Hello From Shearwater Again

July 30, 2010
After an extremely rough night at the dock in Prince Rupert, we took off at 5 A.M. to catch the tide and favorable winds to start the trip down Grenville Channel. The fishing fleet just happened to come in our last night on the dock and the waves seemed to never stop. At one point, we even jumped out of bed because we thought one of the large seiners was going to ram us! The boat rocked so hard, we were afraid it would break our dock lines! We got underway and the trip around the Lawyer Islands (we don’t want to know how they got that name!), was pretty calm. On our way north when we went around these islands, it was rough and we had to take an alternate route to try to get to Prince Rupert. My prayers were answered. We went to Lowe Inlet to try to get as far down Grenville Channel as possible, even though we told ourselves we would not stop there again after spending our last two stays there losing a whole night’s sleep on anchor watch. The third time must have been the charm because we got a good spot and the night was uneventful. We were again up early to catch the favorable tide and seas to finish Grenville Channel and head to our next stop at Khutze Inlet. The wind started to pick up as we rounded Hartley Bay and headed to McKay Reach. Wright Sound and Whale Channel can get choppy as the water swells in from Hecate Strait. We got around the point and into Fraser Reach, passing an 80 foot yacht. We commented on the boat and headed south. About an hour later, we heard that boat radio a distress signal to the coast guard that they were having engine trouble and were dead in the water in McKay Reach! They commented that it might be a fuel problem as both engines quit running. We talked about going back to help, but heard several other boats offer to help on the radio. Since we are only 37 feet, we would have had a hard time helping an 80 foot yacht, plus we were at least an hour away, so we were glad that there were others closer. Boaters will usually try to help each other, because you never know when it will be your turn to need help. That area is near where the Canadian ferry ran aground and sank a few years ago. Rumor has it that the helmsman and a crew mate were in the pilot house and failed to notice that the trees on the island were getting awfully close! There are several stories as to why they did not notice, but we will leave it to the story tellers! The Indians at Hartley Bay were the only people that heard the mayday that early in the morning and headed out with all their skiffs to try to help. All the people on board were saved except for two people that were never found when the ferry sank. We plan to stop in Hartley Bay on our next trip north.

A TYPICAL DAY ON THE WATER IN NORTHERN BC

We continued south to Khutze Inlet. We have always been lucky and managed to get the best spot behind the spit near the entrance and we did this time too. We promised ourselves that we would take the 5 mile trip to the end of Khutze Inlet to see if it is as nice as they say. When we are just passing through, we are reluctant to motor the additional 10 miles (5 miles in – 5 miles out) just to see what’s at the head. For now, we will trust the glowing reports in the cruising guide and save that for when we don’t get the spot behind the spit. There ended up being 4 other boats anchored around us by the end of the day and it was pretty bouncy. The wind was blowing which can make a pretty good chop in this anchorage. Up early again, we headed out of Khutze and were dismayed to see there was a pretty good south wind and lots of waves when we got into the channel. UGH! Being anxious to get out of the area, we toughed it out and found that it got better the further we went (yeah!). We stayed in Tolmie Channel toward Klemtu to get out of some of the chop. We have decided that the Canadian and Alaskan currents and tides that are listed in their tables are no where close to the actual tides and currents. No matter how we tried to plan our trip to catch favorable currents, we ended up fighting them most of the time. On our way into Lowe Inlet, we had 4 knots of current against us and the tables said we should still have them in our favor. When you go only 7-1/2 knots, 4 knots against you does not leave much headway. This was the case for most of our trip down to Oliver Inlet. We stayed there instead of Rescue Bay as it was closer to Seaforth Channel. It can get a little rough in Seaforth and we planned to get up early and hoped to have favorable wind and waves to get to Shearwater. We were smart and called a day ahead to get a spot n the dock as they were turning boats away shortly after we docked. We got the laundry done and some much need provisions for our next trek south around Cape Caution and on to Port McNeill in the next few days.

We plan to be in Port McNeill by August 4th as Ron’s cousin, Bob and his wife Karen, will join us on the 5th to head toward Nanaimo. They are predicting favorable winds through Sunday, so we will join the herd of boats heading south tomorrow.

