Alaskan Adventure

August 15 Ganges B.C.

2009-08-15T19:07:00.001-07:00

By early July, we had made it to Port McNeill along the northern west coast of Vancouver Island. The broken alternator issue was still in limbo, but a new one awaited us. I installed it, only to "burn" the connection to the "house bank" of batteries. I was told that the cable must have been lose, and to replace the cable....it worked perfectly.

At the Harbor, we saw many old friends and made many new ones. A "real" boat was docked across from us...

We ran most mornings around the town and wanted to plant some of these trees!

The detail in this fence was amazing:

The crabbing remained good, and Christy insisted on photographing all of our meals:

I have wanted a fish-cleaning platform on the swim step, and we were directed to Frankie Dormier as a master stainless steel builder and fabricator. He looked ta the boat, and designed the perfect platform. He came to the boat to customize it, and install it:

We decided to head further into the "Broughtons" and found our favorite spot yet...Kwatsi Bay. We have friends who have said that they would like to spend the entire summer there, and now we know why. Anka and Max, with their two kids, Russell and Marika live there and what hosts they are. The setting is in a huge cove with steep side walls surrounding. There is snow above, a huge water fall on one side, and the crabbing and prawning is great! My first big "pot" of prawns was photographed as I came to shore, and I found out that it was by the editor of the cruising bible, Waggoners. He actually put our picture and story on his web-site the next day.

At Kwatsi, every other day is pot-luck dinner (mandatory) and everyother day is cocktail hour (also mandatory). What fun to sit on the dock every afternoon and rehash stories and learn from fellow boaters.

In the Bay, the kayaking was great..

The water fall next to the dock at Kwatsi..

Here is Dave, Carol, and Jasper. Dave is a professional Tug captain, cruising from Anchorage to Seattle on his 100' Tug. Their pleasure boat is the one behind them, the Navigator. It is a 42' Norhavn purchased a year ago. He will leave his boat while he returns to work for 6 weeks....6 on and 6 off.

Our next stop was at Pierre's at Echo Bay. This is a very popular stop, mostly because of the pig roast every Saturday. Chris is here on the dock,

and here on our walk to Billy Proctor's museum..

Billy Proctor has collected artifacts for 50 years and has put them all on display in a museum. It is an incredible collection of great stuff....he also has written a book.."Full Moon-Flood Tide" which is a must read. Christy has an autographed copy!

Overlooking the dock at Pierre's...

We headed home after July 4th to see the kids but mostly to see grand-kids...

Isla's grin is infectious...

Addison, Ethan, and Harrison in the backyard..

And William IV enjoying company and food

Then we headed in our plane back toward the boat, but we detoured to the Oshkosh fly-in first. We took the bikes to get around at OSH, but they will come in handy again on the boat, as we get closer to Anacortes..

Chris biking around the runway at OSH

An electric fan to propell the willing into the air....what a device!

We landed at the Boeing Field in Seattle, left our plane, and flew on Kenmore Air Floats back to Greenway Sound (where we left our boat)

Back at Greenway, this is a hike to 2 lakes above the marina

The proprietor advised me about where to put out the prawn pots, and we had another "haul"..

The crabs that are this big have about 2 pounds of meat each! The picture below is the meat from just these two crabs...

Last year we travelled for weeks with two great friends, Ron and Kap Ferguson. Their boat last year was Cosmo Place. They sold it during the winter and bought a brand new Flemming shown here, named Flying Colours....we have comunicated with them often about trying to hook up this summer, but it didn't happen until last week. While we are underway, I have called to them on the VHF frequency often just in case they were nearby. While we were in Johnstone Strait, I heard them call for us. We were headed toward Campbell River, but diverted toward them at Blind Channel. What a reunion we had! Touring their boat was a treat in itself! It is fabulous! We cruised by dinghy to dinner about 5 miles away, and had to have a designated driver (Kap) to get home

Then it was off to Vancouver. This is the city off our bow as we headed in. We would bear right into False Creek and dock in downtown...

This is False Creek looking toward the entrance from our moorage. The 1,000 acrea park is in the city to the far right with over 50 miles of trails! Keep in mind that Central Park in NYC is only 900 acreas. (Ruffner Mountain in Birmingham is 1,100 acreas!!!)

Here is Undoc'd viewed from the bridge over False Creek..

We left Vancouver to go to Ganges, BC. This is a small village on the island of Saltspring. Everyone loves their market on Saturday's, so we had to be there. Below is the view of the marina from a popular hotel, Hastings...

Hastings gardens are terrific

There is a park in downtown Ganges called Muoat's. We ran there in the mornings...

And now it is Sunday morning, August 16th and we are loading up to cruise toward Brentwood Bay, Sidney, and/or the Butchart Garden bay. Last year we saw the gardens from the Victoria side, and can't wait to see them again this year. Craig and Millie are joining us this Friday in Victoria for some cruising and we will definitely see the gardens with them....

Tuesday, June 16th in Port McNeill

2009-06-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 11, 2009
We took a different route this trip from last year, and we were visited by whales all along the Finlayson Channel. We covered the 50 miles easily, and played with the radar alarms, and sea bottom data. It was mostly overcast until noon when it cleared up again. We arrived in Shearwater at 3:00 or so, and they had a spot at the dock for us. It was a 50 foot gap between two large boats, and we slipped her in there just like pros (our stern thruster is still out, until I can get her hauled out for a repair). This is an interesting town, Indian (First Nation by their description) populated, and an important stopover for boaters traveling north or south. Unfortunately, there is no cell coverage, but there is a weak internet connection. My U/N and P/W from last year was still good, so we posted the pictures from the past few days. We will start early to get as close as we can to the last major “crossing”, that of Queen Charlotte Sound, also called Cape Caution. This one makes us both nervous!

Friday, June 12, 2009
We are up early, and underway. First, we needed to depart the dock without bumping any other boats. There is a strategy to leave the bow tied tightly, push the stern away briskly, and then when clear, use reverse to get away. It worked well, and we were headed toward Cape Caution by 7:00 AM. Our plan was to get to a secure waiting cove north of the passage, and then cross early on Saturday. We had covered 60 miles by 2:00 and were at a decision point….either duck into cover for the night, or proceed with the crossing which would take another 2 hours with the winds having increased from 5 kt to 15 kts during the past hour. We decided to give it a try, and see how it felt. We were in the lee of several islands which helped greatly, and we proceeded across the Queen Charlotte Sound and around Cape Caution. We had the winds, waves, and the weather at our backs, so the ride was not too rough, and we turned the corner to a cloud-free sky and beautiful weather. Since we had not planned to make the crossing today, we had not researched an anchorage. Chris got the maps out and began studying…she suggested Skull Cove, which is described as “one of the prettiest anchorages you will find”. It tucks around an unnamed island into a cove with rocks, islands, and scenery all 360 degrees! Many use this as an overnight before the crossing heading north. The winds had picked up by this time (4:00) but the bottom was great holding mud. Since we were a day ahead of schedule, we decided that we would spend a couple of days at this site. Tomorrow shall be a crabbing day!

Today marks a month in Alaska on the boat. We have spent more days at anchor than at dock, and we have only eaten 4 times off the boat. One of those was with Niki and Bud in Ketchikan (thanks, Niki and Bud), and one was with Paula and Randy (what great friends). Christy says that she is now, and only now, truly on vacation. She has worried about the two crossings since last year, and now they are both behind us. The boat is in fine shape, the new alternator awaits us at Port McNeil, and our comfort level with the boat grows. We are making more water than we can use, the icemaker is keeping up with our needs, and the washer and dryer have us clean. The house battery-bank is strong, and we have enough food to last...”about 2 weeks” according to Chris. Our refrig and freezer is stuffed, and 2 ice chests are full as well. What a life this could be. This is why we have decided to leave the boat in the PNW another year or two. Tomorrow is haircut day (on the bow by Christy), crab-pots down, and I will install a depth finder on the dinghy.

Saturday, June 13th
This was a great day of recovery, relaxation, and chores. I launched the dinghy first thing and wired the depth finder to the battery. It required splicing 4 lengths of 16g wire to include a fuse in-line, and battery connectors at the ends. It works great, but I will wait until we are at dock to drill the holes in the transom for permanent mounting. For now, I can hold the transducer in my hand and get depth readings fine. I then headed out in the cove to launch 2 crab pots. Then Chris and I found a great place for my kayak, on the outside of the upper deck railing, very secure and out of the way. Much better! Chris’ kayak is secure under the cover on the fly-bridge.

Christy shelled the last 4 crabs from the harvest of a few days ago, and prepared another crab feast on salad…about 2 lbs each. I then headed to the 2 pots, not expecting much, and we had 5 huge Dungeness of about 2 lbs each. As I cleaned them, Chris had the water boiling, they were cooked, and we cleaned the meat out and are set for crab-cakes tomorrow. But first, she made our salads with them... All of this took about 1 hour from pulling them out of the water, to having the meat ready to go. We will head to Port McNeil tomorrow and be at a dock waiting for a new alternator. This little cove has been beautiful and well protected from the winds. The weather was again great, with the sun coming out to a cloudless sky by noon, and the winds only about 10 kt.

We loaded the dinghy, and checked everything for the crossing of Queen Charlotte Strait, and were ready. The departure is through a very narrow entrance, and caution is the word of the morning... Early on Sunday morning, June 13th, we pulled anchor and headed across the Strait. This is one of the rare places where the high and low tides do not time with slack currents. Normally, as the tide maxes out (or minimizes out) the currents also come to slack water. Crossing the Strait, high tide may be at 8:00 (for instance today) while slack water occurs at 9:30. As we left the cove, we were face to face with swells from the NW as we headed West toward Port McNeill. It was much rougher than we anticipated, but it looked calmer further out. We pushed on, and it became glassy smooth at the middle. What a pleasant surprise! We pulled into Port McNeill feeling great, and immediately headed out for an exploratory run of the town. It is small, quaint, and beautiful. We found the grocery store, the marine supply store, and Progressive Diesel where my new alternator will be shipped.

The houses are terrific, with views over the strait from high above...

We saw a Norhdavn on the dock that looked exactly like our friend's boat from last summer, Scott and Teri Strickland. I went to introduce myself, and it was the same boat...Scott sold it about 2 months ago. I immediately called Scott (now in Ft. Lauderdale) and we laughed and laughed. He is anxious to get another boat (after he works awhile to recoup and restore finances) and rejoin us next year. What a small world.

Then we met our dock-mates, John and Margie on a Symbol 55' and joined them for cocktails and fun. He is 82, and she is 54...both are full of life and enjoy living aboard from May thru October every year. During the winter, home is Tuscon, AZ. On Tuesday, Chris and I rode the bus north to Pt. Hardy to look around, shop, and have lunch. What a day. We heard that the alternator will not arrive until Friday afternoon, so we may cruise to Sointula and Alert Bay tomorrow....we'll see.

Other wildlife in the harbor...

And this tug moored across from us...

See you tomorrow!

Prince Rupert to Shearwater...Thursday June 11

2009-06-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

Our arrival in Prince Rupert was not without issues. We had the understanding that if weather or distances were prohibitive, you could overnight (anchor only) prior to clearing customs. Well, that is the case when entering the US (heading north to AK, for example). We called customs in Prince Rupert and told them the truth about anchoring in Brundidge Inlet (in Canadian waters) the night before. As Christy says, “never tell the truth” (just kidding). They sent 2 agents to our boat to inspect us, and while they were very nice, they were also thorough and suspicious. Now we know that no matter what, you cannot enter Canadian waters and stop until you clear.

We intended to stay one night at the PRR&YC (Prince Rupert Rowing & Yacht Club), so the next morning (Monday June 8^th) we filled with fuel and started out of the harbor. I noticed that our voltage on the start, house, and generator batteries was not where they should have been. This is bad. Chris went to idle while I went below to find that our alternator belt was off as a consequence of the #2 alternator coming loose with a broken bolt. This is really bad, since the belt is required for the water pump to cool the engine, as well as both alternators. Furthermore, that usually kills the alternator. We shut the engine down and called to find a tow back to our marina. I found a diesel mechanic to meet us at the dock (Barry and Angelo of Bytown Diesel), and they were waiting when we arrived. Last summer, the same alternator had broken loose exactly like this! Volvo had told me that the remedy had been made with new bolts, but obviously that was incorrect. I called Volvo, and they were very, very uncooperative. Barry & Angelo got two grade A bolts to secure the “bad” alternator, helped me remount it, and we were set to go, but with only one alternator. I asked Volvo about getting a replacement (we are still within the 2 year warranty period) and they would not commit to covering it. Perhaps they don’t understand what “2 years” means and they may need an attorney to explain it to them. They have agreed to ship a new one to Port McNeil, but wanted my credit card for payment! I will deal with the warranty issue later. Needless to say, Chris is a little nervous being underway with a failed component, but everything seemed to be working well otherwise. Our voltages remained good, and off we went.

Tuesday June 9^th we left heading toward the Grenville Channel. We tucked into Baker Cove and anchored in a most beautiful spot, surrounded by snow-capped mountains in the bright sunshine. Our timing gave us a flood “push” all the way. Tomorrow early should continue to be good currents. I sat out on deck reading while Chris did the work...

Wednesday June 10^th, we left at 5:00 AM to get the ebb tide out of Grenville, and we were seeing a 3 to 4 kt push for over 3 hours. Now that’s a trip! We passed about 20 fishing boats heading opposite against the currents. We are heading toward the site, Turtle Point, where a ferry crashed 2 years ago. You may remember the incident, since 120 people were dumped into the cold waters in the middle of night, and all were rescued by the First Nation Indians from the nearby town of Hartley Bay. The captain of the ferry had turned off the alarm that sounds when it’s time to sequence to the next waypoint, and ran directly into the point. In gratitude, the ferry company paid for a new float/dock system for the citizens that is quite elaborate. It looks like we will make Port McNeil in 4 days to get the new alternator, and then on to the Broughtons!

Just at the entrance to Hartley Bay, we entered the most dense fog that I’ve ever been in. I hope the pictures show the “bank” as we entered it, but visibility fell to absolutely zero. With the radar on, we could see that other boats were still underway in the fog, so we slowed down and monitored the oncoming traffic. As we veered right and left, we communicated with each one to alert them as to our intentions. Each vessel had radar also,

"Radar shot, with two "threats" on the screen. Visibility was Zero. We never saw the boats as they passed"

so we were watching each other and passing either port to port, or starboard to starboard. We were in the soup for about 2.5 hours, and finally exited it at Tribble Point.

This is a shot as we left the fog...

The remainder of the day was glorious sunshine, with great pictures of waterfalls coming into Fraser, and then Graham Reach. Our anchorage will be at Green Inlet, Horsefly Cove. We will have covered 75 miles today, with another 40 to Shearwater, and then 120 more to Port McNeil.

