Prince Rupert to Ketchikan

August 19, 2007

After 5 days squaring away we left our spot next to Eastland (in back - side view) at Rushbrook Floats and stopped at the fuel dock to fill our tanks.

We went through shoal Venn Passage, Duncan Bay, and along the west coast to Work Channel.

We fished at Maskelyne Point along with several other boats, caught and released 3 Coho before heading up Work Channel.

We set the prawn trap in Trail Bay before anchoring in tranquil Zumtela Bay (54° 34.961’ N / 130° 22.386’W) for the night.

After getting settled in we had a rain shower and Jo captured this photo. Rainbows are so much more dramatic in real life tho.

August 20, 2007

After a peaceful night at anchor, we picked up our trap, collected a dozen prawns, and headed for Foggy Bay Alaska.

There were about a dozen boats fishing the point when we left work Channel, and no more than a half a mile later we almost went head on with a whale, he passed us in good seaman like fashion port to port, with no more than a boat width to spare.
It all happened too fast to get a photo.

We crossed into Alaska in Tongass Passage and had a smooth trip to Foggy Bay (54° 56.946’ N / 130° 56.435’ W).

We went into the cove with another boat coming from the north. We found 2 boats already at anchor inside, and before nightfall there were no less than 9 power boats anchored in the cove, one was at least 90 feet. All, but us, were heading south. This is the most boats we have seen at anchor since Fury Cove at Rivers Inlet. They were all heading south also.

We had a visit by Maureen and Van on Slante. They live in Tempe AZ, and annually cruise the Pacific Northwest, this year heading to Alaska in their new boat a Selene 40. They have been buddy boating with friends and were on their way back Anacortes to put the boat up for the winter. They filled us in on highlights of their visit in Alaska.

August 21, 2007

We left Foggy Bay with the last 3 of the boats in the cove, and headed for Ketchican. It was a smooth uneventful passage.

There were 4 cruise ships in Ketchikan, 3 at the docks and one anchored in Tongass Narrows.

We went into Thomas Basin to the Ketchikan Yacht Club (55° 20.460’ N / 131°38.434’ W), were greeted by Marvin, the club's treasurer, who extended a very friendly welcome and a host of local information.

We joined the yacht club and plan to leave our boat here for the winter. The facilities are nice and clean, the folks are friendly, and Bar Harbor is filling vacancy's from a waiting list. . So that pretty much takes care of it. It’s been nice here, cause we docked at the rear door of the club house and we can run in to the bathrooms, showers, phone, etc. One of the most convenient and accommodating places we have visited.

We expect to explore some coves and inlets in the area before we head back to California. We are looking for an upholsterer to get cushions recovered and some canvas work, a UPS shipping facility to send back stuff we won’t be able to carry on the plane.

We have enjoyed watching salmon come up to spawn in Ketchikan Creek. They are jumping, laying and fertilizing eggs, then dying.

We are awed at the size of the cruise ships that come in for a day’s stay. Today (August 23) there are 6 ships in port, with 9200 passengers slated to carouse through town. Pretty interesting since the local population numbers 8200.

More to Come
George & JoAnne

whoops!

I forgot to include Lat/Lons in the posts made from Prince Rupert. We had so much back log to do they just escaped notice. I will update those posts from Ketchikan to include the lat/Lons tomorrow.

George.

Emily Carr Inlet to Prince Rupert

August 11

Rained last night. We left the Emily Carr around 10am – timed with the tide. Made our way out thru the narrow passage and headed for the prawn trap, mouths watering in anticipation… especially when the trap seamed soooo heavy while pulling it up. Well, the heaviness was from all the kelp (big leaves) that had gathered and weighted it down. There were little shrimp trying to get in the trap with no success getting through the kelp. We got 4 babies that we threw back.

Proceeded to Hartley Bay Bay (53° 25.461’ N / 129° 15.051’ W) under a cloudy sky.

We bought gas here at $1.47 a liter. Definitely the most expensive fuel so far $5.57gal.

This too is a native village like Klemtu; however this one has very sturdy boardwalks throughout the village. Everyone uses ATVs to get around. Seems that every native family has at least one. They are on an island in a small Village, so no need to have real cars.

August 12

We saw dolphins – 2 pods – leaving Hartley Bay. Sun finally came out around 2pm well on our way to Buchan Inlet.

