Prince Rupert to Anacortes

Friday, August 1 - So, we were up early and away from the dock at first light, about 05:00.  The good currents we expected helped us along and we made good time to Lowe Inlet located in the lower third of Greenville Channel.  There is a nice waterfall there where the black bears come to fish when the silvers (Coho) salmon are running.  We arrived in about 9 hours and anchored in front of Verney Falls where the current keeps the boat in place.  Very pretty.  The fish gather at the base of the falls and wait for high tide before attempting to make the climb.  We could see the fish but not in great numbers.  (We were here at the same time in 2011 and there were a lot more fish then.)  Anyway, even at high tide there were not many fish jumping up the falls so the bears never materialized.  We are a little early or the fish are a little late.  Very nice, nonetheless.

Saturday, August 2 - We moved further south to Khutze Inlet in Princes Royal Channel.  It is five miles (3/4 hr) to the head of the inlet but worth it because there is a nice waterfall at which to anchor and good wild life.  There is a tiny ledge in front of the falls which is a little tricky to grab but once you do it is a nice spot.  Most everywhere else is too deep.  In the early evening Rolynn spotted a mother brown bear and her two cubs swimming from one point of land to another.  Every once in a while she would paddle like crazy with her hind legs and kind of stand up in the water to look back and check on her cubs.  Satisfied that they were OK she would continue on for a ways before looking back again.

Sunday, August 3 - We continued down Princes Royal and Finlayson Channels, through Jackson Narrows, which connects Finlayson to Matheson Channel, and anchored in Rescue Cove at the east end of Jackson.  It was a very pretty evening.  We saw Chatham II, our friends from Nanaimo but did not have a chance to talk with them.  There are lots of "Chathams" around.  Chatham Straits, Chatham Sound, Chatham Channel and so on.  The "HMS Chatham" was George Vancouver's ship and was named for Lord Chatham, Lord of the Admiralty during Vancouver's day.  Anyway, Vera aboard "Chatham II" is Lord Chatham's great, great, great, etc descendant of some kind.

Monday, August 4 - We decamped Rescue at 10:00 for the four hr trip to Shearwater Marina.  We did laundry, took on water, and caught up with friends.  I tried to fix our low water pressure problem (failed) and rewired the water maker to make it run better (maybe).

Green Island Anchorage

Wednesday, August 6 - We moved 5.5 hrs down Fitz Hugh Sound to Green Island Anchorage near the edge of Queen Charlotte Sound and one of our favorite spots.  It is almost completely enclosed but still has a nice view through the gap into Fitz Hugh so you can keep an eye on the conditions.  It is supposed to be pretty good for the next few days.  If that holds we will cross River's Inlet to anchor near Duncanby then round Cape Caution on Friday.

Thursday, August 7 - We took our time getting started since it is only a little more than two hours to our next stop.  It is a little nook amidst some islands near Ducanby Landing, a "resort" and fishing camp on the south shore of River's Inlet near Queen Charlotte Sound.  Crossing Rivers Inlet today cuts down on the time it will take to round Cape Caution tomorrow.  As we passed Fury Cove we saw "Contender" at anchor there.  We chatted on the radio for a few minutes.  We will probably see them at Blunden Harbor tomorrow or Sullivan Bay the next.

August 8 -15:  We spent Friday evening in Blunden with "Contender" then moved on to the Broughtons for our farewell tour.  We stopped for two nights each at Sullivan Bay, Pierre's, Kwatsi Bay and Lagoon Cove. We've gotten to know the owners of each well over the years.  Jean at Lagoon even invited us up to her house for coffee after happy hour.  It was all rather sad actually.

Leaving Kwatsi

August 16 - We scooted down Havannah Passage (where we toasted "Pecker Point" with our coffee cups) then Johnston Straits fairly early in the morning to avoid the wind that always comes up in the afternoon.  We slowed down for the last couple of hours to time the rapids at Whirlpool and Green Point then anchored for the night in Shoal Bay.  That is only an hour from the southern rapids so it was easy to time them. 

At Stewart Island we noted that Dennis Washington is in residence at his summer place.  It's nice enough.  Looks like a St. Regis Resort.  His boat is parked out front - about 200' - and his private golf course seems well groomed.  He was born in Spokane and moved to Montana as a kid where he started out on the business end of a shovel working construction.  Later he bought the company when it was in distress and turned it around.  That led to a copper mine or two and some railroads.  He also owns Sea Power Marine (tugs, barges, etc.) and other stuff. The "Washington Group" is privately held.  He's worth about 5 billion.

After about 4.5 hrs we anchored in Cortes Bay at the southern end of Cortes Island.  Cortes was one of the Spanish explorers that hung around up here with Vancouver in the late 1700's.  Tomorrow we will move about 1 hr south to Lund, a small community at the northern terminus of the coast highway.  The southern end is Tierra Del Fuego.

We were at Lund for Monday and Tuesday where we caught up on e-mail, had a couple of nice meals, visited Nancy's Bakery (The Cardiac Hut)  and just relaxed.  The wind is supposed to die down for Wednesday.

Wednesday, we moved south five hours to Pender Harbor.  We saw "Contender" on the AIS and hailed her.  She was also going to Pender along with their friends from Gig Harbor.  They came along after we anchored so we gathered on "Intrepid" for cocktails.

Thursday, we continued south to Snug Cove on Bowen Island which lies in Howe Sound, just north of Vancouver BC. We had the world's best Fish and Chips at Doc Morgan's then caught the ferry Friday PM to meet our friends Stephanie and Alan who live in West Vancouver.  We had drinks and appetizers at their home before eating dinner near the ferry dock.  We caught what's supposed to be the 9:40 ferry which didn't arrive until 10:30 so we were tired by the time we got back to the boat.

Saturday, we were up at 05:45 and backed away from the dock in Snug Cove by 06:30 for the five hour trip to Sucia Island in the Us San Juan Islands.  The water was flat calm, as predicted, as we rounded Sand Heads at the mouth of the Fraser River.  This is where we thought we were going to sink in "Ro-Ven", our first boat, when we got caught in 10' seas in our little 34' boat.  We thought it was fitting that our last trip was so peaceful when our first was terrifying.

