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.