Photo is from our couple of days in Glacier Bay (back in SE Alaska).

We're in BC, Canada and despite Dorothy's best efforts before leaving Seattle in July, and on the phone before and after entering Canada, our "air card" will not connect here. So I'm writing off-line, to be posted whenever we get the chance.

We did a long day running from Ketchikan AK to Prince Rupert BC and came into PR from the north via Venn Passage, which turns out to be a twisty, narrow, shallow route we would not want to take at night, or in poor vis or windy. We came through without incident, tried looking for space to tie-up. In great contrast to the outstanding assistance, finding docking space, we had at virtually every AK harbor we visited, PR was a different story. After wandering up and down the harbor, with no help and misinformation from PRYC, we tied up at the BC fisheries float (with the commercial boats) and called into Canadian Customs, who bent over backwards to be helpful (in getting us cleared into the country).

The following morning we found many more fish boats tied to the float, and a small cluster of crew who'd walked down to the dock to check out DE and take a break from their boats. Eventually we went to the southern end of PR harbor, to a set of floats shown in the cruising guides as taking commercial boats only, and were guided into a space by harbormaster Dwayne. As has been the case almost everywhere we've gone with DE in the past 3 years, some kind person has shown up, like magic, to help out. Dorothy, Anne and Craig went ashore, while Rusty and I stayed aboard and dealt with a couple of maintenance issues.

We've got thousands of paper charts aboard, for China, Taiwan Hong Kong, Philippines, V.Nam, Malaysia, Indonesia, PNG, Pacific Islands, Australia, NZ, Japan, AK, Hawaii and US West Coast, but not for British Columbia. Dorothy picked up a couple of chartbooks which are not great detail, but will do for our trip down to Seattle, along with the sailing directions and cruising guides we have aboard.

We watched a DVD of a recent movie - "Knowing" -- where in the end everyone dies; now that was uplifting... and the following morning continued to head south.

21 August we transited from Prince Rupert into the Grenville Channel to Klewnuggit Inlet Marine Park. Grenville is a long, relatively straight and narrow channel distinguished by dozens of remarkable waterfalls partially hidden by the trees. Klewnuggit turns out to be another magic place, similar to Red Bluff which really begs to be returned to when there's time to spend several days kayaking, hiking and exploring. Just behind the fringe of trees at the shoreline, it turns out there are several lakes in Klewnuggit. The tides here are 20+ feet, and anchoring requires attention.

Having dropped anchor early today, we had time for a double feature - "Australia" and "Damn Yankees". The reviews I'd seen of "Australia" were not complimentary; I liked it, although at one point it appeared everyone you cared about was going to knocked off... again. "Damn Yankees" is just as much fun to watch now as when I was a kid. We slept late, visited with a crusing boat neighbor ("Me Too") further up the inlet, then out again into Grenville headed south against the current... which was substantial enough to have us doing less than 3 knots at times.

Afternoon of 22 Aug, we dropped anchor in Lowe Inlet (off Grenville), then rowed the dinghy up to the outfall of a small waterfall where a smallish black bear was fishing. Against the current we weren't able to get awfully close, but did get some photos.

Morning of 23 Aug, we completed the run down Grenville Channel and headed for Princess Royal Channel. This morning we've been following the radio traffic regards a head/spine injury occurring on a fish boat close-by. It's instructive to see how rescue and medical emergencies are handled up here. Both in AK and BC most areas are covered (on Ch 16) by radio repeaters to their respective coast guards.

On board we've been reading a couple of books about WW II activity in the Pacific Northwest - "The Thousand-Mile War" by Garfield and "War On Our Doorstep" by Coyle. Between these and a book on Bering and Steller's 1742 (Russian) expedition to Alaska - "Where The Sea Breaks Its Back" by Ford, I've gained a great appreciation for the difficulties and significance of the route we took, and the history of the area. Summer of '92, I spent some weeks in Petropavlovsk (Kamchatka) and the Komandorski Islands (Bering I. - where Bering died and is buried and Medny I.) which are the end of the Aleutian Chain.

On a larger scale, living in SE Asia (Southern China, Hong Kong, Philippines) the past three years, and visiting many of the adjacent areas (Shanghai, Japan, Malaysia, Macau) has brought together bits of knowledge into a better understanding of the history and cultures of a really fascinating (although not always comfortable) part of the world.

"Janice of Wyoming", a super sailing yacht we first saw in Auke Harbor, Juneau passed us going down Princess Royal Channel. When we first saw "Janice" in AK, we thought she was huge until another super-super sailing yacht, purported to belong to Rupert Murdoch came in, dwarfing Janice...

24th Aug Into Bella-Bella in the rain. Essentially Hoonah-South, without the great harbor and the rough, comic charm of "The Office". Shearwater, two miles away from Bella-Bella, had no room, but is supposed to be more suited to cruisers. In contrast to the lack of assistance at some of the BC harbors we've visited, the fellow at the fuel dock in Bella Bella allowed us to stay moored there overnight, as there was no place else to go, and, he wouldn't accept any payment for it, either. There is still hope for BC, after all....