Ketchikan to Prince Rupert

2009-06-07T17:39:00.000-07:00

New Eddystone Rock, outside the entrance to Punchbowl Cove

Monday, May 25^th, 2009:

Before leaving Petersburg, we helped this gill-netter load his new net...

Calculating the timing for travel is important, especially in the big waters of the Alaskan coast. We are traveling south through the famous Wrangell Narrows, but that empties into Sumner Strait, feeding off the Pacific. You never want to enter that strait with opposing winds and tides, so the calculations. We estimate that we will arrive at 3:00PM, just at the high tide. That means an ebb flow, which is west in Sumner, will follow. The forecast is for easterly winds, so that is good…we’ll see.

We said goodbye to Lee & Diane...

It worked out perfectly, with our anchorage at St. John’s Harbor near the “big water”. We were close to shore, but in 40 feet of water, and I launched one crab pot. The next morning, we readied and headed to Wrangell. That took about 3 hours and the marina had dock space. This is a quaint little town, full of characters. The first person we met was Knut from near Seattle. He is a commercial fisherman by trade, but now retired and fishing every day for “fun”. His wife, Gerry, is a Bartlett from Cullman! The world is very small.

Then Wednesday morning, we went out for a run toward a new harbor built in Wrangell since our visit there last year. As we left the dock, there were two large fishing trawlers on the grid, at low tide. They use that to work below the water line as a free “haul-out”, and when the tide floods, they are launched again. The new harbor is huge, and only about a mile from town. We went into a shop we saw last year and talked to the owner for a hour before heading back via the grocery store. We re-stocked as much as we could think of, and I spent the rest of the afternoon removing the stern-thruster motor from inside the boat. The factory had suggested that the shear-pin between the motor and the drive would be the first one to break, and it can be replaced from within the boat. So after about 2 hours of work, I removed it, and the shear-pin was intact. That means that the “failed” pin is the one from the shaft to the propeller. That takes a haul-out to fix. Oh, well. I called Kurt Dillworth at Tomco Marine (builders of our boat) and we talked about many things relating to the boat, newer design changes, etc. Meanwhile, we had to get the line out of the thruster propeller....

A local diver, Bob Z. did the job...and he pulled this out...

The big AT Rendezvous is Sept 25^th at the factory, and we will see him there.

Our course further south is the “eastern passage” around Wrangell Island, a route we did not take last year. It passes by Anan, the famous bear viewing area during the summer. It is only open when the salmon are running, and we’ve never seen that spectacle. We would need an early departure in order to avoid an ebb tide current against us, so we hoped to get away by 7:00. Of course when you are planning on an early start, you wake up too early (we were underway at 5:00!!). I had calculated the currents such that they would provide a “push” the entire way, but they didn’t. Not sure why. We wanted to get to one of our favorite spots last year, Meyer’s Chuck, and the day was beautiful. Enroute we were greeted by Dall Porpoises, numbering 10 or so….I got a terrific video of them surfing our bow wake. When I went below, I could hear their noises thru our hull in the bow.

We arrived at 12:00 noon and met a few people at the dock.

Rain had started, so we just ate and read after walking around the village. The next morning the winds were calm, so we decided to take advantage and move toward Misty Fjords, the circumference around the Island that Ketchikan is on. This is a National Monument and is one of the most famous of the Inside Passage. The route is about 100 miles, and we would arrive in Ketchikan to meet Niki and Bud Culver on June 2^nd. But the “sticky bun lady” must be waited for at the dock. She brings them to the dock at 7:30 every morning, so we waited and they were really good!

The 44 miles to the next anchorage was in the beginning of the Misty Fjord, a spot called Snail Point. Don’t you love the names? I dropped two crab pots before cocktails. We could hear the anchor chain dragging across the stone bottom, so I got out the anchor bridle, and it solved the noise issue completely. The bridle places a nylon line between the chain and the boat, thus removing any transmitted sounds. It also drops the contact point to below the water line, reducing the amount of scope necessary (or improving your anchorage for any given scope). We got up early to begin the journey to Punchbowl Cove, one of the most photographed areas in Alasaka.

What a day to travel….sun and warm weather. I’ve mentioned the issue of waves created by opposing tide and wind, and we were in choppy seas with waves around 1 to 2 feet. We were heading southeast with the winds in our face out of the SE. We had an ebb tide with us, opposing the wind. The slack after the ebb was calculated to be at 12 noon, so we watched to see what the flood (with the wind) would do to the waves… and at almost exactly 12 noon, the water became as smooth as glass! Christy said that we have no more excuses for rough weather…we simply will wait until the winds and tides cooperate.

Our arrival into Punchbowl was truly magnificent. Clear, no boats in the cove, calm weather, and the granite wall vertical to 3,000 feet forming the north border. It is breathtaking to see, and the pictures cannot reveal the majesty of it. We tied to a mooring buoy (much easier than anchoring) and settled in. The next morning, there was not a cloud in the sky! We decided to stay another day here, and after pancakes, we launched the kayaks for the first time. What fun! We spent over 2 hours along the shores and taking pictures. The boat looked so good in the sparkling sunshine, that I couldn’t resist taking more. We sunbathed on the deck, read, and then kayaked again. What a day. We have loaded and secured the kayaks for the trip to Ketchikan in the morning…Christy can’t wait to see her brother on June 4^th there. We spent two night at Punchbowl Cove and the only people we saw was a couple who arrived to camp out on shore. I kayaked to meet them, and they are on a 3 week vacation, with a ferry that drops them off at certain locations for a few days at a time with provisions and gear. It’ll be hard to top the past 2 days, as the temp was 70 today, and cloudless! There is a trail at the head of the cove, slippery and steep, but terrific but not maintained...

Saturday, June 06, 2009

We are ending 5 days spent in wonderful Ketchikan, AK. After Punchbowl, we found a slip in the northern part, but walked to the “downtown” marina and met Garry Morfit. He has an older trawler, but well equipped. He was sitting on the dock working on his lines when we walked up. We asked how he got that slip, and he said by luck, but it’s “first come, first served”. He offered to call us at the other marina if anything opened up. The next morning (Tuesday the 2^nd) at 7:00 am, he called and we jumped into high-gear! We got the slip across the dock from him, and that began a great friendship. He heads a mission called Project Healing Waters. He invites to his boat wounded soldiers from the Iraq conflict, takes them out as crew to enjoy the Alaskan experience. He has 160 soldier-days scheduled already for this summer. I watched a DVD of them catching a 110 lb Halibut, pulling crab traps, etc. and having a ball. All of this on his nickel! He became another mentor to us, and we spent hours together talking about boats, boating issues, fishing, anchoring, fixin’ things, etc.

I worked on a few splices to "bridle" the crab pots...

Paula Wiesel owns the Arctic Bar in Ketchikan. She was the spirit last year at the bake auction benefit, and we looked forward to seeing her again. She was as lively as ever, and we met her in the bar every day. She invited Christy and me to dinner at the Salmon Falls resort. What a setting, with a huge old lodge overlooking the Behm Canal of Misty Fjords. We had a great meal and enjoyed spending more time with Paula and her boyfriend, Randy. Randy’s father is 83 and still one of the most productive fishermen in the area.

Niki and Bud Culver arrived on a cruise boat on Thursday, June 4^th. We got to spend the day hanging out and hiking part of Deer Mountain Trail. We sat out on the fly-bridge talking for hours and Christy was in heaven seeing her brother all day. I finally got around to adding 150 ft of rope line to my 200 ft of anchor chain. There are times when you may need that length, but it also gives you a way to get rid of a fouled anchor (cutting rope is easier than chain!). After splicing the line to the chain and securing the bitter end, I played it out and practiced getting the line from the windlass to the capsan (other side). That proved more difficult than I imagined, and after many agonizing small injuries and blisters, I had it all figured out. Once I had the chain off under load, and couldn’t get it back on. Christy suggested using the “come-a-long” that I bought a week ago, and it worked great. She is a genius, and she lets me know often.

Garry suggested that we head out on Friday the 5^th toward Weasel Cove about 30 miles away. Since this was almost our route to Prince Rupert (planned for Saturday the 6^th) we jumped at the chance. He caught a nice King Salmon on the way, and then we put out our “pots”. After social hour, we went to pull them, and one of mine was stuffed with huge Dungeness Crabs! What a feast. We went to our boat to cook them, and Garry cleaned his Salmon. It is now in our ‘fridge waiting on our next meal, because the crabs were more than we could eat. We each ate about 3 lbs of crab and collapsed. Christy and I planned an early start this morning, so we got up at 5:30, but it took us ‘till 7:00 to get things stowed, the dinghy secure to the upper deck, and get underway. This could be our last day in Alaska until next year. We are underway heading toward the Dixon Crossing. I spoke with a Nordic Tug we passed (Oleander) and he crossed with good weather yesterday, so we will keep our fingers crossed.

We departed late, after working on the gen-set intake….it had overheated late on Friday, so I cleaned the intake and sea-strainer of weed, and we left at noon. It was a long and bumpy ride toward Prince Rupert. After 5 hours, we were nearing the mid-point of Dixon with another 3 hours to go. We decided to rest in the protected inlet called Brundidge Inlet. That is in Canada, but the remainder of the cruise would take another 3 hours, and seemed too much. The sun was shinning, and we recovered from the crossing with a book on the bow... You can spend a single night prior to clearing customs either north bound to clear in Ketchikan, or south bound to clear in Prince Rupert. We’ll get an early start tomorrow (Sunday, June 07, 2009) and clear customs at the Prince Rupert Yacht Club near mid-town.

Video of the Dall Porpoises

Leaving Petersburg, Diane, & Lee

2009-05-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 26th,
Petersburg has a 20 foot tide, and this is what the shore looks like at low tide...

With eagles like pigeons, one on every mast...

After the crabbing, we returned to Petersburg to do boating chores, one of which was getting a line out of our stern thruster. Rather than me dive for it, I hired a diver to get it out. Another lesson learned, but this line was left tied to the staple-rail on the swim platform, so low down that I did not see it when we readied for our return trip. Problem! But it's all worked out now. On our dock was a "gill-netter" rigging a new net for his boat. This stuff is casual but very serious. Dinner was the crab and prawns again....somebody has to eat this...
On our walk after eating, we saw this dear in downtown ...

And this sign in a window says it all, especially about a small town. Every birthday is know to all, and recognized monthly like this...

This is my first attempt at a line splice...I needed to lengthen a 250 foot poly line to 300 feet and this is what it looks like..
Last year, again with Lee's instructions, I did a loop splice around a thimble for an anchor bridle
Lee & Diane are hard to say goodbye to....here is Christy, tears and all...
Monday we waited for the currents to "push" and headed south through the Wrangell Narrows. This is a 20 mile passageway marked with over 60 markers and buoys, with 20 or so major turns, all in a natural waterway. We only burned 2.5 gph and still had over 8kts, since we had a current the entire way. We anchored across Sumner Strait in St. Johns Harbor. Then it was up on Tuesday for the short trip to Wrangell.

This was our first rainy day, overcast, and with seas that were over 3' for about 20 minutes. We sped-up for the first time to 15 kts to shorten time spent in the bumps, but it's clearing up this afternoon. The boat behind us Salty Dawg, is based in Anacortes. They are Kunt and Gerry Frostad, and Gerry is a Bartlett from Cullman...small world isn't it?

Second week, Petersburg, crabbing, prawning...

2009-05-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

Lee Simpson is "the man", and his wife, Diane "the lady"! We have followed them around, and learned so much it's hard to describe....some of the below tells about the experience.

Lee cooking steaks before leaving Petersburg for the crabs and prawns..

Lee's tender....this is a 1,300 pound real boat, with an 80 HP outboard that stays on top of Sonata. He has a 2 ton crane to launch it....

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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Lee called at 10:00 and said let’s get going. We cruised over to Thomas Bay, and what a sight.

Undoc'd in Thomas Bay, with a crab trap float deployed....

We curled around Ruth’s Island to our anchor site and launched the dinghies. The crane motor worked without leaking, and the dinghy started right up, our first start of the year. Then we set out my 2 crab pots, and Lee’s 4. This was in about 50 feet of water near a flowing stream (best places, according to Lee). Then we went further along the shore into 300 feet to drop 4 shrimp traps. On the way back, we pulled up one of the crap pots “just to see”, and there were already 2 huge crabs! We decided to wait and harvest everything tomorrow morning. We played Mexican Train on Lee’s boat until 6:00 or so, then came back for the night. The morning will be at 8:00 and our “harvest”.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Christy and I are up at 6:00 to start the gen and get some heat into the boat. She warms up quickly, and the battery bank has only dropped to 70% during the night. At 8:00 sharp, Lee and I head out to “harvest”. Two of the crab pots had a total of 12 huge males, and another had 3 more…this was a lot of crab-meat. Then as I was re-launching one of mine, I let the rope tangle with the buoy, and it sank forever, lost and gone. Lesson learned, and thank God it was not Lee’s. We took them to the boat, and headed to the prawn’s. We had 50 or so huge prawns, and they looked fabulous to me and The Coog….about 50-60 with several huge “tigers” the rest “spots”. Lee suggested dropping the prawn traps again in another spot. We immediately cleaned the crabs, boiled them, and refrigerated them. I almost lost a finger to a big one. You cannot get any fresher than that. Then we cleaned the shrimp and Chris took them back to our boat to cook. She is doing dinner tonight for the 4 of us, and it will be risotto and shrimp, with tomato and cucumber salad, French bread, and the rum cake Chris made yesterday. Then Lee took me out to try our halibut skills. We fished from the dinghy about 3 miles from the boats, and didn’t have any luck. But I am hooked, and now I think I know how to do this stuff.

Lee suggested that we pull anchor at 3:00 and head further into Thomas to an inlet he has anchored before called Scenery Bay. It is beautiful, narrow, and calm. On the way in, he spotted a black bear at the head, and we just sat there for 30 minutes watching him graze and hunt. He was oblivious to us and great fun to watch him. The anchorage in the inlet is very narrow, and deep but we found a 50 foot spot with enough swing room. Lee took a spot further out, in 80 feet of water. Once secure, Chris fine-tuned the dinner while I took care of checking the mechanicals. What a day!

Lee & Diane came over for dinner, and the bear came out again. He roamed for an hour at the spit of land at the mouth, about 40 yds from us. We watched him for the hour, and Lee & I got in the tender to head closer for pictures. He was never startled, but finally headed back into the woods.

