Cruising 6/9/2015

Boating Season 2015, June 8^th

We carry several detailed route planning maps and books on exploring from Washington State to Southeast Alaska. There are usually two maps and two books open at all times along with our Garmin GPS plotter which is our navigational system. We also have a VHF Marine radio which has the Coast Guard channel 16 and several other channels you can use to talk to other boaters. We have four life jackets, first aide kits, an emergency ditch bag (we would grab if we had to leave the boat, full of emergency supplies, VHF handheld radio, flares, etc.), and an 8 ½ foot dingy, our lifeboat. We always plan the evening before we start our cruise the next morning. We check the weather every day in order to make our plans. Weather has a lot to do with where we go and when. So we are very prepared before we even start!!

We are in Canada looking for marinas for fuel but we found them weathered, deteriorated, and closed. These were once thriving communities with successful canneries. We head for Shearwater Marina, north up Fitz Hugh Sound, to Fisher Channel, to Laura Passage, located in Kliktsoatli Harbour. (This is why you need a map to locate these places!) It's not only nice, it has a restaurant and pub. I have decided Alaska has the biggest eagles anywhere! They are beautiful. On our cruise we saw porpoise, two whales, three blue heron, and a deer swimming across the channel.

Ours is the green one.

One of many waterfall.

All sidewalks are decking.

We left very early the next morning to cruise in calm waters to Hartley Bay off the Douglas Channel behind Promise Island. Hartley Bay is a Native settlement with a protected Harbor. It has fuel and that is all. The fuel hose is dropped from the top of the fuel dock down to your boat. Very different but the low tides can go twenty feet down. You also get free moorage. This native settlement is very friendly and stay true to their culture. They are known for saving 101 passengers from a British Columbia Ferry, that sank at 1am in the morning, after receiving a distress call. We met the son of the village Chief and learned a little about the village. They are also known for their 'Spirit Bears'. We hope to stop there on our way back and get a tour.

The next morning we are headed for Kumealon Inlet, off Grenville Channel, to anchor for the night. This inlet has a narrows and lagoon and I was so excited to go in our dingy and explore. The little narrows was unbelievable! Rushing water going into the lagoon over rocks and very swift. We decided to wait for the outgoing tide and when we came back, you couldn't see the rocks but you could see the huge amount of water coming towards you and all the foam from the rush of water returning to the channel. It was very fascinating but scary at the same time. Tides can be very dangerous and you must know when and where to go through them. Obviously, we didn't go through these!!

This one didn't make it!

A floating Lodge

It was a beautiful cruise into Prince Rupert Harbour off Kaien Island. Prince Rupert has the third deepest harbor in the world. Coal, grain, lumber, minerals, pulp, and fish are exported all over the world from there. They have a very large shipping container facility where containers are off loaded on to rail cars and hauled to their destinations. We were able to dock at the Yacht Club, (don't get any ideas, very rustic!) and the best part, they had a laundry pick up and delivery service. For twenty dollars ,I was able to have all our laundry and bedding washed. Now I'm really getting spoiled. They also had a nice walking path to town, museums, along the boardwalk from the marina. We enjoyed our stay there.

Mural on wall

We waited two days for a very good weather report. The winds needed to be 5 to 15 MPH, blowing from the south, and waves three foot or less. We saw boaters that we had seen before we left Campbell River waiting for better weather also. Three boats, 60 to 78 feet long, asked Russ if they could follow us through Venn Passage into Dixon Entrance. They had never been through there before and weren't sure. Now remember, our boat is only 27 feet long and 8 ½ feet wide. We were both surprised but smug at the same time. Wow, those big boats are asking us!? We started at 5:00am in the morning with the three large boats behind us and 45 minutes later we were through Venn Passage and into Dixon Entrance on our way to Alaska. The passage is very narrow and intricate with strong currents. You have to watch the maps, your GPS and the buoy markers all the way through.

One of three following us.

Our cruise from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan, Alaska was beautiful with calm seas. We radioed the US Customs and they met us at the fuel dock for entry. They looked at our passports, asked us if we had any fruit or chicken and if we did, we were not to take it off the boat but consume it on the boat. OK

Disney cruise ship

We are now in Ketchikan, Alaska, USA and it has been cold, rainy, and windy every day. And of course, we are waiting for good weather before heading farther north. We are in the marina protected from the weather and are looking forward to our next adventure.

Love to all, Toni and Russ

5/29/2015

2015 Boating Season Friday, May 29, 2013

After leaving Roche Harbor on May 23^rd, we cruised to Garrison Bay on the west side of San Juan Island. San Juan Island is a National Historical Park with The American Camp and the British Camp on the island. We anchored in Garrison Bay where the English Camp is located. Some of the buildings have been restored. We hiked the camp for two hours, taking the trail less traveled! This is the only park in the United States that honors the peaceful settlement of a dispute. If you are interested in the history, please look up the Treaty of 1846. You will be surprised.

