Home

Okay, okay.  We are home.  I just got lazy and stopped blogging when the going got to be easy.  At the end of the trip we joined our friends the Deibel's and their family for two days at Port Browning on Pender Island.  Great times, beautiful weather.
From here we head back into US waters.  With a stop in Oak Harbor for fuel, we next head to Port Ludlow where we spend two relaxing days waiting for the tides make it possible to enter Lagoon Point on the west side of Whidbey Island.  We finally dock on July 3rd at 3 pm. 
We have been away almost 9 weeks and it is nice to be home.  

Lay Day June 27

We spend the day at anchor in Poets Cove.  I am desperately trying to put together the quarterly magazine for our local Classic Car Club.  I have been doing this for years but having been away from from home for almost two months, I have really need a day to work on content and layout.
https://home.ccca-pnr.org/events/the-latest-and-greatest/

Finally head to shore for dinner at the seaside pub.  Make an appointment at the spa for tomorrow morning.

The sun is out and all is good.

Gulf Island Tour

We are up to catch slack tide (5:46) at Gabriola Pass.  The first challenge is getting out of the Silva Bay Marina (no wonder we like to anchor out).  The wind is blowing and the fairway is very narrow.  We try twice to make the corner but can't get the bow to clear and still miss hitting the dock behind.  A lovely gentleman walking the dock offers to hold the bow line and help pull the bow around.  That little bit of help does the trick.  We are soon working our way out of Silva Bay and arrive at Gabriola Pass perfectly timed to pass at slack water.

Our distance to travel today is short.  I have drawn a scenic route to Telegraph Harbor (the narrow inlet on the map).

We nose our way into this shallow cove that has two marinas.  We are not yet a low water and in places we are down to 11 feet.  There is a small passage that would allow a kayak into Clam Cove to the east - and I think that might be fun.  We take a tour of the cove and decide that we would rather continue on our journey before low tide makes it too difficult to navigate.  We consider our options and decide to head to Ganges on Salt Spring Island for lunch.

We anchor in the harbor with dozens of boats and deploy the dinghy to go to shore.  This is a busy harbor.  Small seaplanes are continuously landing and pleasure craft seem to continuously come and go.  In Ganges we take a stroll through town and then find a sign about free admission to the museum.  Two small issues.  Neither of us reads the part of the sign that says the museum is only open Wednesday thru Friday -  and it is a kilometer out of town.  The good news is that we get in a nice walk and find fresh local strawberries at a roadside stand.

Salt Spring

Poets Cove

We have lunch in the pub, dining on a local lamb burger and local brew.  A short stop at the grocery store finishes our on-land activities.  Back at the boat, we consider again our options.  Staying at anchor in Ganges Harbor is a reasonable choice but the commotion is almost overwhelming for two people who have been boating in the remote reaches of Alaska.  We pull the anchor and head to Poets Cove for a beautiful setting and a quiet night on the hook.

Chug to the Rescue June 25

Sunrise at Henry Bay

We are awake to watch the sun rise over the Strait of Georgia.  Winds are still calm but clouds are forming in all directions.  We follow the shore of Denman Island south for several miles before turning into the Strait.  This morning we have NW winds and a flood tide.  With a following sea, we make 8 knots for most of the morning.  Barrie cranks up the water maker and I do a load of laundry.

Just after 1 pm, we hear a call on the VHF that attracts our attention.  A 36 foot Trawler is disabled (he ran over the line to the dinghy he was towing and it is wrapped around the propeller -- and the dinghy is adrift.  He provides the Coast Guard with incomplete location information and cannot provide correct Lat & Long.  A nearby boater calls on Channel 16 to say that Winchelsea Control knows their location (we are in the Whiskey Golf range).

Fresh Shrimp Salad for lunch

Less than half an hour ago, we were in Ballenas Channel.  With binoculars, we are able to see the disabled boat and let the Coast Guard know we are in the area.  We agree to head in the direction of the disabled boat and render assistance.  As we start our trek, a tugboat calls in to say that he is an hour away and can provide a tow.  Our job now is to rescue the dinghy and return it to the disabled boat.  We can see the tug in the distance and know that he is better equipped to tow a vessel in the Strait of Georgia than we are.  While we are in the area, another small pleasure craft arrives and somehow they rig a tow rope.  In our minds, this looks like an accident waiting to happen.

The tug changes course to continue on his original path.  The Coast Guard asks Pegasus to check-in when they are safely docked.  As the afternoon progresses, we hear the Coast Guard trying to reach Pegasus.  We assume they made it to a safe harbor but will likely never know.

We continue on our way and tie-up in Silva Bay.  We have a beer at the pub and walk the local trails before heading back to the boat for the night.  Tomorrow we will be in the southern Gulf Islands.

Large Tides June 24

Strait of Georgia - Perfect Day

After a lovely dinner at Blind Channel Resort, we depart from the dock and move across the channel to Charles Cove to anchor for the night.  The current is so swift in Blind Channel that the middle of the channel appears to have rapids.  Fortunately for us, there is a back eddy by the resort which makes it possible to get the boat off the dock without great peril.  The cove across the channel is also out of the current. 

After a great deal of calculations, we determine that our morning departure will be 8 am.  We need to be at Seymour Narrows at noon.  First we ride the ebb out of Blind Channel and are quickly up to 10 knots (remember this is a 7 knot boat!).  We turn the corner into the east end of Johnstone Strait and find ourselves against a stronger ebb than we had planned.  Barrie revs up the engine and the best we can do is 3.5 knots.  As the ebb abates, our speed increased but we are working against the clock.  Today the current at Seymour Narrows will reach a maximum of 15.7 knots and the safe window of transiting at slack in just 15 minutes on each side.  We have 15 miles to travel up Johnstone before we reach the Narrows.  We are watching the clock and pushing the engine to arrive on time.  If we miss the window, we must wait 6 hours for the next opportunity.