Fox Cove - Sucia Island

 

Sucia is a WA state park with several picturesque bays with mooring buoys.  "Sucia" is the Spanish word for dirty or foul in the nautical sense.  Lots of rocks and reefs.  We checked Shallow Bay first but all the buoys were taken so we anchored in nearby Fox Cove on the west side of the island.  Soon, though, a boat left and we moved over to take the now available buoy.  As we nudged up along side her we caught a little current, Rolynn lost her hold on the buoy and it slipped under the boat.  Well, it didn't pop up on the other side or the stern.  We drifted for a while waiting for it to reappear but it didn't.  Apparently, we had caught her some how.  The boat was running but we obviously did not want to engage the prop and risk damaging it on the buoy or wrapping up something in the shaft.  Nudging around with the bow thruster didn't help.  OK, time to keel haul her.  The idea is to take a long line and pass it under the bow with me on one end and Rolynn on the other.  Then drag the line along the length of the hull, Rolynn walking along one side of the deck and me on the other, until we join up at the swim step.  The line will grab anything under the hull and it can now be pull up at the stern.  A little tugging and up popped the buoy.  As it did we heard clapping from a wedding ceremony on the beach.  We assumed the applause was for us.  

Sucia Island was purchased by the Johnson's of nearby Orcas Island in 1946.  Later, they had a chance to sell the island to a wealthy Californian who planned to turn it into private estate but the Johnson's didn't want that so they contacted the Interclub, representing 36 Puget Sound (Seattle) boating organizations, with an offer to sell the island to them.  They raised the $25,000 asking price in $2.00 to $5.00 donations, purchased the island and then donated it to the state for a marine park.  What a great story.  What are the chances of that happening today?

Sucia Island - Fox Cove Lower Right

 

Sucia, as well as many of the San Juan Islands, are sandstone and were carved out by the Pleistocene glaciers some 10,000 years ago.  The islands were pushed under the sea so there are lots of marine fossils now on the beaches.  Next to us is Fossil Bay where they are abundant.  Speaking of geology, a few years ago Colin, Rolynn's brother who is a geologist, was on the boat along with Rich, his colleague.  They work for a secret think tank in DC.  Their main client is the Threat Reduction Agency, part of the Department of Defense. They were collecting dunite a kind of rock indigenous to Mt. Baker and some other secret locations (Iraq?).  Anyway, Rolynn took them to shore in the dinghy.  Later, Colin told his crew back in DC about the experience, what a great location this is, etc., and gave them the coordinates.  His friends at the office accessed a satellite and e-mailed him a photo of the island.  In the photo, smack dab in the middle, you could plainly see Rolynn, Colin and Rich in our dinghy.  That was more than a little spooky.

Near here are two islands connected by an isthmus that dries at low tide.  In the early part of the century there was a fox farm on one island and the farmer raised horses on the other.  Every day at low tide he drove three horses across the isthmus, butchered them and ground the meat and bones into fox food.

There is a long history of smuggling in this area.  The abundant nooks and coves were perfect during the days of prohibition.  Canadian wool, too.  There are stories of San Juan sheep farmers and their miracle sheep that grew several hundred pounds of undeclared wool per year instead of the normal ten pounds.  Large numbers of Chinese laborers were also smuggled in from Canada in the 1800's for work on the railroads and canneries.  After 300,000 Chinese had entered, congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which only exacerbated the problem by creating a profitable black market.  One of the island's most famous smugglers of humans was "Kelly" who did so whenever he was not in jail.  It was claimed by one of his friends that on one of his trips with a load of Chinese he was being overtaken by a revenue cutter so he killed the Chinese, threw them overboard then let his boat be examined.  "China Rock" is just around the corner from us.  The story continues today.  Every so often you can see stories in the paper about captures of illegal drugs in the islands.

We will stay here two nights and mostly relax.  We have a lot to do when we return beginning Monday to prep the boat for sale.  She will be detailed and dived.  We will flush the water out of the outboard and scrub the dinghy.  We will meet with three boat brokers and two parties have made appointments to view her.  We hope to sell her FSBO and save on some of the 10% broker's fee but we need to be ready with a broker if that doesn't pan out.  We also need to begin hauling off 15 years of accumulated stuff.  VERY HEAVY SIGH! 

Lifting Piling

 

Monday, August 25 - We are tied up at the end of the dock at Anchor Cove.  Our renter is still in our slip plus there are things we need to do on the upper deck before we put the mast down and go under cover.  Next to us there is a barge and crane driving in new pilings at the Guemas Ferry dock.  It's noisy but interesting to watch the operation.  They lift and position the new pilings which have flukes on the end - kind of like a huge screw.  The crane slips the pilings into prepositioned sleeves then places a hydraulic driving head on the top.  The head vibrates like crazy and the piling just screws into the bottom.  They even drive them at angles.  Once they get started it only takes about 20 minutes to drive one in.  Then it's on to the next.




 

Positioning Drive Head

 

Driving Piling

Out trip this year was 2376 nm in 332 hours of engine time.  That's 7.1 nm/hr.  If we were a car that would be 2734 road miles.  As the crow flies, roughly equivalent to driving from Anacortes to central Nicaragua at 8 miles an hour.

This is likely the final post of "Intrepid Journeys".  We bought "Intrepid" in September of 1999 and have lived and cruised aboard her for about four months each year since.  It has been a wonderful adventure.  But, for us the question became, "What will be more fun?  A few more years of this or a few years of something completely different."  We opted for new adventures.  We don't know what they will be, exactly, but the time seems right to cast off for new tides.

Petersburg to Prince Rupert

Petersburg to Prince Rupert

Glo - Petersburg Harbormaster

We arrived in Petersburg on the 14th and stayed six nights while we sorted out electrical problems.  We have had more problems this year than in the past. They have all been electrical in nature which are often the most difficult to sort out.  But we think they have all been resolved now.  Individually, none of them were particularly serious but taken together they took on that appearance.

