September 4 -- Postlude

As we were planning our trip last spring, we felt badly that we would miss summer at home. As it turns out, we came home to summer after missing it on our travels. Now that we are here, we are in no hurry to move back into the house. The transition will be gradual, and soon enough we will be at home looking for something still on the boat, or vice versa. As long as the weather stays good, we will stay close to the water.

As we look back over the past three months and 2,000 miles, we have a sense of accomplishment and a new understanding of the northwest coast of this continent. Words that come to mind to describe the landscape: vast, imposing, empty, powerful, majestic, daunting; to describe the people of this sparsely populated coast: adventuresome, brave, tough, hard-working, friendly; to describe the water of the Inside Passage: dark, predictable, challenging but do-able; the weather: cold (no surprise), wet (disappointing), spectacular (occasionally).

We met many very nice people along the way and hope we can continue to be in contact with some of them. Many of them do the trip to Alaska every year. Once is enough for us—having “been there, done that”, we would stay south of Cape Caution on future sailing adventures. While faraway destinations have their appeal, home is better. We can see mountains and wilderness from our marina on Indian Arm. Within an hour’s sail north “up the Arm” we have majestic waterfalls and bears on the beach, or if we motor an hour west we can dock and walk in sophisticated downtown Vancouver.

Our next boating challenge will be one of separation, as the time looms ahead when we have to sell our old friend Skylark II, and become full-time landlubbers. As we look over our logs, photos, and the journals we have posted, we realize that we have a rich treasure chest of boating memories. Thanks for sharing the trip.

September 2 -- Welcoming Committee

The flood tide gives us a boost as we motor in calm air on smooth seas along the Sunshine Coast, past Sechelt and Gibsons, around Bowen Island, and into English Bay. The skyline of Vancouver rises to meet us in fairer weather than on the day we left. We cross under Lions Gate Bridge, pass Stanley Park on the right and the yellow North Shore sulfur piles on the left, wind our way through anchored freighters and barges and around a tugboat doing circles (trying out his engine, we heard him say on the radio), and come alongside a small dock.

Today is the first day of school, but it is a short day, so we have arranged to pick up two of our granddaughters, (plus two cousins and a friend) at Lonsdale Quay. They join us for the last hour as we head in to our marina. The girls have had a great summer with trips to Ottawa, camp, and Europe, and have much to tell us. It is so good to see them again!

Burrard Inlet is quiet – you could never tell it is a major seaport – and the Second Narrows train bridge lifts at our request. We slow down to prolong the trip, and the kids take turns being towed in the dinghy, behind the sailboat. As we round the point and come in to Deep Cove, our neighbour on Prairie Otter blasts his horn to welcome us back. We slide in to our slip, and tie up. We are home.

September 1 -- Almost Home

We start out on the last leg of our journey, but in Georgia Strait we discover that the predicted northwest wind is actually southeast (and of course we’re traveling southeast) and the water is rather choppy. The sun is still shining, so why would we fight the wind and waves all day when we don’t have to get home tonight? Instead, we pull in to Smuggler Cove, and spend our last night in the same anchorage in which we spent the first night of the trip. We go ashore for a hike on the trails of this marine park, and Cliff enjoys running into Amanda, a woman he worked with 10 years ago.

Later, we have a delicious barbecued salmon dinner in this peaceful anchorage, with a spectacular starry sky and brilliant phosphorescent water. We throw breadcrumbs to the fish and see their sparkly outlines as they come to snap up the treats. We even flush the heads (into the holding tanks of course) in the dark and watch the lights flash in the plumbing pipes! Yes, yes, we know -- there is not a lot to do on a sailboat at night.

