August 15 - Vancouver (The end of the line)

Just a "bit" of stuff to unload and take home

Bojangles looking at it's home berth after two months away

Merry Island on the way home

Well after 62 days on the boat we pulled into our berth at Burrard Yacht Club around 4:30 today. We shared a high five for a trip well enjoyed and an experience to remember for the rest of our lives.
On the way down from Pender Harbour we stopped at Nancy's family cottage on Pasley Island to drop off our kayaks and see the cabin after an absence of two months. Nancy's brother Peter and his wife Nan were there so we had a good visit and it really felt that we were actually home.
However, we had another hour to go to reach Vancouver so we rounded Cape Roger Curtis on Bowen Island and finally saw the city skyline for the first time since mid June. It was quite a sight to see a major city after all the wilderness we had taken in over the last while.
We filled up a hungry Bojangles at the best rate for diesel in a while, about $1.33 including GST over at the harbour Chevron station. Finally we ambled over to the yacht club and slid back into our berth to successfully conclude our adventure. Next we looked around at all the stuff we had to take off the boat and almost felt like just driving home and coming back the next day. However, we perservered and about 7 or 8 wheelbarrow loads later we had filled our van and were driving home.
So that's what the Olympics look like on TV. Civilization again, pretty cool to be home at last but I would not have traded our experience for anything. Bojangles ran like a charm and the trip turned out to be everything we ever hoped it would be.
So for all of you who have followed some or all of our travels, I have enjoyed sharing some of our experiences with you and hope you have enjoyed learning something of our Alaska Bound adventure. That's all for now!

August 14 - Pender Harbour

Here is the Burrard Yacht Club outstation at Pender Harbour


The entrance to Garden Bay in Pender Harbour

What a great day! It is really hot already at 7:00 AM so we should be in bathing suits all the way to Pender. Our neighbor from Pasley Island, Cec Merritt arrived yesterday afternoon on Jupiter II so he rowed over last night to hear about our Alaska trip. Cec was one of the people to give me badly needed advice during the planning stages of our trip since he has been to Alaska several times. So he was glad to hear that I had heeded much of his advice.
We had a perfect run down to Pender Harbour, the seas were flat calm and the sun was hot. For the first time on the trip I had to roll up some windows in my bridge enclosure to let in some cooling air.
We arrived at Pender Harbour around 3:00 and were assisted in docking by Mitch Welters and his wife Grace, from BYC. We spent some time getting caught up on Vancouver stuff and all went out for dinner at the Garden Bay Pub. They must have recently changed chefs however since the meal We had tonight was not anything like it was on the way north two months ago. We had always enjoyed this restaurant but will think twice next time we are through Pender.
It is cooling down a bit tonight so hopefully we will sleep well in preparation for our last day of the trip and our return to Vancouver.

August 11, 12 & 13 - Rebecca Spit, Quadra Island

The view of the bay at the head of Drew Harbour

Nance "posing" for a shot on the beach driftwood


Me contemplating the meaning of life or something akin to that!


The docks at Taku Resort in Drew Harbour where three BYC boats were moored

Milt Wong's new home in a secluded grove of trees on the resort property

We slept in today and leisurely started the day to beautiful blue skies and not a cloud to be seen. Shorts and tee shirts for certain.
We ran over to Rebecca Spit at the mouth of Drew Harbour on Quadra Island which is one of our all time favorite anchorages and we plan to spend the rest of our trip here until we have to start our trip down to Vancouver via Pender Harbour.
We anchored near the head of Drew Harbour and with the exception of a few water ski boats and occasional boom boxes going on shore it is really great here. It was sunny all day today and we took advantage of this by running around in our dinghy seeing the whole area. We cruised the other boats looking for anyone we knew but it was a mostly Royal Vancouver Yacht Club crowd so we returned to our boat for a delicious dinner.
We awoke today, Tuesday to rain which was forecasted, (sun tomorrow is the forecast) so we are just getting going and ended up taking our kayaks into the beach and walked all around the spit which separates Drew Harbour from the outside waters in Desolation Sound. We got a bunch of exercise and ended up at our favorite hot dog/ice cream stand near the head of the Harbour where the campers are all located. To our undying disappointment the stand was closed and is for sale. I think I will pass on the real estate opportunity but I was really looking forward to that ice cream cone. We continued on to the little campground store and had to settle for cream sicles. We awoke today Wednesday to bright blue skies and hot sunshine. I went swimming off the boat before 10:00 AM so you know it was hot. We took the dinghy over to the Taku Resort owned for twenty five years this year by Milt Wong. Each year that we visit Rebecca Spit we drop over to Taku to chat with Milt and in past years he had shown us his proposed construction site for a new home. Well this time we saw the finished product and it is really spectacular. The home is huge, beautifully landscaped and very tasteful.
From there we satisfied our craving for ice cream at Heriot Bay right next to Drew Harbour. It was Island Farms ice cream which in our experience is really good but particularly so in isolated locations where it tends to be more of an unexpected treat.
We then jumped in the kayaks and went back to the spit for another hike and to let Nance go swimming from the shore as she is not exactly your jump off the boat type. Well she finally got wet so all is well with the first mate.
We are sorry to leave Rebecca Spit as it is predicted to get really hot tomorrow and we will be in Pender Harbour all going well which will probably be considerably hotter than it would have been here. Oh well, only two days to go and our adventure is over. I really can't believe how fast the time past. Not quite so fast for Nance but she has been great about the whole trip and a real trooper.