We left P'burg on the 20th and decided we would spend few days on only battery power to test things out.  So, we headed to Wrangell and stayed on the "Summer Dock" (no power) next to the Stikline Inn and the cruise ship dock.  We spent a few hours in their bar using the free wifi, had dinner there (outstanding bacon/cheeseburger) and returned to the boat.  About 21:00 one of the JV harbormasters knocked our window.  He apologized but he had just been informed by his boss that a cruise ship will be docking at 07:00 and our spot is needed for jet boats waiting to load passengers for eco-trips up the Stikine.  So, we had to be out of there before then or move to the city dock that night.  We opted for the early AM departure.  Sure enough, as we pulled away at about 06:45 we could see the cruise ship approaching from the west.

Petersburg Harbor

The conditions were perfect for our trip down Zimovia Strait and to nearby Canoe Passage, a good prawning spot.  We drop our prawn trap in 300' and a crab pot in front of a stream then anchored behind a little island for two days.  There I made a change which enabled the solar panels to be detected property by the battery monitor.  By departure time we were confident that our electrical system was working properly and that we would not need to buy $1500 worth of batteries in Ketchikan.  We found that the crab pot had a broken entry door allowing all the crabs to escape but we got 85 nice sized prawns and an octopus that got his share too.


By mid afternoon Wednesday we were tied up in Bar Harbor, the northern boat basin in K'kan, three slips away from "Contender" who had just returned from a few days fishing a little farther south.  Thursday was a very nice day then the weather turned awful.  It blew and rained HARD for five days.  We have to go to Prince Rupert to clear Canadian Customs and its about 11 hrs straight so we prefer to stop in either Kah Shakes Cove or Foggy Bay over night.  Both are on the Alaska side of the boarder, just north of Dixon Entrance.  Once we cross the boarder we can not legally touch shore or bottom until we clear customs in PR.  For days, they were forecasting light winds for Thurs-Sat in Dixon Entrance (open to the Pacific) so we planned to depart Wednesday AM, anchor in Kah Shakes (Foggy Bay will be full of commercial gill net boats since there is an opening this week) then continue to PR on Thursday for our 43rd anniversary dinner at the Cow Bay Cafe in PR.  But, Tuesday AM the forecasts took a 180 turn for the worse.  Now, Wed looks possible but Thurs-Sat do not.  So, the current plan is for an early departure Wed AM and go straight to PR.  Stay tuned.

Ketchikan Harbor

Wednesday, July 30 - We departed K'kan at 05:00 heading for Prince Rupert bypassing Foggy Bay, our normal stopping point.  It was a delightful passage over flat water and under blue skies.  We saw "Contender" on the AIS (Automatic Information System - an electronic device aboard boats that broadcasts their position, heading, speed, etc)  so we hailed them on the radio.  Larry said they had over nighted in the night in Kah Shakes Cove where it blew like stink all night.  We were glad we had stayed in K'kan. 

Our only difficulty was all the gill netters fishing off Tree Point.  We have seen this before so we were not surprised.  Gill netters lay out long nets with an orange float at either end, neither actually attached to the boat.  The boat then stands guard near one float and drifts with the net.  Our task is to identify which floats are associated with which boat and to pick a path among them.  The top of the net has small white floats along it making a kind of dotted line between the orange floats but they are difficult to see until you are close, especially when peering into the sun as we were.  But there were about twenty or so boats/nets fishing relatively close to one another.  (Because that's where the fish are.)  But, with careful attention and by talking with the skippers when necessary we made our way through.

Green Island Light House -Canada Near US Border

By 14:00 we entered Venn Passage, the intricate water way leading into Prince Rupert Harbor from the north.  We contacted Canadian customs and were issued a clearance number with minimal fuss.  The only available moorage here is the Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club. It is less impressive than it wounds.  It is small with tight maneuvering.  We were assigned a port side tie which is difficult for a single propeller boat such as "Intrepid" especially given a little breeze.  But, with much fuss we were eventually secure to the dock.  All in all, it was an eleven hour trip after adjusting for the time zone change.  That's about an hour less than we had guessed it would be.

Thursday morning  we went to the Cowpachino coffee shop.  We are in Cow Bay so named because it where they used to barge in cows at one time.  Anyway, cows are the theme.  We then schlepped up the hill to the Safeway and the liquor store.  Back at the boat we took advantage of the nice day to take more pictures if the boat for the Intrepid-For-Sale blog site http://intrepid-for-sale.blogspot.com/.  Tonight we will go to the Cow Bay Cafe for our 43rd anniversary dinner.

Dinner was excellent.  Tomorrow we will depart early to take advantage of favorable currents in Greenville Channel for the 10 hr trip to Lowe Inlet where we hope to watch the bears fish at Verney Falls.  We should be at Shearwater on Monday.

Sitka to Petersburg

Sitka Harbor and Mt. Edgecomb

We hung out in Sitka with "Contender" (Kathy and Larry Claiborne) until July 7.  One day, while Rolynn and Kathy were shopping,  Larry and I took the Arima, his fishing boat, out to circumnavigate Japanski Island on which the airport lays.  (You always know when a plane is about to take off because they shoot off explosives to clear the runway of birds.)   It turned out there is a long spit on its west side so we had to go quite a ways out to get around it.  I think they call it "Japanski" because you have to half way to Japan to get around the island.  I found myself humming the theme song from "Gilligan's Island".

Sitka to Petersburg

Monday, July 7 - We departed for the east coast of Baranof Island.  Meanwhile, "Contender" headed for a few days of fishing in Salisbury Sound.  The timing of Sergius Narrows was such that we anchored just west of there in Schultze Bay.  That made transit simple the following day.  By mid afternoon of the 8th we were anchored in Appleton Cove.  The conditions in Chatham Strait the following morning were not favorable so we stayed another night.  Chatham runs almost due N-S and is about 160 miles long.  That is a huge fetch and the wind usually comes from the south so Chatham is nothing to fool with.  (Fetch is the water distance over which an unobstructed wind blows.  The higher the winds and the longer the fetch the bigger the waves.) 

That night we tried to start our diesel heater but it would only run for a while then peter out.  It obviously wasn't getting fuel.  Probably the fuel filter.  Something to look at tomorrow.