On Saturday the 23^rd we got up early to pull the prawn traps, and this time there were even more, and much bigger. What a feast! Lee insisted that I take all of them, which I did, and we cleaned and boiled them before 9:00AM! They would be our appetizer tonight at the dock. We pulled anchor and headed back to Petersburg and the dock. I had some fishing, crabbing, and prawning gear to buy. Lee & Diane came over for the prawns and other horderves at 6:00 and we socialized at the dock before turning in.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Another sunny day, and T-shirt temperatures. We provisioned some, and planned the trip south toward Wrangell. We have an anchorage in mind half way called Jones Harbor near the entrance to Sumner Strait (it comes directly in from the Pacific). Petersburg had a Memorial Weekend fishing tournament every year with $thousands in prize money. The winner for largest Salmon was on display….weighing 59.8 pounds! With this in mind, I made sure that I had bait for the trip to Wrangell. We popped some popcorn, listened to music, and played gin for an hour before getting the book out to read for 5 minutes before passing out.

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First week, from May 12th

2009-05-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

Tuesday May 12^th,

We arrived in Sitka after a long day of flying. We left BHM at 7:00 AM (on May 12^th), and arrived in Sitka at 7:30 PM. For the first time, we saw Sitka from the air, and what a sight! They have had sunshine and 65 degrees for the past 3 weeks, and we never had a single day that nice last summer. We headed out for a walk around Sitka, and then straight for some food and the bed, delaying our first visit to the boat until Wednesday morning (5/13).

Wednesday early we headed by bus to the “haul-out” where Undoc’d spent the winter. Along the way, we picked up our two kayaks that had been shipped from Friday Harbor, WA. We spent a long day doing all of the things that are required to both “de-winterize” and trouble-shoot all of the parts, components, systems, storage, clothing left on board, utensils, cleaning, and most important, trying to find out how to get our boat launched the next day. I checked all of the “thru-hulls” and electricals, and took pictures of the bottom of the boat. There was a huge fishing boat in front of us that had been completely covered with plastic, built within a frame of wood. It looked like an almost permanent home for someone, and I could not imagine how they would be moved. It looked like a small home, and moving it would destroy the frame and cover. They assured me that it could (and would) be done, but I was still skeptical.

They said to wait until about 10:00 on Thursday the 14^th for the launching, and we did. Sure enough, they lifted the boat in front without any problem, move it, and then grabbed us for a launch. Christy and I both rode in the boat for the over-land action, and were ready to go through the checklist and start Undoc’d when in the water. It was smoother than we imagined, we tested the engine and thrusters, backed out, and headed toward Sitka. This was about a 4 mile journey, and we did that at near idle speeds, testing only up to 1200 RPM. I had forgotten how fuel efficient we are at that slow speed. We were getting nearly 8 mph and burning only 7 gph at 1200 RPM. The marina “Old Thomsen Dock Harbor” had allowed us to dock at the primo location close to the office, with good electrical and water, and only a 5 minute walk to town.

Now that we were in the water, we could truly check our components for the first time. We expected that several things would suffer the agonies of a long winter in Sitka, and have worried much about this for the past 8 months. We were not disappointed! First, the crane (davit) that is used to launch the dinghy blew a fuse. We replaced it, and it blew again. Not knowing what to do next, we called the manufacturer (Kurt Dilworth is “the man”) and he had the component (Steelhead Marine) call me. He decided that the hydraulic motor had failed and would ship a replacement for a Saturday the 16^th delivery. That seemed overly ambitious, but we’ll see.

Then we found that the sump for the gray water didn’t work. That is a real “deal-killer” since you cannot function without that. All shower and sink water from the staterooms must be pumped out, since they are below the water-line. Kurt said to cut the float switch detector from it’s wires, and intentionally short them to see if the motor would run. We did, and it did, and that meant that the motor was OK, we just needed to install another float switch. I headed to town, bought a new one, and installed it. Everything worked fine. Next problem was found to be the bilge pump in the main hull (engine room). It would not come on, and the float switch lever was “stuck” and wouldn’t move. I bought another one, and that solved that.

Friday the 15^th was “provisioning” day. Getting groceries for a couple of weeks while underway is a significant event. We spent $400 and are certain that we don’t have enough yet. I heard from the Davit maker that the new motor would arrive early on Saturday morning, so I began the dismantling of the old one, taking pictures, making notes, and diagramming the schematics so I would be ready.

Early Saturady, the pump motor arrived, and it took about an hour to install it. What a thrill to see the crane work properly again after connecting 4 high-pressure hoses, and about 8 electricals to the unit. Feeling now ready to depart Sitka, Christy and I headed out to hike the 6 mile trail loop in the forest, and along Indian River. Not a cloud in the sky, and the temp about 65 degrees….what a day! Christy then cooked an incredible meal of chili appetizer, then corn on the cob, spinach, broccoli, with cornbread…what a treat. We are exhausted, but ready to head out tomorrow.

I forgot to describe unpacking, assembling, and inflating the new kayaks. What a product they are. Hobie makes several versions of inflatables with a drive for pedaling. Very ingenious mechanics, with cruising speeds of 8kts without paddling….even faster with paddling added. They were inflated and placed on the upper deck, secured and are ready for use. Many things are yet to be tried, such as the dinghy, but that can wait. We are headed south!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

We were anxious to get started, but needed to wait until after 9:00 in order to take advantage of the currents thru Sergious Narrows. They can approach 8kts, and are routinely 6-7 kts, and you had better plan to have the current pushing you! I got our flag on the stern, and an Alaska flag for our burgee on the bow, pre-flighted the engine, gen-set, retracted the power cord, and then headed to the marine supply store to check for tide and current charts. Christy prepared a huge pot of Risotto and Caprese salad for our dinner later on, and toasted a pan of pine nuts. We had no idea where we would get to, but we were ready to eat already. The smell of the Risotto was incredible, and of course, we had to taste it.

The day was overcast and rainy, with the temp around 55 degrees….not the best day to be in Sitka, but a good day to be underway. Even though our trip is to head south, we must first head north and then east. The reason is the inside passage is a maze of waterways, and everyone wants to avoid getting “outside” in the Pacific. Outside is the most direct way to get south, but there are risks involved, so we head north.

We covered around 50 nm before we decided to anchor for the night. We were near the mouth of Peril Strait, which merges with Chatham Strait, and turns south. This spot is called Honus Bay, and is where we anchored last summer with Greg and Jan Brown on our way to Sitka

This is the chart-plotter....and below is the same spot viewing a 3-D topography of the bottom:

Pretty cool stuff

Christy did a masterful job at the controls while I lowered the anchor with the windlass. We were in 20 kt winds, so it wasn’t easy keeping Undoc’d pointed into the wind. We were in 20 ft of water, and let out 100 ft of chain. Next stop was an incredible supper!

Everything seems to be working, including the float switch I replaced, and the crane hydraulic motor. Christy washed a load of clothes, dryed them, and all while playing 5 hands of gin. It’s great having all of the amenities of home while “roughing it”. We are planning on watching a DVD tonight, but not sure what yet. The satellite receiver will not get anything until we are further south, typically below 55 degrees of north latitude, so no TV yet. Tomorrow will be better weather, and we are excited to get to Warm Springs. They are really spectacular, they say, since in addition to the warm baths, there are several 200 ft waterfalls that cascade into the cove. That will be only 30 miles from here, so we are not sure whether we will press on further, or stay there tomorrow night.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Well, what a difference a night makes. We awoke to a crystal clear sky, and sun shinning brightly! The winds were 20 kts all night, and the waves were slapping against the hull. We raised anchor and immediately were headed toward Warm Springs. The east coast of Baranof Island is famous for the severe cliffs and waterfalls. We caught the ebb tide just right and had another knot of push helping along. Sunglasses were a must. We could see on the AIS (coded signal sent out by larger boats) that a National Geographic boat was ahead at the Kasnyku Falls, so we headed toward them, and it was amazing. Huge falls cascading into Chatham Strait, that we could motor right up to. Then it was onward. Christy saw commotion in the water ahead, and as we approached, there were 20 or so Dall Porpoises playing. They gathered on both sides of our bow, and Christy got a great video of them playing in our wake. Then we saw our first whales, a pod doing their bubble-feeding, but they were too far off to get pictures.

We turned into Warm Springs, and were greeted by a massive fall smack in the middle of the village. The boardwalk trail went up above the village, and to the lake, but was covered with snow yet to melt. We docked at their public pier which was perfect, and Christy talked to two fishermen just tying up their small boat. One had just purchased one of the homes, and was excited about spending the winter there next year. He said it snowed 27 feet last year! Two large boats were coming in, so we headed out again.

We had to cross Chatham Strait, and there were 3 to 4 foot rollers out there. For the first time, we speeded up to shorten the time for crossing, and then headed east through Fredrick Sound. The fishermen suggested our next anchoring should be at Portage Bay, so off we went. Our first great friends from last year, Lee and Diane Simpson, had wintered their boat, Sonata, in Petersburg. Since that was our destination for tomorrow, I decided to call them on the cell. Lee answered and much to our surprise was still in Petersburg. He said he’ll have dinner ready for us Tuesday night! Lee is the former raisin farmer turned boat builder who personally built his 60 foot, 60 ton steel hulled Sonata. He has a grand piano and a fireplace in his salon, and electronics that remotely monitor and transmit via the web all of his environmental data. If he travels south for the winter, he can always look at the status of his boat on the internet. Can’t wait to see them.

We arrived at Portage Bay at 5:00 after a 70 mile day….too long. We had decided earlier that the weather looked good enough to take advantage of it, and cross Fredrick Sound. We have quite the spot for anchoring, and Christy has put together another incredible meal. This time it was fresh corn, broccoli, sweet potatoes, huge salad, and cornbread. We’re starting on shrimp, salmon, and halibut tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Early start to get to Petersburg early enough to get a run in. House battery-bank drifts down at about 2% per hour, which is only 12 amp-hours. The generator restores the overnight losses in less than 30 minutes. We were given a good slip at the dock in downtown Petersburg. The first thing we did was go for a run….it’s been too long, and we’re not gonna “do without” this trip! The sun is blazing away, and the temp is warm. Everyone here is excited because of it.

We see Jade Princess (from NC) and Sonata (Lee & Diane) across the way, and will have dinner with Lee tonight.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Great dinner last night with Lee and Diane. Huge steaks, but better conversation. He has offered, and we have accepted, to head out tomorrow, Thursday for a fishing, crabbing, and prawning clinic. We will cruise 2.5 hours north to Thomas Inlet, where the halibut, prawns, crabs and salmon thrive. He has all of the equipment, and is certain that he can educate me in the methods and strategies involved. What fun that is going to be. This is the filling of a huge gap in knowledge for me. Can’t wait!

2009-05-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

Three generations of William C. Wood's

Preparing to depart Birmingham for Sitka

2009-05-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

Well, the hard part is knowing that you will not see the kids for a couple of months. So these pictures must serve as our "blog" memories of the kids until July (earliest) or so (could be as late as October)...

Ethan as close as he ever gets to a dog...

Harrison, alway thinking about his next sport...

And Isla, playing in Bill's front yard at little William's 1st birthday party...

And speaking of William, here are Jr., III, and IV..

Addison holds court most every day...

So we are putting the finishing touches on the house preparation, the packing, and the worry list about de-winterizing the boat. We are told that the "shrink-wrap" has been removed, and she awaits our arrival in Sitka. We depart Birmingham on May 12th

Feb 2009, long after the winter storage procedure

2009-02-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

Final resting place for the winter. After this was taken, the arch came down, and she was "wrapped" in plastic.

Christy standing next to our baby, prior to the "wrap"

Our boat weighs 32,000 lbs. The hoist can carry 100,000!!

Getting centered in the slip was easy, with no winds..

Sitka harbor from the town

Cousin Gene..

Salty, the cat. You've never seen a more personable cat in your life. Christy wanted to steal her. She really did!

My cousin! We met and while talking, he remembered traveling to Alabama several times a a kid visiting his cousin. He name was Posey, my mother's maiden name. I've looked them up in the geneology book, and sure enough, we are distantly related. Small world, eh?

The Lucky Puppies, who were saved from a bear attack.

Salty and Christy...she runs loose on the boat and dock all day.

Dean and Diane, departing and heading south. They will fly to Pensacola this winter and we plan to hook up with them.

Last night before Dean and Diane head south.

Rare evening without cloud cover..

Sitka harbor

Well, after 5 months of dry land, I thought I'd update our situation. Christy and I spent 3 weeks in Sitka in early August 2008 getting Undoc'd ready for the winter. The damage to the dinghy in Icy Strait had to be fixed, among about a thousand other things. The Icy Strait thing.....don't ever try to make way east into a 30 kt easterly wind, with an east-bound flood tide!! Everyone tells you about the conflicts that arise when current and wind oppose, but this was outrageous! Since my back-up alternator was out, and the "rigged" attachment not comfortably secure, I was bound and determined to get to Hoonah under almost any circumstance. I should'a waited.

We have had much fun in Sitka, meeting many, many great people. I ever met a long lost, and distant cousin in the docks. We spent time with Chris and Art Capp (an AT41 like ours named Lucky Puppy), Dean and Diane Kreider (sailing liveabourds on Talisman) and Dick and Sharon Dreschler (Last Resort, a sailing vessel). Finally, we had Undoc'd hauled out at the Halibut Point Marina. We had her covered, as well, but had to lower the radar arch to do it.

Art and Chris have two Australian Shepherds who were attacked by a huge Grissly Bear, and survived. Quite a story there to tell, but Art saved them by approaching the bear (in the dinghy) while one of the dogs was in the mouth of the bear. The bear dropped the dog, and the other dog was swimming to him at the same time. Both needed a vet's care, but have fully recovered. That is one of the challenges of boating in the area with pets.

Church in town is a Russian Orthodox. We went once, and since Christy is Greek, she knew all of the cultural do's and dont's, but I didn't. I proceeded to sit on the "best" side away from Christy, and only after we left did Christy tell me that I was on the "girls" side. Oh well...

Winterizing and "pickeling" the water-maker, draining the Gen-set, getting coolant into the engines, the Heat-pump, all the water system, etc was quite the chore. In addition, we had to get fuel stablization fluids into the fuel tanks and the outboard tank. A million things to do. Now she sits there, with 4 heaters to "hopefully" keep the temperature above 32..

Leaving Glacier Bay

2008-07-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

My last report had us arriving at Bartlett Cove, to depart Glacier Bay. Here is our departing shot of Bartlett.... We had a bad alternator, and the only thing I could see to account for it was a broken ground lead from the alt to the engine. We used the generator to recharge the "house bank", and left for Elfin Cove. What a treat! Just as we left the inlet, we saw much turbulent water, with birds feeding above it. Then a whale, then 3 more whales, then we realized that we were approaching a pod that was bubble-feeding. We stopped, but they essentially surrounded us while we were at idle. There were too many to count, and the show was spectacular. Jan had seen a clear demarcation in the seas that we assumed were current lines, but it turned out to be turbulence caused by the feeding whales.
We continued on, with very poor weather, visibility of only a mile, and headed for Elfin Cove. My hope was to fix the ground lead for the alt, but the village is really nice.
It is a town of 32 hearty souls, with many fishing boats that refuel and sell their fish at the dock.

