June 20, 2021

Our final day of boating before reaching port was just under 6 hours, thankfully! We were all ready at this point to get our sea legs on land again! We arrived to Ketchikan, AK, and we stopped for fuel for the first time after Roche Harbor filling up with 426 gallons (still had about ~170 gallons in the reserves). Maddie, our fuel dock helper, was super nice and gave us some tips for restaurants and sites, saying to check out the town as the local businesses are hurting without the regular seasonal cruise ships that are still on hold until late July. We docked around 1 pm and after securing boats, we headed to town for lunch at Ketchikan Crab & Grille enjoying a meal we didn’t have to cook. Oddly, the restaurant hails from Florida!

After lunch, we checked out town walking by some live music on the dock and popping into a few stores on the way. Store options were a little limited as many are closed on Sundays &/or Mondays here. There was surprise cruise ship, the American Constellation, that also came into port. It was a smaller cruise vessel as the current limit is 250 passengers. We also saw a National Geographic cruise ship that looked like it was awaiting passengers to arrive.

We also stocked up on provisions walking a mile to Safeway though we took the Sourdough cab back as we’d loaded up a bit too much to carry back!

June 21, 2021

Started off the day with Jellyfish Donuts provided by Christian & Liz. YUM! They made the donuts to order for toppings.

Today was laid back with some more ambling around town and general hijinks. 😉

We did happy hour/early dinner at the 108 Burger joint, which had tasty fried cheese curds for these native Midwesterners along with three aioli options (Erika would be jealous).

June 22, 2021

We checked out Creek Street, which is built up primarily on stilts along a salmon run, the Ketchikan Creek. There are establishments that used to be brothels and such but now converted to shops featuring local Alaskan artists, except one that’s Dolly’s museum for a well-known lady of the era. We saw some wildlife too – a seal and cat.

June 23, 2021

Went for run and played Clank. Reprovisioned for the weekend.

Voyage Info:

June 19, 2021

We left Kumealon Inlet and exited Grenville Channel to take on the last leg of Canada and enter back into the U.S. and Alaska. We bypassed Canadian port Prince Rupert and crossed the last of the open waters with the ocean to our left/port side. Most of the day was pretty calm and easy going though the last couple hours on the open seas were progressively more rocky with bigger swells. We made it through and reached Foggy Bay, the first anchorage spot in Alaska after checking in with U.S. customs by phone (they let us all back in!). We were greeted with our first bear sighting, a black bear on the shoreline in front of us!

The crew were all tired after a nearly 11-hour boating day yet we still had to secure anchorage. Christian volunteered to help Coda anchor and stern tie to shore. He kayaked the stern line to shore (not near the bear sighting) to tie to a tree and then we rafted off of Coda. Only a minor injury slipping on the precarious and slippery rocks.

Once secured, a dinghy ride followed to greet No Regrets, a boat also moored in Foggy Bay that had been shadowing us along our route ever since the Strait of Juan de Fuca in WA.

Voyage Info:

June 18, 2021

Today we started out from Kutze Inlet and headed towards Grenville Channel. The nickname is The Ditch because it is 45 straight miles of the same thing. We planned on arriving to the beginning of the channel around noon so we could have lunch and wait for the current change. However, when we arrived we had a favorable 2 knot current so we just kept cruising. The current change that was supposed to be in our favor was not all that helpful and we slowed a bit mid afternoon.

At about three-quarters of the way up Grenville Channel, we stopped at Kumealon Inlet for the night. Another beautiful anchorage!

Voyage Info:

June 17, 2021

This could also be titled “Waterfall Day” as we encountered many today. Tonia was napping when we came up to the first one and almost missed it. Christian, Liz and I were up by the helm when we heard Tonia exclaim. “What! You weren’t going to wake me up for the first waterfall!” Luckily she was up in time to see it and many others that followed.

The day was overcast and raining most of it so the pictures have a mostly gray filter.

We spent the night in Kutze Inlet by a waterfall. But not “the” waterfall as we didn’t go all the way to the back of the inlet.

Voyage Info:

June 16, 2021

The great news is the ocean crossing was uneventful! It was a very long day and most of the photos are from long distances.

We traveled across the Queen Charlotte Strait, around Cape Caution, and ended the day just north of Bella Bella in Cavin Cove. The odometer said we traveled 99.5 miles and we clocked in just shy of 12 hours. The waves were a little rolly polly during the crossing but thankfully didn’t have any possessions thrown about. Overall, a great, but long, day.

Voyage Info:

6/15/2021

Got up and had the morning coffee at Barista Steve’s. We departed around 8:30 am so we could get the favorable current in Johnstone Straits.

On the way out we had a great photo op of a bald eagle on the shore. Christian also had the drone out and got some great shots.

As we approached the end of Johnstone Straits, Coda called on the radio and said some humpback whales where on the port side ahead.  They were really active, and we got a great show. 

After the show we continued up to just south of Port Hardy for the night.  We stayed in Patrician Cove and an eagle and deer were on the shore providing us some great scenery. 

Voyage Info:

June 14, 2021

We made it out at 3:30 am as planned. Apart from 30 minutes of the trip, the weather window was perfect and the Strait of Georgia was smooth sailing.

A lunch stop was made just outside of Seymour Narrows, so we didn’t hit it at full flood tide. Plus, we had been cruising for 8 hours by then. Lunch was chili with fixings and cornbread along with homemade apple lemon rhubarb crumble and apple, ginger, pecan crumble for dessert. We were stuffed!

We departed the lunch anchorage around 1:30 pm and went thru the narrows. It was great timing as a pod of Orcas were going thru in the opposite direction. Great photo opportunity!

At lunch we decided that we already had a long day and the tide in Johnstone Straits would be against us all afternoon, so we stopped about 45 minutes later in Small Inlet inside Kanish Bay (pic at top of post). It was warm and made for a great resting place. The wind did pick up as we expected but calmed down by mid evening.

A great 13-hour cruising day! It allowed for some good drone flight testing.

Voyage Info:

June 13, 2021

We were all up early after a good night’s sleep. Did wake up now and then overnight to check the anchor and listen to the storm passing. It started up at 3 am just as the advisory predicted. The winds were out of the southeast and the anchorage was great for that direction, so we were well protected.

The weather map said there might be a window in the morning, so we decided to start getting ready. We grabbed a quick coffee from the master Steve and started out. As we entered the Strait of Georgia the waves started, and we decided to call it after about 20 mins. Had a few items shift but not quite the severity that we saw on Friday.

As we anchored the water system decided that one of the fittings needed to go and it sprung a leak. It’s the old school plastic water pipes so not a total shock but not something we expected. It did manage to empty most of the fresh-water tank into the bilge. Looks like we’re going to get a good test on the water maker now.

The rest of the plan today is rest so we can get up early. The weather is supposed to be calm between 3:30 to 11 am so we want to get up past the strait and into more protected waters.

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