So tomorrow comes and I crawl into the engine room to look at the heater fuel filter, pump etc.  Filter looks OK so I check the fuel line for obstruction.  That looks OK too but still no fuel.  Hmmm.  A little later I try to start the generator - nothing.  No crank, no click, no panel lights.  Oh Oh!  This can be serious.  When I check the gen start battery I find 6.1 volts in what should be a 12.6 volt battery.  The battery is DEAD, DEAD, DEAD!!  Oaky Doaky - I rob Peter to pay Paul by moving the dinghy hoist battery to the generator.  Of course, I forgot to lift the dingy (which we had been towing but do not want to tow in Chatham) up to the upper deck.  So, I move one of the two main engine starting batteries from the engine room up to the dinghy hoist.  (We can still start the engine with one battery.)  During this process it dawns on me what the problem with the heater is.  The heater pump takes its power from  (wait for it) the gen battery which was DEAD!!!  Here we have a perfect example of the inverse of:

Anderson's Third Nautical Law, which careful readers will recall states--

"If you have a problem then there is more than one cause."

--and its inverse --

"If there is only one cause then there is more than one problem."

The dead battery was causing both problems

Later that day, here comes "Contender" followed by their friends Harry and Sandy on "Sea Eagle" where we gathered later for cocktails.

The following morning, the tenth, we all departed for Warm Springs Bay, about five hours down Chatham on the east coast of Baranof.  Chatham, as predicted, was about as flat as it gets so it was a nice day on the water.  Located in the bay is a a small community of summer homes, a beautiful waterfall and multiple hot springs for soaking.  This has been a popular spot for many years.  The Tlingits paddled here from Sitka and Angoon 10,000 years ago.  People of western descent did not find the springs until 1891.  Well, it was a nice, sunny day.  I attended to a few nagging electrical problems but several remain unresolved.  The most perplexing of which is low system voltage when there shouldn't be.  More study is required.

Warm Springs Bay - Baranof Island

Friday/Saturday - July 11/12:  "Contender' and "Sea Eagle" head towards Petersburg but we headed farther south to Red Bluff Bay.  There are several waterfalls in there and it is a popular excursion boat stop.  But, the weather is not nice - rain and fog when we anchor at the head of the bay.  We stay two nights hoping for better weather but it does not come.  While we are there we continue low voltage issues without explanation, at least from me.

Sunday, July 13 - We motor NE up Chatham from Red Bluff in calm water but in fog - 0.5 mile visibility.  7 hours later we anchor Behind Reid Island in Farragut Bay.  The fog is gone, still no wind but it is dreary.  We decide to hunt up an electrician in Petersburg. 

Monday, July 14 - Two hours out of Petersburg the main DC voltage needle starts jumping all over the place and the battery monitor amperage is jumping as well.  Instead of reading about 45 A is about 3 A.  Something is wrong.  I start the generator and the amperage is still a shaky 3.  OK - we are not going to leave P'burg until we get these things solved.

Rush Hour in Petersburg

We get tied up and I head up the dock to the NAPA store to buy a replacement battery for the dinghy hoist and to get the names of a a couple of guys who purport to be marine electricians.  When I returned to the boat with the battery Rolynn informs me that there has been an "incident" during my
absence.  We have been hit by a purse seiner as he was trying to dock next to us.  And he left.  There is some gel coat and teak damage on our port-aft transom.  Rolynn called the harbormaster who contacted the skipper of the other boat and who was now in the south harbor.  He came over on his bike.  He and Rolynn, with the help of the harbormaster, eventually negotiated a $500 cash settlement.  While that was going on I made arrangements for an electritian to come to the boat Tuesday morning.

Tuesday-Saturday, July 15-19:  Darby, the electrician, arrived at 8 :30 and we worked through the various issues we have.  It's complicated because we don't know if the issues are interrelated or not. The pattern became one of morning work with Darby, afternoon/overnight testing, discussion of a revised plan and morning work with Darby.  Anyway, we tackled them one at a time starting with the alternator.  At first it looked like we would have to replace it ($940) but after a couple of days of fussing with it seems to be OK now. We think we have the worst problems resolved but we won't know for sure until we cruise for a few days.  There will be more resources in Ketchikan if we need them.

So, it looks like we will depart for Wrangle on Sunday and be in Prince Rupert, BC , in about a week.

INTREPID FOR SALE

After nearly 30 years of summer boating we have decided it is time for new adventures. So, our beloved "Intrepid" is up for sale. You can see her details at the link below. Please feel free to pass this link on to others who might be interested.

http://intrepid-for-sale.blogspot.com/

Juneau to Sitka and Glacier Bay

And now appearing on our stage all week are guest bloggers Barri Dymontt and Bonnie Lauer

Barri & Bonnie's Wonderful Alaska Adventure to and thru Glacier Bay Nat.ional Park - June 10 - 20, 2014

June 10 - 11:  We flew to Juneau and met Steve and Rolynn onboard Intrepid in Auke Bay. The next day we headed north towards Glacier Bay, stopping in Swanson Cove for the night. We saw many whale spouts on the way and were joined by about six dolphins swimming/surfing with us at the bow of the boat. After we anchored, Roly and Barri fished for bait fish in anticipation of halibut fishing the next day. Result - one rockfish.

Moon Over Flynn Cove

Sea Otters

June 12 -13:  Incredible scenery on the way to our next anchorage in Flynn Cove. More dolphin surfing and otters galore. While anchored in the cove we saw several cruise ships and whales pass by in the main channel. At about 11:00pm (dusk in Alaska) we saw the full moon rising, a brilliant orange glow above the evergreens. I will forward pictures to Steve when I figure out how to download them from my new camera! Digitally challenged again!  The next day we arrived in Bartlett Cove, the official entrance to Glacier Bay National Park. Our permit to enter started the next day but Steve got permission to enter a day early. The only way to see Glacier Bay is by boat and you must have a permit to enter and check in and out at the park headquarters in Bartlett Cove. Only 25 pleasure craft and 2 cruise ships are allowed on any given day. Roly and Barri did their fishing outside Bartlett Cove but the current was too strong and they had difficulty getting their lines to the bottom, necessary for halibut fishing(at least that's what they said) We were docked in Bartlett in time to sign in and attend the 5pm orientation that is required for entrance.