The town is built on the water, with boardwalks as sidewalks. One of the docks serves as a floatplane dock... and another dock allowed Greg and I to clean 4 Dungeness Crabs for dinner...

Jan and Christy, looking over the town

Greg and I found the town mechanic who helped us fashion a new lead for the alternator. However, after connecting it, I noticed a broken bolt holding the alt to the mount. Then smoke poured from the alt, and we were really in a bind. The alt must be in place in order for the belt to be tight, and the belt turns the water pump, and much more. With the broken bolt, the bad alt was not tight enough to keep the belt secure. The shop in town had a small "Easy-Out", which can extract the broken piece. I drilled a hole in the broken bolt, hammered in the easy-out, and sure enough, the bolt came slowly out. Then we needed a replacement bolt of 10mm size, and Jim and Diane Neff, to whom we were rafted, had exactly what we needed. So after bolting everything back on, we were on our way to Hoona. The factory said they would ship a replacement alternator, lead, and bolts to us in Sitka.

These were the roughest seas we have encountered. A flooding tide against an easterly wind made for greater than 6 ft seas for an hour or so. The dinghy was moved on the deck, but no one got sick, thankfully. We were grateful for the final easy miles into Hoona!

Hoona is the largest Tlingit (native) village in Alaska. They are noted for having such a reliable harbormaster, and I wanted to talk to him about wintering the boat there. It seemed too small, but the marina is a good one... We went to their trails for a walk. They have built a separate "village" just to accomodate tourists, and this trail is a part of it. They also have the longest "Zip-Line" in AK, but it was closed when we were there. Christy pointed out that not every boat is well kept...This one was next to us at the dock.. Note the satellite dish on the front. The dinghy was full of water, and grafitti was scrawled on the sides. He was a live-a-board, and the TV was on late at night, but we never saw him...

So we left Hoona for Sitka. The distance is about 90 miles, so we wanted to break it into two segments. Our first one was to a cove just inside Peril Strait. We read that Grizzlies hung out at a spot called Honus Bay, so we dropped anchor there. At dusk, we went out on the bow to look around, and there was a Grizzly just walking the beach!! We watched him for 30 minutes or so, until he was out of sight. Then we heard loud roars, and whale grunts in the Strait many times. What an evening.

We got up early to make it to Sitka before too late, and to time the currents. There are 4 straits to get through, and you cannot make all of them at slack water, so you must compromise every one! The strongest currents are at the Sergious Narrows, and you can see by the picture that there was about a 5 knot current opposite our direction. All of the others were easy enough.

When we arrived in Sitka, we marveled at the "working boats". Sitka is one of the busiest fishing ports in the US! It is a town of only 8,800, but everyone has a fishing boat. In the evening, when they return for the day, they raft 4 abreast to rehash the day, and debrief their friends. Needless to say, they decompress with beverages as well. The harbormaster told me that it takes a special dump-truck to carry away the empties the next morning...

After rain most of the day, this was our treat at sunset...quite the show.

The waterfront bar was filled with locals, and the walls covered with pictures of boats, fish, and personalities...

And in downtown, when tourists leave, the streets are empty...

This is the oldest Episcopal Church in Alaska, having been in continuous operation since 1860.

We hiked up the trail at the Raptor Center here in Sitka, and even trout fishing is popular..

This Great Horned Owl is in the center, recuperating from some injury...

And now a few pictures from our trip up Tracy Arm a few weeks ago. A friend took these pictures and sent them to us. It's hard to get pictures of your own boat while underway, but these are good and capture the scene...

This picture is of a cruise boat further toward the Sawyer Glacier than we could get (in Tracy Arm)...

Greg and Jan must leave, so early on Tuesday July 22nd, with tears in our eyes, we sent them on their way back to Durango. It is so much fun to have guests on the boat, but it makes us sad when they leave. They become a part of our family, and seem to become essential to the operations of the boat itself...we are so thankful to have close friends to share these experiences with, and appreciate the time and cost associated with the travel to and from the boat.....

Christy and I are now settling in to getting a few repairs done. I have, just this morning, installed the new alternator and everything seems to work just fine. Chris is cleaning and taking all inventories. Sitka may be our home for a week or so, until we find our "winter resting place".

Margerie Glacier

2008-07-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

Jan spent most of the day outside.. and Greg as well...

After the whales, we cruised by South Marble Island. This small island is covered with Steallar Sea Lions, only the males. Apparently, the males with mates remain further north in Muir Inlet, and those without come here to mourn.. Greg and Jan rode out front... while we cruised into our anchoring spot in North Sandy Cove... We again set our 'pots and fished, but the only catch this time was this sea-urchin...

Then, we headed further north toward Margerie Glacier. This glacier is one of the most popular, because she is calving into Tarr Inlet often...along the way, we saw this Mountain Goat, nursing her little baby...hard to see in the picture...
As we entered the north extent, the icebergs appeared and we had to navigate them but then around the last turn we could see the Grand Pacific Glacier, which does not quite make it to the tidewaters...and to the left, the famous Margerie Glacier!! We motored right up to the base and could hear the cracks as they occurred. We cut all engines and just sat there for an hour listening to these incredible sounds... We heard many cracks, and saw two huge chunks calve off.. one while taking this picture!

We finally decided to head south and find an anchorage...we went past the Lundgren Glacier, noted because of the huge flume of water gushing out at the base...it was roaring!! You can see it in the lower center of this picture. Then we cruised into the Reid Inlet, home of Reid Glacier.. As you can see, it looks like a tidewater glacier, but the ice does not actually reach the water. We anchored and then the sunset!!

Reid Glacier is an incredible anchorage! Tomorrow we head out, and then who knows. The critical issue that has risen, is an alternator failure noticed today. Our house bank of batteries drifted down while underway, and I could only find a broken ground lead to explain it. I'll trouble-shoot that tomorrow, as the generator is giving us plenty of capacity...

Greg & Jan from Juneau to Glacier Bay

2008-07-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

Chris and I headed to get some shopping done before Greg and Jan arrived, and saw Mendenhall Glacier near the airport... We will hike this area next year when we have more time..

Greg and Jan arrived in Juneau on Friday the 9th, and after we picked them up at the airport, we headed for the "long way" walk to town. We visited all of the "famous" places, such as the Alaskan Bar and the Red Dog Saloon that has one of Wyatt Earp's guns. Here are 3 "buds" on the flume trail....
And Jan stood under a Rhubard plant in someones front yard

Chris and Jan cooked our first meal aboard, one of Halibut, cilantro relish, salad, and wine, with dessert from town..
The next morning, we were off toward Glacier Bay. The route is first south thru the Gastineau Channel, and then turn around the point heading north over the Mansfield Penisula, then south again. Before leaving, we took a picture of our favorite dock-dog, named Kita.. and then we were off. Also here is our neighbors fishing boat... He and his wife and 2 year daughter live on board, and fish all summer. They will "long line" for Salmon, and gill net also. They caught about12,000 pounds this past week, and clearly love the life style of the water. They live in Petersburg during the winter.

We found our first moorage in Funter Bay, about half way to Glacier Bay. There is an abandoned cannery (sound familiar?) there, with a dock, so we didn't have to drop anchor. Greg and I put out the crap pots and began fishing, with meager results, as you can see... This one went back in, so the next morning, we pulled the crab pots and found one medium Dungeness Crab, but she was a female, and had to go back as well. But there were several prehistoric creatures in the traps also...I'll not show them for fear of scaring the children...
We went for an early walk on shore the next morning, although Chris was still so afraid of finding a bear, it was not a long walk...
We headed on to Glacier with Greg and Jan taking a much deserved nap along the way.. It's good when the engine drones on and on, but not so good if it quits!! We arrived in Glacier and checked in at Bartlett Cove. We immediately headed out on a trail to the lodge for dinner...
and Chris was happy... Greg and Jan are here.. and also here... The next morning was the incredible whale adventure, as we were to head north toward the Tarr Inlet and the Margerie Glacier..here are Greg and I on the bow... while underway...but the whales!!! Following are several still-shots and two videos that must be viewed. This was an exhilarating experience!

This was so close, you could hear everything they said...the blows, the grunts, and the howls...

But the videos are the most incredible...I hope they show or the blog...

Skagway to visit NIki and Sherri

2008-07-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

Christy and her beloved brother!!

Wednesday, July 9^th

Chris and I flew to Skagway to see Niki and Sherri last Sunday. We were in a Caravan, Cessna’s single engine turbine, and the pilot let me fly right seat. Waterfalls off our right wing.. He confessed that I had more turbine hours than he did, and all he wanted to talk about was my Meridian. The approach into Skagway is into a blind canyon, requiring a 180 degree turn to land. We had 30 knot winds from our tail, so we had to execute the U-turn in a tight pattern, as we descended to 500 feet AGL. Very exciting! And here is a pic on short final to land...

We met Niki and Sherri early on Monday, and Chris was extremely happy to see her brother again. We hung out all day, with Niki taking us to the cemetery, Reid falls, and showing us several of the sights that he and Sherri have seen before. After lunch, they had to board the ship, and Chris and I headed to the train for the ride over White Pass, (notice the ship in the background of mainstreet)

the original route

after gold was discovered here. The Klondike Gold Rush has quite a history, and is one of the lectures that Niki gives on the ship he is on now. This is a picture at the top of White Pass, the breaking point for the "gold-rushers"...

Then on Tuesday morning, we returned to Juneau by high-speed ferry. We saw one whale, several Dall Porpoises, multiple eagle nests, and had to zig-zag into Auke Bay between the fishing boats hauling in their nets. There is one place where a rare sea-lion, bordering on extinction, gather each year to calve the young....

City life again...Juneau

2008-07-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

We have now traveled over 1,500 miles since getting the boat, all of it during daytime, and all of it virgin territory seeing it for the first time as we navigated it. There is so much to see and do, but more importantly, to learn.

After arriving in Juneau, we received several pictures e-mailed to us by other boats traveling into Tracy Arm...this one was send to us by Walli and Duane of Feisty... and also The ice was quite an experience, and we will be doing more of that in Glacier Bay between the 13th and the 18th.

The first thing we did was follow Niki's suggestion of hiking the Mt. Roberts trail above Juneau. This trail climbs 2000 ft. and you can ride a tram down. Great day!

Chris, sitting next to the memorial for the dog "Patsy Ann". She died a few years ago, but was the town mascot, roaming around getting fed and petted, but mostly renown for her ability to predict when ships would arrive. She was deaf, but had the uncanny ability to predict not only the time, but the pier the ship would dock at....most of the locals speak of her today.

Any city placed on the side of a hill will have plenty of these, but Juneau is special in the regard. The steps climb to every house on the hill heading up toward Mt. Roberts.

Sunsets are always neat...we are in Harris Harbor in downtown Juneau. This is really convenient.

Looking NW in Gastineau Channel..

This is Gastineau Channel looking SE. You enter it from the SE, and head NW. You are in protected waters, and the scenery is good. The city of Juneau is on the right (east shore) and Douglas on the west shore. If you continue up the channel, you get to Auke Bar, which is dry land at low tide, but barely navigable at high tides. You need a spring tide (higher than average, seen at full and new moons) and local knowledge to get through. Leaving Juneau this way would save about 30 miles on our trip to Glacier Bay, but we will not try that. Rather we will head back SE, around Douglas Island and back up to Auke Bay Harbor. Greg and Jan will join us on Friday the 11th, and then we will head to Glacier Bay.

Unbeknown to me, Chris had made a deal with God while rounding Cape Caution, so we searched out the Russian Orthodox Church here so that she could meet her part of the bargain. Solsititsyn has visited, so we did too...

There are many great trails out of Juneau. This one begins as the Flume trail, which was the first electric generating plant in the Pacific NW. It opened in 1893, only 14 years after Edison did his thing with the light bulb, and was owned by Alaska Power and Light Company, still in existence..

A view from the trail..the bridge crosses the channel, connecting Juneau to Douglas.

The trail has been well crafted and maintained, with boardwalks for about a mile or so.

This is Gold Creek, which extends miles up the valley behind Juneau..the trail parallels this creek.

After getting back to the boat, this King Salmon was being cleaned, and we acquired about 6 lbs of it...

But the most fun was noon on July 4th. Juneau has the first fireworks display at midnight on the 3rd, and we slept through that. But on the 4th, we watched a terrific parade through town..

Juneau

2008-06-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

Taku Harbor, an old abandoned fishing village near Juneau..

The sailing vessel, Talisman, enroute to Juneau. More about Diane and Dean later...he's a true fisherman!

You can't zoom in enough, but this is a Humpback Whale, before diving...

Eagle fishing from the shore, while we are enroute to Taku...

Note the contrast between the blue and the white. That ice from the glacier is blue, and the white has accumulated from snowfall, etc.

We played "guess what that looks like" many times heading up to the glaciers...

This is heading into Ford's Terror..

Waterfalls at the mouth of Ford's Terror near Endicott..

The icebergs to be avoided as we head up Tracy's Arm!

Wednesday, June 25^th:

We decided to leave Petersburg early, with the plotter showing 72 miles to Tracy Arm. Our experience so far has been that the actual mileage will be less by about 10% since we can cut corners, etc. At any rate, we woke up about 5:30 and were underway before 6am. We had provisioned at the store in Petersburg last night, and only needed food for a week or so, before we would arrive in Juneau.

We were out of the channel and into Frederick Sound where the first thing we saw were multiple white “boats” on the opposite shore. The binoculars showed us that they were all small icebergs, about 20 in number. We headed north, and about 2 hours later we began to see whales. At first, we saw only 1 or 2. Then Chris saw about 5 spouts and 2 or 3 surfacing. At one time, there were 7 spouts simultaneously! This was about the area called Stephens Passage, which has many beautiful islands such as Five Fingers, The Brothers, and The Twins. We passed several fishing vessels and two cruise ships as well.

I’m learning more everyday about everything to do with boating….including tricks on managing the systems on the boat. Scott Strickly (Strickly for Fun) has years of experience, years he describes as learning by “doing it wrong twice”. For example, never start your engine until you have disconnected the shore power cord (guess why….he knows someone who departed with the cord connected). He places an oil rag under the engine, not to keep the bilge area cleaner, but to see the exact location of any dripping from above. He has thought through almost every possible event, the causes, corrective action, ways to avoid, and the consequences of every reaction. He has refined the technique of changing fuel filters while underway….he points out that the only time it is critical is when it will be very hard. He has written the technical manual for the Nordhavn boat manufacturer and a chapter on anchoring.

