07/07/2012, Ketchikan
On 30 Jun at 1700 we arrived in Ketchikan Alaska. It was a great sail from Foggy Bay with only light winds, but suitable for motor sailing. We are at Bar Harbor marina and it looks like we'll stay here for the summer. Our plan was to be back in Salcha Alaska to run the business (www.3dognighthostel.com) on or about 1 July. With all the weather delays and our late start we did not make it. The plan now is to leave the boat here in Ketchikan, fly back home, and then next season we'll continue our cruising from here. It is a great place to pick-up at. We will be close enough to British Columbia that we can return there for a while, or even revisit the San Juans. Ketchikan is the place of cruise ships. They had passed us a couple times on our cruising journey but now in Ketchikan we see them pretty much daily, sometimes several of them in the same day. Ketchikan is a hustling place, boats always coming and going. Big fishing boats, small fishing boats, inside passage cruisers like us, the big cruise liners, and the locals coming and going. The town's main avenue is along the waterfront so the traffic is constant. It is one of those towns that the main street gets wider and wider until the shops are almost in the road, walking on the sidewalk with the constant traffic whizzing by is a bit annoying. On the good side the public transportation is great and with only one main road very easy to figure out. We had a great time on the 4th of July. Ketchikan had a great parade and the local Safeway parking lot was turned into a 4th of July fair... games, food, and music. Fire works were downtown, to far for us to go at 11:00 pm. Picture is the local Tlingit Natives performing in the parade. We hope all our readers enjoyed the blog, we look forward to next season starting again in May 2013.
|
Comments [1]
07/02/2012, Back filling the blog from Ketchikan
26 June 2012 - Prince Rupert was a very nice stay. We spent 3 nights there waiting for weather to improve and make the crossing of Dixon Entrance and back into U.S. waters. We docked at the PRYC Marina which we would highly recommend. Very helpful and friendly staff, they will meet you at the slip to help you dock and will be happy to help you depart the docks, the current runs strong at times, the help was appreciated. They were also very knowledgeable of where thing were in town. Everything needed for boaters and travelers was in easy walking distance. There were lots of sidewalks and green ways along the waterfront, which is very nice for walking the poodles. PRYC is in Cow Bay, which purportedly got its name when the first dairy cows arrived in 1906. There were no docking facilities at which to unload so the cows were unceremoniously dumped overboard and swam to shore. The cow bay area has embraced the theme with the painting of dumpsters, trashcans, and even the Marine Fuel Depot tanks, a very attractive "Holstein spotted black and white".
29 June 2012
We departed Prince Rupert on 29 June, getting a late 11 am start waiting for the morning rain/fog to lift. Our Northern departure took us through Venn Passage, a zigzag, shallow water course, through green and red buoys, leading markers, and a constant eye on our boats imprint on the electronic charts. But the Venn Passage channel cuts off several miles of backtracking to exit Prince Rupert harbor. Late in the afternoon we made it to the edge of Dundas Island and the beginning of the Dixon entrance sea exposure. Our original plan was to anchor in Bainbridge inlet on Dundas Island and do the crossing in the early morning calm. But the seas so far had been fairly easy so we headed across. As we approached Lord Island Rocks the rolling seas changed from the boat hitting the swells quartering head-on, to them hitting us broadside. They got larger and the wind kicked in added a chop to them. Once again things got very uncomfortable, as the boat would slide sideways down the face of the swells. Hand steering and a zigzag course was required to make it manageable. But as the wind picked up we could also open the mainsail to steady us. Eventually the seas were to our rear quarter as we reached our destination of Foggy Bay, USA at 9pm. After a tricky narrow route, to get behind a little island, Foggy Bay was a beautiful well protected Anchorage. Photo is of Green Island Lighthouse, just before rounding Dundas Island and heading across the Dixon Entrance.
|
Glad to hear you are safe. I hear that is a tough crossing even in good weather.
So you must be almost home by the 4th of July.
Congratulations on a safe run from our home to your home!
Dick & Patty Thompson
06/28/2012, Butedale Falls
Picture is of Butedale falls. See Blog text for more info on Butedale's hydro power.
|