We arrive just west of the narrows with just minutes to spare.  But now, we are boxed in by tug traffic moving in both directions.  We finally decide to tuck in behind a tug towing a load of wood chips.  The challenge is that he is waiting for the tug to come through before he starts his transit.  So, we sit and wait.  Finally, we start the short trip through the Narrows and pass without incident.

For the next several hours, we are riding the Flood tide on a perfectly calm Strait of Georgia.  We agree to aim for Comox.  Just north of Comox, the direction of the flood changes from North to South, so for the last few miles we are once again fighting the current.

We try hailing the Comox Harbor Master but get no response.  We poke our nose into the harbor and find a spot at the dock.  A lovely older wooden boat from Seattle is moored across the dock.  They help with the lines and tell us about the shrimp boat that is due into the harbor at 6.  This is news to us, but it is a well-known secret in the harbor.  By the time I head to the end of the dock, there is a large line waiting to buy prawns at $7/lb.  By the time I reach the front of the line, Ocean Rancher has run out of prawns.  The owner offers me smaller fresh shrimp ($1/lb) and I buy 5 pounds.   

Sunset at Henry Bay

We decide the dock is too busy and too hot.  So, after cooking the shrimp, we untie our lines and move 5 miles away to Henry Cove.  From here we enjoy the solitude, watch a stunning sunset and dine on fresh shrimp.  Life is good.

Close Encounters with a Whale

As is often the case, we are up early and pull the anchor before 5 am.  We want to take advantage of the ebb tide to work our way back to Johnstone Strait and then catch the flood tide to transit east in Johnstone.  The forecast is for NW 15 knot winds this morning rising to NW 25 this afternoon.

Mornings are usually the calmest time to travel and it is certainly true this morning.  We watch the sun rise and make over 8 knots of speed for most of the first two hours.  At the top of Blackley Pass, I see a Humpback whale rise just off our port bow.  I catch Barrie's attention and we watch for the whale to surface again.  We are stunned when it comes up just in front of our bow (10 feet?) and continues under the boat.  We have never been this close to a humpback! 

We continue into Blackley Pass where we find incredible tide rips.  At times our speed is reduced to just over 1 knot (1.13 was the lowest I saw) and we are crabbing 20 or even 30 degrees.  Just as all this is happening, we are hailed by a small cruise ship that is rounding the point and will be entering the channel.  We agree to pass "red to red".  I hug the starboard shore but not too close since we have limited control of the boat in these waters at this speed. 

Suddenly, we hear Chug called on the VHF again.  It is our friends Brian & Elizabeth Miller on their boat Intrepid.  They heard the cruise ship hail us and called to say hello.  They are headed north to Sitka and we are headed south.  Ten minutes later we pass Intrepid in Johnstone Strait.  This is the Miller's first trip to Alaska on their boat and Johnstone is completely flat.  We wonder if they think it is like this all of the time!

We end the day in Mayne Passage.  We stop at Blind Channel Resort for dinner ashore in their lovely restaurant and will anchor out in Charles Bay this evening.  It the weather forecast holds, we will finish our run up Johnstone Strait tomorrow and go through Seymour Narrows around noon.  Next up, the Strait of Georgia.

The Broughton's

Queen Charlotte Sound and Queen Charlotte Strait and both behind us.  Beautiful day of cruising in the sun!  We are in the Broughton's and looking for a good forecast to continue down Johnstone Strait.  More later.

Today has been one of the best weather days of the trip and Queen Charlotte Strait has laid down making our travels today much calmer than yesterday.  We turn into the Broughton's from Johnstone Strait and debate where we stop this evening.  Billy Proctor is a well-known homesteader in this area and 8 years ago he opened a museum on his homestead property that contains relics from logging and fishing in days past.  We have a couple of books that Bill authored (or co-authored) and think it would be fun to see his collection.

We decide to tie up at Echo Bay and take the trail to Proctor Bay and the museum.  We are surprised to find just two boats at Echo Bay which is a well-known "resort" in the Broughton's.  We tie-up the boat, pay for two hours of dock time, and learn that not only is Bill still alive (he is 82) but he still lives on the property and greets museum guests.  Bill is there when we arrive and shares a number of stories including "if one stick of dynamite is good - two must be better."  He also agrees to autograph our books.  It is an interesting  afternoon and a pleasant walk. 

We return to the boat, cast-off our lines and head three miles south where we anchor for the evening in Shoal Cove.  We share the harbor with several boats but perhaps most interesting is Deerleap from Longbeach CA.  Designed by Hoffar and launched in 1929 at Hoffar-Beeching boatyard in Vancouver, B.C. Deerleap is 85' long. She is powered by two Gardner diesels (Barrie's favorite diesel engine!).

Blue Skies in Skull Cove - June 22

Barrie wakes me early this morning and says I must get up!  The sun is just coming up and the sky has just a few wispy clouds in the east.  It is so beautiful that I find a warm jacket and take my coffee outside.  I sit on the bow and watch the day begin.  It is so quiet here that I am startled by the noise of a jet in the distance. 

Barrie would like to make some distance this morning while the wind is down.  The good news for me is that the tide is ebbing in Queen Charlotte Strait at almost 4 knots.  In a slow (7 knot) boat that makes forward progress very difficult.  The tide will turn in just over 2 hours.  I have time to put my kayak in the water and go for a paddle! 