Glacier Bay

The bay was first a national monument but then designated a national Park in 1986.  The park and a much larger surrounding area was also designated as a UN World Heritage site in1992.  The bay is 65 miles long but the park is over 5000 square miles (3,280,000 acres) - about the size of Connecticut.  The heritage site, at 24,300,000 acres, is one of the worlds largest protected areas.

Glaciers have come and gone here many times over the millennia.  The most recent expansion was during the "Little Ice Age", about 1300 - 1750.  That expansion forced the Huna Tlinget natives, who lived in the bay, to relocate to their present site at nearby Hoonah.  But, they still consider the bay their ancestral homeland.  When Capt. Vancouver was here in 1794 the ice extended into Icy Straits (hence the name) and was 4000 feet thick in the bay. Today, the glaciers have retreated 60 miles up bay but still cover 27% of the park.  There are 1045 glaciers, fifty of which are named and seven of which are active tidal glaciers.  Two of the glaciers are stable, the rest are retreating.  The face of the ice we see today is about 200 years old.

Glacier Bay

June 14 -15: The next day was rainy as we headed out of Bartlett and officially into Glacier Bay National Park through

Fairweather Mountains from Blue Mouse Cove

the waters where most of the whales are feeding near the shoreline. Again we saw lots and lots of otters, I'm sure they have the best time of anyone in Glacier! We anchored inside Geike Inlet in Shag Cove. Shag Cove is a beautiful, classic u-shaped alpine valley that is surrounded by vertical granite walls and numerous waterfalls streaming down them. By the time we anchored the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. We awoke to a beautiful sunny morning and headed to our next anchorage, Blue Mouse Cove on the Gilbert Peninsula. At the mouth of Blue Mouse is the Carrol Glacier and from the back of the cove are views of the Brady Ice Fields, just spectacular.

Ice on Radar

June 16 -17: Another beautiful, sunny morning. Since the weather was good we decided to head to Margerie Glacier, near the northern border of the park. What a sight! And what sounds! The glacier actually grumbles and pops as the ice breaks off and falls into the water. As we came to the glacier we were joined by two excursion boats and a large cruise ship. We just drifted nearby in view of the glacier and watched and listened to it for about an hour.

Cruise Ship at Margorie Glacier

Drinks are Ready!

Also scooped some glacial ice out of the water for that evenings G & T's. We headed back south and anchored by Russell Island with a great view of a hanging glacier. A storm blew in that night and the anchor alarm went off. Steve was awake most of the night watching the anchor and had just gone to bed when Roly  awakened him to say we needed to move the boat. We went across the channel to Reid Inlet at 7:00am. Reid Glacier is in the back of the inlet. We had just finished breakfast when Barri spotted a bear on the shore.

Reid Inlet Bear

Not just any bear, a BIG brown/grizzly bear! He just strolled down the shoreline towards the glacier and eventually disappeared, unbelievable! We then moved farther south and stopped again at Blue Mouse Cove. A mix of lingering rain and sun produced a rainbow for our viewing pleasure that afternoon.

Blue Mouse Cove

North Sandy Cove at Midnight

Crested Puffin

June 18 -19: The next morning was rainy and we waited in Blue Mouse until about 1:00p before heading to N. Sandy Cove. We had our first Puffin sighting on the way. There were several in the water opposite Sebree Island, they are very unique and much smaller than I thought. The sun returned the next morning and we were off to North and South Marble Islands. At N. Marble we saw the Stellar Sea Lions by the hundreds! Many in the water but most lounging on the cliffs. Another amazing sight and sounds! S. Marble is known for the Puffins and there they were, mostly in the water and in large flocks. We continued on to Strawberry Island, seeing numerous otters and dolphins on the way. We anchored in N. Fingers Bay and had a great view of the Fairweather Range on the way. Probably our most important sighting took place on the way into the bay. We passed a boat coming out with a woman waving at us and she had something in her hand. A look thru the binoculars revealed a copy of Roly's book Lie Catchers!!! You will have to ask Roly about the rest of that story! The next important sighting came after we had anchored and from the stern deck Roly spotted a MOOSE!  Like the bear, just strolling along the shore and eventually disappearing into the wilderness....

Bonnie and Barri

June 20: Back to Bartlett Cove where our adventure started. We had lunch in The Lodge and took the shuttle to Gustavus International Airport. All good things come to an end but what a trip! Thank you so much Steve and Rolynn for giving us a once in a lifetime opportunity. It is truly a bucket list item fulfilled. Safe travels and see you back in AG.
Love, B & B

Errata - Blue Mouse Cove is named for, of all things, a theater in New York.  The Fairweather Mountains form the western side of the bay, contain 13 peaks over 10,000' - Mount Fairweather being the highest at just over 15,000'.

Elfin Cove Neighbors

Saturday, June 21 & 22 - Elfin Cove:  Elfin Cove is about three hours from Bartlett and sits just south and east of Cape Spencer on the very edge of the Gulf of Alaska.  (That's where our insurance ends.)  It is a small community of about 20 or so permanent residents plus a number of part timers.  There are four fishing lodges, a post office, general store, gift shop, and cafe. The inner cove is guarded by an island and all the buildings are connected by boardwalks.  Most of the buildings are constructed on pilings or perched on the side of the rocks.  Many of the boardwalks are actually part of the Alaska State Highway system.  Some DOT guys are here doing "road maintenance".  During the war there were naval gun emplacements on nearby George Island.  The ruins are still there.  (The weather is too bad to take pictures but you can check out the Cove from our 2011 Alaska trip.)

When we arrived the dock was full of trollers waiting for an opening the next day.  There were also two large yachts, one of which we rafted to.  It had just crossed the Gulf of Alaska from Cordova in Prince William Sound - a 28 hr trip.  Later, a fishing boat needed to move so we all shuffled around to let him out.  In the process we ended up rafted to a small trolling boat on the opposite side of the dock.  Later still we made another major shuffle of four boats to get him to the outside so that he could leave at 04:00 the next morning.  Better now than then.

