Ketchikan to LaConner

We moored in Bar Harbor, Ketchikan, on August 3 with Jim and Chris Munch.  It was rainy and cool, of course, but we didn’t let that stop us.  We headed toward the downtown/cruise ship part of the city to explore.  A couple we had met in Point Baker were part owners of the Arctic Bar in downtown Ketchikan, so that was our first stop.  Reputedly, this is the oldest bar in the city and it’s right on the downtown marina and within spitting distance of the cruise ships.  Can you tell we had a rainy walk down to this place?

Jim and Chris departed on Saturday afternoon and we decided to stay put in Ketchikan.  Beth was due to arrive the next Sunday, August 12.  So, we caught up on boat chores, made doctors’ appointments for October when we head to Visalia, and even walked to church twice.  3 miles round trip!  First Lutheran Church, Ketchikan, is another small, welcoming congregation and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the folks there.

For part of our stay (after we went to the fuel dock and returned) our slip was just off the breakwater so we could watch all kinds of activity.  Our marina was just south of two large shipping terminals.  We could watch as the barges were loaded and started their journey south behind a big tugboat.  These barges carry all sorts of things...including pleasure boats headed back to the "lower 48".  That's one way to get your boat home!

The marina is also close to a boat ramp, giving us a ringside seat for the "Duck Tour".  One of the things the tourists do in droves is take a Duck Boat ride around Ketchikan and through the harbor.  Apparently the tour guides do quite a good job narrating the sights…we could hear chuckles coming from inside.

As we sat in the marina we watched the "red tide" develop around the ships moored here.  Apparently this is a common phenomenon and if the causative algae produces a toxin, PSP or paralytic shellfish poisoning can be the result.  During his exploration of Desolation Sound in British Columbia, Vancouver encountered PSP and lost crew members who ate the contaminated shellfish.  Jim and Chris Munch said they could see the discoloration in the water when 20,000 feet on their flight to Seattle.

Beth arrived safely about noon on Sunday, August 12.  We had been closely watching the weather in Dixon Entrance, that little corner of the Pacific Ocean we had to cross just south of Ketchikan.  We listened to Environment Canada, notorious for inflating their weather predictions, but they were forecasting Gale Warnings along our route for Monday afternoon!  So, we took off soon after Beth arrived and headed south to the north edge of Dixon Entrance, where we anchored at Foggy Bay.  We had not stopped here before, but knew it to be a popular anchorage for cruisers.  What a lovely stop! 

Monday morning we left early, knowing that the winds in Dixon Entrance would pick up in the afternoon and those gale warnings for late Monday had us concerned.  We were all geared up for a rough crossing but it was one of the calmest we’ve had!  Barely a chop to the water!  Gale warnings????  Not while we were there…yay!

Our destination was Prince Rupert, BC, and the Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club.  We cleared customs here and tied up at the marginal marina dock.  We had planned on a big walk through Prince Rupert to find fishing licenses, but it was just pouring down rain.  So, instead (yep, you guessed it!) we stopped at Breakers Pub to discuss matters.  We struck up a conversation with a young couple from Edmonton, Alberta, who were also after fishing licenses.  They gave us a ride to a sporting goods store and back to the marina and saved us some wet clothes.  How nice!

Tuesday, August 14, we were off again.  After a couple of hours of heavy fog as we left Prince Rupert, we made our way down Grenville Channel, the route the cruise ships call “the ditch”.  We did not see a see a single one, however.  They travel at night so they can be sure to be in port during the daytime to provide their cruisers with plenty of shopping time.  Unfortunately, the passengers miss some beautiful country! 

We anchored in Lowe Inlet for the night.  We had anchored here on our way south last year and knew this to be a great anchorage.  At the head of the inlet are Verney Falls, and a stream leading to a lake above the inlet.  As we anchored near the falls, we could see salmon jumping all around us, as they made their toward the falls to swim upstream and spawn.  Quickly Jerry and Beth put fishing pole in the water and the only bites they had were from the nasty gnats and horseflies!

We could see bears on shore and at the falls, catching the salmon.  We put the dinghy into the water and headed to the falls.  Amazing watching the bears catch their dinner.  In the photo it looks like change of shift…one bear has a fish and another is coming to collect his.  The bears were the only ones who caught fish, though.  Jerry and Beth tried several times, braving the wicked bugs, but didn’t catch a thing.

Wednesday, August 15, we pulled anchor to continue south.  We were pretty sure we’d found summer at this point.  Sunshine, light winds, and outside temp. of 72!!  We even put on short-sleeved shirts!  At last!!  As we made our way down Grenville Channel we did see several whales and I caught this one feeding along the shore.

