Staging for Dixon Entrance in Brundige Inlet, Dundas Island and into Ketchikan, Alaska

5/29/2024 The distance from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan is 82 nautical miles. This is a bit far for us to do in a single day while managing the time of day we reach the open ocean section called Dixon Entrance. We left Prince Rupert Monday morning to make the four hour run over to Dundas Island. Based on weather reports we wanted to get as close to the Dixon Entrance as possible so that we could make a crossing early Tuesday morning.

We have some sunshine leaving Prince Rupert

Routes from Prince Rupert, Canada to Ketchikan, Alaska (reference Waggoner Guide)

We passed whales on our way to Dundas Island

Second Verse entering a bay in Brundige Inlet on Dundas Island - very narrow entrance

Second Verse making the hard left turn into the bay in Brundige Inlet, Dundas Island

We had another very calm night with good anchor holding in Brundige Inlet. The island is known for Sea Wolfs, which eat fish, but we didn’t see them, or any bears.

5/30/2024 Today was a 5:30am engine start time with anchors aweigh before 6:00am in order to cross Dixon Entrance in best possible weather. I would not say we had great weather for this section. It was rainy and we had a bit of a following sea that caused us to roll a bit. These seas were about two feet with a period of 6 to 8 seconds, which is not horrible. The shorter the period, the more bounce and roll the boat makes. I took a video of our view while following Kinship, but I can’t reduce the video size enough to embed it here. I have included a screenshot to give you an idea of our motion relative to Kinship (who has stabilizers). Notice the angle of our bow rail relative to the horizon. Kinship kept a nice, steady motion that didn’t roll quite like ours. I wedged myself into the bench seat in our pilot house and just kept my eyes on the horizon and did ok. But this is one more data point in favor of a stabilized boat.

View from St. Florian as we followed Kinship across Dixon Entrance to Alaska

We used the Customs and Border Patrol app to process entry back into the USA. No boarding or inspection required!

Annette poses for a selfie with Annette Island on our way in to Ketchikan

While waiting in the channel for fuel, we had to stay out of the way of multiple cruise ships

Old town Ketchikan is very touristy, but also very cute

More of Old Town Ketchikan

Phil and Bill study some of the history information along the Boardwalk

Very interesting old trees that escaped logging along the Boardwalk

A fish ladder to help the salmon get up river in Ketchikan

We learned all about salmon in Ketchikan

A wonderful gnome garden in Ketchikan

Enjoying dinner in Ketchikan on our day of arrival

5/31/2024 (Friday) We are tied up in Ketchikan. This is a busy place this time of year, and there is weather coming through so everything is crowded. In order for the three of us to be in the same marina we were assigned spaces in Thomas Basin, just south of the cruise ship docks. This is where the fishing fleet lives. On the positive side, we are very close to many of the shops. On the negative side, they are tourist shops and very crowded when the cruise ships are in town. We are here for a few days while we wait for a friend to join Bill and Sally on Second Verse. Mike arrives on Monday so we have a few days here.

We are going to stay in Ketchikan for a few days to avoid some of this weather

Our view from Thomas Basin in Ketchikan. The cruise ship kept changing but the rain was pretty constant.

We used the free shuttle around town multiple times. Did I mention it rained a lot while we were here?

We visited the grocery store in Ketchikan. Sally was disappointed in the banana selection. You can see a few other empty bins in the background. We are NOT in California anymore.

The signs remind us not to complain. It could be a lot colder here.

View includes cruise ships and eagles.

Brad still takes pictures of the local fire stations. This is a nice one.

Steady stream of cruise ships in Ketchikan

6/2/2024 Sunday. Visitor Mike arrived Saturday, but the weather isn’t cooperating with our plans to leave so it is one more day in Ketchikan. We took the free shuttle further into town for lunch today. Yes, it was still raining but we made the best of it. We extended in Ketchikan one more day due to weather, but our plan is to leave 0530 tomorrow morning headed for our next port of call in Meyers Chuck.

An excellent relief map of Inside Passage in the Bush Pilot Lounge

Phil, Mike, Bill, and Brad enjoy a beer at the Bush Pilot Lounge in Ketchikan

Annette, Marya, and Sally at the Bush Pilot Lounge in Ketchikan

Route from Prince Rupert, Dundas Island, and into Ketchikan Alaska