I got a call yesterday from Marty and Linda Ellison of Tenacious. They were already in Juneau and described their trip from Petersburg as the most astounding so far. They anchored in Tracy Arm it NoName Bay. The books say that this area is among the most spectacular of Alaska. There are two “arms” after entering the mouth, Endicott to the south, and Tracy to the north. The names of the segments are revealing, for example there is Ford’s Terror in Endicott. Apparently there are currents in excess of 15 kts there, and it MUST be entered at slack water. In 1870 a Mr. Ford did not realize that, much to his terror. He was stuck for 6 hours, awaiting slack water. There is SumDum Island. But our plan is to anchor tonight and explore the glaciers, North and South Sawyer Glaciers, tomorrow. We will then stay in the “Arm” for 2 or 3 days under anchor before heading on toward Juneau.

Juneau:

In 1880 Joseph Juneau and Richard Harris discovered gold in the area, which led to the development of the settlement as a gold-mining town. While most gold mining ended in the 1940s, the early 1990s saw a renewed interest in this activity. Juneau was officially made the capital of the territory of Alaska in 1900, but government offices were not moved here from Sitka until six years later. When Alaska entered the Union in 1959, Juneau was retained as the state capital. In 1974 Alaskans voted to move the capital to a more central location; as of 1992, however, the interest in moving has declined. In 1970 Juneau's boundaries were greatly extended, making it one of the largest communities in area in the U.S. (land area 1990, 6716 sq km/2594 sq mi). Population 19,528 (1980); 26,751 (1990); 30,751 (2002 estimate).

Much of this area was explored by John Muir. I know everyone knows who he is, since so many areas, protected wildernesses, and trails are named after him, but I was not aware of his exploration of this area of Alaska. He did this in a Tlingit Dugout canoe in 1879 and 1880! He’s the man! His book, Travels in Alaska was published after his death in 1914. Here is a little biographical sketch:

Muir, John (1838-1914), American naturalist, explorer, and writer. He was an influential conservationist, who worked to preserve wilderness areas and wildlife from commercial exploitation and destruction. His efforts helped to establish Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park, both in California. Many natural sites have been named in his honor, including Muir Woods National Monument, a virgin stand of redwoods, near San Francisco, California.

Muir was born in Scotland in 1838. His family immigrated to the United States when he was 11 years old and settled on a farm near Portage, Wisconsin. Muir attended the University of Wisconsin from 1860 to 1863 but did not graduate. When he left college, he took extensive walking trips to study nature, especially plants. In 1867 he made a walking trip from Indianapolis to the Gulf of Mexico to observe the plants, animals, and physical features of the country. During this trip Muir kept extensive journals, which were published after his death as A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf (1916).

In 1868 Muir went to Yosemite Valley in California and explored and studied the area for the next six years. He was the first to conceive the theory that the Yosemite Valley was formed by glacial erosion. During this time he also studied glaciers in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In 1879, while exploring Glacier Bay, Alaska, he sighted the glacier that now bears his name, the Muir Glacier.

As we approached the entrance to Tracy Arm, we were greeted by many ‘bergs that were freed from the glaciers grasp. Knowing little about how to avoid the dangers, we gave them wide berth. We entered the NoName Bay, with two sailboats already there. We anchored in 25 feet and let out 100 feet of rode…it felt right and we were “set”. Another boat entered, and anchored too close, and moved later on. This setting is the most beautiful we have seen. We are in a cove with steep fir covered slopes on two sides, a land bridge on a third, and open water with tourquoise icebergs floating by in front of snow capped peaks behind. By 9:00 PM we had 12 boats in the cove. We will head to Tracy Arm Glacier in the morning. Scott and Teri dingy’ed to our boat for drinks, and described their visit today as incredible. They motored at cruise speeds for 14 miles, and then were forced to slow to near idle, in order that they avoid the increasing number of ‘bergs. They said it was inevitable that they hit some, but tried to do that at a slow speed. There is little risk of prop damage, but hull damage to the gel-coat is possible (according to Scott).

This is a view from our anchorage at the mouth of Tracy's Arm entrance

Scott and Teri heading over for happy hour..

Scott is now laid-out while Teri returns him home after happy hour.

Thursday, June 26^th:

We pulled anchor at 8:00 this morning to head to the Tracy Arm and the North and South Sawyer Glaciers. All descriptions have been accurate….you cannot describe this. The glacier-carved fjord becomes narrower as you get closer, the waterfalls become more numerous, and the icebergs denser.

The glacier is 20 miles in, and the first 15 miles were at cruising speed. But as they get denser, they get larger, and navigating between them more difficult. Finally, as we approached the final entrance, we were alternately at idle and neutral. The sound as they bump the hull is unnerving, so we decided against pushing any further than the entrance, which is still about a mile from the glacier. Some of the pictures will show it.

We lingered there at idle for about an hour marveling at the beauty. Chris thought about trying to pull in one of the smaller ‘bergs, so I backed her into a few, and from the swim platform, she hauled them in…quite the picture! These are crystal clear, as the weight of the glacier compresses the air from the ice. We could turn our icemaker off for a few days! (As an after thought, we placed this 'berg in our cooler on 6/26 and now on 6/29 it is still quite large and unmelted in our cooler. They don't make ice like they used to!)

The trip back was much slower, as we circled many of the ‘bergs to get pictures and criss-crossed the channel to look at the waterfalls. This is Tenacious heading up after we depart the head.

This was quite an experience and tomorrow we plan to do the same thing toward Endicott Glacier.

Chris was fearful that this thing could break lose, but anything for a photo-op...

Eagle on the 'berg..

Friday June 27^th:

Late evening, while Chris and I were launching the dinghy to explore the cove, we looked up and Tenacious, the 55’ Nordhavn of Linda and Marty Ellison was cruising in to our little cove. Linda had apparently flown home to tend to business, write checks, etc and Marty had 2 of his old Navy buddies (Mike and Dave) fly into Juneau to meet up. They launched their dinghy as well, and after cruising around, I joined them on Tenacious for drinks and war stories. They have no schedule, except they better be at Gustavus in 6 days to retrieve Linda! We have secured all gear, and ready to look at Endicott… later on, another old friend, Wendy and Bob (and cute dog named Mallie) on the sailboat Celerity arrived. Mallie wanted to be on our dinghy rather than his own!! It seems like a reunion every day or two, even in the wilderness.

The cruise up Endicott was terrific. That channel was wider than Tracy Arm, and had fewer ‘bergs, but spectacular falls on both sides. Ford’s Terror was our destination, even though we could not actually enter the narrowest part. The currents there at ebb can be 15 kts against you, and the width is only 30 feet. Our high tide was at 8:00, so the high tide/slack would be shortly after that, and we didn’t depart the Cove until 8:30. We pulled into Ford’s Terror at 10:00 and it truly is unbelievable. As we got closer, the currents increased against us (we were 2 hours into the ebb) and the eddies were really swirling. We decided that, even at slack, it seemed too narrow to venture into. The walls are steep on both sides, giving in a foreboding beauty. After that view, we decided to return to the entrance of Tracy and begin heading north, to Taku Harbor. As we approached the inlet, we saw the best whale of the trip! This is Dawes Glacier, enroute to Endicott.

Very close, meandering slowly, and gracefully diving showing us his tail two times. Now on to Taku. It is small, but well protected from the winds. There are two docks there as remnants of a small community no longer in existence.

Docking in Taku was great fun. First of all, a Seaforth named Feisty we have seen many times before was already there. Additionally, a sailboat named Talisman owned by Diane and Dean Kreider was there. Dean is a “fishing fool” according to Diane, and he told Halibut story after story. He has seen boats come home with a Halibut of 100 lbs, and 2 crew members with broken arms, the galley destroyed, and the fish still alive. He was with the Coast Guard traveling all the way out the Aleutian chain and fished in the Bering Sea for months at a time. They stopped by the boat after cocktails on Feisty with Wally and Duane Olive.

Cocktails on Feisty...

Christy is most impressed with a Jacuzzi bath on Feisty! Marge and Howard Smith, from Hoona, AK, were there also. They have lived aboard Perseus, but are now cruising with Wally and Duane. He leads fishing expeditions out of Hoona on occasion so I was the only one there who knew absolutely nothing about fishing….but I’m learning fast. I showed him my rigs and got advice, but before he left, he brought us by about 5 lbs of Halibut that he had on board. I will have to catch some of my own, somehow.

The left is an otolith, the Cochlear apparatus from a Halibut. Dean has collected hundreds of them from the fish he has caught. On the right are two lenses from their eyes...they decay for a week or two, before stabilizing as "pearls"..

This Dungeness crab did not measure the requisite 8.5 inches in diameter to keep it. Note the triangular shape on the belly, which indicates a male. You can only keep males greater than 8.5 inches.

Saturday, June 28^th: We left Taku and arrived in Juneau, docking in the middle of town in Harris Harbor. I’m now going to post the past 6 days of pictures..

Juneau from the Gastineau Channel ..

The bridge connecting Juneau to Douglas Island.

Last day in Petersburg, heading for Tracy Arm, Alaska

2008-06-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

We had to re-provision in Petersburg for the next week or so without any access to a city or stores. Our plan is to head up to Glacier country, and the spectacular Tracy Arm on the way to Juneau. We will be anchoring out every night, so Chris gathered enough food for us...

I have tried to get all of the equipment needs as well. The boat continues to perform well, and the trip to Tracy Arm is 72 miles.

The main street nearest the water is a boardwalk. This town is high on the list to leave the boat for the winter, but we are going to look at another one in about 2 weeks, Sitka.

Chris took this one of the poor dog so exhausted, that he must rest his head on the railing...

The Purse Seiner fishing boats all must have a "skiff" to pull the lines to the shore as they make the circle that closes in to make the "purse". These boats weigh over 2,000 lbs and they are carried on the back of the trawler.

This is an example of the mechanisms for purse steining...very elaborate

At high tide, reflections are great on the shore.

Here are pictures of the 6 different classes of true fishing boats...

This statue in the center of town displays the Norwegian heritage of the city. Most of the citizens have Norwegian ethnicity and truly love the city. We met several who say that they cannot be away for long. We are told (with regard to leaving the boat thru the winter) that they get little snow, the temperatures are moderate, and there are plenty of people to look out after the boat. If kept in the water, you only need a small heater inside, and don't need to fully winterize the boat.

We will head out early to cover the 72 miles to Tracy Arm, and probably stay there several days exploring the glaciers and harbors...

Petersburg, Alaska

2008-06-23T15:04:00.000-07:00

As I write this, Roger and Diane are preparing their bags to depart and head home...We will miss them muchly. Roger has me ready to fish and Diane's smile will be hard to duplicate. She can do everything and helped greatly with everything.

I bought some fishing gear in Wrangell, and Roger is trying it out here in the harbor....nothing for us, but we were given fresh Halibut by a local fisherman at the dock. We decided to keep that for tomorrow night, in Petersburg.

Well, we left Wrangell, and headed to Petersburg through the famed "Wrangell Narrows". They are not only narrow, but crowed with fishermen, and the currents must be timed well.

The "working" vessels are so interesting and appealing. All are older, but well maintained. They depart early, and arrive home late, but usually loaded with catch.

Here are the totems in Wrangell, built by the Tlingits.

And another great meal prepared by Christy...this one pasta and prawns..

Shannon with her little Cutey on the dock...Christy almost stole this one.

A mural in downtown Wrangell.

To the left is a sequence of me climbing a trunk in the Petroglyph basin. Christy was responsible for these shots. The petroglyphs date to over 10,000 year ago, and still are a mystery as to the reasons for them and meaning of them.

The Wrangell Narrows are quite a trip The tides "floods" into the narrows from both ends, thus you should time your passage such that you reach the midpoint at the slack after the flood, and "ride" the ebb tide out to the other end.

The crowd heading back to Wrangell after the petroglyph trip...the site is only about a mile out of town, and a must-see if you get here.

The two pictures above are taken from the plotter and actual view at the exact same time. It gives you a feel for what you are looking at on the screen, and out of the pilothouse..

The "dangle" around my neck is the remote control for the Autopilot. You can stear while underway, without being confined to the helm...great little invention..

And this is the Halibut meal "borrowed" from a fisherman at the dock in Wrangell. Best meal of the trip..

Arriving in Petersburg was an experience. There are 3,000 people and nearly 1,000 boats, most of which are "working" boats. They are huge and spotless...

These fishing vessels are so huge and magnificent. They tower over the dock and other boats...

Here is a harbor seal who arrives at the fish-cleaning station every day. The scraps are thrown to him and he attacks each piece as if it is truly a "catch". The newspaper has an article about him lunging up and taking a bite out of an inattentive person on the dock recently. He is OK after a short hospital stay and a few stitches..

Below are waterfront homes at low tide in Petersburg. Note the "street" on the next shot...I just love these boardwalks.

This sailing vessel has traveled from London, thru the canal, and up the Pacific coast. They are heading to Glacier Bay with us, and although they are slower, they will keep their eyes out for us..

One of the beautiful boats in the harbor...named after the highpoint in Maine and the beginning (or is it the end) of the Appalachian Trail...

After finishing supper of Halibut, we looked out and saw this rainbow...there are some benefits to the frequent rainfall...

Eagles are plentiful, but this one was almost too close. I'll never tire of seeing these creatures..

This view is directly above us looking at the "hunter". A kid came by and told us he had just caught a 10 lb something-or-other and just as he threw it toward the shore to get later, this eagle swooped down and took it.

Chris, Diane, and Roger just before they had to board the plane for home. We feel like empty-nesters again. We had such a great time with them, and hate to see them go...the only thing we found that they left was a great book Roger brought about the Inside Passage....it'll be fun reading, Roger! Thanks...

And this is my little Coog....

We just heard from Jan and Greg, and they are heading this way on July 9th....we'll be in Juneau waiting on them!!

Videos, Dall Porpoises, Bob telling Bear story, and Jet boat to Shakes Glacier

2008-06-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Three videos: porpoises, story telling, and jet boat ride...

These are the Porpoises in our bow wave on the way to Wrangell..

This is Bob, at Lagoon Cove, telling one of his many "Bear Stories":

And the exciting ride with Eric to the Shakes Glacier:

Meyers Chuck and then to Wrangell

2008-06-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

Diane and Roger were as anxious as we were to head further north, so we departed Ketchikan on Thursday, June 19th, and headed for a short hop to Meyer's Chuck. This is a small village of about 30 people, mostly with strong fishing interests. Christy and I had met two residents, Dan and Carol, about 2 months ago in Friday Harbor. They are friends of Lee and Diane Simpson, and their story is one of adventure. They both retired, but loved fishing. They have little need for income, but fell in love with the village of Meyers Chuck. They purchased the old school house and the entire community pitched in to help restore the building for a home, and what a home it is. They even pulled (by wench and hard labor) a part of the old house to another part and rent it out. This does not look like a school house, but a luxury retirement home overlooking an incredible bay....