Troller in Action

Our plan was to head down Lisianaski Inlet to Pelican, another boardwalk town, then out to the western side of Chichagof Island to take the "smooth water route" to Sitka.  But it is a warren of rocks, reefs, and kelp beds - only suitable for settled weather which we are not forecast to have.  (Today it is blowing 40 with 12 ft seas on the outside.  So, after regrouping here we will backtrack around the north end of Chichagof then south to Hoonah, Tenakee Springs and Peril Strait.  Peril runs between Chichagof and Baranof Islands and is the safe, but longer, route to Sitka.  We expect to be in Sitka on the 28th if all goes as planned.

We went to the cafe for dinner and Shirley, the owner, remembered Rolynn as an author from our last trip.  She volunteered to organize a community book talk on Sunday so she called a number of her friends.  A nice thing to do.  The talk went well and Rolynn met a number of Europeans off a small cruise ship as well as a few of the locals.  One woman described herself as a "newbie" having only lived here for twenty years.

Monday, June 23 - The wind has not diminished sufficiently so we will remain here today.  Tomorrow looks better.

Tuesday, June 24 - Today we made the relatively easy trip back around the north end of Chichagof to Hoonah, an indian village, which as become a more popular stop for cruisers and cruise ships which anchor in the bay.  After we settled in we saw our friends the Roberts pull in aboard Adventures.  Later they came over for a drink and we walked up to a little cafe.

Tenakee Springs

Wednesday, June 25 - We moved another 6 hours down the coast to Tenakee Springs, a town of about 100 permanent residents. The word Tenakee is from the Tlingit word “tinaghu”, meaning “Coppery Shield Bay.” This refers to three copper shields, highly prized by the Tlingits, that were lost in a storm.  Early prospectors and fishermen came to the site to wait out the winters and enjoy the natural hot springs.

Thursday, June 26 - Another six hours south found us in Appleton Cove near the east end of Peril Straits.  The main portion of the cove was so crowded with commercial crab pots that we couldn't get in but we did manage to squeeze in to a smaller corner.  As we were watching a movie that night we were startled by a knocking on the hull.  It was Larry Claiborne and his cousin Dennis, another high school neighbor and friend.

Fairweather at 30 Knots

Friday, June 27 - Today we made the seven hour trip to Sitka via Peril and Neva Straits.  Peril is not as ominous as its name implies but it does contain Sergius Narrows which has to be transited at near slack tide.  On the far side of Sergius lies Neva Straits which is named for the Russian ship that explored (and sank) in this area around 1805.  On the AIS we saw the fast ferry Fairweather coming our way through Neva.  She was doing 30 kts.  We got out of her way.  Our trip was otherwise uneventful and we pulled into Sitka Harbor around 16:00.

Chichagof Island

But, there was no room in the inn so we had to tie up to the breakwater. Soon after we tied up we were notified that we could move into a slip on the main dock and 30 minutes later were in our new home.  Sitka Harbor is the largest marina system in Alaska with over 1300 slips most of which are occupied by commercial vessels.  It is very busy just now because the troller and seine seasons are about to open so the vessels are all provisioning and attending to last minute repairs.  The docks are crawling with welders, refrigeration techs, riggers, hydraulic repairmen and so forth.  Speaking of repairs we have an outboard that won't start and a freezer that won't stay cold at anchor so we have to attend to those issues.  The problem is that the repair people are on the commercial vessels so it will be hard to find someone (good) to help us.  I also have to change oil and filters in the main engine and generator.  It's been about 200 hours since we left Anacortes, the rough equivalent of about 12,000 auto miles, so it's time.

(From Wikipedia)  Sitka's location was originally settled by the Tlingit people over 10,000 years ago. The Russians settled Old Sitka in 1799 under the name Redoubt Saint Michael.  The governor of Russian America, Alexander Baranov, arrived under the auspices of the Russian-American Company, a colonial trading company chartered by Tsar Paul I in 1802.  Tlingit warriors destroyed the original establishment, killing 24 Russians and 200 Aleuts, enslaving the rest, with only a few managing to escape.  Baranov returned to Sitka in 1804 with 150 Russians and 700 Aleuts with the Russian warship Neva. The ship bombarded the Tlingit fort but was not able to cause significant damage. The Russians then launched an attack on the fort and were repelled by Tlingit fighters and marksmen. However, the Tlingit gunpowder reserves had been lost before the Russian assault and the Tlingit were forced to leave the fort...  Following their victory at the Battle of Sitka, the Russians established New Archangel as a permanent settlement named after Arkhangelsk, the largest city in the region where Baranov was born. The Tlingit re-established a fort on the Chatham Strait side of Peril Strait to enforce a trade embargo with the Russian establishment. In 1808, with Baranov still governor, Sitka was designated the capital of Russian America.  The Cathedral of St. Michael was built in Sitka in 1848 and became the seat of the Russian Orthodox Bishop of Kamchatka, the Kurile and Aleutian Islands, and Alaska. The original church burnt to the ground in 1966, but was restored to its original appearance, with the deliberate exception of its clockface, which is black in photographs taken prior to 1966, but white in subsequent photos.  "As out of the way as it appears now, the settlement was once known as the "Paris of the Pacific;" for the first half of the nineteenth century, it was the most important port on the West Coast."

Saint Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Sitka

June 28 - July 4:  I conducted some freezer tests that can only be done at the dock and found a voltage drop in the electrical path leading to the 12 volt freezer compressor.  I wired around the offending portion of the path and the compressor began to behave properly.  We let it get good and cold then shut off the shore power all night (like at anchor).  In the morning it was colder than when we went to bed! 

On Monday, we were able to hook up with "Swifty's Outboard Repair".  After a couple of missed phone messages Swifty came down to the boat and he had us going in short order.  It's amazing what a spark plug wire, a cup of coffee and a $100 bill will accomplish!  Later we began to walk into town when a nice man in a pickup asked if we wanted a lift - sure.  In town Rolynn checked at the post office for her book shipment (no), we got haircuts and had dinner on the way back.  We stopped at Ludwig's to make reservations for tomorrow evening.  Ludwig's is a small (maybe 12-14 seats) restaurant and is considered to be the best, if not cheapest, eatery in SE Alaska.  We ate there in 2011 and it is excellent.  You will have a full report tomorrow.