August 10 - Gorge Harbour, Cortes Island

The view of Marina Island adjacent to Gorge Harbour on Cortes Island

The view down Calm Channel as we motor toward Desolation Sound

We left Cordero Lodge today around noon as the tide in the three sets of rapids we had to transit, Dent, Gillard and Yacultas all turned around 1:30. We cruised down Cordero Passage which prior to tide change time looks like the Don Valley Parkway at rush hour (well almost like that).
All manner of boats were strung out ahead of us all trying to make the rapids about the exact same time. I had to check my patience at the door and maintain my position in line behind a huge 80 footer who I used like a pulling guard in football. Where he went, I went, so if anyone was going to get the finger for passing too close to a sailboat or slow moving trawler it would be him. He was parked across the dock from me in Cordero Lodge and called his boat White Rabbit which I thought was kind of cool.
At any rate despite being admonished on the radio by a dock guy at a really large fishing lodge on Sonora Island for kicking up too much wake, Bojangles and White Rabbit blasted through the rapids and we then leisurely proceeded down Calm Channel into Desolation Sound. We had typical Desolation Sound weather, sunny, with calm seas. It was nice getting back to familiar waters and getting a feeling like it was actually summer.
We anchored in Gorge Harbour on the west side of Cortes island. It was a bit of an eye-opener to see all the boats after our idea of a crowded anchorage was us and another boat. I hollered at a sailboat near me to keep an eye out for my anchor chain when he dropped anchor but it turned out he was not intending to drop there and actually knew what he was doing. So when we took the dinghy out to go to the dock for dinner I cruised by and apologized for jumping the gun. He was very gracious and actually invited us aboard for a libation of some form but we were already late for our dinner reservations at the excellent restaurant at Gorge Harbour.
We used to stay at the docks at Gorge but they are really crappy now with no power so we don't bother any more. Rumour has it that the new owner of the marina and facilities is intending to redo the docks and add power. I will wait and see with anchor ready.
We had a great meal and for the first time on the trip had to open all than hatches to sleep and Nance finally took off her parka (just kidding). But it was chilly for most of the trip.

August 9 - Cordero Lodge

The cute gazebo and the docks at Cordero Lodge, a good "stop"

Here I am getting my buns soaked off in the woods all in the name of exercise

We left Lagoon Cove amid overcast rainy weather and headed for Johnstone Strait. When we arrived on the strait we found fairly calm seas but lots of fog. From our Queen Charlotte Strait experience, this navigation was pretty much routine. We ran for 10 miles in fog then turned into Sunderland Passage and the visibility improved significantly.
When we arrived at Cordero Lodge in Cordero Channel we got tied up and made ready to go for a hike up to a rock quarry about 2 miles north of the lodge through the woods. Our timing was exquisite for as soon as we got a respectable distance into the woods, the sky opened up and we got monsoon like rain along with some thunder and lightning. Needless to say we are not heroes so we returned to the boat as fast as we can and wrung ourselves out when we arrived.
Cordero Lodge features an internationally known German restaurant which includes your mooring charge with your bill for dinner. As soon as we got tied up the restaurant manager arrived on the docks with a menu and asked us to order all courses so they could start preparation of everyone's meals. As it turned out the food was great and we pretty much pigged out.
During dinner we were seated with a nice couple from Coquitlam who had both graduated in music. Denise was currently teaching but about to become a vice principal while Rob made his living in music. So we shared a bunch of stories about Darcy in New York which was fun since they both "got it" and knew of the challenges facing musicians making livings.

