KETCHIKAN TO PRINCE RUPERT (DIXON ENTRANCE CROSSING)

Saturday, July 18^th

One of the dreaded or more stressful days of boating is when we have to do an open water crossing, and today it was Dixon Entrance which is exposed to the Gulf of Alaska. We’d been watching the weather for the past week with apprehension because it just wasn’t looking great for the crossing. The challenge is that you get the swells on the beam (from the side), coupled with whatever wind and tidal action you get for the day, so you just never know until you are out there. Winds were predicted out of the NW and they instead were coming from the SE today so that threw us for a loop, actually it seems par for the course – the conditions are never as forecasted! We set the alarm for 3:45AM – yes – ugh, with the intent of pulling off the dock at 4:00AM, but there was not enough light yet to safely travel, so we had to wait until 4:30AM (insert fingers drumming). Leaving Ketchikan you enter the Tongass Narrows which in our experience is a wind tunnel, and sure enough we had chop right away. We got further out into the journey and it would be smooth one minute then big swells and confused water the next. Confused meaning it is coming from all directions. Just when I was worried it was getting too sporty to continue, it would all of a sudden go flat for awhile. 10 minutes later….all worked up again. And that pattern continued the entire day, which was 10 hours of run time. So it was somewhat of a sloppy crossing but it was tolerable, and never escalated to where we had to bail, thankfully, so it’s great to have that “GATE” behind us. We arrived to no rain or wind in Prince Rupert – what?? It’s always raining and windy here!! As we were docking and securing our lines we heard a giant explosion and saw a puff of smoke onshore behind some buildings and wondered what happened? We quickly found out that a transformer had blown which shut power down on the dock even before we could plug in. Not a big deal, we have a huge battery capacity, and the power was back on later that evening. We later learned it was an unfortunate Raven that landed on the wire and then must have touched something up there that wasn’t grounded – instead it was roasted bird. Or more like exploding bird. And here I thought they were so smart. After a hike to the grocery store for all the produce that we couldn’t bring across the border, we had dinner at the Pub and an early night to bed, I think it was only 7:30 when we shut our eyes – really it was 6:30 Alaska time – which we’ve been on since June 1^st – but now we are back on Seattle time. We've had a wonderful 6 weeks in Alaska and it's hard to believe how fast it has flown!

Good morning Ketchikan! Wee hours....getting off the dock. I am in the whaler about to motor over and get hooked up for towing.

Goodbye beautiful Ketchikan, beautiful Alaska, it's been a great 6 weeks!

Another pretty fishing boat with Coast Guard facility in background

Our trip video for the day

KETCHIKAN AT THE DOCK

Friday, July 17th

Another stellar day in Ketchikan! Warm and sunny! The Bryans left this morning to reposition down to Foggy Bay so they would have a shorter crossing tomorrow. The three amigos, John, Greg, and myself ventured out in the morning to the hatchery at -4.0 tide for one more attempt to see bears – score – ZERO. It was crawling with cruise ship tourists this morning and no bears to be seen so we got outta there quickly. John decided he wanted to wash the boat while he had unlimited water available, so Greg and I went back to the grocery store so he could provision up, and I picked up a few more items after researching what produce I was actually allowed to take into Canada. Later that afternoon, John had plans to go uptown for some errands, so Greg and I decided to go on a hike at Ward Cove Lake, which was a beautiful trail! Returned the rental car, got cleaned up, then it was time for cocktails on the back of the boat before heading to an early dinner at the Bush Pilot Lounge again, early because we had to get to the airport by 7:30 to pick up Connie. Dinner was fantastic! Greg had Halibut encrusted with cashews, I had blackened Sockeye Salmon with a cilantro cream sauce that was spicy, and John had a beautifully roasted  slab of Prime Rib. Our server Louise, who was Swedish, was delightful and engaging rounding out our perfect dinner experience. After that we walked back to the boat and started motoring up to the airport dock just as Connie’s plane landed! We scooped her up and had a nice ride back down the channel -- without wind for once! Early to bed because tomorrow is a daybreak departure, at first light.

Scenes from our walk around Ward Cove Lake

Just one of the pictures hanging on the wall at Bush Pilot Lounge, reminds me of our friends' plane, Len and Steph!

Skipper and Gilligan on the way to the airport to pickup Connie

Just one of the many cool fishing vessels in Ketchikan

Here's a video route we took from our moorage to pickup Connie at the airport. How many airports have a DOCK?!! So efficient. 