Khutze Inlet is another favorite anchorage of ours…this was the fourth time we’d stayed there.  It was here last year that we caught a salmon and we were certain we’d have fresh salmon for dinner.  Beth caught 2 rockfish and Jerry caught a tiny halibut, all of which we threw back.  The bugs were not quite as ferocious here, but still aggravating.  Hmmm, must be a correlation between warm, sunny weather and bugs!

We had never been to the head of Khutze Inlet, since we always anchor on a sandbar about 1 mile from the entrance.  Since the fishing was lousy, we go the dinghy down and took it the 5 miles or so to the end of the inlet.  Beautiful!  Best waterfall/cascade I think we’ve seen!

The next morning, Thursday, August 16, we were off again.  We had a long, calm, sunny run further south.  We chose a slightly longer route so we could proceed through Jackson Passage and Reid Passage, rather than stay in the big channels of water.  These circuitous passages require a little more attention but are well worth the trouble.  We passed several lighthouses along the way.  Canada does a great job of building beautiful lighthouses.  This one is at Boat Bluff, just north of Klemtu.

Thursday night we stopped at Shearwater Marina and met a very interesting couple.  They were on a month’s vacation to sail their small, homemade sailboats from Prince Rupert to Port McNeill.  Last year they had made the journey from Port McNeill to Vancouver and were seasoned veterans at this rather rustic mode of travel.  They did have radio communications with each other, but no GPS, no electronic charts, no toilets, etc.  They pull into shore every night and camp.  Heather said they didn’t mind sharing the beach with black bears, but did not like to camp out with the grizzlies!  Yikes!

Jerry and Beth are standing in front of Dan’s boat.  You can see there’s not room for much stuff.  We walked the dock and looked at the other boats tied up here.  We saw quite a variety since this is a well-known stopping point for cruisers headed to and from Alaska and the BC Broughton’s.  There’s a restaurant here, a small grocery, a post office, and a laundromat.  





Our dock explorations took us by this big beauty…”Polar Bear”.  Jerry and Beth look quite different posing by this big boat!

Friday. August 17 took us through Lama Passage, south down Fitz Hugh Sound and to an anchorage in Fury Cove.  This was a new spot to stop, although lots of cruisers pull into this little cove either before they cross Queen Charlotte Sound (as we did) or after they’ve made the crossing and need a calm place to recover!  
The little cove was beautiful and the fisherpeople among us were determined to catch something for dinner.  Those five-day fishing licenses that were purchased in Prince Rupert would soon to expire and we had nothing yet to show for the purchase!  The sunshine felt wonderful, we had no bugs, and we watched several other boats come into the anchorage as we searched for dinner.  All good things, but no fish!

The next big challenge as we headed south was to cross Queen Charlotte Sound and the exposure we would have to the westerly swells coming in off the Pacific Ocean.  The swells can catch us right on the beam and make for a several-hour rolly, miserable ride.  As we departed Fury Cove, we saw overcast skies and a great potential for fog.  The swells were hitting us right on the starboard beam so our first hour or so was not happy.  Fortunately, once we rounded Cape Caution and turned to a more southerly course those swells got behind us and our cruise across the sound was uneventful. 

We were bound for Lagoon Cove in the Broughton’s, so we left Queen Charlotte Strait (the continuation of the sound) at Knight Inlet.  We entered the inlet in a thunder and lightning storm!  That was a first for us.  In fact, we could hear boaters calling the Coast Guard to report fires started by lightning strikes on the hills above Johnstone Strait.  Having grown u in the Midwest, I’m a big fan of a good thunderstorm, but it’s something else on the water.  We could see the lightning bolts hitting the ground right in front of us…one-one-thousand isn’t a very long count between the flash and the boom!

Lagoon Cove is another popular destination for cruisers.  The little marina has fuel and water available as well as two people who are the epitome of hospitality…Bill and Jean.  In fact, Bill provides the prawns for each evening’s happy hour on the dock.  It was a busy spot so we stern-tied to the dock and then side-tied to the boats on either side of us.  (We’re the boat on the far side of “Celestine”.)  This was another first, but we had lots of helping hands to get us settled.

Bill greeted us on the dock by saying, “Welcome back to Lagoon Cove!  We’re having a big potluck dinner in 30 minutes…bring a main dish to share and we’ll provide the prawns and salmon.”  Yum!  A quick pot of spaghetti and we were ready to feast.  Cruisers we had met in Point Baker…Jerry and Tanya Smith…were there.  They provided all of the salmon.  Can’t find nicer folks than that!  After dinner Bill regaled us with one of his bear stories, using a bear’s leg bone for emphasis.  
The evening was capped off by one of the lovelier sunsets we’ve had on our cruise.

