August 15 - August 29, 2016

August 15 – August 29, 2016

Happy Birthday Tyler - August 15!!!!!!  We will celebrate your birthday when we get home - Love You!

The weather in Ketchikan is still awful so we could not take Josh thru Misty Fjords for his last day in Alaska with us.  We decided to have a farewell dinner with Chris and Tom and the 3 of us since Josh and Chris fly home tomorrow and Miner Debt, Nelsea and Spirit Bear will be crossing Dixon Entrance for Prince Rupert on the 16^th.

 August 16 –August 19

 Goodbye to Josh, Chris and Alaska!  Off to Prince Rupert we go and we had a beautiful day to cross the Dixon Entrance which was great to see since we have been in quite a bit of rain lately.  Steve and I stayed at the Cowbay Marina since they did not have room at the Prince Rupert Yacht Club for us  The Cowbay Marina is a new marina and it was great!  We had dinner on the Nelsea with Pete and Brad (guest on Spirit Bear) and Tom (Miners Debt) and we leave tomorrow for the outside passage thru Ogden Channel, Petrel Channel towards Estevan Sound .   We decided to go on the outside to see a different area since the weather is predicted to be good for a couple of days.  It is beautiful and very remote and we did not see any other boats outside during our 2 days before the weather started to change.  We spent the first night in Newcombe Harbor and the second in Monckton Bay. We had to leave Monckton Bay early in the morning since the entrance is narrow and shallow so we set our alarms for a 6am departure – oops – we woke up at 6 and it was pretty dark!  Forgot about checking for sunrise!  In any case we were able to get away at first light and were treated to sunrise about 5 times as we headed south along the outside and the sun kept going behind hills on our journey.  The water is predicted to get rough so we will head back inside at Otter channel, Wright Sound, McKay Reach then Fraser Reach heading for Khutze. We all decided that we would bypass Khutze next time because the horseflies and mosquitoes were terrible again and we ended up inside the boats in A/C because it was really warm but we could not go outside without being eaten alive!

August 20 – 27

 We continue our trek south with stops in Rescue Bay and Shearwater.  No room for us in Shearwater  – Tom found room on the log boom to tie up and wait and he went fishing in No Debt- he caught 2 Silvers while we waited on Nelsea since  we had anchored in the bay because the Harbormaster told us he was sure he would  have a spot open at the dock when a couple of boats left.  Wish he would not have told us that as we waited all afternoon for the spots to open – they did but he let another boat squeeze in which did not leave enough room for us.  We ended up on the breakwater with Tom when another boat moved off late in the afternoon.  Tom said fishing was good and unfortunately that would be the last of the good fishing!  We left Shearwater for Fury Cove – Secure Anchorage.  Our plan was to cross Cape Caution on the 23^rd  – the water was great but no visibility and we travelled from 7am until 2:30 in the solid Fog under Radar – only one picture during the crossing when we could briefly see Miners Debt ahead of us in the fog!  When we got to the Broughtons on our way into Sullivan Bay we were greeted by  Gary and Lenore (Noon Balloon) who  were fishing the channel in their fishing boat Nooner in the beautiful sunshine! We spent a wonderful evening in Sullivan Bay where we met up with Jim and Cheryl Matheson and their captain/cook Brian (Sea Jay) – appetizers on the dock and the last evening together for the 4 boats – tomorrow when we leave, Pete on Spirit Bear is going to Echo Bay.   Steve and I and tom  left on the 24^th spending one night in Lagoon Cove, Thurston Bay and on to Cortes Island where Tom is picking up a friend Bill for the journey home. We had very strong winds in Cortes 30+ knots and Tom spent a sleepless night spinning on his anchor in the bay – we were at the Seattle Yacht Club dock where we were secure to the dock but a restless night since it was very loud with all the winds and water lapping at the boat!  Bill arrived and the winds settled enough for us to head to Garden Bay to hopefully cross the Straits of Georgia.

August 27 and 28^th – Garden Bay – we had to spend 2 nights here as the winds on the straits were howling.  We had a potluck at the SYC outstation and it was fun to run into friends Rick and Kelly(SYC and RHYC members)  and meet several new members of SYC.

August 29 – The winds have calmed enough that we left Garden Bay at 7 for Roche Harbor.  The water was great so we decided to continue on the outside rather than waiting for the afternoon slack at Dodd Narrows so we only had  one rough spot entering Gabiola Passage – a huge standing wave created by Tom ahead of us and the current running against us at 5 knots.  Steve put the Throttles in high gear and we got thru and are now on our way to Roche with nice water! We had a 14 foot inflatable that followed us across The Straits - no idea where he came from but he followed Nellie and Nelsea for about  1 1/2 hours - when we first looked back we thought it was Glen!