The water is perfectly still and I can see to the bottom.  Kelp, eel grass, small fish and so much more.  In places I am moving over water that is so shallow that my paddle skims along the bottom.  Low tide is great for sightseeing by kayak but will make getting out of the anchorage a bit more challenging.

We are headed to the Broughtons where we are likely to spend a couple of nights.  We need Johnstone Strait to lie down after winds that will exceed 35 knots.  By noon today we will have completed the passage of Queen Charlotte Strait (the 3rd exposed body of water we will cross on our way home.)

Homeward Bound

Headed south toward Queen Charlotte.  With luck we will cross on Thursday but it may be a few days before I post again. 

Set out this morning thinking that Millbrook Cove in Smith Sound would be our destination this evening.  We have a slow and pretty route through some very narrow waterways this morning.  We leave our anchorage in Sea Otter Inlet and  thread our way through Nalau Passage and then into Hakai Channel.  We begin the feel the rollers from the sea on our beam and our comfort diminishes.  We alter course to bring the seas to our stern quarter and things straighten out!  We tuck behind the island at the head of Goldstream Harbor and find the passage is completely sheltered.  From here we turn west to Pruth.  Pruth has white sandy beaches and I would love to stop here for a bit but the harbor is already full of boats and the forecast is making us think that today might be the day to cross Queen Charlotte Sound.  This is the second large open body of water (there are a total of six) that we must cross and weather is the deciding factor. 

Winds this afternoon are forecast to drop and to shift to the northwest.  Unfortunately, there will still be 1-2 meter rollers from the west.  We complete our passage down Fitzhugh Sound and enter Queen Charlotte at noon.  We do our best to set a course to minimize the effect of the rollers but since we are headed south - they are mostly on our beam.  We rock and roll for the next 3 hours and the cat heads below and buries himself under the covers.  He has been a remarkably congenial travel companion and I can't say that I blame him for snuggling under covers while dishes clatter in the cupboards.

We start to consider alternative anchorages for tonight - Miles Inlet, Alison Harbor, Blunden Harbor.  These are all places we have anchored in the past and each has its advantages.  We finally settle on Skull Cove that is nestled in between Miles and Alison.  The entrance is tricky at low tide but we carefully navigate our way past rocks and find a stunningly beautiful anchorage.  We set the hook for the night while the wind picks up again.  Barrie works on boat projects (including changing oil in the generator with Neil Parker's filter) and I make black cod chowder for supper.

Finding Friends in Shearwater

This morning we will complete our trip to Shearwater.  I rise just after 5 and watch the sun rise over Oliver Cove.  It is not raining and the water is completely still.  A couple of seals are playing in the harbor.  It is really quite a magical peaceful place.
We continue our way through a narrow passage between lots of small islands and large rocks (which is which?).  As we entre Seaforth Channel, my phone beeps to tell me that we are back in range on service.  I quickly pull down email and find that our friends Neil & Lynn Parker on their 48' Krogen "Navigator" are leaving Shearwater this morning.  Our ETA is 8 am and I am hoping they will still be there when we arrive.,
We round the last corner to Shearwater and see Navigator at the dock.  As we draw closer we see Neil and Lynn on the dock waving at us.  The dock is full!  We find a spot to anchor and put the dinghy in the water.  We exchange greetings and head to the restaurant on shore for breakfast.  We exchange stories of our travels and Neil and Barrie discuss boat maintenance and repair.  Neil has a spare filter that we need for our generator (which we are running much more than we expected!).  A deal is made and the exchange takes place.  The first time we met Neil and Lynn (in the Octopus Islands), we had a water maker filter that they needed.  In between we have created a lovely friendship.
Finally, we part company.  They will continue to Codville Lagoon tonight.  Our final destination is still in flux.  First, we will wait for the store to open so we will have a new supply of fresh food for the trip south.
Good times, great friends, and the sun is out.

Internet - done.  Groceries - yes.  Liquor - that too.  Trash deposited - yep.  Chores are done and we continue our trek south.  We consider going to Fury Bay but think it would be nice to try something new.  We stop for the evening around 6 and drop the hook in the south arm of Sea Otter Inlet.  No Sea Otters but lots of rain.  No kayaking tonight.

Oliver Cove

We are away from the dock at 5 and headed to Heckish Narrows and into Finlayson Channel.  We have our sights set on Shearwater which is just over 70 miles away.  Just as we reach Oscar Passage where we will head west, we are hailed by Bob and Karen Nelson – friends from Whidbey who are headed north on their boat “Nellie.”  VHF communication cuts in and out but we soon determine that they are just a few miles north in Mathison Channel.  They will anchor tonight in Rescue Cove at the east end of Jackson Passage.  

As we exit Oscar Passage, we do a quick calculation and realize that Bob and Karen are just 3 miles north of us.  We turn our bow north in Mathison Channel and find Nellie in Rescue Bay.  On our way, we see two Humpback whales dive.  It is pouring down rain and visiting is limited to leaning our pilot house window and chatting across the water.  These are big waters and wide-open spaces and we have gone days without seeing another boat let alone someone we know!

Soon, we continue our trip south.  We could still make Shearwater but there are some lovely anchorages between here and there.  We alter our route for Oliver Cove and arrive there just before 5.  It is still raining and will rain all night.  We have anchored in so many locations, that we are old-hands at setting the hook but tonight we can not get a good set.  On our third try, the anchor gets a bite.  By now, even with rain gear, I am wet!  I change into dry sweats and fix dinner.  