KETCHIKAN AT THE DOCK

Thursday, July 16th

Last night we ended up having a late snack and drink at the Bush Pilot Lounge, a cute little restaurant a couple blocks away. We ended up having a late lunch so weren’t super hungry but wanted to get off the boat. Our bartender was SO FUNNY and so fun to talk to, her name was Sam and she had been living in Ketchikan for 10 years. She was a public defender for 6 years before deciding that she wasn’t cut out for that so now bartends and plays outside as much as possible. As we were sitting at the bar looking out at an Eagle perched nearby, we were debating whether it was a male or female. Sam tuned into that and said “Nope that’s a male and his name is Jack, as in Jack Ass.” She proceeded to tell us that Jack and his mate were performing a mating ritual, which entails dramatic aerobatics that include locking talons and spiraling towards earth, releasing before they hit the ground. Well apparently “Jack” didn’t release his mate “Crash”, as she was thereafter known, she crashed into the ground and broke a wing and was subsequently shipped off to the Raptor Center in Sitka for rehab. She was rehabbed and released in Sitka, and they are not sure if she will find her way back to Juneau. So, Jack sits on the piling right outside the restaurant day after day, perhaps waiting for Crash to find her way back. Sam felt he was a bad Eagle for not releasing Crash in time, thus his moniker.

This morning we took the boat out to the fuel dock to refuel, Greg joined us which made it super efficient. The fuel dock offered two hoses so we could fill both sides at a time and not have to wait for the crossover to level out the sides. I was in charge of watching the fuel gauges below. We were fueled up and back in our moorage by 10:30AM. Today I threw caution to the wind and booked a hair appointment at a local salon. She did a great job and it was cheaper than I pay at home, so it was a winner! Afterwards I stocked up on shelf stable groceries for the next 6 weeks of travel, which entails hosting a couple groups of our kids and lots of time on anchor, which means I will be cooking a lot! The five of us went to an early dinner at New York Café which was excellent! The weather continues to be warm so we were in short sleeved shirts and basking in warm sunshine well into the evening.

Dolly's House, the original brothel from Gold Rush days

Sharing the channel with a giant cruise ship on its way into port

Ketchikan was so colorful today, just some hillside homes

Ketchikan waterfront

SNUG ANCHORAGE TO KETCHIKAN

Wednesday, July 15^th

Today we were able to enjoy a more tolerable departure time of 7AM as conditions in Clarence are predicted to be favorable all morning. As you may recall, we had a lot of swing time on the anchor the past two days with gusts clocking over 20mph in Snug Anchorage. When John pulled up the anchor today, an impossibly large scoop of mud was securely embedded into the plow and it took a good 10 minutes to offload! Once that was accomplished, we were on our way. Clarence started out with just ripples of wind on the surface but continued to build over the morning into blowing 20mph from the northwest, which was good for us because it’s behind us. We had following seas most of the way, even with the tide change which was opposing a couple of hours into our journey, creating some stacked up waves. Then all of a sudden the last hour, the wind just died off. One never knows what is actually going to happen out here. Once again, we were fortunate to be going south as it would otherwise have been a sloppy trip. We arrived in Ketchikan and attempted to go straight to the fuel dock because fuel is $1 cheaper here than in Canada, and when you have to onboard 1000+ gallons, that’s real money. Nope – no room at the fuel dock so we’ll have to do it tomorrow. We arrived at Ketchikan Moorage, a small private facility we always patronize, and all settled into our dockage. There was big drama and scuttle on the dock – apparently the night before, or more accurately at 3AM this morning, a fishing vessel aptly named "Predator" rammed into the yacht moored next to us, nearly killing the two crew members sleeping in their forward bunks, and tearing an enormous hole in the fiberglass hull. They think the fisherman fell asleep at the wheel. To make matters worse, after punching a hole into the yacht the fisherman engaged in reverse to try and extract his bow from the yacht’s bow and ended up dragging the yacht right off the dock, snapping all the lines in the process. Now that is a LOT of pressure applied to shear off probably 4 to 5 thick braided lines. From there we were told they had to load 600 pounds of sand onto the fisherman's bow in order to lower his bow enough so it could be extracted from the yacht. The dock was also damaged and they weren’t sure to what extent, but the owner was down there, the coast guard were on site, it was a big event. The unfortunate folks that owned the yacht will have their vacation cut short, they weren’t on the boat at the time but were coming back up to continue their trip. Only the two crew were onboard when this happened. That will be a big insurance claim! Thank God nobody was hurt. We then walked up town to do some quick perusing because Connie only has a few hours today to shop as she is leaving today to fly home for a couple days. The rest of us get to hang out in Ketchikan, dine out, catch up on sleep, reprovision, and get some walks in!