Back To Prince Rupert

July 26, 2010

We made it back to Prince Rupert and we did it yesterday. We went the whole way from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert in one long 12 hour day covering about 85 nautical miles. That is a long distance when only doing 7 knots believe me! We left Ketchikan at 5:15 in the morning with a light wind out of the north. This put the wind behind us so we didn’t have to climb over the waves as would be the case if the wind was southerly. The sea conditions where mostly very tolerable except for a few places in Dixon entrance which is open ocean. I’d say it never got over 3 feet seas, but when we where exposed to the open ocean the seas were almost on the beam which causes the boat to roll and is very uncomfortable. Karyl pretty much hand steered the boat the entire way because she says it takes her mind off the sea conditions. She hand steered because the autopilot would veer around to much with these sea conditions and hand steering keeps the boat on course better.

We had planned to stop in Foggy Bay, about 35 miles from Ketchikan, but when we got close to this point it was clear that the conditions in Dixon Entrance where very favorable to continue. Our next planned stop was Dundas Island, but when we got close to it, Karyl said lets just go all the way to Prince Rupert. That was another 35 mile distance and another 5 hours. Keep in mind she is still hand steering the boat. I was concerned she was too tired, but she insisted, so on we went.

MOORED IN PRINCE RUPERT

When we arrived in the harbor, we called the Prince Rupert Yacht Club to see if they had a place to park the boat. This was nearing 5:00 PM and I fully expected to hear “Sorry, but no cigar.” As luck would have it, they just got a cancellation and let us tie up to their dock and here we are. Unfortunately, this area of their dock is exposed to the open water and the wind is keeping us pinned to the dock. In addition to that, a lot of boats going by do not observe the "no wake regulation," so we are bouncing around worse than any anchorage we have had this trip. It does quiet down at night except for a few boats speeding by in the dark of the night, so it is tolerable. On the plus side, we are having a nice sunny day which is really rare in this neck of the woods.

NICE EAGLE SHOT

Tomorrow we will continue our way south. Probably stopping in Baker Inlet for the night and hope to be in Shearwater on the 31st. Shearwater will be the first place we will have any facilities for laundry, water and internet. So, see ya then.

Still In Ketchikan

July 24, 2010

HARD DAY AT THE OFFICE

We are still in Ketchikan. Our last post on the blog said we where going to head south Friday towards Prince Rupert but when we woke up that morning the wind was really blowing out of the south in the thirties and forties and even the fishing boats where staying put. We heard that a cruise ship had to bypass its normal stop in Ketchikan because of the high winds and the cruise ships that did stop required tugboat assistence to get to the dock. It was just a crappy day until towards evening so we stayed. The weather report also said the winds where going to continue out of the south today but by Sunday the winds will veer to the north. North winds are good because if we have to have wind we want it to come behind us instead of on the bow which can make for an uncomfortable ride pounding into that stuff.

Friday night, the Ketchikan Yacht Club had a fish fry for its members and guests so we attended that. All the halibut, salmon and salmon cakes you could eat. YUM! Also the weather improved greatly so we had fun listening to sea stories with the natives.

Tomorrow morning we are leaving and heading to Foggy Bay or if the conditions are right, we will go further either to Dundras Island or maybe all the way into Prince Rupert but that is unlikely as it would be a 12 hour day. In any case I think our time is limited in Alaska.

If we get dock space at the Prince Rupert Yacht Club, I will let you know if we made it. They have a good internet hook up so I can update the blog. Otherwise, who knows when I will get internet access after that, probably Shearwater which is at least a week away.

Goodbye Ketchikan

July 22, 2010

Hello from Ketchikan again. We arrived here yesterday after leaving Thorne Bay with a non eventful passage in moderate seas and light wind. The sunshine is gone now with the days having a heavy overcast and intermittent rain. This is typical SE Alaska weather but we did have 3 days that had a lot of sunshine especially the day we where in Wrangell.

ICEBURG IN CHANNEL OUTSIDE OF PETERSBURG

LEAVING PETERSBURG WITH FISHING FLEET

SCENERY SHOT IN WRANGELL NARROWS

After leaving Wrangell, we where going to Thorne Bay but as the voyage progress, we decided that it was too far to go so we stopped in a bay called Santa Anna Inlet and dropped the anchor. While there, another boat came in that happened to be a fellow yacht club member who are also cruising Alaska. Small world, eh? They came over in their dinghy to say hello and give us an update on their travels.