We are done with dinner, done with the dishes and look up to see another 42’ Krogen entering the cove.  Ocean Psalm appears to be headed north.  She drops the hook (on the first try).  Just over 200 42’ Krogens were built and 1% of the production is now at anchor in Oliver Cove.

Butedale Rennovation

We are up with the sun.  Yes, for a few moments as we raise the anchor, the sun comes out.  By the time we are underway the fog can descended and visibility is just a few feet.  We are glad to both send/receive AIS.  Our experience on this trip is that only about 1/3 or less of the boats in these waters transmit AIS.  We expect that a great many more receive it. 

We are in the channel and know there is a tugboat nearby – just off our port side.  Our AIS tells us he is just a quarter mile from our boat.  He is easy to spot on radar and his tow is even easier to see.  We pass in the fog without ever actually seeing the tug.  We spend the morning glued to the radar to avoid the possibility of collision at sea!  Fortunately there is enough visibility at sea level to spot logs and other debris. 

The winds are expected to increase by late morning but it never happens.  The fog finally lifts and we continue our transit through Grenville, across Wright Sound (skipping Whale Channel) and into the Fraiser Reach. 

BC Archives

At the bottom of the Fraiser Reach we arrive at Butedale.  Between the 1920s and the 1980s, Butedale was an huge cannery operation with five separate bunk houses (one for Chinese, one for Japanese, two for First Nations and one for the “white” folk), a big ice house, a warehouse and so much more.  Over the last 30 years, is has fallen into disrepair.  The property was purchased in 2012 and the new owner has big plans to turn it into a resort.  The first sign of change is a new ramp to the dock.

BC Archives

We tie up here for the night.  Caretaker Cory has lived here for 4+ years leaving just once.  He relies on a supply boat to provide him with provisions and fuel.  There is plenty of water in Butedale.  Cory shares with us the history of Butedale and how he came to be living there.  We share a few gallons of non-ethanol gasoline to tide him over until supplies are due to arrive.  We walk the muddy trail up 300 feet to the lake and then along the shore to the old cannery buildings.  The new owners have recently updated their permits and have BIG plans to turn Butedale into a destination.  It will be interesting to watch and see how things progress.  They have a huge project ahead.

Butedale with new ramp 2017

Crossing the Dixon Entrance (Day 48)

We are up early this morning (3:45) listening to the weather forecast.  Overnight the winds have calmed and we agree this is the day to cross Dixon Entrance.  Because we overnighted at Cape Fox, the crossing is relatively short.  We are underway by 4:00 and surprised to see on the AIS that a number of other boats beat us out this morning.  Most are coming from Prince Rupert where it is according to the clock and hour later. 

Seas are calm with just a few ripples and we are soon at the entrance to the Venn Canal.  The current is strong and the passage is filled with small fish boats but we complete our transit without incident.   

We call in to Canadian Customs and head to the Lightering Dock to await their arrival/non-arrival.  We have been told that if a Custom’s Officer is not at the dock by 11:45 that we are free to continue on our journey.  We dock, wait the prescribed amount of time and cast-off.  Our objective is Stuart Anchorage at the head of the Grenville Channel.  There is passage west of Grenville that I would love to explore but there are gale warnings for tonight and the best plan is to stay in sheltered waters. 

We arrive at Stuart Anchorage in light rain and find a crab pot in the prime anchoring location.  Still there is plenty of room.  We set the hook and open the wine.

Cape Fox

We are away from Ketchikan just after 4 am.  Would have been a bit earlier but the arrival of a cruise ship blocked the entrance to the harbor for most of 15 minutes.  The weather forecast for today is okay but not great.  We should be able to make it to Foggy Bay without too much rocking and rolling but the closer we get the Dixon Entrance the more wind we are likely to see.  Today's forecast calls for 5 foot seas. 

As we approach the opening to Foggy Bay, the seas are still relatively calm but we are beginning to experience rollers from the west.  We decide to continue on to Cape Fox where there is a "fair weather" anchorage that is quite sheltered from southern winds.  If we don't like this one, there is a more sheltered anchorage about an hour further east.

Cape Fox Alaska

We arrive at Cape Fox and set our anchor in less than 20 feet of water.  This is a very pretty place and so far so good.  The rollers from the west cause the boat to roll but we are willing to roll a bit to avoid an extra hours passage this afternoon (and again in the morning).  Barrie works on the alternator issues and somehow manages to sold
er new brushes into place.  After several hours of work, he has the alternator reinstalled but no joy.  We will continue to run the generator to charge batteries as necessary.

We are well-positioned to make the run across Dixon in the morning.  

Setting up for Dixon Entrance

We are set to depart Ketchikan n this morning at 5:30 but just as I begin to untie the lines, yet another cruise ship arrives.  It is hard to describe the massive size of these ships compared to our small boat.  We wait for almost 15 minutes before the ship clears the entrance to Thomas Basin.

The wind is still blowing from the SW and the forecast calls for 5 foot seas in the Dixon Entrance.  That combination could be trouble if it results in waves on our beam.  We set-out thinking that if the seas are rough, we will put in at Foggy Bay.  If the seas are acceptable, we will continue to Cape Fox and if need be up Pearse Canal to a more sheltered spot.  We must stay on the Alaska side of the International Line tonight unless we are willing to go all the way to Prince Rupert to clear customs.

From Cruisecritic.com

The sun is out!  The forecast is for calmer winds tonight and then SE winds in the morning.  We tuck into a fair weather anchorage at Cape Fox and anchor in less than 10 feet of water.  Are we really in Alaska?  We rock back and forth as the ocean swell reaches us, but we are well secured and well positioned for completing our crossing of the Dixon Entrance in the morning.