HUGE scoop of Mud - but what great holding in this bay

Huntress headed into our moorage, I was in the whaler trailing behind, John had folks to catch the lines for him

Alaska State Ferry

The fishing boat had dragged the yacht right off the dock, snapping all the lines.

Still attached

The resulting hole in the hull

Lots of Seaplane Traffic here in Ketchikan

A Map of Our Journey Today

SNUG ANCHORAGE AT ANCHOR

Tuesday, July 14^th

Another beautiful morning! Wow, the weather has truly turned into summer….FINALLY! After our coffee infusion, John went out with me to check pots around 8AM – and the score is….CRAB – Zero, although we did catch some spider crab and a really pretty starfish, and PRAWNS – 100!! And nice ones! So happy to finally have some success, just when I was thinking the otters had eaten everything. We rebaited the Prawn traps and put them back down, and moved the Crab traps to a completely new location, but I don’t have much hope – it’s pretty rocky around here. I spent the rest of the morning cooking the Prawn haul and peeling them for our dinner tonight. Bill and Lorraine went and checked their pots later in the morning and caught a nice haul of large prawns and a rather large octopus which they let go, since it had eaten all the prawns that were in the trap. Greg and Connie went and checked their crab pots later in the morning, and they too were skunked on crab. The wind was once again whipping through our bay, and all of us are on one anchor….ours. With each gust swinging the flotilla around, the lines would squeak as they became taut and the anchor chain clanked as it came tight. As it was still warm even with the wind, I decided to take my kayak out for a paddle around the bay which was absolutely delightful. Next up - time to go check the second trap sets! CRAB – ZERO. PRAWNS – another 75-80? I didn’t count but I am quite pleased with the results. I was able to feed everyone chilled prawns and cocktail sauce for Happy Hour, and also stash away a nice haul for my freezer. Speaking of Happy Hour, another spontaneous happy hour on our back deck, basking in the evening sun once again – absolutely glorious, we are all Vitamin D deprived and drinking it up! 

PRAWNS!!

No bears on the beach but deer visited us each morning

Another Pristine Morning at Anchor, Snug Anchorage

The Gulls were also plentiful and feeding at low tide

Just love the reflections!

POINT BAKER TO SNUG ANCHORAGE (Near Thorne Bay)

Monday, July 13^th

Almost hit a whale today, or should I say it nearly hit us. But I am getting ahead of my story for today. We set the alarm for 3:45 this morning because I NEED my coffee infusion before facing the long running day.  Pulled out at 4:30 along with UnforgetAbell, and left Far Niente at the dock as they chose to sleep in and travel later. The sun was just beginning to show over the hills of Wrangell Island far in the distance, and the waters were as smooth as predicted. We were trying to get to a narrow spot in our voyage called Snow Passage, for slack current but ended up being a little late and found ourselves in some swirls and whirlpools, but nothing serious at all, just a little. Before we got to Snow Passage however, we spotted a humpback in the distance, actually many whales around us in the distance but this one was to our starboard and probably ½ mile away, not close at all. I was driving and watching the whale spout and surf as one never tires of that sight. Then I saw him go down, full tail, and not resurface. Even though he was ½ mile away I was on full alert because they truly can come up anywhere and sure enough…about 5-10 minutes later, all of a sudden right in front of our boat slightly to starboard and probably 30’ away, the whale surfaces! I screamed an expletive and yanked the throttles back into neutral while John came bolting out of his chair to see what was wrong thinking it was a log. I was able to snap off a photo of his next resurfacing as he crossed our bow. Obviously we can’t stop on a dime so I prayed that we wouldn’t make contact with him as we glided over the very spot he went down. Thankfully we were collision free, but adrenaline filled!! The rest of our journey was uneventful, we had following seas that continued to build throughout the morning but we enjoyed a smooth ride into Snug Anchorage on Prince of Wales Island. On the way into the small harbor we noticed a string of prawn pots laid out and got excited about the prospect of actually catching some prawns! We anchored at the head of the bay which looked ripe for bear viewing (none), lots of sedge grass on the shoreline and some sandy beaches. Greg and John took off and went out fishing to find the elusive salmon, which should have been out there – the commercial fishermen were actively fishing all over the place on our way down. A couple hours later Far Niente pulled in and easily secured alongside us, everyone tucked in together. The boys came back skunked yet again, John saying he was “done with fishing in Alaska, I’ll wait for River’s Inlet”. Connie had banged up her knee pretty badly this morning with her cockpit door slamming onto the same knee she had already banged up earlier in the trip, so she was resting and icing her knee in the pilot house. John was busy with boat projects, so Greg and I took our collective 4 crab traps and my 2 prawn traps (along with an adult beverage) and went to go set them all out to see if we could get any shellfish. The sun was out and even with the wind which was a little sporty, we were quite warm as we slow cruised back to the flotilla sipping our beverages and getting a start on Happy Hour. The warm temps justified opening up the cockpit seating so we removed the canvas covers and sat outside on the couch and chairs and had an impromptu happy hour with the group, soaking up the sun for the first time in a long time! Dinner was tenderloins on the grill, baby reds, and some roasted brussels with bacon and shallots, drizzled with balsamic glaze….just so darn good.