We set the prawn trap on our way into Buchan Inlet (53° 22.415’ N / 129° 46.813’W).. Put the hook down at 4pm and the sky opened up. Very secluded protected anchorage among large rocks. Our boat dropped 18 feet during the night.

August 13

Low tide. All the rocks we didn’t see while entering are visible now. We got pics of the rocks in the passage into the lagoon.

We pulled the empty prawn trap and headed up Petrel Channel to Captain Cove. It was sunny and beautiful all day. We saw two kayakers near Mink Trap Bay going against the current. We had 2 to 3 knot fair currents most of the way. It is always exciting to make between 7 to 8.5 knots during a passage and it makes us appreciate how difficult it must be to paddle against that much current.

Since we left Hartley Bay we have seen and dodged more flotsam than we have had to deal with all season. What we haven’t seen is other boats, until a ketch anchored with us at Captain Cove. Where are the boaters? It’s mid August!

Captain Cove (53° 48.542’W / 130° 12.026’ W) is a great little anchorage with lots of sea gulls and ravens squawking.

George cast out light spinning rod and caught a couple little rockfish and voile’ “a big one on”. Turned out to be a 20-pound halibut. Just small enough for our boat, we have enough room for that much fish in our freezer. That was a nice finish to a great day.

August 14

Heading for Prince Rupert…. We left Captain Cove on a 20’ drop in the tide. We watched several seine boats setting their nets as we headed out Petrel Passage. A real work of art.

We were cruising along and all of a sudden we saw fog ahead…and we were heading straight for it. We made our way thru with 1/8 mile visibility, watching for floaters and other boats. The fog lifted just as we came to the passage at Lewis Island (54° 00.990’N / 130° 12.026’ W), so we found a place to anchor behind the island and stopped for lunch until the fog started to lift in Chatham Sound. We proceeded out toward Prince Rupert yet again and ran into 3 more fog banks before it cleared enough to see Prince Rupert…. But not before we went thru some pretty lumpy waters, reminding us of the Strait of Georgia.

The Yacht Club had no room for us and suggested we go to Rushbrook Docks (54° 19.545’ N / 130° 18.294’ W) which are the furthest real estate from town. A man from the sailing dock helped us get moored on a dock next to a converted seine boat.

Freda and Alfie live on their boat here at the dock. Very friendly folks and we enjoyed the time we spent visiting with them and their fellow fishermen friends over the few days we were at Prince Rupert.

After getting tied down we walked into town to pick up our battery charger at the 7-11 post office. Well much to our dismay, they didn’t have a package for George Benson. We tried to call Rachel at West Marine who mailed the package, but the store was closed already for the day.

August 15

We were finally able to get on the internet at the Chamber of Commerce visitor center after failed attempts to get on at Bob’s On the Rocks near the docks, and the Yacht Club. We had an email from Rachel telling us she had sent the package and had talked to the post office about taking delivery of it from Fed Ex. So we went back to the post office, still no one there new anything about it. The cruise ship was in and we had difficulty finding a pay phone that wasn’t occupied by someone calling his/her family overseas. We ended up at the Crest Hotel where we called Rachel, she called the post office, and lo and behold, there it was sitting on the top shelf. What an ordeal. But we have the charger, it’s hooked up and we’re charging the batteries once again.

We are staying at the dock for a few days getting chores done before we head out for a couple of days anchoring out as we go to Ketchikan.

More to Come in Ketchikan,

George & JoAnne

Klemtu to Emily Carr Inlet

August 8, 2007

Sprinkled last night, but even though we had clouds most of the day the sun came out some. We called Jenni and checked in, and we can’t be sure how long before the next internet connection.

Meyers Narrows is the challenge of the day, a narrow shoal passage.

As a result of good tide timing by the captain, we made it through with ease as we headed for Laredo Inlet.

We anchored in a tranquil nook in Alston Cove (52° 44.918’ N / 128° 44.644’ W),

near the 40’ S/V Raven and the 56’ Monk Ghost Rider.

August 9, 2007

Laredo Inlet cut deep into Princes Royal Island the home of the Kermodei (white “spirit” bear). We set out early to see if we could get a peak at one. We saw a lot of birds and an eagle eating a fish on a rock. We so often see them fishing, but seldom see them catching or eating a fish. Not close enough for a photo.

