Sitka to Vancouver

July 29 - August 30, 2008

We were forced to wait for two days in Sitka for a weather window.  Our planned route takes out into the open ocean where gale warnings were forecasted.  By Tuesday July 29th, the window looked good and we left early.  It was only a few miles south before the sun came out and warmed our damp bones.

Our first stop was 15 miles south to the Hot Springs Bay.  Two shacks lodged ten foot round tubs for collecting the scalding hot water.  It was necessary to drain and add a quarter tub's worth of cold spring water before we could put a foot in!  We soaked for a while in the upper shack then took a short walk through the woods on a poorly maintained and muddy boardwalk.  Bear slipped into the mud and lost his shoe about a foot down.  We laughed and laughed as I fished it out. 

After another 40 miles south, we anchored in Baidarka Cove, a beautiful, secluded anchorage where Ann had to be on the bow watching for rocks through the narrow channels.  The evening was so warm, we ate dinner in the cockpit.  All our moods improved with some warm sunshine and no rain!

July 30th:  The sea gods smiled on us as we made a very smooth passage to Puffin Bay, which is on the south end of Baranoff Island.  It was nice to feel the swell of the ocean again and freedom of open water.  We anchored Evergreen Bay which is inside Puffin Bay.  This is another gorgeous place where we got down the kayak for a pedal paddle in the "jellyfish forest", as Bear called it.

July 31:  Egg Harbor where we explored caves along the shoreline.

August 1st:  We went through El Capitan Passage and anchored at Devilfish Bay.

August 2nd: Anchored at Kaguk Bay, north of Tonawak Narrows.

August 3rd: Went to Craig, AK where we stayed for three beautiful, sunny days. We really enjoyed the town of Craig.  There are NO cruise ships there, although it was a tourist friendly town.  There is an upscale fishing lodge that caters to fly-in customers.  And many "real" fishermen base out of here and the docks were alive with friendly fishermen waiting for the next season opening.  We saw one of the boat from the Deadliest Catch (Discovery Channel TV series) anchored in the bay here.  Many of these boats serve as tenders to the smaller fishing vessels in their off-season.  There was also a public swimming pool that we enjoyed.  And we ate at the lodge one evening and had excellent food.  Eric tried to catch a halibut but only caught Rockfish.  We ate one and it was pretty good.

August 6th:  Oso Blanco found herself cruising 14 knots through Skookum Chuck Narrows.  The currents pulled the boat this way and that but the autosteering kept up.  It was quite the ride.  Good thing for heavy boats.  We anchored in Mable Bay.

August 7th:  We anchored at the head of Nichols Bay - our last anchorage in Alaska!  We arrived on June 11th which made for almost two months in the grand state.  It was here that Bear caught two sharks (Spiny Dogfish) off the back of the boat! 

August 8th:  We crossed the Dixon Entrance and cleared Canadian customs in Prince Rupert.  We had called ahead for reservations at the Prince Rupert Yacht Club which was very friendly and right downtown.  We stayed two nights and watched some of the Summer Olympics on TV.

August 10th:  After a week of nice weather, the rain returned.  We departed Prince Rupert and tried to visit the Cannery Museum on another part of the island but there was no dock and it didn't look open.  We continued on and anchored at Kumealon Inlet. 

August 11th:  High winds forced us to turn inside after the Greenville Channel to the channel on the east side of Princess Royal Island.  We were trying to not retrace our northbound pass but the seas were forecasted to be 8-10 feet on the outside.  We anchored at Lowe's Inlet and liked it so much we stayed two nights. 

At Lowe's Inlet, we finally got to see the salmon swimming upstream (and up a waterfall) with bears looking to fill their bellies.  The salmon were practically jumping into the dinghy.  Eric finally caught salmon for the freezer.  Bear even reeled in several.  It rained the entire time but it is warmer than Alaska so wasn't too bad.  

August 13th:  One of our favorite places on the way up was Khuntze Inlet (This is where we saw our first grizzlie and ran out of gas in the dinghy!) so we decided to revisit.  We entered in heavy fog with zero visibility.  We honked several times and Ann frequented the bow to warn other boats.  As it happened, no other boats were anchored yet.  It's a good thing we had been here before to know its beauty because we couldn't see a thing today.  

August 15th:  In the "Bay of Plenty" in Laredo Inlet, we met Margo and George from the sailboat, Wolverine.  We had them over for dinner and had a great time.  We hope to meet up with them in Mexico this winter. 

August 20th:  A very poor weather forecast kept us at Shearwater marina for three nights.  That turned out to be great!  We met two families with kids and Bear had a ball playing with them.  Ann took the kids over to Bella Bella one afternoon to go swimming in the heated outdoor pool and Bear was invited to the McAllister's for an afternoon.  After two days, the marina really filled up with boats hiding from the storm, so we decided to host a "Bring on the Storm" happy hour on our boat.  About 25 people came and it was fun to meet everyone. 

A special couple we met was Karen and Ian McAllister.  They formed a non-profit environmental organization called Pacific Wild and have written books about the BC area.  They graciously gave us a copy of their book, The Great Bear Rainforest.  We met through our kids:  five year old Callum and two year old Lucy.  The McAllisters have lived on Denny Island for ten years, after living on their trimaran for seven years.  They hope to take their kids cruising in a few years and we would love to hook up with them again.

August 21st:  We arrived in Port Hardy this afternoon.  The crossing was fine - 4 foot swells but following winds.  It was a nice, sunny day and we had a nice walk into town.

August 22nd:  Our friends, Dick and Mary Fowler, joined us today for a ten day cruise to Vancouver.  Once again, the forecast will keep us in the marina for at least an extra day. 

August 23rd:  We rented a car and drove to Port McNeil.  It was another rainy day.

August 24th:  Docked at Port Neville

August 25th:  Docked at Blind Channel

August 26th: Dent Island

August 27th:  Anchored at Gorge Harbor

August 28th:  Anchored Garden Bay in Pender Harbor

August 29th: Docked at Union Steamship Marina in Snug Cove

August 30th:  Docked in Vancouver