Petersburg Alaska

Friday June 27

Maggie in her Buddy Rider for a bike tour of Petersburg. 

We have arrived in Petersburg, and the trip so far has been quite an adventure. We have been trying to explore some places we didn't get into last time we were here. Petersburg wasn't one of them, but it is such a quaint town, we really couldn't pass it up.

Alaskan sunset in St John Bay, Zarembo Island

We have finally had a couple days of no rain, the last week has been hard to take with all the rain we had. If it wasn't raining, it was spitting or misting. We only just yesterday got dried out. But it really is amazing what a few days of sun will do for your spirits! 

Distant rain, coming our way...

Dungeness crab season opened here on June 15th so just about all the anchorages have a gazillion crab traps and mostly in the depth of water we need to anchor. So it does make things a bit more interesting when putting down the anchor. 

Marina/Cruise Ship madness Ketchikan 

We enjoyed our time in Ketchikan (except for the rain, which was one downpour after another), but we were glad to move on. Originally we were only going to stay one night, but the next day's forecast was completely miserable, so we decided to hunker down and have a popcorn day.

Margie enjoying her morning cuppa coffee on Fancy Free, Quotoon Inlet BC

Truly the most beautiful spot on our trip so far was the end of Quotoon Inlet off Work Channel just northeast of Port Simpson. And we had the pleasure of sharing that time with Margie and Al on their boat. We will definitely visit this area again.

Pair of grizzly cubs, Work Inlet BC. You can almost expect to see bears everywhere you stop.

Our next leg will be from Petersburg to Juneau, probably. We will stop in Endicott Arm to visit Ford's Terror and Dawes Glacier. Then either head up to Juneau or tour around the eastern shore of Admiralty Island. We will just see where the wind blows us. Until next time! Keep the wind in your sails!

Full Moon in Prince Rupert

Friday June 13th

Arrival in Prince Rupert

Friday June 13, 2014

We arrived in Prince Rupert harbour yesterday afternoon. We started off motoring into 15-20 knots of wind, but then with a bit of a change in wind direction and our heading we were able to put up the sails and had a exciting sail all the way into the harbour. 

Sailing across Queen Charlotte Strait, EXCELLENT!

From Ladysmith Harbour to Crease Island in the Broughton's took us just 3 1/2 days, that is a record time for us, but we really pushed it. Normally we would take at least a week to do that distance.

Sunset, always beautiful on the west coast.

From Port McNeill to Prince Rupert, the trip has been mostly uneventful. We have seen humpbacks and dolphins, caught a nice big ling cod, and done some beach combing (haven't found any treasures yet!).

Miss Maggie... where do I go from here?

After my last post, I did promise to tell a little story and it just happens to be about Miss Maggie. We went for a walk after anchoring in a small cove on the mainland. We knew we might be in bear country, so went prepared with our can of bear spray. We walked along an old logging road for about 30 minutes and turned around and shortly after that we all three saw a grizzly come out of the forest about 150 feet in front of us. Maggie took off after him before we could do anything. So, we both ran after Maggie, shouting all the way. The bear ran as fast as he could trying to get away from this awful monster that was right on his heals and making big loud noises! She came back, after probably chasing the bear for half a kilometer, looking like she was in big trouble, but we were just so glad to see her again! So, from now on, we will have her on a leash if there is any chance bears are around. 

Alaska Bound this summer!

Saturday May 31, 2014

Well, we are at it again.... we have departed on our next adventure and our most northern destination is Juneau Alaska and everything in between. We are not going to be posting as much as in the past, we will only have internet when we are in a marina or go ashore.

Bucaneer Bay, Thormanby Island, first night anchorage.

Our first day out, we were lucky to get in a few hours of sailing, but mostly the wind blew straight (NW) on our bow. All the way up Georgia Strait and up past Desolation and into the Broughtons, we had NW wind. 

On shore leave, Rendezvous Islands, Calm Channel, just north of Desolation.

Today, Wednesday, we arrived in Port McNeil to fuel up and fill water tanks. Tomorrow we will cross Queen Charlotte Strait and anchor in Blunden Harbour. On Friday June 6th, we will round Cape Caution and head up the BC coast to Prince Rupert. 

The effects of the NW wind on trees at Tuna Point, Johnstone Strait.

We have already seen our fair share of wildlife in the first few days of our trip. Just off Texada Island, we crossed paths with a beautiful large pod of orca whales. And several times we have seen single and mini pods of dolphins. And a grizzly bear! And do we have a story to tell! But I am going to wait to tell you until my next post, just to keep you hanging in there!

So off agin tomorrow. The weather forecast is for south and south east wind starting on Friday which is PERFECT for sailing up the coast. I won't believe it until it happens!! Keep posted for some exciting times!

All's well... Kathy and Jerry aboard SV Splendid Mane.