August 30-31 -- Friends at Pender Harbour

We leave Grace Harbour with Tangleberry, bound for Pender Harbour. We can make it home tomorrow with only this one stop, if we choose. It is a beautiful, sunny day, with a northwest wind, and we sail for a few hours. It finally seems as if summer has arrived! It is so nice, in fact, that we radio Tangleberry to let them know we are slowing down to take advantage of the lovely weather for a few more days. They continue on, intent on getting home tomorrow. We pull in to Blind Bay at the entrance to Jarvis Inlet and scout around for a while before dropping the hook in Ballet Bay. Next morning, Cliff makes pancakes before we motor the short distance to Pender Harbour, where we tie up at the VRC outstation dock. It is Labour Day weekend, and we expect it to be crowded, but we have the dock to ourselves for 24 hours. We noticed a sign on the way in inviting boats to tie up and tour the open house in a beautiful development, so we dinghy over for a look. The house we see is a dream—waterfront property with moorage and a view to die for, through arbutus trees and past small islands to Georgia Strait and the Vancouver Island mountains in the distance. Oh, for an extra $1.25M.

Continuing our dinghy trip, we buzz through a narrow channel down to the end of Gunboat Bay , where our friends Richard and Alisa have a lovely summer property. We catch them at the cottage and have a good visit, then Cliff and some other men help Richard put away all the canoes, kayaks, sailing dinghies and other toys for the winter. Winter!! We’ve just found summer! We make a quick sidetrip to the IGA in Madeira Park for groceries, then extend our visit over dinner with Richard and Alisa at the Garden Bay Pub.

August 27-28 -- In Desolation Sound

It’s not a bad day, but there are strong southeast winds in Georgia Strait. We plan to stay in Desolation Sound until the storm blows over, then we will make a beeline for home. We have a leisurely morning and motor over to Refuge Cove for a few groceries. Tangleberry fuels up and finds a floating hamburger stand for lunch, but we hoist the sails and actually sail for a couple of hours to Melanie Cove, where we raft up, barbecue salmon, and play hearts.

In the morning we dinghy ashore and hike with Grahame and Shirley a mile or so up the Unwin Lake trail. It is quite a climb and good exercise after many hours on the boat. We make lots of noise and don’t see any bears—just thick forest, big trees, dense undergrowth, and a peek-a-boo view of the lake.

Later in the day, we motor to Okeover Inlet and anchor out in front of the Laughing Oyster Restaurant, where we have a reservation for dinner. We had hoped to stay at the government dock here, but it is full and not very well protected from the north wind blowing. The rain is coming down hard now, but we suit up and climb in Grahame’s small dinghy for a ride to shore. We are a soggy lot as we arrive at the restaurant, and we wonder if the Laughing Oyster is laughing at us. After a good meal, we return in even harder rain to our boats, up anchor, and move in the near dark to a more protected bay a couple of miles north.

The night is very quiet, but in the morning we hear the flag flapping, indicating that the wind is turning south and we had better move. . This time we sail a short distance to Grace Harbour, a scenic and sheltered spot , where we raft together with Tangleberry on Skylark’s anchor. The bay is quite full with boats waiting out the strong southeasterlies in the forecast. The front comes through around noon with lots of rain, but not much wind in the harbour, and after the storm passes the skies clear to give us a beautiful afternoon. We dinghy ashore to an old homestead site, where we pick blackberries, apples, and plums from an ancient orchard. With plenty of bear scat around, we watch our backs all the time and don’t stay too long. Later, we enjoy Shirley’s delicious fruit cobbler with coffee and a game of hearts on Tangleberry.

August 26 -- Through the Rapids

We have another beautiful, clear, still night, but awake to thick fog. We follow last night’s GPS trail out to the channel, where the fog clears and we zoom along with the flood tide through Wellbore and Green Point rapids. We have to cut the motor and dawdle along for a couple of hours so we don’t arrive much before slack at the stronger Dent and Yuculta rapids. Just before the rapids, we meet Tangleberry , and we travel together the rest of the day. By now the weather has deteriorated, and we have a wet, bumpy ride down Calm Channel, until we turn in at Squirrel Cove, Cortes Island, to raft up, share dinner, and compare notes about our adventures since we parted in Prince Rupert.

August 24-25 Gunkholing in the Broughtons

After a leisurely Sunday morning, we browse around the Broughton Archipelago, a group of islands and islets, mostly low and rocky, We make our way past the fishing resort/marina at Sullivan Bay with its many luxurious floathomes, and Pierre’s Echo Bay Marina where we stop for a chat and a few groceries. Then we continue on to Waddington Bay, a beautiful spot fully enclosed by small islands, where we anchor for the night. Darkness comes early, letting us see a wide expanse of glittering sky crossed by the Milky Way, enhanced by a few magical falling stars. Can this be the first time in three months we’ve actually seen a dark, clear night and a starry sky?