THORNE BAY

From Santa Anna we traveled across Clarence Strait to Thorne Bay. The town itself doesn’t have anything that makes it special but we enjoy the place anyway. There is a shop that does laser woodwork and we always buy some piece of art every time we are there. The boat has a couple of pieces hanging on the walls. There was a fisherman on the dock cleaning his catch of the day and we got to talking to him which was very interesting but he gave us a filet of halibut that we enjoyed that evening. Thorne Bay was once the largest logging operation on the west coast but that has all gone away. One interesting thing was when we where at the dock, right in front of us was a 50 foot boat that was a traveling veterinarian. He would go to all the out of way places around there and offer his services. There was a steady stream of people bringing their dogs and cats to him and he even conducted an operation neutering a 6 month old dog.

THE VETERINARIAN BOAT

We left Thorne Bay early the next morning and headed into Ketchikan. When we arrived we topped off the fuel tanks taking on about 120 gallons and than got a slip at the Ketchikan Yacht Club like we did on the way up about 2 weeks ago. Tomorrow morning we plan to head out of here and spend the night at Foggy Bay. Foggy Bay is the normal staging area for boats about to cross Dixon Entrance and is about half way between Ketchikan and Prince Rupert in Canada. Boats stay there waiting for decent weather to make this open ocean passage. So far the weather report hasn’t been encouraging with predictions of high winds and seas but we are still hopeful. If you don’t hear from us in a month or so, it means we have to stay in Alaska until next summer. (Just kidding.) But it can take a week or two before a decent weather pattern set in again. Hope that is not the case this time.

Sunshine In Wrangell

July 18, 2010



I just had to tell everyone that we are having a totally gorgeous day in Wrangell, Alaska. It must be in the mid seventies and hardly a cloud in the sky. Sorry, I don't have any pictures to share. I will be losing my internet connection in a few minutes so I wanted to get this out. I don't think we have seen a day like this since we left Yuma. Alaska sure is pretty when you can see it. We took the dogs out for a walk and went about 3 miles round trip to the new Wrangell marina on the other side of town. Wore everyone out, especially the dogs.

We are fully commited to heading south now. We should be in Ketchikan day after tomorrow where we will wait for a decent weather window to cross Dixon Entrance and into Canada. We should have an internet connection while in Ketchikan.

Ron, Karyl, Max & Maddie

Petersburg, Alaska

July 17, 2010

We left Ketchikan early Wednesday morning heading to Meyers Chuck, a little settlement about 35 miles north. On the way we had some pretty rough water where Behm Canal meets Clarence Strait, but after we completed crossing Behm, the water smoothed out. We entered Meyers Chuck early that afternoon and tied up to the free dock. Meyers Chuck is one of those small settlements where less than 10 people live here year round, but in the summer the population triples or more. We noticed a few more houses had been built since we where here 3 years ago. The dock is getting worn out, however, and looked to be deeper in the water.

MEYERS CHUCK POST OFFICE

The next day we again left early in the morning (we try to leave early to avoid the high winds that usually occur in the afternoon) and headed to Wrangell via Zimovia Strait and after 50 some miles, arrived at the public dock. We walked around the town and found a place that sells the ‘Exploring SE Alaska’ cruising guide that I forgot to bring. A little late now, but it is good to have it for reference just in case. A $75 dollar mistake!

WRANGELL WATERFRONT

On Friday, we headed for Petersburg which may be our last stop north before we head back. We didn’t leave until almost 1:00 PM because we had to time the current going though Wrangell Narrows which is a passage that has something like 60 navigation aids to keep traffic off the rocks. There are a number of dredged channels and lots of twists and turns that keeps the skipper very vigilant. This passage is used by all types of marine traffic including the 200+ foot Alaska ferries. In the past, I had to avoid one of these behemoths coming in the opposite direction, but this time we only encountered small fishing boats. If not timed right, the current can be up to 7 knots and if going against your direction, will stop your forward progress especially for a slow boat like ours.

We arrived in Petersburg around 6:30 PM yesterday and tied up in the public marina. We haven’t been here for 3 years and it appears the town is having a rough time. This is a working harbor with lots of fishing boats, but the docks are in a bad state of repair and a lot of boats look like they haven’t been seen by the owner in a number of years. The weather has been cloudy and cool but no rain. Where is summer?

PETERSBURG HARBOR

PETERSBURG FISHERMANS MEMORIAL

There are several LARGE sea lions that fish in the harbor. It is amazing to see them swimming and eating right behind the fish boats. They have learned where the fish cleaning stations are and wait for scraps that get tossed in the water. The fishermen are complaining that they have trouble finding crabs and there are many bays that no longer have fish and prawns due to the increase in sea lions, otters and whales.