August 8 - Lagoon Cove

Here is Nance with one of Bill's signs in the yard of his home beside the trash burning sight

We ran through Tribune Channel from Sullivan Bay to Lagoon Cove today and arrived in the early afternoon. Tribune Channel is quite fiord like and offers great views along its entire length. Also, we could see all the way in mostly sunshine which was a great contrast to the preceding day.
For those reading this who are boaters, you may already know Bill Barber the genial host of Lagoon Cove marina who I mentioned earlier in our blog as we stayed here on our way North. Bill is amazing, I called Lagoon Cove on my VHS radio when I pulled within sight of the docks. I identified Bojangles and asked if they had any space for the night. Bill said "why of course Gord come on in" which does not sound all that remarkable except that I had not at any time reminded him that my name was Gord. We tied up at the docks and he walked over to Nance gave her a hug and said "Hi Nancy good to see you again". Again, we had not mentioned Nance's name to him. What really ticks me off about all this is that he is way older than I am but I could not remember names like he does on my best day long long ago.
As it turns out the traditional potluck cocktail party on the dock is a special occasion potluck dinner tonight with Bill supplying freshly caught prawns and crab. Nance and I earlier went on an hour long hike through the woods trying not to become bear bait in order to get some badly needed exercise and work up a big time appetite for the evening feast. I fully intend to pig out if this appears as an option.
For my money, Lagoon Cove is the best marina experience on the entire BC coast and we make every effort to stay here whenever we are in the area. Also, my air card works here, hence the internet postings of today. All in a great experience.

August 7 - Sullivan Bay

Here is a picture of our morning glee club serenading us this morning in Sullivan Bay

The day dawned with thick fog again in Shearwater but hopefully it will burn off again in the morning as it did yesterday. We had a really enjoyable evening last night with Dave and Betsy despite a "keystone cops" beginning where we were sitting on our boat wondering when they were going to give us the high sign that they were ready for us to arrive and they were sitting on their boat wondering "are they never going to get here"? Oh well, all worked out and Nance and I had a great time. I think somehow Nance enjoyed the opportunity to talk to someone other than me, go figure!
For those who have already read our original posting for this date you may recall seeing Fury Cove on Penrose Island as our proposed destination for the night. Well, we had great water conditions all down Fitz Hugh Sound to Penrose Island and since it was only 2:00 in the afternoon, we decided to run for it and cross Queen Charlotte Sound, an open ocean crossing. We enjoyed calm seas and pretty good visibility until we reached Cape Caution and started down Queen Charlotte Strait. At that exact point, we started to question the wisdom of our decision to cross today.
We encountered pea soup fog as it turned out from Cape Caution all the way down the Strait to Wells Passage where we finally broke out into clear skies. Additionally, our basically calm seas turned into fairly steep six footers to compound our navigation without visual reference issues. We ran for over two hours completely blind relying on our radar and our GPS units exclusively. Thankfully, both worked flawlessly. For example I now know what a BC Ferry looks like as a radar blip in front of our boat. Not a lot of fun but good experience along the lines of "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger".
At any rate all ended well with our arrival at Sullivan Bay after 8 hours on the water to find that they had a good spot on the dock for us and that dinner in the restaurant was excellent. Nance and I crashed right after dinner secure in the knowledge that all four of our open ocean crossings were now complete. We were extremely fortunate overall with these crossings as three out of four were great and the fourth was good for half, bad for half which I guess translates to average. We now look forward to spending some leisurely time moving through the Broughtons and Desolation Sound before we put a final period to this trip. I can't believe that we have only a week to go.