We awake Monday morning to light rain, but no fog, and motor an uneventful 54 miles via Minstrel Island and Chatham Channel. Johnstone Strait is benign, but we are glad to leave it and duck into Sunderland Channel just as the waves start to build. In Forward Harbour, after a couple of unsuccessful tries we get the anchor hooked in 65 feet of water. Cliff will get his upper body exercise tomorrow morning when he cranks up 200 feet of chain!

August 22-23 -- New Friends and a Big Fish in the Broughtons

The weatherman is calling for more strong southeasterlies, so we plan to stay in the Broughtons for a few days. Before we move to a more secure anchorage, we go back to the entrance to Wells Passage and put out the fishing line in the spot where we noticed several boats yesterday. After an hour without a bite, we turn to leave, when suddenly the line jerks and Cliff reels in a lovely 20-pound red spring salmon! What a thrill!

Back at the new anchorage, stern-tied in a tiny cove at the end of Tracey Harbour, Cliff cleans and butchers the fish, and Orma packs the pieces in plastic bags, filling the freezer. With about three pounds of salmon steaks still left, we go bearing gifts to two neighbouring boats.

First , we knock on the side of Teal, a 78-foot restored 1928 Alaska Fisheries Patrol boat. Kit and Carl receive the salmon steaks with great enthusiasm and invite us aboard for a tour. They are new owners of this beautiful classic, lovingly restored and updated, with brass and teak, beams and engines bright and shining.

Next we call on Mike and Lee on Santa Margarita, a Catalina 40 which they have just bought recently after retiring from a fishing career on their seiner, the Bruce Luck (seen in the background on the old Canadian $5.00 bill). Salmon is nothing new to them, but they still seem pleased with the gift.

After a still night, morning brings clouds and rain. We can see the treetops blowing in the wind, but we are well sheltered. Santa Margarita moves into our cove after spending a restless night swinging around farther out in the bay. We dinghy ashore to explore a disused logging site and walk along the logging road, happening upon bear scat and making lots of noise. We find a parked WFP pickup truck, unlocked and ready to go, although it doesn’t appear to have been used recently. Later in the day, we concoct a rice dish to take over to Teal, where we share their freshly-caught crabs and a potluck barbecue, enjoying instant rapport and lots of laughs with the two other couples. It is a sad truth that most cruising friendships begin instantly and end as soon as your routes diverge. We hope that these folks will keep in touch and we can get together again someday.

August 20 - 21 -- Around Cape Caution Again

Our stay at the dock in Shearwater proves comfortable and useful, if a tad expensive. A brief squall blows through overnight, but we are well sheltered. Cliff does some maintenance jobs, I conquer laundry and grocery shopping, we fill up with fuel (we wonder why our tank takes 15 percent more fuel than it should and the 10 litre jug requires over 11 litres to fill?) and we are ready to hit the road again. Grahame and Shirley advise us that groceries and fuel are more reasonable just across the way in Bella Bella. Oh well.

We motor down Fitzhugh Sound in calm weather. A pod of humpback whales in the distance surprises us with a great show of huffing, puffing, and breaching. We motor all the way to Pruth Bay, where we turn right and travel an hour out of our way so we can enjoy some fishing in Hakai Pass and take the trail to the beach tomorrow.

Tomorrow dawns, we hear the weather forecast, and realize that this is the day to round Cape Caution. The next weather window is several days away, so we give away the west coast beach hike and turn on the motor at 6:00 a.m. to start heading south in thick fog.

The fog dissipates as the sun rises and is gone by the time we reach the ocean swells in Queen Charlotte Sound. The mainsail holds the boat fairly steady and we ride a roller coaster for a while. We see more other boats than we have seen for a long time. The flotilla is heading south now and we have caught up with rush hour. A couple of cruise ships appear in the distance, and we remark on how few we have seen during this whole odyssey. We had expected to be dodging them all the time.

