16th – Day 1 afloat – Ketchikan to Foggy Bay
An early classic soggy morning in Ketchikan. Our crew finished up the rest of our safety briefs, stored everything away and slipped lines. Excused from having a pilot onboard, we made our way out of the land of sog. Dressed up like a bag of orange jelly babies in our grundens, our crew were excited to see the sun begin to batter its way through the damp canopy above as we left Ketchikan waters – even a humpback gave us a wave goodbye!! With our speed log reader not increasing, we investigated to see why it wasn’t spinning – full of worms!
As we closed in on Foggy Bay, many a fishing boat were also making their way to their familiar anchorages. Foggy Bay wasn’t so foggy, but jade green waters and a soft haze. With the water’s calm and our last chance to take a dunk in Alaska, our deal to swim in Alaskan waters was sealed. Jake, Mike and I dived/flopped off of the swim platform into the “fresh” waters beneath. An ooo, aaaah and ARGH, we felt refreshed, rejuvenated and revived. Mike had already spun around underneath the surface to make a quick dash to the boat. The “Fuller Flop” is now a statement dive to be recreated on our next plunge.
17th – Foggy Bay to Prince Rupert
Quote of the day: “You look different in clothes” Betty to Dave… “That’ not the first time someone said that to me.”
0600 hook up.
Violet skies reflected a velvet violet sea spreading peace amongst the bay. The fishing vessels had already departed in the direction of the blue lit sky horizon.
0800 – WHALE! 50meters off our bow, a humpback blew hard coming up for her morning breath. The crew were delighted to see one so upclose. Our fact of the day was “Humpbacks can fit up to 5,000 gallons of water in their mouth”, made us question how much plastic they might consume at the same time – a sad reality.
0925 – 4 humpbacks swimming off our beam, waving their flukes & bringing the sunshine with them.
Dodging logs left right and centre, we crossed the US border into Alaska, switching our flags, we displayed the Canadian and Quebec as we made our way into Prince Rupert.
Docking up at Prince Rupert Rowing & Yacht club, we began the tedious task of clearing customs on the phone. All guests onboard cleared, they decided to go and grab some local grub ashore.
Back onboard, the library was in full use with everyone reading on deck in the evening sun.
18th – Prince Rupert to Kumealon Inlet, Grenville Channel
Quote of the day: “That crab’s expired” – Mike
A little after 0200, my Aurora Watch alarm went off, already half-awake I tip-toed up the companion way on deck to see if the sky was dancing. A green purple glow casted across the sky to the North. The light pollution above Prince Rupert dimmed the glow but the Aurora borealis was still out in force.
0700 Awoken by the sound of three short blasts (engines atern), the fog had rolled in, and thick. Ale and Jake took off to grab some fresh provisioning, now that there was no chance of customs pinching any of our veggies. A slow morning proceeded onboard, with blueberry & apple cinnamon pancakes fuelling the team, some decided to take a walk into town to visit the local museum, others took a walk around local trails and the rest explored the depths of Walmart.
With the fog still prevalent, we slipped lines at 1125 and took off towards Grenville Channel. With 5minute interval AIS traffic checks, we sure were getting our daily steps in.
Mid afternoon, the fog became bright and silhouettes of ridge lines began to appear either side of Sea Dragon teasing us. As we broke through, the wind picked up and we unfurled the yankee.
Speeding along at 8knots, we motor sailed through turquoise waters closing in on Kumelon inlet.
Anchor down. We inflated both dinghies, and went exploring around the bay, watching eagles and seals swoop and dive for their dinner as the sun began to set.