Contender is back in the harbor and Kathy flies in on Thursday.  Thursday, the third, is also the fourth of July fireworks display.  We will stick around for that then probably head out on Friday.

Ketchikan to Juneau

May 26-29:  We arrived in K'kan in the 28th, our 15th day out of Anacortes and that's with spending 5 days in Shearwater.   We decided that, if we pushed hard with good weather and currents we could make K'kan in 10 days.  We hung out here for four days not doing a whole lot of anything.  Just a few boat projects and meeting up with boating friends.

Ketchikan to Meyers Chuck

Friday, May 30 - We departed for the six hr run to Meyers Chuck, the half way point between K'kan and Wrangell.  Meyers Chuck is a little cove on the western tip of the Clevleland Peninsula.
It is home to about a dozen permanent residents and another 20 or so summer houses.  The story is that when the government came through here looking for post office sites they asked a local fisherman the name of the place.  "Chuck" he replied, giving the native term for a small bay or cove.  "What's your name", they asked?  "Meyers" he said.  Among the residents is a commercial fisherman who came here at 7 years of age and has lived here continuously since.  He is now 77 and has never driven a car. 

As we were rounding Cape Caution we were passed by the Alaska Ferry "Malispinia".  Shortly after we received a text message from a passenger who is the former owner of "Pico Blanco", another Krogen.  He recognized "Intrepid" and wanted so say hello.  Well, shortly after we anchored in Meyers Chuck, who should motor up in his skiff but the same "Krogenite".  He owns a summer house in Meyers Chuck.  So we chatted for a while and he invited us to use his dock but we were comfortable in our spot and Rolynn wanted to get some writing done.  The following morning a woman in a skiff appeared as we were preparing to get under way.  She is the post mistress and was offering cinnamon roles for sale!  We took four and started to get underway.  But, we caught a long chunk of old logging cable on our anchor and t took a few minutes of wrestling with it to disengage.

Meyers Chuck to Wrangle

Saturday, May 31 - Today's destination is Wrangell via Zamovia Straits - about 6 hrs.  The weather and currents were fine and we settled in to the downtown docks by mid afternoon.  We stayed on the boat even though there is a decent pizza place nearby.

Wrangell Narrows

Sunday, June 1 - Today we must transit Wrangell Narrows, the waterway leading to Petersburg.  There are more than 60 buoys, day marks and ranges along its serpentine path.  But as long as we keep track of exactly were we are there is no problem.  We calculated the currents well and got a good push most of the way.  As we entered the busy Petersburg harbor we were greeted by our friends from "Adventures" who will be wintering here.  It will be different than their former home in the Florida Keys.  Also there were Mik and Barb Endrody, former Krogenites, who were delivering a "Choisi" a new Krogen 55 to its new owners in Juneau as well as "Kama Hele Kai", another 55.  Later, we went out to find dinner but only one of the four places in town was open this Sunday evening.  So, we hiked about a mile south to a Chinese restaurant.  Staying on the boat would have been better.  Oh well.

Monday - Larry and Kathy Claiborne aboard their Krogen "Contender" arrived today with generator troubles.  Larry and his brother, Bruce and I went to high school together.  I grew up just down the road from the Claiborne farm where they raised string beans.  In those years, working on the farm was my summer job.  Kathy provided dinner on "Intrepid" since "Contender's" floor was open to provide access to the generator.  It was a nice evening.

Tuesday - I had ordered a LinkPro tm battery system monitor to replace the LinkLite tm which was to small for my battery bank.  It arrived today so I spent an hour or so installing it.  Seems to be working fine.  I can return the LinkLite tm to West Marine when we return to Anacortes.  Rolynn was busy preparing for her book signing on Thursday.  We found Coast Cold Storage to be a good place for WiFi and breakfast.

Wednesday - More prep for book signing and a gathering of Krogenites, plus a few SOBs (Some Other Boat) on "Salty Dawg" for drinks.  She is a new 48' Krogen owned by Knut and Gerry Frostad who live aboard here.  He is a commercial fisherman who will soon be heading to Bristol Bay, on his fishing boat, for the six week season there.

Thursday - Book Signing Day at the Sing Lee Book Store.  The store is located across the street from the tavern (then a store) in which Sing Lee was murdered in 1932.  In "Lie Catchers" Rolynn solves the murder along with another, present day killing.  Rolynn has been on TV, the radio and in the newspaper!  She can't go ten feet in town without someone stopping her to chat.  There were lots of folks and she sold out!  That evening we had a Krog-In dinner at the Elks Club which Rolynn organized.  It was a very successful and well deserved day for Rolynn.  

Guest Bloggers:  Rich and Sandy Diehl, our good friends from Arroyo Grande, CA and Ouray, CO, have joined us in Petersburg and will be with us until Juneau.  Please put your hands together for RICH AND SANDY!

Monday June 2 - Sandy and I flew into Ketchikan several days prior to meeting up with Steve and Rolynn.  We checked into a small hotel on the famous Creek St., location of Ketchikan's many brothels in the early 20th century.  Our 1st observation was of the several large cruise ships parked at dockside which were visible from anywhere in town.  That evening we went to Annabelle's for dinner where we both enjoyed a great meal. As we exited the restaurant we were delighted to discover that the cruise ships had departed, only to be replaced the next morning by several new ones.

The next morning we bounded out of bed at 1st light ready for a cup of coffee only to discover that it was 3:45 AM so back to bed for a couple hours of restless sleep in what seemed like the middle of the day.  At 6:30 we headed out for Sweet Mermaids, a coffee shop that S and R had recommended, we waited at their front door till they opened at 7.

