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.