Around noon the water smoothes out and we skim past Cape Caution. A whale surfaces very close to the boat – almost close enough to reach out and touch – then dips, surfaces again, and disappears before we have time to be concerned by his proximity. We decide not to cross to Vancouver Island, but stay on the mainland side of the Sound, and eventually after 81 miles, we reach Wells Passage where we find a snug anchorage, make dinner, and go to bed early.

August 18-19 -- Storm Shelter in Shearwater

We catch up with Grahame and Shirley in Shearwater, shout greetings across the water, and part company once again as they forge ahead and we tie up at the dock to wait out another predicted big blow. We are lucky to have arrived early because the docks are full by afternoon in anticipation of very strong winds. Shearwater, mainly a fishing resort, has a nice restaurant, a good laundromat and grocery store, marine supplies, fuel and propane, and wireless internet. We will make good use of the time tomorrow, while we wait for weather. Today we relax and visit on the dock, then treat ourselves to a steak dinner at the restaurant.

Tuesday morning dawns clear and calm, but the weather reports still call for storm force winds and we stay hunkered down. We are invited to a “Bring on the Storm” party on Oso Blanco, a gorgeous Nordhaven yacht, but except for a light breeze and some rain, we still don’t feel the storm. It is reportedly blowing hard out in the open, though, so we are glad to be here. At the party we meet lots of nice folks who cruise in big motor yachts from points south to spend the summer months in Alaska every year, despite the weather, which they tell us has been unusually cold and wet this year. We are definitely novices in this cruising community. Cliff spends an hour inspecting Osso Blanco's immaculate and enormous engine room with the owner. This yacht, built with capacity to cross oceans, uses only 8 gallons of fuel per hour. Another captain in the group says that his yacht burns 20 gallons per hour at cruising speed! We are out of our element here!

Late in the day a small sailboat rafts alongside our boat. (Yipee – we’re no longer the only small boat at the dock!) It turns out to be the young fellow from Bella Coola we met way back at Eucott Hot Springs who took our picture for his charterboat brochure (http://www.sailbellacoola.com/).

August 16-17 – Spectacular Fiordland

The fog is thick again, but we have a long day planned, so Skylark leaves Hartley Bay at 08:15 with the help of radar and GPS charts. Lyla and Renova plan to take a different route, so we exchange hugs and boat cards and hopes that we will meet again along the way. They help us cast off, then wave until they disappear in the fog.

By 11:00 the fog is gone and we have another beautiful day. We take a less-travelled route down Finlayson Channel, through Hiekesh Narrows and along Sheep Passage to our chosen anchorage at Windy Bay. We are alone in this beautiful ocean lake, the only sounds the splash of jumping fish, the chirps of eagles, and the cries of loons. The warm breeze carries the sweet cedar scent of the forest, and as night falls a full moon rises, silhouetting the majestic mountains around us.

Again today, Monday, we awake to a shroud of fog, but we will wait. We have taken this route to see spectacular Kynoch Inlet, which the guidebook tells us has “wild and magnificent scenery, high snow-covered ramparts rising 3500 feet above its shores . . . a startling vertical rock cliff rising to the sky … beautiful waterfalls tumbling into the inlet . . “ Not until 13:00 (1:00 p.m.) does the fog burn off, and as we enter Kynoch Inlet, the curtains open on a majestic stage of mountain grandeur. We are so privileged to be in this beautiful place, seen by so few.

We cruise slowly around the inlet for a couple of hours. We take many photos, have lunch on deck in the warm sunshine, and then must continue on our way to arrive at our next anchorage before nightfall. The water changes from smooth to choppy and back again, depending on the strength of the headwind, and we continue motoring south down Mathieson Channel. We see our first boat in twenty-four hours late in the afternoon, and as we get closer to our anchorage, we see a few pleasure boats from Shearwater/Bella Bella out for Sunday afternoon fishing trips. Thick fog blows in from the ocean in the evening, and the last hour is a bit tense as we pick our way blindly, except for radar and GPS, through tricky Percival Narrows and into Oliver Cove, arriving just before dark.