Race to Alaska

Will it ever stop raining?  We have seen so much more rain this trip than in previous years.  We comment that we can count the days of sunshine on one hand.  On the plus side, most of the rain is just a drizzle and you can walk blocks without getting wet.
We set a course for Meyer's Chuck with thoughts of tying up at the dock and taking a walk ashore.  We have been to this small berg several times and it is interesting to see what has changed.  Two things keep us from executing this plan.  The first problem, the dock is full!  There is no room to park.  We could anchor out and use the dinghy to go ashore but here is the second problem, it is raining quite hard and we decide to forgo the walk and simply "drive-by" the cove.
From here we set our sights on Ketchikan.  We have some administrative things that need attention and some time ashore with reasonable wifi would help.  I end up "passing the buck" and end up asking our good friend and financial advisor to take care of an issue.  As usual, Skip and Sheryl come through.  How lucky are we to be in such good hands.
We arrive in Ketchikan just before 4 and decide to spend the night here.  The City Float is full so we request a slip assignment in Thomas Bay.  Just as we turn the corner and pass behind a huge cruise ship, Barrie spies a catamaran using recumbent bicycles attached to a chain driven propeller shaft to maneuver the boat into the harbor.  My first thought is that this boat must be participating in the Race to Alaska.  Without planning, we are here to see the second place boat arrive.
Wow! We are impressed but happy to be doing the trip on Chug with heat and showers!

KETCHIKAN, Alaska — It was a close finish at the dock in Ketchikan, Alaska.
Team Pure &Wild arrived at 3:05 p.m. Thursday, only six minutes before Team Big Broderna. Pure & Wild claimed the win for the third annual Race to Alaska hosted by the Northwest Maritime Center of Port Townsend and sponsored by UnCruise Adventures.
The annual race is done in boats without motors and without support vessels.
Team Pure &Wild, a team of three brothers from Massachusetts, finished the 710-mile leg of the race from Victoria in four days, three hours and five minutes.
Boats left Port Townsend last Thursday for Victoria, the 40-mile “proving ground” leg of the race. Boats left Sunday for the second-stage of the 750-mile race.

“We finished in half the time as year one with twice as much work,” said Tripp Burd, captain of Team Pure &Wild in a R2AK press release.
Tripp and Chris Burd participated in the first R2AK as Team FreeBurd in 2015, finishing with a world record for “open boats.” Tripp Burd returned again in 2016, but had to bow out in Victoria due to a broken boat.
However in 2017 the three brothers Tripp, Trevor and Chris Burd will leave Alaska $10,000 dollars richer.
Second place finishers Sean Huston, Nels Strandberg, Marshall Lebron and Lars Strandberg of Team Big Broderna finished after four days, three hours and 11 minutes.
The team will head home with the second-place prize, a “pretty good” set of steak knives, according to a R2AK press release.
Team MAD Dog, won the 2016 race in a record three days and 20 hours.
Asof Thursday evening, 28 teams were still making their way up the West Coast.
Team Bad Kitty, who was neck-and-neck with the two finishing teams on Wednesday was still just north of Bella Bella, Canada just after 5 p.m. Thursday. According to the R2AK tracker, the team was sailing at about 11 knots then. Anika Colvin, public information officer for the maritime center, said she didn’t know what had held up the team.
Team Bad Kitty still had a commanding lead over Teams West Coast Wild Ones and Ketch Me If You Can as of Thursday evening.
The vast majority of teams were still making their way along the eastern coast of Vancouver Island on Thursday.
Out of the teams traveling solely under man power, paddle boarder Karl Kruger of Deer Harbor, had a wide lead.
He slipped through Seymour Narrows on Thursday morning, a notoriously difficult portion of the race due to strong currents, and was camped out on Helmcken Island, B.C. on Thursday night.
Kruger attempted the race last year but his board broke just north of Victoria and he had to quit. According to the Race to Alaska website at https://r2ak.com/, Kruger is on a mission to be the fastest to paddle to Alaska and, as of Thursday, seemed to be on track for that goal.
The R2AK offers prizes only for first and second place so as of Thursday, 28 teams are racing for bragging rights.
Organizers are waiting for someone to take them up on this year’s special buy back offer.
This year organizers give every team that crosses the finish line five minutes to decide if they want to sell their boat for $10,000.
According to the R2AK press release the goal was an incentive for racers who knew they couldn’t race for first to still race competitively.
Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.

Via Wrangell

After spending a perfectly calm night at Deception Point Cove, we woke to more rain.  We lingered over breakfast while waiting for favorable tides to transit to Wrangell.  Wrangell is the but of many jokes in Petersburg -- but we find a perfectly lovely small town.  Our first stop is the fuel dock where we take on fuel.  The price is $1.00/ gallon less than when we took on a couple hundred gallons in Glacier Park.  We now have plenty for the trip home and also a reasonable reserve.  Our burn rate on this trip is just less than 2 gallons per hour.  This includes the diesel heat (and we have used it a lot given the colder and rainier weather we have had this trip) and the generator (which is also getting a workout).  The old single Ford Lehman diesel engine is a workhorse and remarkably economical.

Wrangell

Next we head up the dock for a walk through town.  Our first stop is the local hardware store where we ask about carbon brushes.  Low and behold they have a vast selection (and are so much closer to Petersburg than Juneau - what is the deal here).  We buy 4 brushes and get change from a $20 bill. 

Soon we are headed south to Santa Ana inlet for the night.  On the way we see Orcas! 

The wind is supposed to be very strong tonight and we are looking for a well-sheltered anchorage.  Santa Ana is beautiful.  We are sharing the inlet with one other boat but there is still room to spare.