On the way back to the anchorage, George took some time to fish and caught 8 rock fish, 3 flounder, 2 little ling cods, all released save two good sized rock fish, AND a 50 pound halibut. We just were barely able to get it into the net (which was made in Detroit by the way – not China) and took out the hook before releasing it. It was a beautiful hali, but we have such a small frig/freezer for such a large fish, it was actually larger than the sole of our cockpit. So we know there are halis and lings here. We just need to hook into bigger lings and smaller halis.

Sunny and Bob of Raven dinghy’d over to visit and told us they were ham operators, and had been on the morning net, so we asked them to give our regards to Rolly on “Tropic Isle” next time they talk. Bob came back later after the afternoon net and filled us in on Rolly’s whereabouts and passed on regards from the folks on Juniata, a Cralock Ketch. We met them a couple years ago in the Broughtons. They are heading for Mexico later this year.

Aug 10, 2007

We headed out of Larado Inlet and into Larado Channel to anchor in Emily Carr Cove. We picked up our trap on the way out of Laredo Inlet – 0 prawns. We are getting tired of wasting all that energy and bait on poor catches.

We encountered 3 boats today. That’s a record for the week!

Emily Carr Inlet is a picturesque area name for a famous BC artist. Our friends Christian and Poki on Erie, now in the South Pacific, encouraged us to stop at Emily Carr Cove (52° 55.219’ N / 129° 09.445’ W).. I’m anxious to see her work, as there is a painting in every view we got while in there….many little islets and beautiful “totems” at the shoreline. There was lots of kelp floating thru the narrow passage as we entered the cove.

More to come,
George & JoAnne

Culpepper Lagoon to Klemtu

August 6,2007

We awoke to clouds and pulled the prawn trap, which was totally empty. How would prawns get through the tidal rapid, dummy. The crab traps yielded 7 Dungeness, 6 legal, and one throw back. Good eatin’ tonight!

On our way out we trolled and near an un-named waterfall, George caught a 24” Coho. Now we have a choice for dinner: salmon or crab? What a tough decision.

Turns out the light wasn’t good to take pics of Teal in front of the Kynoch Falls which had been the plan. The sea got a little rough in Mathieson Channel as the day wore on. Clouds remained all day, with the sun trying to peak through - off and on it succeeded. We were glad to get out of the chop when we turned into Sheep Passage and anchored at Windy Bay (52° 47.113’ N / 128° 12.597’ W).

Hook down at 6:15. Fish cleaned by 7 PM and crab cooked by 7:35. We decided on salmon with a crab cocktail. This “eating out” is quite a treat.

George saw a pod of Orcas swim through the anchorage. Too far away to get a good photo.

August 7

Sprinkles of rain last night. Seeing blue skies on the way into Klemtu (52° 35.594’ N / 128° 31.308’ W). Arrived at 3pm.

Fueled and filled water tanks and went off to café for a late lunch. Hit the band store. No Benadryl but got some more fly/mosquito spray.

Took a tour of their newly dedicated Big House with Doug Neasloss. Doug heads the dept. of tourism and served as our tour guide, a great wildlife photographer, and is very active in Band heritage politics. He just celebrated his 25^th birthday. Very bright young man.

Klemtu is a First Nation Village. Very low key and only one paved road, which this black lab just lazily walked into the middle of and laid there. The road that leads to the big house and to the school are gravel. Very rural town, so to speak.

At the dock we met folks on two boats who were on their way back from Alaska and had spent weeks in the rain. Hopefully the rain is over for the summer and it will be great for us when we arrive later this month. We also visited with kayakers who were spending time at the village.

More to come,

Georg & JoAnne

Penny Cove to Culpepper Lagoon

August 4

Awoke to a marine layer. The barometer is rising – good! Prawn trap held one tiny prawn and two baitfish. The bait may lead to a good crab feed down the way, maybe at Rescue Bay.

On our way across Seaforth Channel a Norwegian cruise liner crossed our path. It looked like it was heading into Fitz Hugh Sound. Surprising to see such a large boat in these waters.

We had a smooth cruise through Mathieson Channel and saw whales working the herring schools along the bank.