August 5 & 6 - Shearwater

We left Khutze Inlet into bright hot sunshine again for the long run down to Shearwater. The run was uneventful until we reached the base of Finlayson Channel and moved into Millbank Sound. At that point we encountered pea soup ocean fog and were never so glad for our GPS and radar units. We steered a course around Millbank Sound into Seymour Passage with very little visual contact to let us know we were on the right track. It was a bit disorienting to say the least. All equipment worked well and we finally broke out of the fog about halfway down Seymour Passage to Shearwater.
We landed in Shearwater and Jeanie the dockmaster was good enough to squeeze us in for the night and give us power on the dock. We were happy to be all tied up after our recent anchoring adventures and decided to stay an extra day to get in some R&R. Later in the evening, Wayne and Cathy our friends at BYC arrived aboard Sambuca with the some sad news they had received from the coastguard. Cathy's mom had passed away so they had to grab a flight out the next morning and leave their boat in Jeanie's care at Shearwater. Too bad.
The next day dawned particularly foggy in Shearwater until about 10:00 Am when the hot sun returned and we had a really nice day spending time with some folks we met on the next boat from San Francisco. Later on Bill Wheeler and his wife Eileen from BYC arrived aboard Ceilidh I so we have really seen a number of fellow members in our travels which is really kind on neat.
We are going for dinner tonight on Dave and Betsy's boat, our friends from San Francisco. They have a beautiful 54 foot custom made steel hull pilothouse motoryacht. We had the cook's tour earlier, it is very well designed, particularly the engine room although Nance seemed to prefer other parts more.

August 4 - Khutze Inlet

The view looking down the bay at Khutze Inlet

The waterfall at the head of Khutze Inlet

We left Lowe Inlet in beautiful sunshine again to complete Grenville Channel and clear into Princess Royal Channel to Kuhtze Inlet where our BYC friends had seen 5 bears earlier in June.

We arrived in Khutze Inlet in the afternoon and found a beautiful high waterfall looking like a New Zealand fiord.

The anchoring around the waterfall is a bit tricky due to a very long drying shoal which comes out from the head of the bay and really deep water in the center portion of the bay. We looked all around for the bears seen earlier in June but they seemed to have been elsewhere. People have told us in our travels that Khutze is the dumping ground in northern BC for problem bears. Those who don't play nicely with their friends are relocated to Khutze and this is why many were sighted earlier. At any rate we didn't see any and had to be content with the fantastic scenery and the impressive waterfall.

Lot's of chain rattle during the night kept me awake for a while as I tried to see whether we were moving anchor or just chain. My depth readings were also really haywire showing anywhere from 1 foot to 80 feet. What I eventually figured out was happening was that a bunch of kelp etc was floating by our anchorage and affecting my depth sounders. I finally dropped a fishing weight over the side to determine our actual depth. Thankfully it was the 80 feet not the 1 and the grumbling and rattling was just our full 250 feet of chain out there moving to the other side as the tide flushed the bay. So I finally returned to bed to get what remaining sleep was there.

August 3 - Lowe Inlet

The river otter trying his hand at the bear's fishing spot after he left

Our initial sighting of the grizzly getting set to fish

Here is our boy trying to catch a fish for a while quite unsuccessfully

Our very first sighting of a grizzly bear fishing successfully in the wild

Early in the morning we waved goodbye to our friends from BYC as they departed the docks earlier than we intended to pull out. It was great to see them again in Prince Rupert and share some more laughs at Smiles restaurant.
I sold one of my old D8 batteries to a guy on the dock who was having starting problems, killing two birds with one well aimed stone. The guy could start his boat (I hope since I had to leave) and I did not have to haul it back to Vancouver to try and find a buyer there.
We left Prince Rupert on a nice warm sunny day and headed for the Grenville Channel, well known in the BC Ferry hall of shame. We stopped at Lowe Inlet which is very pretty featuring a swift flowing water fall at the head onf the inlet. We wanted to anchor near the waterfall and the old adage of some nights you are the audience and some nights you are the entertainment came true in spades. I took 4 tries to get anchored properly as the water was really deep in spots and drying in others. What a zoo, the first mate was looking for a bag to put over her head as there were several other boats watching in the bay. Oh well, we had done pretty well up to that point on the trip so I guess we were due.
After finally getting the hook down we dropped the dinghy in and headed around the inlet to see what it was all about. We ended up at the waterfall and I was just getting ready to take some pictures when I suddenly noticed a young grizzly bear standing at the foot of the waterfall trying to catch one of the salmon vaulting up into the waterfall. He was just learning to fish and was hysterical. The fish would jump up the water fall and actually bounce off the bear as he swiped at them. Patience and hunger eventually overcame lack of skill and our boy finally caught a fish and quickly made his way up the rocks beside the waterfall to have dinner. We caught a few pictures so I hope you can see both bear and fish. This was our first encounter with bears fishing in the wild not including the Anan conservatory.
After the bear and dinner departed, a suddenly embolden river otter climbed up on the same rock as the bear but his fishing consisted of diving under the waterfall to try and catch the salmon that way so we never did see if he was successful.
After all this action we returned to the boat to catch some rays as this was the first real summer day we have had, hot and sunny since the end of June in Rupert. Then we BBQ'd some sockeye salmon acquired fresh in Rupert which was fantastic.