Mastering the Wrangell Narrows

Wrangell Narrows

We started our morning in Petersburg with a crab cake breakfast sandwich at Cold Storage. Afterward I went in search of wifi and Barrie went in search of carbon brushes for the wayward alternators.

After a bit of head scratching and conferring with Larry D., the diagnosis is that after 30 years the carbon brushes on the alternators may have worn out.  Barrie took one of the alternators apart and there is no doubt that the brushes are worn.  Hopefully this is the only problem.  It seems odd to us but there are no carbon brushes to be found in Petersburg.  Not at Napa and not at Piston & Rudder (Petersburg's version of Fisheries).  The locals suggest Juneau (a two day trip to the north) or Seattle.  We opt to continue on our journey using the generator to charge batteries.

We time our departure for late in the afternoon to coincide with slack tide at Greene Point (the middle of the Wrangell Narrows.  We have now done this route so many times that while we are attentive, we have ceased to fret about the 60+ aids to navigation that are in the channel.  We anchor in Deception Point Cove at the bottom of the Narrows just after 8:30.

Return to Petersburg June12

McDuff the cat is better than most alarm clocks.  At first light (4 am), he is ready for breakfast and makes his needs known.  Most mornings I put a bit of kibble in his bowl and go back to bed for an hour.  This morning, I get up and put on water for coffee.  We will use these early hours before the wind kicks-up to transit the rest of Stephen's Passage on the ebb tide.  We have 60 miles to go to reach Petersburg.  Today is whale day!  One whale rises just in front of the bow.

Firmly etched in our minds is our experience with tidal currents in Petersburg Harbor.  We need to time our arrival for slack water around 4 this afternoon.  This means we have time to anchor for lunch at Scow Bay.  

In Scow Bay we have cell phone reception and are able to access the internet - albeit with a very slow connection.  I am able to update the blog but the photos will have to wait.  At the appointed hour we backtrack 3 miles to Petersburg and contact the Harbor Master for a slip assignment.  We will be in the North Harbor with easy access to town.  Just across the dock is another Kadey Krogen albeit a bit bigger than ours (55 ft).  We meet Roger and Arlene who will be spending the summer in Alaska aboard Kama Hele Kai.

We depart this afternoon to transit the Wrangell Narrows in the reverse direction.  Again, slack water is our friend.

All is well at Ford's Terror

Once again we wake to low cloud cover but this morning the rain holds off.  I take advantage of the morning to work on the boat.  I finish cleaning the teak and wash the decks.  Once the work is complete, I turn my attention to fun.  I drop my kayak in the water and paddle from waterfall to waterfall all the while looking up the nearly vertical cliffs.  I paddle far enough from the boat that Barrie says my bright green kayak is just a speck in the binoculars.  For an hour or two, I am alone is this beautiful place.  I am in awe of this place -- the waterfalls are cascading from thousands of feet in the air and flowing into the sea with such force that they push my kayak away from the shore.  The power of the glaciers that carved this valley were simply immense.  The books suggest coming prepared to spend a week or more in case of some type of unforeseen problem.  The implication is that boats in this area are few and far between.  

 I return to the boat in time for a late lunch before we pull up the anchor and make our way back up the inlet.  We execute our departure by the book with satisfactory results.  By the time we exit the bay, it is already after 4 pm.  Anchorages in this area are scarce.  We would like to get started on our southbound journey and search for a suitable anchorage that is within 35 miles (or approximately 5 hours).  We settle on Windham Bay Entrance Nook with an estimated arrival time of 8:30 pm.  We make the turn from Stephen's Passage into Windham Bay and then into the nook at the entrance on the south side.  The water in the nook is deep (200') and the tide is low.  Finally the bottom shoals and we drop the anchor in 18' of water.  The tide will rise an additional 15 feet.  The anchorage has just enough swing room for one boat and is sheltered from the south winds.  It is perfect for our needs.  Tomorrow we will be in Petersburg.

Decisions, Decisions June 10

We awaken to calm.  No wind, no ripples in the cove.  Plenty of fog, so much that it makes the idea of viewing glaciers and cliffs almost laughable.  We decide to see how the day unfolds and depart just after 6 am to retrace our route from Taku Harbor to the entrance to Endicott Arm.  Ahead of us by almost an hour is Steel Eagle a 6 knot sailboat and a faster (20+ knot) pleasure boat.  We listen to their conversations on the VHF and learn that Endicott is socked in with fog.  The fast boat declares that there is nothing to be seen and agrees to meet the slow boat at the public float at Hobart for coffee.  They will continue on to Petersburg without seeing the glacier. 

We arrive at the entrance to Endicott an hour later and the fog is starting to lift.  We have clear visibility at sea level and can see the ice bergs.  It looks as if the ceiling will lift and we decide to "go for it".  We start to pick our way between the many small bergs and almost as many large bergs.  Some of the bergs are huge - as much as 3 or 4 times as long as the boat and tall!  According to the books, slack tide (TTE) occurs at the entrance to Ford's Terror 10 to 25 minutes after Juneau.  In order to enter safely, we need to be positioned at the entrance at 3:10.  This leaves us time to explore Endicott but not quite enough time to reach the face of Dawes Glacier.  We continue to pick our way through an ever increasing field of ice bergs (and see seals on them) before finally reaching the north arm of Dawes which is just the remains of the receding ice floe.  We are still an hour away from the face when we turn around to return to the entrance of Ford's Terror.  It is tricky navigating between all the ice as some of the bergs are just barely visible.  With a single screw boat, we can't afford to damage our propeller.