August 15-16 – Sailing Buddies

Shirley and Grahame decide to leave Prince Rupert on Monday to start on their trip south, but we prefer to wait out the weather in the relative comfort of the marina. After three more rainy, windy days, rafted three deep at the dock, we finally free our lines and head out, traveling in company with Pierre and Danielle on Lyla, and a young Camppell River couple, John and Naomi, on Renova. The weather clears up, giving us a beautiful trip down Grenville Channel. Our first stop is at Kumealon Inlet, a lovely, serene anchorage where we are the only boats. We barbecue salmon and spend a pleasant evening together on Skylark.

In the morning, we are enveloped in thick fog. To help find his way back, Cliff takes the GPS with him as he goes out in the dinghy to retrieve the crab trap. We are rewarded with two good-sized crabs, which Cliff cleans and Orma cooks and shells so we can have crab salad for lunch.

At about 10:00 the fog lifts and we continue motoring south to Hartley Bay. The weather is still beautiful, so after the boats are tied up we all take a walk along the boardwalks of this quiet town, then have a late dinner and an early night.

August 7-14 — Will we ever get out of Prince Rupert?

We had no intention of staying so long in P.R., but again contrary weather forces us to stay at the dock. To help pass the time, we decide to rent a car with Shirley and Grahame and travel inland to parts of BC we have never seen. The first day, we drive along the mighty Skeena River to Terrace, where we visit the Saturday morning farmers’ market, then continue to Kitimat, a sterile company town with an enormous aluminum smelter. The cold wind and rough seas buffeting the town dock, situated at the end of the long Douglas Channel, confirm our decision not to take our boat to Kitimat . The day is gray and rainy. We have reserved rooms at a hot springs resort which turns out to be quite run-down, but the pools are nice and the dinner surprisingly good.

Next morning, when the cook himself tells us, “We have no sausages and I wouldn’t order the ham,” we decide to drive back to Terrace for breakfast at McDonald’s. After a quick perusal of Canadian Tire and Wal-Mart , still looking for a prawn trap to replace the one that got squashed, we check the roadmap and drive 100 km north along a secondary (but paved) road to the Nass River Valley and the native settlement of New Aiyansh, the capitol of the Nishga Nation. The clouds break apart enough for us to see huge snow-capped mountains, cascading waterfalls, and a view of the wide, fertile Nass Valley. We stop for a look at a large lava field and memorial park commemorating a volcanic eruption 250 years ago which buried two native villages.

The town of New Aiyansh is active and well-kept, with very impressive band government buildings and facilities. The natural surroundings are beautiful, and the residents are friendly and proud of their home town. We spend quite a bit of time in their tourist info building before starting the scenic drive back to Prince Rupert.

August 6-7 – Across Dixon Entrance, back into Canada

We had hoped to visit Misty Fjords before leaving Alaska, but the weather is forecast to change in a couple of days and strong winds are predicted. Right now the winds are light and the time is right to cross Dixon Entrance, so we leave Ketchikan at the crack of dawn and glide on smooth, quiet water, down the usually hectic Tongass Narrows toward the open sea. Spectacular snow-capped mountains and islands upon islands stretch across the horizon. In the far distance, we can see Dundas Island, our destination for the night.

Our crossing is very pleasant, motor-sailing on gentle seas for most of the way. For the last hour, the wind strengthens and we bounce around quite a bit. Just before we arrive at the anchorage, we see whales blowing.

We have a new toy, a small GPS attached to our laptop which shows our boat’s position on the worldmap electronic charts. We felt that $1200 was too much to spend on the chips to put electronic charts on our main GPS for this one-time trip, and we do have a complete set of paper charts from which Cliff transfers waypoints to the GPS. But now we have an electronic chartplotter for anywhere in the world!! We set up the computer, zoom in on Brundage Harbour, Dundas Island, and find our way into a beautiful anchorage protected from wind of any direction. We have been in radio contact with Tangleberry, who are coming from a different direction, and soon they arrive in the same anchorage. They row over for a game of Hearts and Shirley wins AGAIN! We are thankful for our screened-in cockpit, but the pesky blackflies are tiny and we have a few bites to show for our visit to Brundage Harbour.

