Exploring Prince Rupert

Today we explored more of Prince Rupert.

The area where the yacht club is located is called Cow Bay. To follow this theme, local shops have Cow in the name (Cowpaccino is a coffee shop) and things like street signs, awnings, trash cans, garbage dumpsters are all painted like black and white cows.

We went to the Museum of Northern British Columbia and looked for books and guides for the Queen Charlottes. I bought an orca charm for our boat necklace/log. This is similar to what we did on our trip across the South Pacific. I have a bead for each day. It is dark blue for an overnight passage, lighter blue for anchoring out or green for staying at a marina. I add charms to mark events or places such as a small totem pole charm for Ketchikan. The orca charm is a Salish design and it also signifies the spirit of the Traveller. It seems to be fitting.

After the museum we stopped at the Starbucks in Safeway so I could connect to the internet and do a few things. We walked around checking out bookstores, the marine store, laundry facilities. We stopped at the Breakers Pub which is right next door to the yacht club so I could finish my internet chores while we had nachos and Rich got a CNN fix. 10 minutes of CNN was all that was needed.

SV Windarra

Prince Rupert

N 54 19.173, W 130 19.149
Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club

Today was a long motor with no wind and flat water. One of the easiest motors we have had. Saw whales in the distance.

We are now at the Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club. We had dinner at Smiley's and then walked around town a bit. The local movie store, the Movie Gallery, was going out of business so we bought 7 DVDs for $9.00. Such a deal.

Tomorrow we will do some chores, and explore more of Prince Rupert.

No worries,
SV Windarra

A short day

N 54 46.493, W 130 44.031
Port Tongass, Tongass Island, Alaska

We decided to break up the remaining distance to Prince Rupert with a stop at Port Tongass. It was only 21 miles from Foggy Bay. Tomorrow's passage to Prince Rupert will be about 42 miles, if we can take Venn Passage.

Port Tongass used to be the site of a of a Tlingit village. Most of the inhabitants moved to Saxman, near Ketchikan in the early 1900s. Not much sign of the village remains as seen from the water.

Shortly after we arrived a boat called Amelie showed up. Amelie is an old fishing boat that has been renovated into a cruiser but still had some of the original fishing structure, like cranes to lift items in and out of the hold. She kept going back and forth in the passage near us. We wondered what they were doing. Did we take their spot? We also noticed that the boat did not have any anchors. Strange. A while later a smaller fishing boat came along side. This boat anchored and then a diver went overboard. It appears that Amelie lost their anchor and tackle overboard and the diver is working to retrieve it. This explains some of the mystery.

In the meantime we have been relaxing, reading and I made some brownies for dessert.

No worries,
SV Windarra

Heading South

N 54 57.003, W 130 56.494
Foggy Bay, Alaska

We are on our way south.

This morning was overcast but not raining. It was a good decision to wait until today to head south. Of course, we are a little perplexed. All the time we have been heading north, the wind has been coming from the north, northwest, or from the direction we are going. Now we are headed back south and the wind is coming from the south, southeast or the direction we want to go. Is it something about us?

We are tucked away in a small anchorage with a narrow and shallow entrance. Luckily even though it is called Foggy Bay it is not foggy now and we hope it will not be foggy in the morning. It is one thing to enter when you can see the obstacles. Not being able to see them is a whole different story.

From our anchorage we can see across a drying area out into Revillagigedo Channel but we are protected and unaffected from the swell.

One of the guidebooks mentions that there are bears and martens in the area, so we will watch for them. No sign yet but there is a sign on shore that read, "Trap Line".

No worries,
SV Windarra

Touring Ketchikan

N 55 20.967, W 131 40.887
Bar Harbor Marina, Ketchikan

The last couple of days we have been doing some chores as well as playing tourist.

We walked into the town area centered around the cruise ships are which there are 3 currently docked. There is a nice new looking promenade area with benches and all sorts of passengers. They are either going fishing or on float plane trips to the Misty Fjords or kayaking or shopping. Across the street is lined with either souvenir shops or jewelry stores. This is not exactly what comes to mind when you hear "Alaskan Gold Rush", but people are rushing and someone is making some gold.

Nearby is a small amphitheater for the Lumberjack Show. All I could think about was the lumberjack song from Monty Python. The show is advertised to present tree climbing, log rolling and axe throwing (not catching). There was quite a line of cruise ship passengers so we passed.

We walked along Creek Street which is a series of building connected by boardwalks along a salmon spawning creek that runs to a hatchery on the hill behind. Creek Street was once the red-light district of Ketchikan. Now it is mixed residential and commercial with lots of little shops and eateries. We saw the salmon jumping up the falls. You could rent poles at the hot dog stand and try your luck at catching one. There was also a bridge at one end and some young men were jumping off into the creek.

Closeby Creek Street, we found a native art store and bought a carved paddle with a painting of an eagle on it done by a local Tsinglit artist.

Yesterday we did our provisioning. There is a Safeway near the marina and they let you use the shopping carts to take your groceries to the boat. This is great since we had two carts worth. The Safeway also has a liquor store so Rich was able to get some Mount Gay rum.

The last couple of days that weather has been in the 70's but today it is raining hard so we will pass on the walk. So we do a few chores and read. We plan to head back to Prince Rupert over the next two days.

This is as far north as we are going to go.

No worries,
SV Windarra

Alaska !

N 55 20.967, W 131 40.887
Ketchikan, Alaska

We made it! We are in Ketchikan, Alaska!

This morning we left at 7:00 am, leaving behind the wonderful anchorage. There was little or no wind, seas calm except for the rolling swell as we crossed Dixon Entrance from Canada to Alaska. We had to go in a circle once because a tug with a large tow seemed confused by our signals. We slowed down to let him pass us and then he slowed down. So we did a small circle waiting for him to pass us. Later an Alaskan ferry passed us. They even called us on the VHF by name to let us know that they would be passing us on port. The AIS is working!

After the swells finally subsided we had some lunch and then the winds picked up. Of course they were on the nose and building to 22 knots and against the current. We tied up at the marina at 5:00 pm. From anchorage to moorage we did 61 miles today.

For the next couple of days we are going to clean up (wash the boat, clothes), provision (go out to eat, Safeway) and do some touristy things here in Ketchikan.

No worries,
SV Windarra

Almost to Alaska

N 54 36.307, W 130 53.466
Brundige Inlet, Dundas Island, Canada

Since we could not get moorage in Prince Rupert and the weather looked favorable we decided to continue north. Of course there was plenty of fog at Prince Rupert but after we got around Digby Island it started to clear up. We had little or no wind all day. In fact the most wind we had was 10 knots and that was as we were preparing to anchor. Go figure.

After we anchored we brought the dingy on the foredeck, deflated it and secured it on the foredeck. Before we left Seattle we had a fixture made that replaces the mid-deck dorade guard and holds the aft section of the dingy when it is upside down. With the dingy upside down and deflated, we can secure it to the forward cleats and the two handrails on the mid-deck. This keeps the dingy from moving around when we are on passage and it will not interfere with sailing or anchoring or going forward on the jacklines.

Tomorrow we plan to cross Dixon Entrance to Ketchikan. It is about 60 miles. A long, long day.

No worries,
SV Windarra