Misty Fjords

Rich and Sandy in Misty Fjords

At 10 AM we met Michelle at Island Wings Air for a float plane trip to Misty Fjord National Monument, not to be missed when visiting Ketchikan.  Michelle has been a bush pilot in Alaska for over  20 years. Her plane is a rebuilt DeHavilland Beaver, the most famous of all the float planes used in Alaska; their production was discontinued years ago.  We had a great scenic flight over the monument often flying close to mountain peaks then swooping down to water level and  landing on a lake in a narrow valley where she motored to the shore.  We hopped out onto the pontoon and then ashore to walk around.  Overall it was a fantastic experience and the highlight of our stay in Ketchikan.


On the morning of June 5 we headed to the airport to catch a plane for the short flight to Petersburg to meet up with Steve & Rolynn.  On the plane we sat beside a young man who was going to Petersburg to crew on a salmon seining boat for the next two months.  We peppered him with questions about commercial fishing in Alaska. At 23, he already had almost 10 years of crewing experience on fishing boats after dropping out of school at an early age.  His was a common story in the industry, work hard for 2-3 months, make lots of money then blow it all over the winter and start all over again in the next fishing season.

Salmon Seining

We arrived in Petersburg, took a cab to the North Marina and immediately ran into Steve on the dock as he was returning from an errand in town.  We proceeded to the "Intrepid" where Rolynn was in manic mode preparing for her book signing to take place that afternoon at the local book store.  Roly had spent the previous few days canvassing the town promoting her book; Steve had been smart enough to stay out of her way.  Hopefully, our arrival was a calming experience as we sat down and chatted for an hour before heading to the bookstore at noon to prepare for the 1:00 book signing. The event was a rousing success and it was fun to watch her work the room.  People were generally enthused to meet her and buy her book(s).  The signing concluded, we retreated to the boat for an early cocktail hour and prepare for that evening's mini reunion of Krogen boat owners.  Roly had put this reunion together and we had a great time at the local Elks lodge having drinks and dinner with the other boat owners.

The next day we walked all over town particularly enjoying the small museum. Petersburg is a small (approx. 3500 pop.) town with a commercial fishing economy.  There are 3 marinas mostly filled with local fishing boats and, best of all, no cruise ships. S and ;R invited Larry and; Kathy, fellow Krogen owners to dinner.  Steve went to high school with Larry but had lost touch for many years until they hooked up again while boating.  We enjoyed a great dinner, the evening was sunny and quite warm.  The next morning we woke to cool, cloudy, and rainy weather and prepared to take off and head to Gambier Bay approximately 60 miles north, a run of about 7-8 hours.  Before leaving Roly got a phone call from Krogen friends Knut and Gerry on the "Salty Dawg". They were moored in the South Marina and offered us fresh halibut. I headed out to get the halibut, Roly went to the Coastal cafe to use the wifi and Steve stayed back to prepare for the departure. An hour later we departed Petersburg. It was cloudy and cool with calm water and very light winds and a few showers.  The trip was uneventful until about 20 miles from our destination when we spotted our 1st whale. Then for the next hour we watched numerous whales with many tails flying as they started their deep dives. We continued north up Stephens Passage and entered Gambier Bay on Admiralty Island.  Steve intended to anchor at Snug Cove but while motoring toward the cove Roly read about another anchorage just north of  small Good Island. We checked it out and it was perfect, a small protected bay.  As we anchored it started to rain steadily, Roly prepared dinner and the baked halibut was outstanding, without a doubt the best we had ever had.

Bubble Feeding

We woke up on Sunday, the 8th, to clouds and wind, approximately 15 knots with gusts to about 20-25. We delayed our departure to watch the weather. About 10 AM Roly noticed a whale off the stern coming our direction.  For the next 2 hours we were entertained by the whale(s) circling the boat and bubble feeding, an amazing sight. The whale blows bubbles while swimming in a circle capturing the small fish in it's bubbles and drives them toward the surface. He then lunges thru the fish with his huge mouth open coming out of the water. We had only learned of bubble feeding from Larry & Kathy the night before so to witness it was pretty special. The wind and the water began to calm down about 1:00 and we left to head north at 2.  The plan was to motor to Taku Harbor a run of approximately 7 hours but once underway S & R suggested anchoring at Holkham Bay at the entrance to Tracy Arm. As we approached we started spotting small icebergs floating in the water that had detached from the glaciers within Tracy Arm.  The weather was still cloudy with a light rain but the water in the bay was calm.

Tracy Arm

Gambier Island to Auke Bay (Juneau)

Monday, June 9th - We realized that we had a long run to Auke Bay just north of Juneau, approximately 7.5 hours, so we were up early.  The weather was cloudy with a low ceiling and light rain but, more importantly, the water and winds were calm. We headed out of Holkam Bay spotting numerous icebergs several with eagles and small birds perched on them. We headed out into the main channel, Stephens Passage, and headed north. Along the way we spotted several large cruise ships, several fishing boats and a tugboat pulling a large barge filled with shipping containers.  We also spotted several whales, some not far from the boat. The weather was cloudy the entire way but we loved it as often stormy weather is much more interesting to watch than clear blue skies with no clouds.  We arrived at Auke Bay shortly after 2:00. On the way into the marina the Mendenhall glacier dominates the skyline. We were fortunate that the low ceiling had lifted to a point that we were able to view the glacier.  You can not make reservations at the marina so we hoped that a space was available at the transient docks. We found one, tied up, and then realized that there was no power. We spotted one not far away that appeared to be the last remaining space available but it meant parallel parking the "Intrepid" in a very tight space which

Mendenhall Glacier - Auke Bay

Steve did masterfully (with one able and two willing but inexperienced deckhands). Once settled the best decision of the day was made, early G&T's.

Thanks to Steve and Rolynn for a most memorable experience on the "Intrepid" boating the inside passage of Alaska, we enjoyed it all and look forward to the next adventure together.

Tuesday, June 10 - Today is change over day.  Rich and Sandy decamp for their B and B while other good CA friends, Barri Dymontt and Bonnie Lauer come aboard. So, there is a flurry of activity:  washing clothes, getting propane, going to airport and Costco, etc, etc.  We all know one another well so we will have dinner together tonight and probable kick around Juneau tomorrow, as well.  Thursday, we will depart for Glacier Bay National Park for a week of cruising with Barri and Bonnie.