August 1 & 2 - Prince Rupert

What a break, we awoke today and found that the wind had shifted from southeast to northwest and was very light. We pulled anchor at about 7 AM Alaska time amid bright sunshine. Shortly after pulling away from Cape Chacon we crossed the border back into Canada on BC Day. Whoohoo we're back.
We reflected upon our month long Alaska adventures and were very grateful for how reliable Bojangles has been for the entire trip and also how glad we were that we put a water maker on board two years ago. The unlimited supply of clear pure filtered water all through our trip has just made living so much easier. We have added about 160 hours to Bojangles log so far and expect to have over 200 hours by the time we finish which translates into approximately 3000 miles.
We arrived at the Prince Rupert Yacht club at around 1:00 PM pacific time to find that the very efficient staff had the same mooring slip as we had a month ago on the inside ready for us again. I commented to Nance that it seemed liked we were home although logic says we have many more miles to travel.
After a really good meal at the Crest Hotel we returned to the docks to find Penny and Dave Thompson just getting off Oceanaire I after just tying up. The BYC fleet was arriving in full force. Shortly after Wayne and Cathy arrived on Sambuca and finally Betty and Mike on Shaman II. We spent some quality time on Wayne's boat trading "best in Alaska" stories. This was really fun comparing notes on places we had all visited. Finally, we hit the sack after arranging to all have dinner together the next night.

July 31 - Nichols Bay, Prince of Wales Island

We originally intended to spend the night in a small cove near the entrance to Cordova Bay near the south end of Prince of Wales Island. However, the seas looked good as we arrived so we pressed on further to the very southern tip of the island into Nichols Bay.
Nichols Bay is adjacent to Cape Chacon, our departure point tomorrow for the crossing of Dixon Entrance. On the charts there is a shortcut into Nichols Bay called the Bert Millar cutoff. I looked more closely into this shortcut and found that there was about 18 feet of opening between two rock walls with some current running. Since our beam is 14 1/2 feet we quickly reached a decision to go the long way around. As you may guess, the first mate thought the skipper was a nut bar for even looking at this passage, oh well.
We spent a peaceful night in Nichols Bay with a number of sailboats and listened to radio weather updates which were all predicting good conditions for our open ocean crossing. We set our clocks ahead an hour to pacific time and generally got all set to sing Oh Canada the next day as we crossed the international border.

July 30 - Hydaburg, Prince of Wales Island

An example of the unique colors used in the Hydaburg totems

One of the more recent totems carved by master carver Stanley Marsden to honor the Haida elders

Here are the totems at the park in Hydaburg

An old Haida canoe was tied to the docks at Hydaburg and was in far better shape than any of the fish boat

What a treat, sunshine and blue skies in Craig, the first we have seen for some time. We are on our way south to Hydaburg, a Haida settlement on Prince of Wales Island. We called the Hydaburg harbor master upon arrival over our boat radio and were advised by a listening sailboat in Craig that you just drive in and park wherever you can find a spot. We parked between a couple of really decrepit fishing boats on the docks and felt a bit out of place actually. Just at that time a Haida native came up to us on the docks, was really friendly and told us to stay as long as we wanted.
We had read that Hydaburg had a really impressive collection of totem poles so we set off in the rain to find them. A young native resident told us where to find the poles and we were amazed at the sight of around 25 huge totems arranged in a sort of park right next to the village school. The totems were in really good shape and featured some interesting colors such as a flesh tone that we had not seen used on totems before.
We carried on further and found an old abandoned cannery which at one point in time had been the village's lifeblood. The village was generally in good repair except for the cannery and the actual fish boats so it was a bit of a mystery to us how the residents made a living.
Finally we picked up a used DVD and a few sundries at the village store and adjourned to the boat for dinner and a flick.