Out of Alaska and back into Canada

7/29/2024 We have left Alaska and are back in Canadian waters, making our entry in Prince Rupert. The next week is full of some long legs as we journey south and work our way around Cape Caution.

Prince Rupert - Patterson Inlet - Khutze Inlet - Shearwater - Pruth Bay - Millbrook - Sullivan Bay

St. Florian anchored in Pond Bay for the night before heading back into Canada

7/28/2024 We left Ketchikan and stopped for the night in Pond Bay. This was a very protected and calm anchorage that positioned us well for crossing the Dixon Entrance in early morning when the winds were still calm.

7/29/2024 We left Pond Bay at 6am and tied up at the Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club by 4pm. Canadian customs clearing was a snap and we were soon off to enjoy the pub for dinner.

Passing the Green Island lighthouse (est 1906). Notice the nice calm seas.

In Prince Rupert, back in Canada

Grocery shopping day

Very excited about the produce in the Prince Rupert grocery store. Alaska produce was definitely lacking in quality and variety.

Brad repaired our heater plug while in Prince Rupert. It is rather scary to see the melted plug.

The plug was also ruined. Luckily we didn’t burn up our boat!

A diver changed our zincs while in Prince Rupert

Bill and Sally enjoyed a brief non-rainy moment and took a walk through the sunken garden in Prince Rupert

Prince Rupert sunken garden in full bloom was beautiful

More blooms

Unique garden art in the Prince Rupert sunken garden

7/31/2024 With projects, laundry, and groceries accomplished it was time to continue south. Another early start, 0630, and a long day put us in Patterson Inlet by 1700. Now Phil may give me some grief over my “start times”. I have listed the times we needed to start the boat engine before getting under way. Our John Deere engine holds ten gallons of oil, as compared to Phil’s engine which hold four gallons. As a result it takes us twenty minutes to warm our engine to Phil’s ten minutes.

Kinship anchored in Patterson Inlet, having a visit with a boater there

Phil and Annette exploring Patterson Inlet by dinghy

Brad and Marya looking for salmon at the mouth of a river into Patterson Inlet

St. Florian following Kinship out of Patterson Inlet

8/1/2024 Another 0630 start and we moved from Patterson to Khutze Inlet. We anchored in 80 feet of water (which is a bit deep) with 250 feet of chain out. It was a very calm night, but the tide change caused our anchor to shift enough that our anchor watch alarm went off at 3am. We both got out of bed to have a look around and were treated to a beautiful dark sky with no moon and a sea of stars. It has been a while since we looked at the stars on this trip because it just hasn’t been dark enough. Sorry, I wasn’t actually awake enough to take a picture.

On our way south to Khutze Inlet we got some sunshine

Second Verse, St. Florian, and Kinship anchored in Khutze Inlet

This shot gives more perspective on the size of Khutze Inlet

Looking into the estuary of Khutze Inlet at high tide

8/2/2024 Today was a 0600 start to Shearwater. The sun finally came out!

The lighthouse near Shearwater showed what a beautiful day it was

Brad caught me worshiping the sun. He wasn’t supposed to see me do this!

Brad’s knees are showing! The sun was wonderful as we left Shearwater.

Not one, but two sails showing on Second Verse!

8/3/2024 After Shearwater we traveled to Pruth Bay.

Passing through some serious log debris lines on our way to Pruth

Annette enjoying a splash in the water at West Beach, Pruth Bay

Phil thought about a proper swim, but it was a bit cold

8/4/2024 We left Pruth Bay at 0630 and took a five hour run to Millbrook Cove for one more night before heading around Cape Caution. The winds were predicted to continue to drop and Monday looked good for us to go around the cape, As a reminder, St. Florian is not a stabilized boat and as a result a beam-sea can be quite uncomfortable for us. Kinship is stabilized and Second Verse (being a sail boat) has a deep keel that helps fight the rolling. At this point Second Verse decided that the wind prediction looked good for a sail around Cape Caution, so we parted ways early morning Sunday. Our plan was to stop in Millbrook for the night, Second Verse headed to Blunden bay. Our plan was to meet up again in Sullivan Bay.

We followed whales as we headed south through Fitzhugh Sound. Do they think summer is over?

We had a beautiful sunrise as we headed toward Sullivan Bay

Low cloud or high fog, made it look like the mountains were floating as we headed towards Sullivan Bay

The start of this leg was very rolly, but it definitely smoothed out

After a week of very long days we are looking forward to a bit of a rest in Sullivan Bay