InsidePassageNews.com

Don and Réanne Douglass, aboard their two Research Vessels, both named Baidarka, have been exploring the Pacific Coast and Alaska for more than two decades. They recently shared a discovery with both the State and Federal scientists who may be able to help answer a long-unsolved puzzle.

In 1741, two vessels of the Bering Expedition, set sail from Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula to explore the west coast of America and shortly afterward lost track of one another. Chirikov’s vessel, the St. Paul, reached Southeast Alaska and the captain sent 15 crew members ashore. The men never returned to the ship. Exactly where was the St. Paul located, and what happened to the fifteen lost crewmen? This is the great mystery.

Yakobi and Chichagof islands have been featured in detailed diagrams for over a decade in the Douglass publications and, until recently, the Douglasses and Alan Engstrom of Juneau have been the sole explorers to study historical leads and actively pursue an answer to the Chirikov questions.

In 2007, the Douglasses and Engstrom contacted Federal authorities about an unrecorded petroglyph that might be a two-masted sailing ship and Douglass’ discovery of a metal object that might be “a dagger associated with the Chirikov crew.”

These explorations lead Mark McCallum and Rachel Myron, USFS Archaeologists, to organize an expedition in 2008 aboard the USFS vessel, Sitka Ranger, that would allow the Government experts and Tribal leaders to have an initial viewing of the Douglass/Engstrom discoveries.

For futures updates contact Don Douglass at don@insidepassagenews.com. For USFS reference click here.

The distribution and publishing rights for Cape Horn: One Man’s Dream, One Woman’s Nightmare by Réanne Hemingway-Douglass are now solely in the author’s hands, so you can order directly from this website or from your local bookstores.

Considered a classic in nautical survival literature, Cape Horn has also been published in French and Italian. In addition, two chapters of the title are included in McGraw Hill’s Epic Series anthology, Treacherous Waters.

A new and revised edition of Cape Horn was published in 2003 and, due to the title’s continued success and readers’ requests for a more complete epilogue, Réanne is currently working on an updated third edition.

This year marks the anniversary of Cape Horn’s first edition. Watermark Book company of Anacortes, Washington, the first retailer on the West Coast to carry Cape Horn, recently celebrated the 15th consecutive year of selling the title. In the photo above, the crew takes delivery of a new order from Réanne. Shown left to right are Barbara Hoenselaar, Dave Taylor, Réanne and Carolyn Moulton.

Réanne Hemingway-Douglass' latest article, "A Day in the Life of a Sitka Harbormaster," appears in the January/February 2009 issue of Pacific Yachting, Boating in the Pacific Northwest. Boaters form the Lower 48 used to urban marinas often grouse about treatment in our northernmost state, but they have no clue what Alaskan harbormasters have to deal with. Réanne's article gives you a glimpse of the "other side of the story."

Pacific Yachting PNW just announced that, due to the economic hardship,
" . . . there will no longer be two separate titles, U.S. subscribers and readers will be receiving their own version of Pacific Yachting with local PNW news, information, destinations and features. It will be a bigger magazine, and will be published 12 times a year, as opposed to bimonthly."

Don and Réanne have observed Jim Kyle's Home Shore operation since it began and can highly recommend the Kyle family's personal touches in planning activities, training and cuisine, as well as their respect for the environment. Don and Réanne give Home Shore top marks for professionalism and integrity! For more information see Alaska on the Home Shore website.

New to InsidePassageNews.com is a list of updated information for Exploring Southeast Alaska, Exploring the North Coast of British Columbia and Exploring the South Coast of British Columbia. Click here for details. In addition to updates from Don and Réanne, information from readers is also posted. Don and Reanne would like to encourage readers who have updates to their guidebooks to submit them directly to them (Don Douglass or Réanne Hemingway-Douglass), as well as the publisher of our guidebooks.

With sadness, we are sorry to report the passing, in April 2008, of our friend Dan Pollock of Ethelda Bay, British Columbia [see also notes regarding Exploring the North Coast of British Columbia (Tennant Island, Estevan Sound). Over the past 15 years, Dan and his wife, Danielle, were hosts to Don and Réanne, and many other boaters who made a stop at their remote island off Estevan Sound. Danielle moved to Prince Rupert permanently in the spring of 2008.