The welcoming sign at the harbor..

The small trail to the school house..

Diane, Christy, and Roger exploring the community..

Roger and Diane were stricken by the moment, but it affects us all, from time to time..

This is the view from Dan and Carol's little abode. The ceiling in the sunroom is clear glass, they have swings everywhere, and all cedar construction...the separate part, called the school house, is also beautiful...

The evening looked like this in Meyer's Chuck. The harbor has several shallow areas, but all are well marked on the charts..

We stayed overnight, and left early on Friday for Wrangell. What a town, named after an Alaskan governor, it exists for fishing and logging. They have not nurtured the tourist industry, but the people are extraordinarily friendly to strangers. Below is a picture of Wrangell as we approached Everywhere we go, I feel like we are making like-long friends. Everyone is helpful with any and everything that needs discussing, fixing, or rehashing...

The first people we met at the dock were Shannon and Steve from Whidbey Island. They are traveling with the cutest two dogs. Shannon gave Chris a piece of coral, but Chris wanted the dogs more...

I forgot to mention the Dalls Porpoises that accompanied us for about 30 minutes. I took several videos that I can't upload, and they are truly incredible, playing around the bow-wave of our boat...

After arriving, we called the Breakaway Adventure guy, Eric Yancy, about his "Jet-boat" tour. Chris and I have rarely taken the opportunities to do a "tour", but this couldn't be turned down, and what a trip. Eric's boat enables you to see vast areas of sights in a relatively short time period. The local knowledge is invaluable. He has lived here all his life, and knows the flora, fauna and fowl...

Our first stop was on a small island in the Stikine River (pronounced ste-keen). These are fresh wolf tracks...

And these are Moose tracks..

Wildflowers blooming..

Chris with Eric on the boat....it cruises at 35 kts, so getting up the Stikine River to the Canadian border was easy..

We cruised into a glacier inlet called the Shakes Glacier. About 2 miles in, we ran into the ice-floes.

Along the way, the scenery was terrific, with waterfalls draining the melting ice fields and lakes, as well as the glaciers...

This one splits several times into multiple falls....

There were many places along the river where it narrows, but that makes the high speed boat ride more exciting also..

The floes are thick as you get closer to the glacier. Eric says that you can't get to the glacier until about August, but you can "bust" through in the boat. We saw a bear beside this area..

Here is a berg that has broken away...notice the turquoise color at the bottom..

The avalanches accumulate near the tip of the glacier, and slowly melt during the summer...

Roger and I walked on one of the bergs on the way in..

On the way back to the boat, the view was this....But soon became this
one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen. We turned around to see a rainbow.

Rainbow in the other direction: I have never seen one wrap more than 180 degrees, but I guess at a northerly latitude of 56 degrees, one has more view of the curve...spectacular!

Eagles nest along the Stikine River...they are built relatively flat, without the deep traditional center common to most birds. They use heavy sticks and branches, and have been weighed in at over 2,000 pounds. They will be used for 3 to 4 years before abandoning them, and occasionally will become re-occupied later...

Floatplane to Misty Fjord

2008-06-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

Roger and Diane finally arrived, but it was a long day for them...
They left Birmingham at 6am, arrived in Seattle at 2pm, and caught the Alaska Air flight to Ket to arrive at 3:30. We had the water taxi meet them, owned and operated by Bullet, and he brought them directly to the boat....first order of business was a social hour with them meeting some of our traveling companions....Chris is between Kevin Craig and Scott Strickland.

Then, it was off to see everyone again at the Arctic Bar, owned by Paula (actually there and working) and Tom (rarely there, docked next to us with the Puget Lady).

Linda Ellison and husband Marty, were only there for one more day, so a bonvoyage to them. This is at Creek Street near Dollies Whorehouse.

And a last dinner at the top....Fox Bay above Ketchikan at dusk...

Just before Roger and Diane arrived, I went fishing with a charter, and we passed the famous boat of the TV show "Most Dangerous Catch"....they are now in Ket giving rides on the boat while they collect their crab pots...

And one final picture of the "downtown"...they have one street light..

Pulling in after Roger and Diane arrived was Dustin , owner of the fishing boat Devyn. What a story to explain his grin!! He has a quota with the purchaser of his catch...the quota is 47,000 pounds (not sure of the time frame here, but I think per season of 4 months). He pulled in with 25,000 pounds in only 1 week of fishing!! Was he happy. He uses "long lines" which are several lines played out over 4 miles is length with hooks baited every 3 feet. They are placed in depths of over 1,000 feet, typically at 1,200! What work, and he loves it. He's heading out again, further north (as we are) in another day or two.... Here is his "rig" to pull up the lines..

This is Tony, who latched onto the first King Salmon of the fishing trip, but lost it at the boat...

Eagle on the lamp post in the marina looking for an easy catch..

A view of the Bar overlooking the marina..

But the floatplane ride was a rush....here is Kevin, our pilot, telling us about the deHavilland Beaver we were about to get into... I've never floated before, and have always wanted to get that rating, but never taken the time. He offered the "right seat" to me, but the controls are "throw-over" so I never had my hands on the yoke..

And here is the city after takeoff....

And from behind...

Roger, Diane, and Christy in the plane....there were about to be a thousand "Wow's"..

We landed in Punchbowl to try to see two bears we saw from the air, but couldn't get to them. We crawled out onto the floats as the boat drifted..

This is the first time I have ever flown, with all of the terrain above us. On all four sides, there was terrain!! The pilot cruises between the cliffs, weaving around and gradually working his way back to the main channel, called the Behm Channel..

This is the tail of a glacier just before emptying into Behm...

This was our view of the most famous waterfall, Rudyard Arm... and then we got really close! He was to head straight into this, make a 90 degree right turn, and then fly directly into the next cliff face before turning again....sphincters were very tight...

This is just before touch-down at the Punchbowl landing...

Our pilot took this shot. He said he has never dropped a passenger into the drink, but there have been many "expensive spashes", as cameras, cell phones, etc are dropped... We were holding on tight..

This is our intended landing site for the short stop..

Waterfalls are the only outlet for the thousands of fresh water lakes surrounding the channels...

Long final into Ketchikan on our return..

Magnificent scenery! We decided that this is truly the way to see the Misty Fjord's. You cannot possibly see the same sights from the boat-level.

Glacier carved cliffs. In the 1930's, the CCC did work all over the US. They actually created trails around some of the remote cabins in this wilderness that are still present today....amazing work,

This is Eddystone Rock, in the middle of the Behm Channel. It is 230 feet tall, and is named after a lighthouse in England by one of the original explorers...

We saw Cosmo Place cruising near the Rock....they had left earlier in the day to cruise to the area we were going to fly to....they will be quite surprised to get this shot..

Roger, Diane, Chris and I went to the Eagle Center and it was quite the museum. They have two injured eagles there for rehab, and do a great job touring and explaining.
And the two eagles at the Hatchery and Eagle Center we visited....learned alot..

Well, we are off to Meyer's Chuck this morning with Roger and Diane. This is a cloudless day (for a change). Most days there will be at least some rain, but never a heavy downpour. We think we have found a perfect place to keep the boat during the winter!!

Alaska, at last. First stop: Ketchikan

2008-06-15T16:43:00.001-07:00

Terrific village, this little Ketchikan. About 8,000 folks living in a small community hanging on the side of the Tongass Narrows, which officially begins the "Inside Passage" through Alaska. The past 750 miles have been "unofficial".

When we arrived, we were greeted by Tom, Judd, and Kevin to help tie the boat up. I've already talked about them, but there is more to follow in this little small world.

Ketchikan gets 160 inches of rain per year, has one traffic light (often only flashing rather than RGY), and is listed among the top 100 "small arts communities" in the US. Although the economy has been structured around the Salmon fishing (known as the Salmon capital of the world), tourism is the major industry now. The airport is across the channel on an Island, and we met the Water Taxi head-man last night at an auction benefit. We attended this benefit for the Ketchikan Arts and Humanities Society last night. The reason we attended was because it was at the Arctic Bar. Our Slip-mates on Puget Lady are owners, but the manager/operator is Paula. She holds the benefit every year, and hoped to raise $6,000 by auctioning off pies, cakes, and cookies prepared by locals. What fun! We feel like we know everyone in the city now. During one bid for an apple pie (that I desperately wanted) the bidding was between "the Judge" who is 88 years old and me. We had just passed through the $250 mark when Paula came over to me and whispered to "let the damn Judge have the pie!! He's about to have a heart attack!". So, I let that one go, but we bought everything in this picture: Rhubard pie, Cinnamon rolls, Blueberry pie, Cherry pie, Cinnamon-raisin bread. We met and talked to the primary sailmaker, the water taxi owner, the manager of the yacht-club, the Judge (known as quite the womanizer also, even at 88 yrs)....we truly feel at home in this town. In fact, we are now thinking about leaving the boat here this winter, rather than further north.

I washed the boat again to try and get all the salt off, and Chris took this picture.. It feels good to get her cleaned up, and ready for the next outing. Don't you love my look? Shorts and boots are now the in-thing. Roger and Diane Byrd are joining us in a few days, and we will take a flight in the deHavilland Beaver to the Misty Fjord unless we decide to cruise back that way. It is about 40 miles or so south of Ketchikan, and we didn't stop there on the way up....

This morning, Christy and I organized a hike up Deer Trail. This trail climbs 2,500 feet with great views of the Sound. First, Kap and Ron backed out with sore toes. So we started out with Marty and Linda Ellison (on a Nordhavn 55'), but they turned around after an hour. So then it was just me and "the Coog"... as we began, we ran into a couple who had just gotten off a big Tour Boat. He was wearing an AU hat, so we asked, and sure enough, they were from Clanton (David and Donna). I said we must have some connection in this small world, and they said they only know one doctor, and she is named Tina Wood!! Tina is taking care of Donna's mother at UAB! Who said Ketchikan was out of the way?

The Coog standing under a root-stock on the trail...

Big trees, and they stay green for 40 or 50 years after they have fallen...

Chris with Marty and Linda, just before they turned around...

Great views through the forrest...

Just before we entered the fog, we had this view..

The trail was steep in many places..

This is a view of the area where we saw the Humpback on the way in...

On the way down, we met up with the local family...this little fella said his name was Indiana Jones...

This is Indiana Jones' dog, resting in the snow...

The trail began to get snowy at 2,300 feet...

But still the wild flowers blooming...

And then the trail became hard to pass..

Ketchikan, and the relief of the "Passages"

2008-06-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

Neither of us fully understood the stress that comes with constant planning for open water passages. First, it was just passing through Puget Sound. Then it was transiting north to Anacortes, and further across Rosario Strait. Then with Chuck and Linda, we had to cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca "no matter what", in order to get them to Seattle for their return flight.

Since then, as Chris and I have continued north, we had to get around Cape Caution, Chatham Strait, and into Prince Rupert. But last night, we were faced with the planning for the narrow and complex Venn Passage followed by the open water of Dixon Entrance...

Along the way, after successfully getting through the Venn Passage, there were many sights, such as this light house. The passage called Venn was as tight as advertised, and the "range markers" were different from any I had studied or trained for. Instead of lining two markers up, one over the other, there were lights on either side. So if you were traveling away from the marker and could only see the red light, you must turn to starboard, and if green, turn to port. It works great...

Just after this station near Dundas Island, we entered the Dixon Entrance. I had studied the weather all day yesterday in preparation, and expected "only" 1 meter swells with few waves on top, and they were to become less "during the morning". Well, they were at least 4 feet, with 1 to 2 foot chop on top. We had to tack to avoid the roll motion, but after 2 hours, we were home-free! Chris took this picture while I was stressing at the helm in the seas...I needed a bath after the trip.

This was so peaceful after Dixon, and right about here, we saw our first whales. Two Orcas were playing here, but I couldn't get them on film. But later on, I did...

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And after 6 hours underway, we could see Ketchikan. There were 3 cruise ships visible in this picture, and we called for a slip at Thomas Basin, right in downtown. What a location it was..

We were right next to the main piers in downtown, and after the cruise ships departed, we had the city to ourselves..

Just before getting into town, I saw the puff of "fog" you see in this picture. As I was wondering what would explain such a phenomenon, the source of the fog appeared!!

A hugh Humpback Whale breached, and it's hard to convey the excitement of seeing these creatures up close. She dived and the great tail was magnificent...I'm sure there will be many more, but the first ones were inspiring.

As we cruised into our marina, the scenery was like this.

After tying up at the marina, we headed out to walk the town. The famous bordello, Dollie's, was our first stop. This is along the street called Creek Street, which was totally bordellos during the gold rush. These are mostly shops now, and very quaint.

This is the view of the shops on Creek Street.

Our marina is one of three in town. Ours was the only one absolutely in downtown, and as we docked, the guys next to us helped out. Here is a view of the marina from the city side.. What a coincidence when we walked into a bar in downtown on the waterfront to see all three of the "helpers" at the dock. The boat owner, Tom, owns Arctic Bar, the most famous bar in these parts. It was great fun getting to know Tom, Kevin, and Tom's son, Judd. Tom purchased a wooden boat years ago, that is pictured here...
She was built 67 years ago, and has always been sheltered. There have only been 5 owners in the 67 years, and what a magnificent boat...her name is: The Puget Lady
Eat your heart out, Bruce Diplacido...

Here is a picture of Chris, and to her right is Judd, then Kap and Ron (of Cosmo Place) and to the far left is Tom, owner of the bar, the Puget Lady, and father of Judd...we'll be seeing more of them in the next several days..

On approaching the dock or marina, Chris' job is to get the fenders and lines all out and secure. This is tough, since the boat is moving, rocking and rolling, and we never are sure whether we will have a starboard or port tie, and whether it will be a bow or stern first entry....tough job, and always well done...

Notice the float plane next to the house. These people know how to live...

Notice that this plane is tagged "Ellis Law Offices". Everyone has a float plane up here..

The newspaper is great..

But float planes are truly a dime a dozen. All pilots are familiar with the deHavilland Beaver. There must be a thousand here in Ketchikan. Also, the turbine model of the Otter in the foreground. I am sure that I will be flying in one tomorrow or the next day.

A home in downtown, overlooking the waterfront.

The creek through the town is beautiful...

We had supper at Steamers in downtown. This is the view from the restaurant...

We feel like all of the major passages with high seas are now behind us. Company joins us in several days for a week, where we will probably get to Misty Fjord, and then north to Wrangell and Petersburg. There is a camp called Amman camp where you are mingling "safely" with the grizzlies, but we'll see about that.