Ford's Terror

We enter Ford's Terror and look for the landmark waterfall that will help us chart our path through the narrow opening.  At low tide, this entrance is a waterfall that is 7 feet tall.  At high tide, there is no evidence of the danger.  There are so many cliffs and so many high waterfalls that it takes us a few minutes to locate the landmark waterfall.  Once we find it, everything falls into place and we soon we are in the isolated deep canyon.  The water here is so deep that the depth sounder which can read to 600 feet fails to register.  Perhaps the closest analogy would be a fjord in Norway - the inlet is perhaps a 1/4 mile wide and several miles long.  At the bitter end of the inlet, we find Honu, a Nordic Tug, is already at anchor.  We park next to them at the base of yet another waterfall.  Our opportunity to exit this beautiful place is tomorrow afternoon at high slack - about 4 o'clock.  Meanwhile, our neighbors are stand-up paddle boarding around the boat.

It seems that our second alternator has failed and Barrie spends the remainder of the afternoon looking into the issue and considering our options.  For now, we will use the generator to charge batteries and carefully monitor our usage of electricity, but it is mystery why two alternators would fail on this trip.  Not much can be done in this remote location.  From here we will head to Petersburg where more services are available.

Tracy Arm Cove June 9

Last night's wind was not forecast and this morning's forecast now calls for winds from the south at 15 knots.  Southern winds coupled with this morning's ebb tide make for a lumpy passage as we head northeast.  Our objective is Tracy Arm Cove which is the closest reasonable jumping-off point for getting to Ford's Terror tomorrow night.  There is something about a place with the name "terror" that catches my attention.  The only anchorage at the head of Endicott Arm is 250 feet deep - yikes!

We arrive at the entrance to Tracy Arm just after 2 pm and find seven large ice bergs blocking our path.  We also read that with a south wind, these ice bergs are likely to be blown into the cove we have identified for tonight's anchorage.  Some of these bergs are several orders of magnitude larger than Chug and somehow the thought of large ice berg crashing into the boat in the dark has us concerned.  We consider alternatives but this is Alaska and anchorages are often far apart.  About 10 miles north there is another cove but it too is exposed to the south wind.  The good news is that there will be no ice bergs in that cove.  Finally, we set our sights on Taku Harbor which is just over 20 miles (or 3 hours) away.  The tide has turned and now we have a south wind and a flood tide on our stern carrying us north.  There are still a few white caps but our ride is comfortable and soon we are tied up to the public float in Taku Harbor.  We are not alone.  Steel Eagle calls us on the VHF asking for a report on sea state.  They are headed south, ducked into Taku and tied up to the public dock (across the harbor) to get out of the chop.  We share the dock with a sailboat and as evening falls, Mist Cove anchors nearby.

Mist Cove

Perhaps tomorrow we will be able to reach Ford's Terror. 

In Peril June 8

Peril Strait

Peril Strait passes between Chichagof and Baranof Islands before opening into Chatham Sound.  It is a major sea route for ships of all sizes trying to get from the inside waters to Sitka.  Sergius Narrows is the only place in Peril Strait that requires special attention.  The channel is 24 feet deep and 450 feet wide resulting in currents reaching 6 knots on large tides.  In a 7 knot boat, a 6 knot current is a problem.  But like all these narrow passages, transiting at slack is not a problem.  The challenge is figuring out when slack tide is and having the patience to wait.  Today slack tide is at 04:40, so we are up and away at 4:10 with time to spare.

From Peril Strait, we head south into Chatham Sound and work our way east to Admiralty Island.  We follow the shoreline south giving a wide berth at the southern end where rocks and shoals abound and turn north to reach this evening's anchorage, Chapin Bay. 

Chapin has a narrow opening to reach a bay that runs east/west.  I have identified the southeast corner as a possible anchorage since it appears to be the most sheltered from almost any wind.  But, the wind is not blowing and the western end of the bay looks like bear habitat.  We opt to set the anchor in "bear country" and have settled in for the evening when the wind kicks-up from the east.  There is little doubt the anchor will hold but there is also little doubt that we will be swinging at the end of the chain.  We decide to pull up the anchor and go back to Plan A.  In less than 1/2 hour, we are in the lee of the island and spend a quiet comfortable night at anchor.

Off to the Glaciers June 7

The winds have finally died down and the time has come to depart from Sitka.  Being "stuck" in Sitka certainly is not a hardship.  We used this time to rest, to attend to boat details, and to explore the town. 

Sitka's harbor is home to a large fishing fleet.  Here pleasure boats are outnumbered by a factor approaching ten.  From our berth at the end of Dock 9 in Eliason Harbor, we have 1/4 mile walk to shore.  Everywhere we look, we see fish boats and many of them are being worked on by their owners.  The pleasure boats moored here dwarf "Chug".  Across the fairway from us is Marlinda.  She is at least 80 feet and likely closer to 100.  Each morning we watch the maintenance crew dressed in matching black wool sweaters and watch caps arrive to wipe her down - yet there appears to not to be anyone on the boat.  We wonder how it would be to have crew!  In truth, Chug is perfectly suited to us - not too big and not too small.

This morning we start our day by walking to the grocery store for a couple of forgotten items and then back to the boat to drop our load.  Since we are unable to access wifi from our location on the dock, our next adventure is a trip to the library and then to the Sheldon Jackson Museum before our planned departure this afternoon.  On our way up the dock, two things happen.  I see a sign reminding us that the local coffee stand will have cinnamon rolls this morning and my phone connects automatically to an open internet connection and I hear the sound of texts, emails and more arriving.  First things first, we get a fresh cinnamon roll to share and then sit on the curb in the parking lot and finish collecting and sending messages.  Back to the boat to drop off the computers and then onward to the museum.  

