May 17 - May 23 Khutze to Ketchikan

May 17 - May 23

Several Days without internet - We started at Khutze which is a beautiful bay where we anchored in front of a waterfall.  From there we went to Bishop Bay which has a wonderful hot springs.  It was harder to get to the Hot Springs since a storm took out the ramp that led from a floating dock to the shore but many of us climbed the rocks on the shore to get there and it was well worth the effort.  The water was perfect!
    Next on the travels was Lowe Inlet where we saw our first black bear on the shore!  Verney Falls is another fun sight in Lowe and there is also a BC Department of Fisheries and Oceans cabin that we went to (named the Lowe Budget Hotel!).
   The following day we were off to Kumealon Inlet.  This bay once held a large logging camp so we explored the shore a bit as they leave quite a bit of equipment behind when they abandon the camps - building, logging skids and even Helicopter Fuel tanks!  There is also a beautiful lagoon that we explored by dinghy.
    From Kumealon we travelled to Prince Rupert for our last night in BC. We keep running into another group of 6 boats that are part of NW Explorations to Alaska so some of the time we have had 11 boats travelling at the same time - we must have looked like an invasion as you can see from the picture of all of us arriving in Prince Rupert at the same time - quite a sight behind us! We shopped for a few groceries since we hope to get to Ketchikan soon.  It was also laundry day (yes there are household chores even on the boat!).  We ate dinner at the Pub by the Marina - Halibut Fish and Chips!!!
   We woke up on May 22 and decided that we would leave Ketchikan for Dundas Island which is the last Canadian Island before we would cross the Dixon Entrance to Ketchikan.  We did not leave until 9am but when we got to Dundas we realized that it looked like we should go on to Ketchikan because the wind they were predicting did not materialize so we kept going and arrive in Ketchikan at 6pm - a 9 hour cruise.  Dixon entrance had 5 - 6 foot rollers but no wind until we got to Ketchikan so it was a good day to cross and we have fueled the boat ( 700 Gallons of Diesel- The Nelsea holds 1050 gallons!) and are ready to start the Alaska part of the adventure. Yesterday was a day to go to the hardware and marine store, get our Alaska fishing licenses  and finish the grocery shopping.  We  met up with two more of the RHYC boats that we will be spending some  time with in Alaska so we had a dinner for 14 at the Bar Harbor Restaurant which was terrific!

May 15, 2016

May 15, 2016  Eucott Bay to Ocean Falls

A cooler day today that started with sprinkles in the morning - cooler and rain by evening.  We had another beautiful scenery day as we cruised down to Ocean Falls - the Ghost town.  It once had up to 5000 people as it was a Crown Zellerback Mill town and also has the Link Lake Dam which provides power to Shearwater and Bella Bella.  Several Olympic Swimmers came  from this town.  Crown Zellerback closed in 1973 - rather than lose all the jobs the Canadian government tried to operate the mill but gave up in 1980 and much of the town was bulldozed and abandoned.  Today there are 25 residents and it swells to 100 during summer.  So strange to see all the deserted buildings - hospitals, hotels, homes, etc. Pictures to follow - the internet here is so slow that I will wait to add the pictures until we get to a faster internet service.

May 13 - May 14, 2016

May 13 - May 14, 2016  Joes Bay to Shearwater to Eucott Bay in Dean Channel

We left Joes Bay for Shearwater under sunny skies - the water was calm.  We spent the morning trying to trouble shoot Tom's problem - calling technicians in Florida, Seattle and Canada with our Satelite system..  They gave us a lot of suggestions except the one it ended up being - A fuse!  It is hard to believe that a fuse could knock out all steering on the boat but it did.  Problem solved so we went out to dinner at the Pub in Shearwater to celebrate.  Last chance to stock up at the store, do laundry on shore, go to the marine supply store and use the WiFi for awhile.  We left Shearwater and went  to Eucott Bay in Dean Channel where we found the Hot Springs - what a beautiful spot!  We took the dinghys out exploring and came across a humpback whale eating which was fun to watch. We spent time in the hot springs, had a group dinner on the Nelsea and a relaxing evening in beautiful Eucott Bay.  Tomorrow we are off to Ocean Falls.

May 12 - May 13, 2016

May 12 - May 13, 2016

We left Blunden Harbor to cross Cape Caution headed for Fish Egg Inlet and Joes Bay.  We had our first real mechanical issue of the cruise when Tom and Chris on Miners Debt lost all steering.  They had Auto Pilot on and the boat lost all steering and was turning to the left only.  After many attempts to fix it Tom and Pete tied ropes on the rudders to stop them from turning any direction and Tom had to continue on to Joes Bay using only his engines to control direction.  Luckily the weather was great and there was beautiful scenery to see on our way to Fish Egg Inlet and Joes Bay.  Once we got anchored we took all our dinghys thru to Elizabeth Lagoon which is huge.  We had to access the rapids at high water slack and we could not stay too long or we would not have been able to bring the dinghy's back to the boats.  A great evening in Joes Bay and tomorrow Friday the 13th we head to Shearwater to see if we can get Tom's boat fixed.

May 9 - May 11, 2016

We left Port McNeill to head to Blunden Harbor.  It was a bit foggy so our first time with radar this trip.  Also the first for Crab, Crab, Crab - we got lots of crab and had a crab feed on the Nelsea.  We ate until we were full and spent the afternoon drinking margaritas and picking crab from freezing so we have lots of crab.  We spent two nights in Blunden - the first night with 4 boats and the 2nd Glen and Liz came and we had 5 boats again.  It was windy the first day but beautiful the next and we explored the Lagoon around Blunden.  We will leave here and cross Cape Caution on the 12th headed for Fish Egg Inlet and Joes Bay.

May 9, 2016

May 9

We left Port Neville at 6:15 am - beautiful calm water which was a welcome site.  Cruised up to Port McNeill where we spent the night, stocked up on Groceries and other supplies since this is our last real grocery store to shop in for the next 10 days to 2 weeks.  We fueled up - adding 575 gallons, added water, went to the Marine store and ended the evening with everyone in Gus's Pub for dinner.  Great Fish and Chips!  Off to another adventure tomorrow.