 

August 12 - August 14, 2016

August 12 – August 14, 2016

We left Meyers Chuck on Friday August 12 – a beautiful sunny day for our cruise into Ketchikan.  We explored the city with Ellen, Mike and Josh before it was time for Ellen and Mike’s flight back to Seattle on Saturday August 13^th.  We have had quite a bit of rain since we came back from Cooperstown at the end of July but it was fun to go thru the city again, including a stop at Artic Bar for a Burger Queen lunch before Ellen and Mike left for the airport and home.

Saturday the 13^th was Linda Jung’s birthday so we went to Annabelle’s for dinner – Matheson’s, Jungs, Timms and us.  It continues to rain and the plan is for Chris and Josh to fly out on Tuesday August 16 for Seattle.  Miners Debt and Nelsea hope to cross Dixon Entrance into Prince Rupert, Canada for the start of our return trip home.  It’s hard to believe it’s time to head home already!!!!!

It is raining today (14^th) so we are spending the day catching up on the boat and getting provisioned for the trip home.  After dinner at Annabelle’s last night, Josh went out on the town to the Potlatch in Ketchikan with Brian from Sea Jay so he was happy to have a morning to catch up on sleep!  We were hoping to go on a flight thru Misty Fjords but the flights are grounded due to bad weather.  We will try to go tomorrow for his last day in Alaska.  It has been a blast having him on the boat!!

July 27-August 6,, 2016

 

July 27 – August 5, 2016

 We are back in Alaska after our break to go to the Hall of Fame celebration for Ken Griffey Jr.  We picked a good time to be gone as it has been bad weather and raining for much of the time we were gone.  On July 27 we experienced the bad weather with a very rainy dark overcast day to travel from Hoonah to Juneau to meet up with the fleet.  While the weather was bad we were treated to some incredible whale sightings.  First Orcas then Humpbacks bubble feeding.  We found a bunch of Whale watching boats off of the most northern point of our trip in Alaska (Pt Retreat).  We made the turn and headed towards Juneau when we got a great show of humpbacks feeding!

 After the show we went into Auke Bay Juneau to meet up with all our boats – it was nice to see everyone after our two week break!  Leaving Juneau today the weather is better as we head to Taku on our way South.  We were treated to more whales as we headed out and some great shots of the Mendenhall Glacier above Juneau.

Taku was the site of an old cannery in the early 1900’s so lots of stuff to look at.  We were able to tie up to the docks and go along the boardwalk to the site of the old cannery.  After Taku it was a short ride down to Tracy Arm Cove.  Michael, Steve’s brother joined us via float plane for a week of cruising which started off with the North Sawyer Glacier.  I rode on Magic Moment while Steve waited for Michael’s plane to arrive then followed us in Nellie.  The following day we explored Endicott Arm with Nellie which included a trip thru Fords Terror and on to the Dawes Glaciers.  There is something so magical about the glaciers.  For me it is the best part of Alaska cruising!

August 1 – Time for us to head south towards Pack Creek Recreation area to see the Bears feeding in the rivers – we have a permit to enter on Wednesday so we are travelling south from Tracy Arm today – cool and overcast but once again incredible flat water!

August 3 – Pack Creek – Grizzly bears!  We got quite the show and what a beautiful spot. It is hard to believe but we are leaving the group tomorrow and for the most part will not have all 7 boats together  so we had a Steak Dinner Potluck on Magic Moment to say goodbye.Boats are heading back at different times but Miners Debt, Spirit Bear and Nelsea plan on leaving around the 17^th.  It sounds like Noon Balloon is leaving around the 13^th and Magic Moment and Sea Life not until the end of August.  It has been a magical summer of cruising with the group!

August 4 -  Miners Debt and Nelsea left the group this morning to get to our anchorage for the night at Whitney Island where we caught fish in 2013. Another great spot for fishing – Tom caught his limit of Silver and Crab,  Steve caught a Halibut and Silver and Michael caught 2 Silvers plus we were treated to amazing weather, water and a whale show on the way to Whitney Island.  Now we are off to Petersburg where we say goodbye to Michael (Steve’s brother) and hello to Ellen and Mike for another week of adventures with friends from home.