The next morning we cruised west to Canada and checked into Canadian Customs in Bedwell Harbour on North Pender Island with no problem. It's a courtesy to hang a small Canadian flag on your boat when traveling in Canadian waters, along with your American flag. So after we were OK'd to enter, Russ hung our Canadian flag. Shortly after, a Canadian Customs officer walked up to our boat and asked us if we knew the Canadian flag was hung upside down! Oh no !!! Russ didn't think about the leaf having to be straight up!

After fixing that little problem, we headed north along Vancouver Island, along the Strait of Georgia, through the Dodd Narrows. A narrows are tidal currents and swirls passing through a narrow and shallow passage between rock cliffs. Narrows are good to go through during slack tide times. These are always fun to time the high and low tides. After successfully cruising through the narrows we anchored in Nanaimo for the night.

Early the next morning, on to Comox for fuel and groceries. Later we walked back up the boardwalk to a nice Restaurant/pub and had their brewed beer and a great dinner. We always enjoy going out to eat. Right Russ?

On May 26^th we were on to Campbell River for fuel and to catch the slack tide on Seymour Narrows. Up Discovery Passage and on to Johnstone Strait. Well, we thought we would go on up Johnstone Strait but the winds were 25 to 30 mph so we followed two larger boats east up Mayne Passage and stayed at Blind Channel Resort on West Thurlow Island. When I say resort, it doesn't mean a fancy spa resort. There are docks to tie up to and sometimes water and electricity are available. I was just happy to get tied up for the night. The men on the boats ahead of us were headed to Alaska also. We met some sport fishermen from the oil fields in Alberta, who gave us four fillets of ling cod and two fresh crab already cleaned. What a feast! They fly in for three days, three to four times a year, and fly home with coolers full of ling cod, snapper, halibut, and crab. Nice!

International Forest Products and the BC Ministry of Forest, along with Blind Channel Resort, have a trail system designed to show the features of a second growth forest. The trails are well marked and we hiked up the Big Cedar Trail which winds its way through 90 year old second growth forest. Along the trail is a large old growth cedar over 800 years old with a diameter of 16 feet. There are very few of those left.

We decided to go around West Thurlow Island and Hardwicke Island back to Johnstone Strait early in the morning, when the winds are calm. On our way we spotted a beautiful black bear along the bank. We went on to fuel at Lagoon Cove on East Cracroft Island. That afternoon we anchored in Cutter Cove and watched another beautiful black bear flipping large rocks and eating shell fish from under them. He stayed for over an hour then wandered off into the trees. Late afternoon the winds pick up and we decided to head for calmer anchorage. So out to Knight Inlet and into Port Elizabeth Cove where we enjoyed a nice calm night swinging on the anchor.

Sullivan Bay Marina is our last stop for fuel, laundry and overnight anchorage before heading into Queen Charlotte Sound north around Cape Caution. We got up at 5am, May 29^th, had coffee, and took off. Our goal was to be around Cape Caution which is north of Queen Charlotte Strait and east of Vancouver Island. The night before, we made our list of coves we could duck into if the winds and waves got bad. We made it half way before the wind and rollers got a little too much for me. I know Russ could have went on but he does think of the times I end up on the floor, in the bathroom, sick! We ducked in between Southgrate Group Islands and into Skull Cove. The only boat there and a nice calm anchorage for the night.

Up at 5:30 am (he let me sleep in) coffee and off we went to conquer Cape Caution. The morning was beautiful. Calm water, slow rollers, and great weather. Just what a boater looks for. (I must tell you, I was not looking forward to this at all. You have to go out into the Pacific Ocean and I was not very excited and slightly cranky.). We can now say we have gone around the Cape!! Russ did mention, after we made it around, that we will be returning the same way! Yikes!

We cruised into Rivers Inlet and stopped at Duncanby Resort only to find out it doesn't open until June 13^th. I was looking forward to breakfast, it was only 8:30 in the morning!! We ate our bowl of cereal with banana and on we cruised around Walbran Island and on to Dawson Landing Resort, down Darby Channel. It was not open on Saturdays. What day is it anyway?? It looked pretty rough from the winter weather and they probably were not ready for summer boaters anyway.

We cruised up Fitz Hugh Sound, past Addenbroke Light House, and into Kwakume Inlet. It is a large beautiful inlet with a huge rock island on one end and we anchored behind it. We are the only boat here. There are a lot of different bird species here. Eagles, several species of sea birds, ducks including wood ducks, and four beautiful loons. (We even had two swallows try to get inside the back canopy of the boat.) The different bird calls, the quiet, and the calm waters are amazing to experience. The view is beautiful from every window in our boat.

We are getting up early in the morning (HA) and are heading north to Denny Island and Shearwater Marina some 43 miles. It's fuel and water time. Hoping they have WiFi so we can send our blog. I hope they're open on sundays ??!!

If you look at a map of Canada and the inside passage of Alaska, you can watch us cruise “North to Alaska”!!

Love, hugs, and kisses to our families and friends

Toni and Russ