We have a very still day for the second day of the crossing, complicated only by thick fog most of the way and an opening for commercial fishing which increases traffic over and above the many recreational fishermen taking advantage of the calm water. Having radar is very reassuring, however, and the fog lifts by the time we are in our final approach to Prince Rupert.

As on our way north, the Yacht Club Marina is fully booked, so we go back to Rushbrook and are lucky to find a place at the dock. Fortunately wind and current are in the right direction, and Cliff does a masterful job of parallel parking between two fishing vessels. Grahame rafts up alongside, and we check in with Canada Customs. The Alaskan adventure is over, and we are back in Beautiful British Columbia. However, we still have many miles to travel until we see our home slip in Deep Cove, Vancouver.

August 4-5 -- Ketchikan in the Sunshine

Beautiful weather again as we motorsail down from Meyers Chuck to Ketchikan. We make great time with the wind and tide boost, and can’t resist the urge to stop for an hour or so of fishing when we see lots of boats just outside the entrance to Tongass Narrows. We’ll find some room somewhere in the fridge for more fish! Sure enough, in a short time we have one smallish Pink, and then one BIG (15 lb.) Coho!

We motor the rest of the way to Ketchikan through a building northwest breeze, opposing tide, and large standing waves, making an exciting entrance when combined with dodging harbour traffic and seaplanes landing or taking off every two minutes. We tuck around the stern of a cruise ship and blow into Thomas Basin Marina, thankful to see our Washington friends waiting to grab our lines as we land in the berth past the one assigned to us!

Tangleberry has arrived here a day ahead of us, so we reconnect with Grahame and Shirley and have salmon barbecue and belated birthday cake together.

We want another day in Ketchikan, which is much more attractive in the sunshine than it was when we were here on the way north. We have a good time shopping and walking around the busy cruise ship area, and then take a tram ride up the mountainside for a lovely view and a walk through the city park. We return on a path down Married Men’s Trail, the route that bypasses Creek Street, which was lined with brothels until they were outlawed in 1954.

While on our walk, we meet a delightful couple from Seattle, and strike up a conversation which continues at full tilt through the walk, back to the boat, and for another hour or so. We hope they will keep in touch, as we gave them our card but forgot to get one from them.

August 2 – The Bears of Anan

Having been turned away from the Anan Bear Observatory on our way north, we have learned the hard way that a permit is required to enter this area. A phone call early three days before nets us the required admission, and we are looking forward to a great day. We leave Berg Bay early and motor eighteen miles to Anan, where we anchor bow and stern in shallow water on the mud flat. We motor ashore and pull the dinghy high up on the beach to allow for incoming tide. The sun is shining and we have a beautiful day.

Hundreds of eagles sit on the beach watching the spawning salmon enter the mouth of Anan Creek. They must already have had their fill, as not many are flying around or diving for fish at the moment.

We check in with the park ranger, a pretty young woman, who gives us the standard warnings about bears, then we walk along a boardwalk trail along the creek, through beautiful thick forest, stepping over and around bear scat. After half a mile, we reach the observation tower and bear blind, where we are close to the place where the bears are catching salmon in the rushing river. One has to feel sorry for the salmon, having struggled and fought their way this far upstream, only to be snatched out of the water by a greedy bear who takes one or two bites and then goes for another fish. After a couple of hours watching the fish fight their way up the waterfalls and the bears grab all they want, we walk back downstream and see seals and eagles also enjoying the bounty of the sea.

Now we can see the gorgeous scenery that was obscured by clouds and rain on the way north, and we have a beautiful trip to Meyers Chuck, where we find a place at the dock and enjoy a very sociable time with other boaters and residents of “the Chuck”. The sunshine makes such a difference and Meyers Chuck is bustling with the activites of summer cottagers and local fishermen. We walk along the trail connecting the properties, stopping to chat with the friendly folk who are fortunate enough to have homes in this beautiful spot.