There are several trails here to hike and run, so we will have more tomorrow...

Heading to Ketchikan

2008-06-12T18:01:00.000-07:00

Our most recent segment follows:
Grenville Channel

The trip from Hartley Bay was to be about 64 miles by the chart plotter. Much of the route was through the Grenville Channel, the longest and straightest fjord in N.A. At one point, we traveled 24 miles without a turn. We weren’t able to catch a flood-in, and ebb-out, but we made good time…the scenery was still magnificent:

We continued to travel with Cosmo Place, since the proper chip was waiting on them in Prince Rupert...here is a picture of them at 15 kts:

We had timed the tides so that we had normal speeds, at least with no current against us, and we wondered where our kayaking friend, Denis, would be overnighting. This stretch would take him 3 days:

When we arrived in Prince Rupert harbor, Chris noticed several birds sitting on a beam above a dock. We came closer, and there were 11 eagles fishing right next to us. Amazing…

Prince Rupert is a city on the go. The exciting things happening here are related to the Port potential. This is a picture of one of the "terminals" near the entrance: It seems that the geography lends itself to becoming the most important port on the West coast. They have great shores, deep water, no pollution, great docks, etc. However, a port is no good unless there is land transportation to get the goods to and from the port. Recently CN (I think that is Canadian National) has acquired the rights for railway passage from here to Memphis, TN. That was the final requirement, and now everyone is expecting this to surpass Vancouver and even Seattle. The reason is that Prince Rupert is 2 days closer to the Asian markets by sea. That is a huge advantage, and the current docks are capable of handling every vessel currently making the trip, and also every vessel currently under construction. This little city of 8,000 will soon be much bigger.

We arrived and immediately refueled. We took on 1,200 liters at $1.40 per liter. As best as I can do the math, that translates into $5.08 per gallon....not terrible. I've paid more and gotten less. Then we got to the PRYRC (Prince Rupert Yacht and Rowing Club)...there are huge expensive yachts, cool fishing and working boats, and cute ones:

Our friends received the missing data cartridge for their chart plotter, and we purchased the remaining AK charts we needed, so everything is on go for departing on Friday the 13^th for Ketchikan. We will cross Dixon Entrance, which is the last of the “open water” passages. The weather looks good for tomorrow, with seas forecast at between 1 and 2 meters, and winds “only” 15 to 25 kts. We’ll see….

We had breakfast at "The Crest", with this view They get cruise boats every Wed and Thursday, and the tourists flood the town for a few hours. Needless to say, the economy depends on this, but after purchasing the remaining charts we needed, and at the price we paid, they don't need tourists.

The most challenging part of navigation to date will be tomorrow morning. There is a passage out of the harbor that saves about 8 miles, but is not only narrow, but requires 4 major turns. Each of the turns is marked by range markers (two markers about a quarter-mile apart, one higher than the other, to be aligned) and turning at exactly the right time is essential. The depths at low water may be as low as 7 feet, so you can’t leave the center of the channel. I called customs in Ketchikan about the issues of notification, and they said if we need to anchor before clearing, to do so in “Foggy Bay”, which is on the AK side of the CA-US border. We’ll see…

For my Greek relatives and friends, I must include the following picture. Christy saw it on the maps and insisted that I send it out, especially to George Sarris. Only the Greeks will get the full significance of it, but it is truly meant as a personal greeting to George.

North of Bella Bella

2008-06-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

All the pictures will follow the text, so bear with me. It is hard to mix the pictures into the text, so here goes....

The people you meet are incredible! As Christy says… “they become your whole world”, since there is only the interaction between the elements, the boat, the adventure, and those you meet. You should see the Q&A’s as they occur. For those heading in the same direction, asking about earlier experiences and the accuracy (or lack of) in predicting helps in trying to plan for the next day. Also, everyone has varying skill sets, levels of confidence, and experience. There is this continuous learning and planning, all in a very friendly “we’re all in this together” atmosphere.

Last night at Shearwater, Dick and Sharon spread the word to gather at the Pub around 6:00. He is a cancer survivor, and she runs a PR firm in LA. They have lived aboard a 47 ft Catalina sailboat for the past year, and will for another year before heading across the Atlantic. What great people, and what knowledge they have acquired. Around 4:00, the three Nordhavn’s we had seen a week ago at Lagoon Cove arrived. We had not gotten to know them then, but we did this time. One is owned by Scott and Terry Strickly (boat’s name Strickly for Fun). He has crossed the Atantic twice, and been written up in Passage Maker Magazine 3 times, most famously when he took on bad fuel at Gilbralter and had incredible difficulties with his filters and engine heading to the US. He was part of a fleet of 18 Nordhavn’s doing the crossing. Needless to say, he “knows a lot”.

Carol and Steven are on a 55 ft Nordhavn and Linda and Marty Ellison (married for only a year) a 51 foot. These boats are true displacement hull boats, so are absolutely limited to 7.5 kts, but what beautiful boats! The most revealing couple was Mark and Autumn, who are about 30 years old. They both quit their jobs and headed out 2 months ago for Alaska. They have no plans other than to have fun and ultimately get to the Virgin Islands. What free spirits they are, living on a small sailboat, probably 30 feet, with very small space inside. Every day is an exciting day for them, and they are typical of the spirit most of these “live-a-boards” exhibit.

Cosmo Place is the Nordic Tug (42’) that we have traveled with for the past 3 days. They realized that their plotter chart data (data on the monitors used to navigate with) did not include areas further north than current position. This could be a catastrophe, since they must now rely on only the paper charts, and navigate by dead-reckoning. They asked if they could travel with us for the next three days into Prince Rupert, where they would be able to receive by mail the current data cartridge. We are having a great time with them! They recently sold a software company that specialized in server storage and database management. They are both glider pilots, she teaching regularly. We arrived today in Klemtu, an old First Nation village, which is the Canadian name for native Americans. Like most of the Indian villages, the fishing industry has died down, and the economy is suffering. Unemployment is high, since both fishing and logging are in desperate straights. The US housing market affects their logging decline, and who knows why the fish are not as abundant as before. Fish farming is a new industry along the B.C. coast, but not popular among fishermen.

We head toward Prince Rupert in the AM, but will only make it about half way, since Hartley Bay calls.

Now in Hartley Bay, which is historically important because of a Ferry Crash. In February of 2007, a ferry moving from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy exited the Grenville Channel. Visibility was zero, and the crew had turned off the “irritating” alarm which was the reminder to enter the next waypoint. The next waypoint required a 12 degree turn to port, but absent that turn, the ferry ran aground on Gill Island, sinking quickly. The citizens of Hartley Bay were called to action, and saved most of the passengers and crew, losing only 10 or so to the waters. For this heroism, British Columbia and the ferry company built a huge breakwater and marina for Hartley. This small village of 200 is so neat, tidy, and unusual. The houses are all built well, and stand on mostly solid ground. But since the area is a “bog”, the streets are all wooden, having the appearance of docks or piers. I’ve never seen anything like this.

Christy and I toured their Salmon Hatchery, begun and managed by Danny (pictured here with Christy). He has done this for 30 years, hatching and releasing 250,000 per year. They fish during the month of Sept, and harvest the eggs from the catch. They incubate for 7 months in his hatchery, before being nursed after hatching in a special incubator. Then they are placed in the tanks where they are fed 20 times per day. After only 6 to 8 weeks, they are ready for release, which is always into the lakes around the area. Thus they are fresh-water until they migrate down stream into the ocean, where they slowly adapt to salt water. Then each year, they migrate back to where they were released (not where they were hatched!!) to try their own hand at reproduction without Danny’s help.

The route to Prince Rupert is via the Grenville Channel. It is fed from the ocean from both directions, so the currents are opposite directions at either end, and reverse after the flood tides, also in opposite directions. Thus it is possible to enter at a flood with a “push” just before slack, and get another push from the ebb after the half-way point. We’ll see how it works tomorrow morning, but we need to depart early, around 6 AM and may be too early for the reversal.

Next post will be from Prince Rupert..

Low fog along the way

We passed this sail boat on her maiden voyage. I called the skipper and told him I had the picture and would email it to him.....

This is the First Nation town of Klemtu. Very small and quaint, but obviously poor.

This is the "Long House" in Klemtu. The ceremonies, parties, and all official tribe (they are called "bands") business is conducted inside..

A lighthouse along the way north of Bella Bella, heading to Hartley Bay

In Shearwater, Chris tried to steal the dock dog, Misty...

The most interesting viewing along the way are the waterfalls. There are millions of them.

The inside of the Long House.

Francis gave us the tour of the Long House...

Seaplanes were in and out every 15 minutes or so at Klemtu.

Poor attempt to get in the pictures...

The fresh water lakes are everywhere, and they must eventually get to the ocean. So every mile or so there is another waterfall from the inland lakes.

Chris wanted me to watch out better for logs floating down the channels. She left the pilothouse and I saw this peculiar log that looked like a bear. After watching it "float" for a minute, the head turned around to check me out. A big Grizzley was swimming across the mile-wide channel...very exciting.

The town of Hartley was incredible. A sunny warm day, and the town streets are all wooden. The village of 300 is built on a bog, so the streets are like piers. They cover the entire village..

Talk about coincidences...pulling out of the water as we docked was Denis Dwyer. As soon as he opened his mouth, we knew we were at home. He is from New Orleans and is kayaking from Seattle to Glacier Bay, Alaska. Last summer he made it to Port Hardy, and he is already another 300 miles north of that this year. He sold his outdoor adventure guide company, and is retired to experience everything. What a guy. Traveling alone, Chris cooked up a meal of Halibut for him, and we had him over for the evening. Great stories he has!!

More of the streets of Hartley Bay...

The big industry in Hartley Bay is a Salmon hatchery. Here are the fingerlings during the 2 months of growth before placing them in fresh water lakes.

Danny began the hatchery 30 years ago, and gave us the tour..

This is the marina the ferry company built for the town in repayment for the heroism of the citizens after the ferry crash...

Great to be warm and in the sun...

Eagles are everywhere, but this one was looking over at ZuZu, the cat, on our traveling companions and friends, Ron and Kap..they are on Cosmo Place, a 42 ft Nordic Tug..

Kids after school let out in Hartley Bay. The water was 58 degrees!!

Kap, socializing with Janelle, a local swimmer...

Traffic jam in Hartley Bay

Danny, of the hatchery, with Chris..

This is the incubator area, where the eggs are carefully controlled for the 7 to 8 months before hatching. Quite a setup...

Broughton's, then rounding Cape Caution

2008-06-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

Cosmo Place, our true friends and traveling companions of the past few days (Ron and Kap)

Admirella, the "fast" boat that joined us at Miles Inlet, and for the trip to Shearwater..(Doug and Edy).

The three of us, now safe and sound, in Miles Inlet. Doug set several crab traps and caught only 2. He offered to share, but Chris was sound asleep at 8:00, so....

Doug is dingying back to Admirella, past Cosmo Place, with his crabs

This is the view up the inlet from our anchoring. The small rapids are huge at both flood (rising) tides and ebb (falling). This view is at slack water and still there is a current.

Chris found her reading place on the swim platform. When anchored, the boat swings with the wind, and thus this spot is perfectly sheltered from the wind (out of the NW) and in the sun (from the SW)......heaven for Chris..

In Port Hardy, eagles are literally everywhere. These two were perched on a shack right by our boat. The fishermen throw things to the right, and the eagles come by to hunt...

The early departure from Port Hardy for the crossing greeted us with this sunrise....little did we know the winds and seas we would see in about another hour...

This was the view entering Miles Inlet

We first "rafted" with Cosmo Place. Both of us were anchored, backing down to tie together. We later decided that as the current reversed with the tides, it could cross our anchor lines, so we split up....

We arrived into Sullivan Bay late in the day because we really did not want to leave Lagoon Cove. We had so much fun there talking with all the other people and getting information from them about their previous trips to the area. While Lagoon Cove was jammed with boats and people, Sullivan Bay was totally empty. Sullivan Bay is a floating community of mostly 2^nd homes, a Post Office, a general store, a restaurant(not open yet) and the home of the caretakers, Chris and Debbie. Dorsey also works for them and probably lives there. After we tied up we went to the office to pay and see what was going on. We found out that nothing much was going on and we would be the only people and a huge dock. Bucky asked questions about how to catch crabs and Dorsey told him to watch what he did when he pulled up a crab trap that was in front of the office. The trap had 4 crabs(Dungeness) that Dorsey instructed Bucky on how to kill and clean and then he gave Bucky 3 of them. He would not take money ,beer whiskey or anything. We cooked and cleaned them and had a fabulous meal. We then made a dessert and took to Chris’s house to pay them back for the crab and they graciously accepted but then gave us a box of huge prawns for the dessert. We couldn’t match their hospitality.

We left the next morning for Port Hardy. Even though the lady on the radio told Bucky that they didn’t have any slips in the marina, he went anyway and we probably got the last one. Everyone was trying to get into a protected harbor because the weather forecast was gale force winds for the next 2 days. They told us we could stay for 2 days only but I felt safe for those 2 days. We had lots of things to do on the boat and lots of groceries to restock so we needed the 2 days.

We awoke on Friday morning ready to begin our Queen Charlotte Strait crossing at 5am. Our boat led Admirella with Doug and Edie and Cosmo Place with Ron and Kap behind us. We tried to average about 12kts and Bucky picked a good route through some sheltered islands and then we were in the wide open. It was not as bad as several of the things we have been in. Kap called on the radio and said that she heard on the weather report that West Sea Otter bouy was reporting 2.9 meter seas. We had only wanted to cross with reports of 1 meter or less. Bucky picked Myers Inlet to duck into to either wait for lower seas or spend the night anchored. The wind grew stronger all day(30kts) so we opted to stay the night and begin again at 5am on Saturday.

What a great stay in Miles Inlet. It is noted as a safe-haven for those awaiting better seas for the rounding of Cape Caution. The most reliable reporting weather station is "West Sea Otter", and it was "not reporting" all day. We opted to take a safer option to wait for better winds and seas. THe next morning, we started at 5:00 AM again, with low winds and expected the crossing to be smooth. What a surprise we were in for. The reports were 4 foot seas and winds 15 to 25 from the NW, so we believed them. With three boats in tandem (misery loves company) we headed around the Cape. The seas were 9 foot swells, with a 2 to 3 foot chop on top. Since we only had 2 hours to smooth waters, we pushed on, and are glad we did. What a comfort to get the hard part behind you. We made it a total of 90 miles, tieing up at the dock in Shearwater, near Bella Bella. We will stay here a day to clean up, perpare a few meals, and rest. Then on Monday the 9th we are off to Klemtu, then Hartley Bay, then Prince Rupert...