Sunday, August 19, Beth had been with us for a week, and I think this was the part of the cruise we had all been waiting for.  This was the day we would go through those five sets of rapids:  (1) Whirlpool, (2) Green Point, (3) Dent, (4) Gillard and (5) Yaculta.  As we always do, we plotted, calculated, checked tables and charts, and were ready for the day.  We arrived and passed through Whirlpool and Green Point rapids right on schedule with absolutely no problem.  It’s about 15 miles to Dent Rapids so we had a little transit time…all part of the plan.  Well, we got to Dent Rapids about 1330 and our chart said the currents were at 5.9 knots flowing in our direction of travel.  We approached slowly and quickly did a 180 turn when we save the overflows, whirlpools, and holes in the water.  YIKES!!!  How did our timing fail us?  Long story short, we twiddled our thumbs for 4 hours, waiting until 1945 so we could cross Dent and Gillard rapids safely. 

At this point we knew we would never make it to Yaculta in time for a safe transit, so we elected to spend the night in Big Bay at the Stuart Island Public Marina.  We had not been in here before and didn’t quite know what to expect.  The former owners of the marina had gone out of business and the “community” had taken over the marina.  (I use the term “community” loosely.  We were in the back of beyond in British Columbia.  Maybe there were 50 people living near this little cove!).  We were delightfully surprised.  Lots of dock space andwell kept docks.  We had a sunny, warm evening and once again sat outside to watch the goings-on.  At the far end of the cove was this lovely resort.  It would be a great place to stay, I think.

The next morning, Monday August 20, we easily crossed that pesky last set of rapids with ease and set our sights for Secret Cove, on the Sunshine Coast of BC.  We had stayed in Pender Harbor, just north of here, last year and thought we try something new.  Pender Harbor was just too busy and congested for us.  After being in the wilds of Alaska we had forgotten that sunny August equated with lots of boaters out cruising.  No empty coves for anchorage.  Very busy waterways.  Secret Cove was no exception.  It was a mini-Pender Harbor…busy and congested.  To make matters worse our charts did not match up with the book information so we were really confused about where to anchor.  To put the frosting on the cake, Jerry’s Nobeltec (laptop) charts put us on the shore!  Those charts were WAYYYY off.  We gave up quickly on the notion of anchoring and called Secret Cove Marina.  Fortunately they had an open slip in front of their restaurant and we tied up with a sigh of relief.  The photo at right was taken the next morning as we departed.  You can see our red track going across the land at the opening to the cove.  Good thing we’re almost home!

Tuesday, August 21, took us across the Strait of Georgia and a smoother crossing we’ve never had.  Civilization was staring us in the face…huge tugs and tows, the BC ferry, the Alaska ferry, the Victoria Clipper, and boats of every size and description! 

As we came through Porlier Pass we met this interesting tug and tow…wonder where he was going!

Tuesday night we anchored in Montague Harbor, where we’d stayed two years before with Don and Dorothy Peterson.  This is a very popular spot for cruisers since it has lots of anchoring room as well as mooring buoys, a marine park, and a bus to the Hummingbird Bar.  This restaurant is a 15-minute bus ride into the interior of Galliano Island and well worth the trip.  The bus driver pointed out the many businesses in the island’s interior and gave us a glimpse of life for the residents here.  He was quite a character!  He played rock and roll and had his own little rhythm section to accompany the music. 

Wednesday, August 22, we made the short run to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, in the good old USA.  Friday Harbor has a population of about 2100 people and is the county seat for San Juan County.  The customs officer told me that this port sees more international traffic than any other port in the US.  Amazing!  We cleared customs here and spend the night.  Beth had not seen this interesting little town and we were ready to explore.  The day was bright and sunny.  We did manage to make a stop at the fresh fish market at the foot of the marina ramp to pick up some delicious crab dip.  They have the best!

Thursday, August 23, we cruised to Anacortes, Cap Sante Marina, for the final moorage of our trip.  This marina is close to Commercial Avenue, the business district of Anacortes, and we like to pull in here to get groceries, etc.  Beth and I explored the little shops and found some I had never been in.  Jerry caught up with our friend, Greg Mustari, the Nordic Tug dealer here, and even rode along with Greg as he moved a boat! 

Friday, we brought the boat back to the LaConner marina.  We had been gone four months…April 24 to August 24.  Whew!  Quite a trip.  Perhaps you would be interested in some stats about our trip:

We put 355 hours on the engine.  Last year we put 359 hours on the engine.  We travelled approximately 2,795 miles.  We anchored somewhere 43 nights and moored somewhere 79 nights.  We spent an average of $4.337/gallon for fuel.  We haven't filled up since we've returned so I don't know how much total fuel we used, but to date we've purchased 1214 gallons.

So, faithful reader, this is the end of this year's "Adventures on Cosmo Place" Alaska blog.  We will continue to cruise, though, and I will continue to add stories and photos.