Anchored in Snug Anchorage, beautiful day!

Whale! Stop the engines!

Right across our path!

UnforgetAbell leaving Point Baker at 4:30AM this morning!

Our drive today from Point Baker to Snug Anchorage

POINT BAKER ON THE DOCK

Sunday, July 12^th

Buoyed by their recent success fishing, John and Greg left at 5AM this morning to try it again! I had been awake since 3AM so was thankful that I fell back asleep after he left until 8:30AM. I had a quiet morning sorting and culling the nearly 100 pictures I took yesterday, while in tandem whipping out 3 loaves of banana bread. I had 6 large overripe bananas hanging around and it was time to do something about it! It is sunny today but the wind whipped up unfortunately, so it’s a bit chill outside. Our pilothouse is like a greenhouse however so it’s toasty in here without need for any diesel heat. Did some housecleaning and vacuuming, dried my laundry that I washed while underway yesterday. I only wash clothes or run the dishwasher when out in open waters where it can flush, never in a cove or bay or at the dock as its just not good form, nor considerate boater etiquette. You don’t dump your gray water into a small pristine cove and choke the marine life, and marinas definitely do not want you dumping your gray water into their marina and in some cases will fine you. I also only use eco friendly detergents without phosphates to minimize our footprint. Enough of my “soap box”.  Anyway, finally got caught up on yesterday’s blog and photo editing. The boys came back skunked again except for the plethora of rockfish they caught and released, just no salmon. Later in the afternoon, John and I ventured out to go check out Port Protection, about a 15 minute ride around the corner - once we made it out of the shallow rocky tidelands west of the dock. The wind was still sporty on our journey, but the sun was beaming down unobstructed by clouds making for a very pleasant ride! Port Protection is exactly as we remembered it, the half sunk public dock that nobody in their right mind would tie to, the gas dock and store (closed because it’s Sunday), and all the weathered but charming cottages and homes along the shoreline. There appeared to be a really nice new building on shore with a very expensive ramp and dock, so there is some new life there. Again, so impressive what these folks do to exist and thrive in this environment. Dinner tonight was a group appetizer party with everyone bringing their A Game, Connie made some delicious salmon dip from yesterday’s leftover fresh salmon dinner, Lorraine made an impressive charcuterie board worthy of Instagram, I did a repeat performance of the PF Chang Lettuce wraps because they are just so damn good. Early to bed for us because tomorrow we are choosing to leave at 4:30 to get out in front of any potential wave action. We have a long run of 70 miles, 40 of which is down Clarence Strait and you may recall Clarence kicked our butts coming out of Ketchikan in early June!

Couple of Herons in the tree, so beautiful against the blue skies

One of the charming shoreline homes in Port Protection

Another very active home in Port Protection, everything but the kitchen sink...wait, I spy a sink