Post Louisa, heading to Broughton's

2008-06-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

We left Princess Louisa Inlet with regret.

Along the way, we would often see a tug pulling thousands of logs. They were moving along at around 8kts, amazing since the load was many tons..

This is a typical load of logs. Many of them get away, and become obstacles to avoid while enroute.

This place is so beautiful that we wondered why we didn’t spend more time there…but on to the north we must go! The 50 miles back out took us from 1:00PM ‘till around 6:00, and we pulled into the Egmont Marina.

They had space available, so we went for a long walk before turning in. The next day we were off to Lund, the home of the famous “Nancy’s Bakery”. Everyone who cruises this area called Desolation Sound talks about her food, so we immediately headed to it after docking. This was our first “rafting” so we were anxious about actually pulling up next to someone else’s boat. The Warfinger instructed us to dock next to another AT41 named Lucky Puppy. It went smoothly, with a stern entry between a buoy and the boat that was not much wider than we were.

Lund is scenic and laid-back, with three restaurants at the shore, and one hotel.

There were many “working boats” which used a parallel dock,

and it was fun watching them unload their crabs and prawns. We went for a run on the trails around the area, and wound up overlooking the marina...

The next day, we were off to Blind Channel. The route was to be through three sets of “rapids”. The problem is that the timing of the “slack” waters for each of the three was at almost the same time, thus there was no way to make them all at slack. We first went through the Yuculata’s early, encountering 5 to 7 kt head-currents with whirlpools among the edys. Although it seemed unnerving, it was safe. Then we docked at Big Bay Marina to wait for the slacks at Dent Rapids. The Lodge there is owned by the Nordstrom family and is a very high-end resort, with private planes in and out all day. We hit them at perfect slack and were on to Blind Channel.

This turned out to be a great meeting place for several friends. We met Ron and Kap on their Nordic Tug and they talked us into heading next to Lagoon Cove. What a choice! We headed there through the Johnstone Strait with trailing 5 kt currents that pushed us along ahead of schedule. On arrival at Lagoon, we were met by Bill and Jean, the owners, and they were great fun. The first thing we learned is that they provide fresh prawns at 5:00 social hour for everyone docked there. By that time, we had about 15 boats with a terrific group of friends. The best part were the “bear stories” that Bill is famous for (see video at end). I have a video of one of the “tales” and it was a “true tale” about a guest finding a dead bear on the trail near the cabin. He didn’t want to just let it rot there, so a few friends figured a way to dispose of the carcass. They would drag it to the water and tow it by boat to a slough far enough away for the eagles, etc to take care of it. Well as it was towed in front of the marina, several guests asked what was happening. They looked at the “tow” and exclaimed that it appeared to be a bear. Bill said that they have been working with that bear to learn to waterski, and he has almost got it!!

The dock leading up to the 5:00 Social Hour...we were the first to arrive! Note the air horn she carries...

Chris, swinging on the trail

Here is the end of a trail we walked at Lagoon Cove:

And there was bear scat all along the trail. In every picture of Christy taken here, she was holding an air horn as protection..

The totem here was to guarantee that you left no rubbage. Chris burned our trash here carefully.

Then this morning we headed further north to Sullivan’s Bay.

Here is a picture of the marina that is part of the "chart plotter" record:

As we rounded the final turn, we were greeted by this view:

It is renown for the floating houses around the marina. But the best thing about it were the hosts…Chris, Debbie, and Darcy. When I asked Darcy about crabbing and prawning, he took me to the crab trap, and showed me exactly how to extract them, tell the sex (only keep the males), kill and clean them, and within an hour Christy had them in a roaring boil! Now that’s an impromptu meal of the highest order.

Tomorrow is to get across the Queen Charlotte Strait to Port Hardy. There we will await good weather before crossing the Sound around Cape Caution. That is the site where the heaviest seas occur, and the place where the most war stories are born.

Undoc'd, feeling lonesome in Sullivan's Bay

Princess Louisa Inlet, the "Holy Grail"

2008-05-30T07:46:00.001-07:00

All cruising books refer to the Princess Louisa Inlet as the "Holy Grail" of cruising. It is a must destination because it is so unique and spectacular. One must travel 50 miles up a blind fiord in waters over 2000 feet deep to get to it, and on entering it, you must pass through narrow rapids. This, of course, means waiting for slack tides which only occur 4 times per day. In a perfect world, you time the trip to arrive at exactly the right time.

But on the way up there, we stopped at Pender Harbor. Here is a picture of an Iris Christy saw and insisted that it was twice the size of normal.

And the harbor was truly a working harber, with crab, prawn, and fishing boats all around us.

Below is a boat that was just docking as we arrived.

The owner/operator is a kid who pulls up 300 crab-pots every day. They are clustered 50 to a line x 6 lines. His average haul is 1,000 pounds per day, and at times twice that amount. A broker buys his catch destined to be immediately frozen and shipped to Japan. He said he makes a good living and plans to do this forever. The market price of whole crabs is $9 per pound, so I can see his optimism. He was very engaging, intelligent, and spoke feely. The fishing industry has really died down in the past few years, and everyone has a different reason. Depending on who you talk to, it's either the Canadians, the Americans, the Japaneese, or the massive gill netting industry.
But then, on to Princess Louisa Inlet!! When we rounded the turn into "Malibu Rapids", which protect the final harbor, we saw waterfalls everywhere. They were on both sides and cannot be described.

We launched the dingdy first thing, and cruised around the end of the fiord. There were about 8 boats already there tied up at a dock...

This is a view entering the "rapids" before seeing everything else.

There is a hike there called the "Trapper Cabin" hike. The elevation of the cabin is 2000 feet, so it takes about 2 hours to get up...this is the forest along the way...

But the most spectacular view is this one. The falls in the background are "Chatterbox Falls", as they can be heard from 4 miles away as you enter the inlet. The mist and spray keep those too close wet, but the docks are safe..

This is a view of the dock and the falls from the dinghy as we returned to the boat.

Here we are leaving the Inlet heading back to the main routes to once again, begin the trip to Alaska.

These are two hiking buddies for the climb to the cabin. Note the falls int he background.

And now it's off further north....

Day One to Alaska

2008-05-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

Chuck and Linda Stafford were incredible guests, combining very quick learning about boats and boating with help and fun. We picked them up in Seattle, and drove to the boat in Anacortes. We spent the first night there, and then departed for Roche Harbor. The day was foggy and overcast, but we got underway expecting better weather at the destination. We were rewarded! A great day in Roche Harbor. The next day was to Victoria and Butchart Gardens, with pictures already posted. Then to Friday Harbor, where coincidentally there was a C-Dory rendevous. What a cute little boat. We had fun there before heading across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Waves were 3 to 4 feet, but not too bad. We arrived at Port Townsend and spent a good day before heading on to Seattle. 3 days in Bell Harbor was to be our 3rd visit at the Pike Street Market, and we loaded up, once again, with Halibut Cheeks, Dungeness Crab, and Scallops. What meals we prepared.....

Chuck pushing with Linda providing full and complete instructions...

But Chuck and Linda must return to Birmingham, and then Christy and I were officially off to Alaska. Our first stop was back to La Conner for a repair, then off to Poet's Cove on Pender Island in Canada....

Christy stroking a Ranger Tug, which was at the Trawler Fest in Anacortes before departing for Poet's Cove
This is a boat with great appeal for a couple

Much smaller, but easier to handle and maneuver. Downsides are all associated with the small size.
And a final sunset in Anacortes before our departure for Alaska...

And Christy eating for the camera on the flybridge before our departure..

After 4 hours underway, we arrived at Poet's Cove, seen above. Many Vancouveran's come here for Holiday and we can see why.

This is the Canadian Customs office at the marina in Bedwell Harbor, aka Poet's Cove

We first washed Undoc'd down, getting much salt off the skin...she looked mighty pretty sitting there so clean

The Anglican Church in Bedwell Harbor had an afternoon service in progress as we headed out for a 4 mile walk...

The yellow plant along the shore is Gorsy. A local told us that it was highjaced into Oregon and now is working it's way up the coast. He referred to it as a "hideous" and "noxious" plant that dominated other "good vegetation". They are working to get rid of it, but it sure is pretty from the sea...

And the Marina seen from the road leaving the dock...

This is why Poet's Cove is so popular. The Lodge overlooks the pool which overlooks the marina.
Seaplane activity was frequent, and most was from Vancouver...

Tomorrow we are off to Nanaimo along the east coast of Vancouver Island...

Chuck and Linda join....

2008-05-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

Finally, underway again. The visit home was incredible, and more fun than we deserved. First of all, here is a picture of the William C. Wood's, numbers 2, 3 and 4:

And Tina has fully recovered. Here she is only 12 days post delivery:

And little Isla:

And the renunions with Pete, Louise, Jimmy Koikos, Tina, and Niki

The Butchart Gardens are something to behold. We have been in Victoria once before, but never made it out to "The Gardens". Here are pictures that make this one of the most visited sites in Canada....th.e areas are grouped into sections, and each one is more impressive than the last.

This may be our Christmas Picture, if we had such a thing.

Below are floating houses in Victoria. The city "deeds" water property for the purpose of building homes, many of which are three stories tall. They all have a sewer system without tanks, full water and electricity, and truly float. The pillings allow for the movement with tides (as much as 14 feet) and keep them in place. The docks surround them, and there are boat slips on both sides. We are told that they are very expensive, just like the $3 and $4 million ones surrounding Lake Union in Seattle...

Little Linda and Christy in Roche Harbor

Chuck, Linda, and Chris on the dock in Roche..

The lowering of the flags ceremony begins every day at Roche Harbor at exactly 10 minutes before sunset...

Floating homes in Victoria

These are Kangaroo Paw around a home in Roche

Overlooking the harbor in Roche

This is Mosquito Pass departing Roche, heading toward Victoria

In Victoria , this is "Rico's" home, built on the Harbor next to a running path near the marina

Now we are heading back to Seattle to drop Chuck and Linda off. We now know that we must get to Vancouver for repair of a scratch on the venturi (company Diamond Glaze) and a look at the software recording capabilities of the Volvo Engine

Glass and then Bainbridge

2008-04-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

After being overwhelmed at the Bridge of Glass on arrival, we could not wait to see the Museum. Although they would not allow pictures taken, several contraband are seen below. Apparently, the Italian artist, Lido Tagliapietra, is considered among the best, along with Dale Chihuly. He is featured in the Museum along with Chihuly's work, and much of the display is his work. He is considered to have envigorated the art, and gave the Pilchuck School of Glass many inovative techniques and styles that had never been tried before. He is "the genius of the art"...

Here is the "hot shop" where the work is actually done. They have it accessible to visitors with a narrative of exactly what they are making and doing.

The lobby of the Murano Hotel. Christy had read that they have an huge assortment of work on display, so we had to find it. It seems so incredible to have museum caliber work displayed in the hotels...the first 4 floors are accessible to visitors, but the work is throughout the hotel. The
4th floor bar has a small room next to the bar with sofas and low lighting. It is the make out room. We tried it out and it works.

But my favorite of all the glass work I've ever seen, is this "sheer transparency" of beautiful breasts! Incredible, in life size, with "points on their own, up proud and high"....this is in the lobby of the Murano Hotel.

Even the bathrooms are decorated, as you can see here...

This is glass "pie and pie-plate"....

Then it was off to Bainbridge Island. This affluent Island is about 10 miles across Puget Sound from Seattle, and was a good place to visit on our return north...here is the view from the boat...

And the view of Seattle across the Sound...

The town at the Harbor is called Winslow...

But we finally had warm weather and sunshine, so we took advantage of the weather...

And Chris on the flybridge laying out the Mexican Train tiles for another game...

On the run the next morning,

Dale Chihuly

2008-04-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Today has turned out to be one of our favorites. We decided to head north to either Bainbridge or Bremerton, but Chris remembered not being able to see the Dale Chihuly museum in Tacoma last summer. So we decided to detour. The route looked like a 4 hour cruise, and since we have most of the time in the world, decided to make that our new destination...

This was the view departing Olympia heading north. The Capitol was a great visit, but Chris had her heart set on Tacoma and the Dale Chihuly museum...

So off we went, leaving at 9:00 on Wed April 23rd...

Along the way, these water-level homes with their piers are located just under the bridge in the Tacoma Narrows...

Entering the Tacoma Harbor, Chris pointed out that the name here reads.."Proteus from Pireaus", Pireaus of course being a major port in Greece near Athens...it's good having her along.

And several important structures are seen, but we don't yet know what they are....for example:
I'll post later what we find out about this.

As we approached the harbor in Tacoma this is the view of the 17th Street Bridge:

And as we docked, several interesting boats surrounded us:

Last summer, on a trip with Jan & Greg Brown to this area, we wanted to get to the "Glass Bridge" in Tacoma. Dale Chihuly is from here, his operations are based here, and much of his work is here. Last summer we never made it, and so today as we departed Olympia, Christy wanted to get us here, if a marina was convenient. We found a marina in Tacoma, and what a surprise that it was right at the entrance to the Museum, and thus the glass bridge, and the courthouse, and "the Bar".

This is truly amazing! We haven't even been in the Museum yet, and already we are overwhelmed at the work. We have seen his work while touring at the Birmingham Museum of Art, at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, and in Columbus, IN at a major display, but never like this...the pictures speak for themselves, but can't capture the magnificence or enormity of it all.

Here is the Museum right next to the marina...

And walking up to the "Glass Bridge", with Union Station to the right. That was the old station for the RR, but now is the home of the Federal Courthouse, indeed the 9th Circuit Court so famous for being overturned (the most liberal court in US history)

Notice the sculptures hanging in the windows. More pictures of them from the inside coming up.

..This view is approaching the art objects lining both sides and the ceiling over the walkway..

Looking back toward the marina..

This is only one of a panorama of 7 frames that it takes to capture these pieces on the "Bridge"!! If you haven't seen this, you must..

This is the ceiling over the "Bridge"....it takes another 7 frames to see the enormity of it all..the sculptures are amazing, colorful, and mostly hard to believe. They are backlit by the sun, and I took about 20 pictures to cover the entire length, but will post them on the Picassa site, rather than the blog...

And then we by-passed the real Museum to look at the Court House...

Notice the center chandelier, the window pieces to the left, and the display to the right, with closer pictures below...

After leaving the Court House, we headed up to the UofW Tacoma library where this Chihuly chandelier hangs in a conference room..

And leaving the Union Station, this sculpture:

Chris had read about a bar in downtown with many Chihuly pieces in the bar. Well here it is:

We met many "locals" there, most from elsewhere. Chas (pictured to the left) is from San Antonio, and he told us where to get fried okra, mashed potatoes, and fried chicken. He even knew where to buy grits...

So, tomorrow will be the Museum itself, and a park at Deception Point near the narrows.