Hole for the gathering.
 
Not quite sure what my fuel curve is, as I do not have a flow meter. I have the old 18 gal tanks. Is there any place to get fuel between valdez and whittier? I'm planning to go out and explore for about a week before the gathering. By the way where is Billy's Hole?
 
I calculate fuel consumption in the following manner, without the use of a fuel flow device. I perform the same procedure every time I go out. Erroneous fuel consumption can alert you to many potential problems early on and potentially prevent excessive damage to motor/hull.

Top off the tanks prior to departure, reset trip odometer on GPS at departure, record total miles travelled from GPS trip odometer at end of voyage, top off tanks again, divide total miles travelled by gallons used, this gives you miles per gallon without the use of a fuel flow device. Of course, if you are travelling without a GPS that has a trip odometer function, you would need to calculate your miles travelled using a nautical chart.

The coordinates for Billy's Hole can be obtained by reading the first few posts in this thread. To my knowledge, there is no place to refuel between Whittier and Valdez, so you will need to bring sufficient fuel with you.

Good Luck,

Ben
 
Catdogcat-

2nd page post by tpbrady, 2nd from the bottom
reads:

"After extensive consultations with the Fairbanks contingent and a very difficult and drawn out negotiation, we have come up with a tentative proposal. The meeting day will be July 7, the location will be Billy's Hole in Long Bay, 60.967N 147.287W. It's about 50 miles from Whittier and 40 from Valdez depending on the route you take."

You were correct about Long Bay!

Hope this helps,

Ben
 
Dan,

I suggest associated with a get together on the beach, we have one and two person dinghy races. The dinghy's must be unpowered and no rigid hulls are allowed (inflatable only). The race would be from a marker on the beach around a bouy suitable distance away and back to the beach. The best time wins since in a mass gaggle we might get into a game of bumper boats.

It's easier than finding watermelons, doesn't consume fuel, and you need to get to the beach anyway. The alternative is a golf tournament with tennis balls. The object is to land a ball in a dinghy.

Tom
 
Dan,

I will defer to the Commodore to make the rules. I freely admit I was secretly sandbagging since I was pretty sure I could take both races with my current dinghy, so much so I was going to handicap myself with a cooler of beer.

Tom
 
1. Is there going to be an age handicap on this race?

2. Are there any sites to drop some shrimp pots close by??

3. I am going to try to get there on the 6th, Anyone else be there at that time.???

4. How many boats can anchore in the Hole safely????

5. Any special needs for the gathering, equipment etc. we can be looking for?????
 
I just did a measurement on Google Earth and came up with 69.8 miles from Wittier to Billies Hole going through Ester Passage
 
dtol,

That's the long way but seems to be about right. I was over at Olsen Is on Memorial Day. I think that's about 9 miles from Long Bay. On good seas it's about 2 hours to there. I would say 2.5 hours all the way.

Dan,

I'm in Fairbanks. Do you want meet tomorrow evening to negotiate the rules between the Interior and South Central contingents?

Tom
 
I'm going to have to scratch 3rd Byte from the PWS gathering. My lovely wife
took a nasty spill and broke her wrist, so we're not going to be up to the run
to Billy's Hole.

We may be off the water for a while, hopefully not too long.
 
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