After much debate, we have decided to make this our last stop north and will start to head back home tomorrow. Mostly, we will retrace our route back with maybe a few different places on the way. The boats log says we have traveled 1108 nautical miles since starting the trip on May 31st. It sure doesn't seem that far.

Hello From Ketchikan

July 13, 2010

Well here we are in Ketchikan, Alaska. FINALLY! We had some good and bad during the trip here from Prince Rupert. When we left Prince Rupert we had planned on a intermediate stop at Dundras Island and leave early (oh dark thirty) the next day to cross Dixon Entrance which is open to the Pacific Ocean. However when we got near Dundras it was clear that we should cross now so on we went. The crossing was in some of the best conditions I have ever experienced crossing this body of water.

Along the way we heard a MayDay from a boat reporting themselves just south of Foggy Point. At the time we where 10 miles south of Foggy Point so we thought we may be involved. The person sending the MayDay reported that the skipper of the boat was probably dead in his cabin and the person did not know how to run the boat to get it back to Ketchikan. As the call progressed, other boats that where closer responded and took control of the boat to help it along the way.

We headed to Foggy Bay, which is in Alaska, to spend the night before going on to Ketchikan. We started looking for our SE Alaska cruising guide that gives detailed instructions on entering this complicated anchorage and would you believe it? The Captain forgot to bring that book along on this trip. As we have been here before, we thought we could find the place where you anchor, but the old brain doesn’t work as it had. We went down one leg of the bay and almost got caught in a boiling rapid that surely would have destroyed our boat if we weren’t able to turn around. But the boat responded nicely to the hard 180 degree turn. We then tried to go into another leg of the bay but nothing looked familiar so we decided to bag it and go about 10 miles further north and try an anchorage that a person in Prince Rupert recommended. That worked OK and after about 12 hours since we left Prince Rupert we where anchored in a very nice and protected bay called Kah Shakes Cove.

THE EXIT FROM KAH SHAKES COVE

The next morning, we had to wait until 10:00 to leave this bay because of the low tide that didn’t leave enough water to cross the entrance earlier in the morning when we should have left. By this time, the wind was up and the waves where high. We did try to make it anyway, but the conditions where such that the word pleasure had to be removed from the term “pleasure boat”. We turned around and re-anchored in Kah Shakes to try again the next day. The next morning we got up at 0430 to get the anchor up and head out. The wind was still down, so the conditions where much improved and we finally made it to Ketchikan to clear customs and tie up to a berth at the Ketchikan Yacht Club for a couple of days.

SCENERY SHOT ENTERING KETCHIKAN

Amazingly, we have had 2 days of mostly sunny weather. This is a place that gets over 150 inches of rain a year, so sunny days are pretty rare in this neck of the woods. We are sharing the town with 4 large cruise ships, each of which discharges 5000 people to walk around the town. Ketchikan is loaded with shops of all kind to take advantage of this large influx of people. It could probably be called the new gold rush. The great fishing and the cruise ships are what keeps the town going. Speaking of fishing, we see a lot of boats coming in with more salmon then I could eat. They say this is the best fishing they’ve seen in a long time.

KETCHIKAN HARBOR WITH 2 CRUISE SHIPS - 2 MORE CAME IN LATER

The one thing this town doesn’t have is a copy of the SE Alaska cruising guide that I left at home. We have gone into every store that might possible have this book and so far – nothing.
This afternoon we took the bus out of town to see the totem pole park and then over to another marina here in Ketchikan to see our friends Barb and Rick, who also just got back from a successful fishing trip.

TOTEM PARK IN KETCHIKAN

We are planning to leave here in the morning and head further north to Meyers Chuck, Wrangell and Petersberg before we turn south. We will probably be in Alaska for another week or so.

Prince Rupert

July 9, 2010

We headed out of Ocean Falls and had a slight chop until we got in the channel that leads to Seaforth Channel. It is always bouncy, but we made it around the point and to Rescue Bay.
We have always stopped in Rescue Bay and feel we have made it into the next phase of the trip when we get there. There are a couple of places that can be challenging on the way to Alaska and Seaforth Channel is one of them. We spent a quiet night and got up early to head north to the Fiordlands. We initially thought we would head up the channel and spend the night in the Fiordlands as they are very beautiful and majestic with steep rock walls and waterfalls along the route. However, when we got to Kynoch Falls the weather started to get cloudy and the weather report was predicting rain, so we motored on and did not waste the time to go up the channel as it is a long way and we would have to come back the same way to continue north.