The Sheldon Jackson Museum is a rare treasure trove of Native Alaskan history.  Jackson was a missionary and founder of the boarding school.  He set about creating a museum to house collections that preserve the ethnic history of Alaska's native population.  He was concerned that the Native Alaskan students at his school would be assimilated into "white society" and lose touch with their personal history.  Many of the items were collected by Jackson but others have also contributed to the depth of the collection.  The quality of the artifacts is superb.

Not my photo - but this is the entrance when the water is raging!  We will go at slack.

From here, we begin working our way to Endicott Arm and Ford's Terror.  Endicott Arm is home to Daws Glacier which is one of the biggest, most active glaciers in the area.  Ford's Terror is a small arm that branches off Endicott is only accessible at slack tide.  Much has been written about the remoteness of Ford's Terror and few boater's tackle navigating around the waterfall and dodging ice bergs from Daws Glacier that are both found at the entry.  We have studied the books and looked at aerial photographs and believe we   But first, we have to get there.
are sufficiently prepared for the challenge.

We leave the dock a few minutes before 2 in the afternoon and backtrack up Olga and Neva Straits catching the flood ebb tide and finally set our anchor at 6:30 behind Piper Island in Schulze Cove.  Rosie (a boat we first encountered in Hoonah) is already anchored in the entrance to the bay.  We cross the 1.5 fathom bar into the bay and have the inner bay to ourselves.  We are within two miles of Sergius Narrows which we will transit on the early TTF (turn to flood) slack tide in the morning.

Safe in Sitka

Last night we anchored in Kalinin Bay at the entrance to Salisbury Sound.  The guide books are correct.  The anchorage is well-protected but also well-used.  We are the fourth boat to drop our anchor and as the evening progresses several more boats slip into the safe harbor. 

The weather can't make up its mind.  Clouds move in and the rain starts then within minutes the sun returns.  We celebrate our successful navigation of Chichigof's west side with a glass of scotch and "bergie bits" that we had scooped up in Glacier Bay.  The wind kicks-up late in the evening and blows without stop most of the night. 

This morning we pull our anchor at 7:30 with a strong north wind blowing.  We debate about resetting the anchor and waiting-out the winds in Kalinin Bay but finally opt to continue on our journey.  Our route takes us back into Salisbury Sound for about six miles where we will be exposed to the Pacific.  With luck, the north wind will be blocked by the land mass and whatever seas we encounter will be at our stern.  With Plan B in mind (return to anchor), we set out and our journey is smooth.  From Salisbury we head south into Neva and then Olga Straits before reaching Sitka. 

We are in a moon phase that has significantly less effect on the tides.  Just a week ago, we were experiencing tide swings that exceeded 25 feet.  Today the tide will swing just 5 feet.  As such, the tidal currents are also lessened which reduces the need to time our transit in Neva and Olga.  The flood current meets where these two passages come together.  If current weas an issue we would want to arrive at the entrance to Neva at the end of the flood tide so we could ride the ebb tide out of Olga.  As it is, we arrive an hour before the turn and push through the end of the flood tide in Olga.

Sitka Harbor

We arrive in Sitka and place a call to the Harbor Master.  We are assigned a slip in Eliason Harbor on the end of Dock 9.  The wind is pushing us north along the dock and the current is pulling us away from the dock.  Add to that, we are on the outside of the dock and there is another boat already moored here.  It takes a couple of tries, but we are soon tied-up just in time for lunch.

Sheldon Jackson Campus

Sheldon Jackson Museum

We walk into Sitka and learn that Sunday is not the best day to visit town.  Our favorite restaurant Ludvig's is closed (also closed on Monday).  We have such fond memories of having dinner here two years ago that we can't help but be disappointed.  We continue into town where many of the tourist stores are open but we are more interested in visiting the fabulous museum at the end of town on the Sheldon Jackson Campus.  This campus served as a boarding school for Native Alaskan's for many years and on our recent visit to Hoonah we learned that this is where Marj (Native Eskimo) went to high school.  The school became a local college and then fell into disuse.  When we were here in 2015, we met Carol Odess who was instrumental in helping to transform the campus into a Summer Music and Arts Camp.  Carol hails from Alabama but she and her late husband spent many summers fishing in Sitka and this has become her second home.  Carol gave us a tour of campus including many tutor style building that were being restored.  This year, as we walk through the campus we note the extensive restoration has continued.  We continue to the Sheldon Jackson museum to discover that it too is closed.  

   Aha!  This is open!!.  We enter the visitor center just as the historical film is beginning and take seats in the darkened auditorium.  We are presented first the Tlingit view of local history and then the Russian view.  Sitka was the site of an extensive Russian Settlement and there was significant conflict between the Russians and the native population.  There is a lovely exhibit of totem poles and carving techniques in the Visitor's Center.  We then head outside where there  

Our next stop is the National Park there is an amazing collection of totem poles.
is a beautiful trail through the woods with totem poles tucked in along the path.

We head back to the boat for an early supper and an early to bed.  We are both tired and looking forward to a night at the dock.  Our plans for the next several days are in flux.  There is a large low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska working its way north.  The weather forecast for the next several days does not sound conducive to comfortable boating.  Up and down the coast, winds are forecast to be 25-35 knots with gusts to 50 knots.  Seas will range from 8 feet to 15 feet.  We are seriously considering staying right where we are until this all blows over.  Maybe we will get to Ludvig's afterall