For the entire Northwest portion of our trip, from Seattle to Glacier Bay, we relied heavily on a series of cruising guides published by FineEdge Publishing Company. We HIGHLY recommend these books to anyone thinking of making this journey, or any part of it. We could never have made the journey without the books, they are worth every penny! The books give exact GPS coordinates for thousands of anchor sites, tell which coves offer good anchorage and which ones to avoid. We had heard many horror stories about how difficult anchoring is, and the marital stress it brings. We experienced NO STRESS and we believe that is entirely due to the information given in this book.
For others considering this journey, we will give the information regarding our daily routes and anchorages. We also relied on the FineEdge books for the appendix in the back that gives suggested daily routes for different types of cruisers. We found the "Classic" route most closely fit our boat and our style.
July 3: Vancouver to Plumper Cove, Keats Island.
July 4: Keats Island to Refuge Cove, West Redonda Island. 11-hour journey.
July 5: Refuge Cove to Bickley Bay, Eas Thurlow Island. Departed 9am, took lunch break in Francis Bay to wait for slack tide. Encountered Yuculta Rapids, Devils Hole and Dent Rapids around 4 pm. Anchored around 6 pm.
July 6: Bickley Bay to Blind Channel to Lagoon Cove Marina, via Green Point Rapids. Several strong currents and rapids throughout the day. Bickley Bay is where we anchored too close to shore and ended up stuck in the mud in the morning (see photo on "Canada" page). A beautiful place to be stuck, though! Lagoon Cove has limited services, see Waggoner's Cruising Guide for more information. We anchored in the cove. It appeared to be a popular recreational crabbing site.
July 7: Lagoon Cove Marina to Sointula. 7-hour journey. Saw a pod of Orca whales in Johnstone Strait. Found an available space in the small Sointula marina.
July 8: Spent day in Sointula doing laundry, provisioning, waiting for weather window.
July 9: Sointula to Port Hardy to Miles Inlet and back to Port Hardy. We fueled and did some more shopping in Port Hardy, then motored across to Miles Inlet. We arrived at Miles Inlet at 11pm, which was in the dark. Miles Inlet has a NARROW entrance, steep rock walls and should NOT be attempted in the dark!!! We glanced off of the rock wall at one point. We took two attempts at anchoring, and on the second attempt, our anchor buoy line got tangled in our anchor chain and we could not get the line out of the chain. We had to cut the line in several pieces so that the anchor would not hang too low off the bow of our boat. Handicapped by no trustworthy anchor, we had to head back to Port Hardy in the dark. We checked in with Traffic, as the visibility was poor and we were crossing the shipping channel. We arrived back in Port Hardy around 4:30 a.m. and moored on a public mooring ball off of the public floats in Port Hardy. In the morning we counted our blessings as all of us were safe, there was no damage to the boat from banging against the rocks, and we had a safe mooring for the night. After sleeping in, we motored over to the dock, let out the anchor onto the dock, and easily untangled the mess from the night before.
Oh, had it not been such an awful night, I would have pointed out the amazing quantities of photoplankton in Miles Inlet.
July 10: Port Hardy to Safety Cove. After our long night, we slept late, and didn't get back out on our way until about 3 pm. It was a sunny day; the winds and swells died down, and we went back across (again) toward Cape Caution. Briefly saw a pod of dolphins playing next to our boat- they are very quick! Some of the crew saw a humpback whale. You would think that we had learned our lesson about anchoring in the dark, but we arrived at Safety Cove at 12:30 am. It was dark-ish, but actually not too dark and the cove and anchoring were easy. More photoplankton, this time we took a few moments to appreciate it. We threw a few pennies in the water to see the green glow.
July 11: Safety Cove to Shearwater. Saw humpback whale just south of Bella Bella, spent a lot of time watching it and getting photos. Anchored across from Shearwater (we were too cheap to pay their $1/foot fee).