We set the prawn trap before entering Rescue Bay (52° 30.819’ N / 128° 17.343’ W) and anchoring along with North Star, a large powerboat from Santa Monica, CA. George set out the crab traps and we spent a lazy warm afternoon enjoying the surrounding beach area – which looked like bear and wolf country – no sightings for us though. Late in the day a couple in a small canoe with out-riggers, a sail, AND a golden retriever paddled to a neighboring islet to camp for the night….. along with possible bears and wolves(?) not my style of camping for sure.

August 5

We rose at 5am to make our 11:30 passage into Kynoch Inlet

and through the narrow tidal rapid into Culpepper Lagoon. We checked our prawn trap on the way and found just 4 really good-sized prawns. Too much commercial fishing for us to get our share of these tasty morsels.

Smooth ride into Kynoch Inlet. The most beautiful cruising waters we have seen in all of BC.

Waterfalls to die for, and the rock-faced sides of towering domes in Fiordland, certainly humble a person. Each turn into the inlet revealed a site more breathtaking than the last. Interestingly we have seen only one boat while there. That’s it! One boat!

As we approached Culpepper Narrows, two floatplanes took turns gliding into the head of the inlet. This is a tour I’d love to take, gliding along these huge towering domes and sweeping across the wide expanse of water. Breathtaking…. Just like Imax theatre.

We slid through the Narrows slightly before slack. It was a smooth entry into Culpepper Lagoon (52° 43.909’ N / 127° 49.804’ W),

a beautiful little bay, reminding us of Sierra mountain lakes from our backpacking days. We set the prawn trap and found a perfect anchorage, also perfect for the black flies and no-see-ums. First mate got hit again, and the captain FINALLY got one little bite that seems to be itching him quite a bit. We found an electric fly swatter in Bella Bella, but it has only lasted about 48 hours. It didn’t seem to work on the tiny little no-see-ums anyway.

Our crab trap provided a very nice crab dinner and was reset for more on our way out.

More to Come,

George & JoAnne

Roscoe Inlet to Penny Cove

After lunch we headed out of Roscoe, had disappointing results from our attempt at prawn fishing, and headed for Emily Bay in Briggs Inlet to anchor for the night. To reach Emily Bay we had to go through First Narrows at max ebb current, that was flowing at something close to 4 ½ knots, it took Teal quite a while to claw her way through the narrowest part while keeping clear of the charted submerged rocks.

Emily Bay (52° 23.550’ N / 128°00.807’ W) has a wonderful anchorage in the out flow of a babbling stream that holds the boat in line with the anchor regardless of the ebb and flow of the tide or light breezes that find their way into the little bay. This spot is a Bob Ross painting. High Mountain in background, small trees forward, a babbling brook, that little cabin and large tree in foreground. His Northwest influence is alive in little vignettes like this one.

August 2, 2007

We had a leisurely breakfast while waiting for the current at the narrows to mellow for our exit of Briggs Inlet and turn around the corner into Bullock Channel to collect just 11 prawns from our set the previous afternoon, and then on up the channel to explore the head of Spiller Inlet.

We found Spiller Inlet, while equal to most other inlets, was nothing to write about after having just visited Roscoe Inlet. After exploring the head of Spiller we went into Neekas Cove (52° 27.777’ N / 128° 09.552’ W) to anchor for the night with Honker a nicely-converted fishing trawler that we have seen somewhere before during our cruises.

August 3, 2007

After a peaceful night in Neekas we headed back to Bella Bella (52° 09.786’ N / 128° 08.433’ W) to top off our tanks before heading further north. It was windy through Sea Forth Channel – chop with white caps.

Got fuel, water, groceries, and took off from Bella Bella dock to gratefully find flat water all the way to Idol Point.

We trolled the point along with other fishing boats. We had a hit or two before the winds started up and as the day was getting on, the cap’n suggested we take an anchorage that he had in mind at Penny Cove (52° 12.294’ N / 128° 15.888’ W). We set the prawn trap and found a great spot to stern tie – our first of the season and it went surprisingly smooth.

The skeeter and black fly bites are really giving Jo a hard time. Some of them have gotten pretty swollen. The drawing salve has come to the rescue, but the itching and pain are beyond aggravating. Still on the hunt for the Benadryl.

More to come,
George& JoAnne