KYNOCH FALLS

We ended up in Khutze Inlet and had a bouncy night. We anchored behind a little spit at the entrance of the inlet because it is very deep and hard to anchor unless you travel the 5 miles to the end. The weather was rainy and windy, so we did not want to waste the time to travel the extra 5 miles in then 5 miles out again in the morning. Behind the spit is pretty close to the main channel which has a lot of wave action from the passing cruise ships and can be rolly if the wind is blowing. We were glad to pull up the anchor in the morning and move on because the night was very rolly. We then headed to Lowe Inlet where we stayed on our last trip. It is a great spot if you get on the inner channel. There is a waterfall at the head of the bay which can be fun to anchor in front of. We ended up on the outside of this inner channel on our last trip in 100 feet of water and Ron had to sit up all night watching the anchor so we did not drag into the rocks behind us because the wind came up and we had williwaws that vibrated the boat all night long! So we decided this trip, if we did not get in the inner channel, we would not stay. We were lucky and got a spot, but it turned out to be pretty shallow when the tide went out. As the tide goes out and the water goes lower, the anchor chain gets longer and you drift further away from the anchor. Because we were in an area that sloped, we got closer and closer to the shallows. Karyl ended up staying up all night watching the depth sounder! It did get to 6-1/2 feet at one point and the alarm went off! She had to pull in the anchor chain to get up closer to the anchor and away from the shallow water. Needless to say, we have decided that Lowe Inlet is not a good place for us. We never seem to get any sleep in that anchorage. After leaving Lowe Inlet, we headed back out into Grenville Channel (which can be another “fun” part of the trip if you have northwesterly winds) and the wind started to pick up. After a short trip, we heading into Watts Narrows and Baker Inlet as we were both tired after being up most of the night. It was one of the best places we stayed so far! The weather was sunny and there were show covered mountains right where we anchored. We also got to see our first black bear on the beach. He spent most of the day foraging on the shore and we got lots of great pictures! It was great!

BEAR IN BAKER INLET

We got up early and finished the rest of Grenville Channel on our way to Prince Rupert. Most of the trip was beautiful and majestic. The wind started to pick up again and it was getting to the point that Karyl and dogs were starting to whine, so we took a detour around an island to get out of some of the waves. It was a longer ride, but it was well worth it for Ron

GRENVILLE CHANNEL

We were heading up the marked channel leading to Prince Rupert and the water was calmer, so Karyl decided to take Maddie back for a potty break while we were motoring. As she got back to the saloon, she ran back and put Maddie back on the bench seat and screamed, “a ferry is right behind us!” We had to get way over to the right of this narrow channel and got a great view of the enormous Alaskan ferry passing us only about 100 yards away! This was our second close call with a ferry. It is really scary when they come up right behind you and blast their horns! Where is that rear view mirror when you need it! We got to Prince Rupert safely and had to anchor in Pillsbury Cove as there was no room on any of the docks.

APPROACHING PRINCE RUPERT

The fishing fleet was in and with the weather was so awful, no one was leaving the slips. We finally got a slip after two days and a dinghy ride to ask when they might have room for us. We plan to head to Dundas Island tomorrow morning and hope to make it across Dixon Entrance in the next day or so and head to Ketchikan

Ocean Falls

July 1, 2010

We are finishing up our 2 days we have spent at Ocean Falls. This is one of our favorite stops when we go north. Rather than described the place in detail I would like to refer you to their website - http://www.traveloceanfalls.com/p_home.html for a short history and http://www.traveloceanfalls.com/m_home.html for more detail which I think you will find interesting.

THE OCEAN FALLS MUNICIPAL DOCK

Today was an especially fun day because it was Canada Day which is similar to our 4th of July for you non-Canadians. The town had a barbeque and potluck. Karyl made up one of her fancy dishes so we joined the group and got to know some of the people who live here. As there are only 35 permanent residents it wasn’t a big group. Needless to say, if you read the history, the town is struggling to stay alive but the people who live here, just love it.

Tomorrow we will leave and continue our trek to the north. This should probably be my last internet connection until we arrive in Prince Rubert, perhaps in a week or more so this blog will be silent for awhile.