25th early start intending to make Penrose Marine Park, poised to cross Queen Charlotte Sound / Strait to Port Hardy, near the north end of Vancouver Island, but stiff winds in Fitz Hugh Sound sent us into Namu Harbor. Namu is one of those ghost towns of AK and BC, where there was once a mill and a cannery. Now there are falling down buildings, and a caretaker couple - Rene and Pete - who provide what amounts to a rest-stop for cruisers and trollers amongst the remnants of the past. I can't figure what it would be, but there must be a way to revive these places, in a way that provides jobs and homes. I'm sure I'm not the first person to ponder this... While at Namu, we visited with Larry & Laura off "Forever Friday", their American Tug. As with 99% of the cruisers we've run into, nice folks.

26th Aug, another 0600 start out of Namu and down Fitz Hugh, again intending Penrose, and maybe, depending upon weather and timing of the flood tide into Queen Charlotte Strait... maybe we'll give the crossing a shot. 1630hrs we did cross with a mid-day flood, and despite some wx forecasts which sounded discouraging, we had a very easy crossing. Wind more or less on our nose 10-15kts and a beam swell 2+ meters at times, but very long period, so not at all uncomfortable - didn't even put the fish down. Now heading along the east shore of Vancouver Island heading south to Port Hardy.

27th Aug, in Port Hardy, very pleasant. "Janice of Wyoming" (see above) is here too. We've got wifi on the boat; nice to be able to catch up. If we have it for awhile, I'll throw in several more photos.

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It's raining, although nothing like the SW monsoon we'd be experiencing if we were still in HK or PI this time of year. I spoke about the rain with a local fellow at the totem park here in Ketchikan this morning; he explained that it rains so much in Ketchikan that they measure it in feet rather than inches, and that they don't bother to count the days of rain per year, but rather the days without rain per year (40 last year). I don't know if all this was accurate, but it made for a good conversation.

We got into Ketchikan last evening; the harbor crew were very helpful, and put us into a slip strait in off the narrows, easy-peasy; even caught our lines for us. An entirely different situation to coming to the slip in Petersburg... but that's Craig Campbell's story to tell (or not) and I'm not going to steal his thunder... err maybe that should be splash! rather than thunder. We accidently timed our entry to the Tongass Narrows (the body of water where Ketchikan is located) well, in that 3 gigantic cruise ships came out of the Narrows just ahead of our entry. It would have been a bit tense meeting one of them in the tightest portions.

We may stay a couple of days, depends on the weather and what there is to see, then down to British Columbia, and continuing south towards Seattle.

Photo is from the boat harbor at Wrangell...

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15 August, Saturday, Santa Anna Inlet 55º 59.166'N, 131º 37.015'W (off Seward Passage) AK

0700 we left Wrangell after 3 days. One evening and most of one day was spent fixing a plumbing problem -- successful after 3 trips to the Wrangell hardware store and much cursing. Last evening we had pizza and beer (Alaskan Amber, to which Craig I have become quite addicted since first sampling it upon our arrival in Dutch Harbor last month) with the folks off the N55 I mentioned in yesterday's blog; nice folks and an interesting visit.

We arrived in Anan Bay 56º 11.09'N, 131º 53.54'W late morning, dropped the dinghy and mounted the outboard engine. I took Craig and Anne into shore to meet the ranger and walk to the Bear Observatory. Dorothy, Rusty and I hung out on DE, watched an N62 which anchored for awhile in Anan, and had some chili and cornbread while waiting our turn with the bears (the anchorage requires someone to stay aboard, and Rusty was not allowed ashore in that area, so we visited the bears, in pairs...).

After picking up Anne and Craig, Dorothy and I went to shore for our bear visit. First the Forest Service Ranger gave us a briefing which included all kinds of interesting things to do while walking the half mile trail out to the observatory, to let the bears know we were there, and what to do if we met one on the trail. "If he comes towards you, don't run! but talk to him sharply, like a dog: "stop bear, come no further!" (Shit, maybe I should've brought a shotgun?!) I asked if an air-horn would work, and the ranger said - no shit now - "well that used to work, but they've gotten so used the air horns it doesn't work anymore"...Yikes!

Anyway, we started out the trail, and met several groups coming back from the observatory; no one seemed to be wounded or grieving a mauled loved one - that was encouraging. Never-the-less, I sang "teddy bear's picnic" all the way out the trail and back... just to be sure the bears knew I was cool.

All kidding aside the bear observatory is very cool, a platform overlooking a narrow point in a stream where pink salmon are leaping against the current and is a choke-point where the bears and dip in with claw or snout and get a fish. Or should I say fish, after fish, after fish. Alaska seems to be full of messy eaters - first that stellar sea lion in Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay and now these guys. Anyway, Dorothy and I spent several hours watching four black bears fish, eat and shit. We didn't see any brown bears (grizzlies) at this location, although you may remember we saw one the morning we awoke in in Graves Harbor, after crossing the Gulf of Alaska.

In conversation with one of the Forest Service Rangers, she mentioned her home was in Minnesota and I asked if she lived anywhere near Lake Woebegone, to which she replied, quite earnestly "no I live up next to the Canadian border..." I guess you had to be there...

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