The Fuel Dock and Store above, Port Protection

The Public Dock in Port Protection, needs some gardening

Entering Port Protection, just a view of the harbor

The Narrow rocky channel back to the harbor at Point Baker

The flotilla docked at Point Baker

Our Dinghy Ride to Port Protection today

HAMILTON BAY (KAKE) TO POINT BAKER through ROCKY PASS

Saturday, July 11^th

I woke up at 5:15 this morning, all slept out and feeling rested. When I came upstairs it was a complete white-out, fog to the water, couldn’t see past the front of the boat. I was fearful this would delay our trip through Rocky Pass today which would be disappointing, but alas….by 7AM it was clear up to 500’ so the visibility over the water was crystal clear. Soon by 9:30, the fog dissipated, patches of blue sky appeared, the winds calmed, and the water was glass…perfect conditions for this travel day. We pulled anchor at 7:30 and were on our way for our exciting passage through Rocky Pass. As mentioned previously, Rocky Pass is rock strewn and has about 40+ navigational turns one must make to transit, sometimes at sharp angles! You can see from some of the pictures in this post, that each boat was in a different position most of the time as these turns were made. The conditions remained stellar throughout the morning, the sun streaming into the pilothouse, warm breezes when one stepped outside, glassy serene water….it was possibly our best weather day yet. Rockpiles were everywhere, along with eagles, herons, sea otters (bam), and some seriously shallow waters. I think the lowest we saw was 11’ under the boat! One can only go this route during high tide. We broke out on the other side into Sumner Strait which was also calm as we crossed to reach our destination of Point Baker, near Port Protection. Some of you may be familiar with the reality TV show “Port Protection” and this is where it is filmed along with actual Port Protection, which is just around the corner from here. Our guide books said there was a pub, café, and small grocery store here which are now closed, along with 400’ of public dock space managed by the State of Alaska. Point Baker is a darling inlet dotted with homes on stilts on the shoreline, some of which appear to be abandoned and derelict, and others clearly occupied and cared for. We motored back to the inside to find the public dock and luckily enough space for all of us! Or so we thought….we quickly learned that the space open at the very end of the dock has a rock hazard nearby so the locals suggested we raft up one of the boats, so UnforgetAbell tied alongside Far Niente who was on the dock, and Huntress was also on the dock. The locals living here couldn’t have been more welcoming and helpful. We soon met “Dave” a commercial fisherman living on his boat tied to the dock, who helped us with lines on the two boats. Wandering the docks later I met “Elmer” who lives on his boat also on the dock, a very salty old guy who was quite chatty. Elmer and I had a long discussion about our mutual dislike of sea otters and how they are ruining the shellfish population and apparently the octopus population as well. He said he used to harvest a couple of octopuses every week out of the bay here and now there are none, thanks to the otters – same of course with prawns, clams, and crab. GONE. I know I get preachy on the subject but it just blows my mind that the state decided in the 70s and 80s that otters needed to be reintroduced into this ecosystem, now they are overpopulated and killing everything in their path, and the state continues to protect them yet not protect any of the other populations – it’s all out of balance once again. They are the lawnmowers of the ocean floor. I sure hope Washington State is more proactive, now that they have infiltrated the San Juans. Anyway, we then met Sam Carlson, one of the stars of Port Protection TV show, along with the new owner of the facilities here (can’t remember his name), who has plans to reopen the bar, café, and store. While we were standing there, those two had a spirited discussion about how the State of Alaska wants all the remote communities to fold, thus they make it super difficult for anyone to have an onshore business such as providing fuel, or a bar/café. Sam has lived here for 30+ years, raised his family here. I find all these super remote communities fascinating, both from the perspective of how they exist and provide for themselves, and also what makes them desire this level of remoteness. The gentleman that bought the place and is fixing it up is actually from California. He has been here many times at the various fishing lodges and decided he wanted to start his own lodge. He is fixing up the buildings on land for a small lodge or Bed and Breakfast, and plans to reopen the rest of the facilities soon. OH, and the eagles!! I sat out back and watched them for about an hour this afternoon! There were a couple of mature eagles and a juvenile or two landing on the beach nearby, then flying to the trees, then flying across the bay to other trees, and rinse/repeat. All the while chattering away to one another! So fun. Late afternoon we went for a delightful cocktail cruise in the whaler to explore the inner inlet and back channel over towards Port Protection, many more homes tucked away back there. Dinner was hosted by the Abells where they treated us to Greg’s fresh caught salmon, roasted potatoes, and Caesar salad, topped off with brownie ice cream sundaes for dessert. YUM!

Just one of many hairpin turns

Eagle atop one of our markers

Another sharp turn to port, then sharp turn to starboard turn, flotilla behind us

Rockpiles

This rock we passed was a Heron colony, scads of them!

Super narrow passages in Rocky Pass

Juvenile Eagle about to take flight

Elmer's Boat

Sam Carlson's homestead

Cool house on little islet nearby

This house was featured on Port Protection, Season 8

Out for our cocktail cruise, and all the pictures below are from the cruise around the bays

Our trip today using my travel app, which doesn't show nearly enough detail of the hazards on this route! See below for actual navigational maps 

This is off a Navionics program showing the heart of Rocky Pass

This is how the heart of Rocky Pass looks on our Garmin, zoomed out. Each one of the asterisks in a circle is a charted rock, there are more than that.