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.