Most cruisers are now heading south, and we meet several Washington boats whom we will no doubt see again along the way. The fishing is very good just outside the bay, and there is great excitement as cruisers come back from short excursions in their dinghies to show off their catch. One couple, Jay and Benita on Moon Angel, have too much fish for their freezer and are canning the extra. This couple is from St. Marks, Florida, and are good friends of Steve and Gail Tribble (“Misty Bleu”), who were our cruising buddies in Venezuela and we visited in St. Marks.

We stay in Meyers Chuck for another day, expecting to see Shirley and Grahame, but they don’t show up, so we have a quiet day reading and relaxing. The weather has turned cool again.

August 1 – Happy Birthday, Cliff

As we are preparing to leave the dock in Wrangell, a young fishboat crewman brings us a beautiful sockeye salmon. Now we have salmon and halibut in the refrigerator, have done laundry and grocery shopping, filled diesel, gasoline, propane and water tanks, and are ready to go. The weather is cloudy, mild, and DRY as we retrace our path to Berg Bay.

Except for the bugs, we are alone in the anchorage at Berg Bay. Using the salmon head for bait, we set out the crab trap, and a couple of hours later we bring in a beautiful big Dungeness and about twenty baby flounders. The flounders are returned to the sea; the crab goes into the pot.

We celebrate Cliff’s birthday with a delicious dinner: crab legs, barbequed salmon, fried potatoes, peas and squash. No birthday cake, though.

July 29 - 30 – Starting South

We arrive back at the boat in the pouring rain, but things are fairly dry inside and the propane fireplace quickly warms us up.

In the morning we are happy to see our friends Grahame and Shirley on Tangleberry pulling into the slip beside us. It is good to see them again, having been on our own since Prince Rupert, almost a month ago. Grahame’s sister, her husband, and teen-age granddaughter have been with them for a couple of weeks and are catching the ferry here to return to their vehicle in Prince Rupert. We join them all for their last dinner together at a restaurant on the waterfront.

Finally, in the morning, we say goodbye to Tangleberry and their guests, and we leave Petersburg, starting the long trip home. G&S will go north for another day, hoping to see whales and icebergs, then will probably catch up to us in a few days.

We motor south through Wrangell Narrows in pleasant weather, and have a choppy trip into Wrangell Harbour. Our jib furler is acting up – one more job for Cliff to do tomorrow in Wrangell while Orma spends time at the cleanest laundromat north of Port McNeill.

After a delicious dinner of Oven Baked Sesame Halibut with Cranberry Salsa (ask us for the recipe) we have a game of crib and Orma writes the blog while Cliff tries to finish his Michener book.

July 27 – 28 – From Juneau to Petersburg, via Sitka, by Ferry

The return voyage to Petersburg takes 24 hours, thanks to a side trip to Sitka, a small town out on the Pacific coast. If the big cruise ships do visit Sitka they have to travel outside in the open seas, but the ferry takes the same route as small vessels through Peril Strait and the turbulent Sergius Narrows. Cliff, who is reading Michener’s “Alaska”, is especially interested in visiting Sitka, the nineteenth-century Russian capitol. Since the ferry waits in Sitka for four hours to ensure transiting the narrows at slack tide, it is possible to go ashore and visit the town. The only problem is that, today, this wait occurs between 3 and 7 in the morning and Orma decides she would rather stay in bed in the comfy cabin we have secured for this trip.

Cliff joins another enthusiastic fellow and they explore the streets and alleys as dawn comes up over the dormant volcanoes and island-studded harbour surrounding this very attractive town of 2,000 inhabitants. Since the original colonial outpost was constructed of wood, very little in the way of buildings remains, but the main sites are reserved as parks and a small orthodox church still dominates the main street.

A naturalist placed on the ferry by the Tongass National Forest provides commentary about the flora, fauna, and geology of the area. As well as local residents, the clientele on the ferry is made up of adventurous individuals backpacking through Alaska, folks with campers or motorhomes driving on and off at villages along the way, seniors on bus tours, and teenagers from Chicago on a 46-day bus, hiking and camping trip. The fellow Cliff walked around Sitka with was the still-smiling, very special bus driver for the teens.

We are sorry when this interesting vacation from a vacation comes to an end, but are still pleased to get back to our home away from home.