July 12: Shearwater to Rescue Bay. 5 hour journey. In the a.m., we did laundry, grocery shopping and fueled up in Shearwater. The afternoon took us through Reid passage, Perceval Narrows, Mathieson Channel to Rescue Bay. Sunny day with a nice sunset. Saw a bald eagle searching for prey off the stern of our boat.
July 13: Rescue Bay to Windy Bay. Rescue Bay is a beautiful spot, a Marine Park. Lots of birds.
July 14: Windy Bay to Bishop Bay Hot Springs. 50 mile day, took us about 8 hours. Bishop Bay is a great spot for a hot soak! We happened to be there on Robert's 1st birthday, and he had a great time in the springs! There is a public float, about 70 feet long. When we were there, there were a few boats rafted together; we got a spot on the dock, but only had enough space for about half of our boat. Our bow stuck our about 15-20 feet, but we were glad to have that spot. We tried anchoring, but unsuccessfully. So unsuccessfully, in fact, that our windlass gave out. Calpurnia and crew were stuck in the middle of the cove with anchor chain out, but the anchor was not anywhere near the bottom. The windlass did not have enough umph to bring up the anchor. Meanwhile, Amy was on shore, as she had been sent to preview the spring and accommodations. Doug and Shane, from another boat on the float, were friendly enough to take Amy back to the boat. They also lifted up on the anchor chain to relieve some of the pressure and the windlass was then able to kick in and pull up the rest of the chain and anchor with ease. After all of this drama, we were all ready for a warm soak!
In regards to the windlass problem, we thought it was due to the fact that our batteries were on the verge of death However, we later got new batteries, and we continue to struggle with the anchor anytime we put out the anchor in more than about 60 feet of water. Our temporary solution is to put Mark in the dinghy and pull up on the chain while Amy operates the windlass. It has worked for us so far. If we ever have to pull up anchor in a hurry, we'll probably be in trouble.
July 15: Bishop Bay Springs to Hartley Bay to Lowe Inlet. In the morning, we filled the batteries with water, and charged them successfully with the generator. Went to Hartley Bay for diesel and ran into Doug and Linda, who had helped us yesterday. They were there waiting on a helicopter to transport Shane who was not feeling well, and possibly had had a mild heart attack that morning. Our prayers are with them.
After fueling in Hartley Bay, we went up Greenville Channel to Lowe Inlet, where there is a waterfall. We arrived around 9:30 p.m., and the Inlet was very crowded with fishing boats. We anchored in a small cove before the waterfall and worried all night about swinging into the fishing boat next to us.
July 16: Lowe Inlet to Lawson Harbor. Breakfasted by the waterfall after anchoring in the current from it. Spent the morning exploring the waterfall by dinghy and going on shore to walk around a bit. Beautiful day: sunny and 65 degrees. Arrived in Lawson Harbor around 8:30 p.m. with plenty of daylight; no other boats. Lawson Harbor is not really a harbor, barely a cove, but provided ample protection.
July 17: Lawson Harbor to Prince Rupert. Short day- 19 miles. Foggy, misty, rainy weather for our travels in the morning, but the sun came out in the afternoon. Prince Rupert is a big city, especially by B.C standards. We were glad to see civilization. Shopped at some hardware stores, and went to the mall. Purchased some rainboots for Robert at a department store in the mall. Had dinner at the Peg Leg Restaurant overlooking the harbor, which we all enjoyed.
July 18: Prince Rupert to Wales Harbor. Another sunny day in Prince Rupert. Provisioned, checked email, ate at an outdoor patio. Departed around 3 p.m. Water was rough at the beginning, then we got some sun and actually put up the sails! Sailed 90 minutes or so. Wales Harbor was empty except for us, 2 crab pots and 10,000 jellyfish.
July 19: Wales Harbor to Carp Island Cove. Sunny day! Put up sails again about 90 minutes and cut the engine! So peaceful after motoring for two weeks. Headed for Misty Fjords National Monument, but didn't have time once we got there to venture in very far. Anchored in Carp Island Cove in Behm Canal. Beautiful sunset that lasted a long time and kept getting better! Saw a seal sunning himself on a rock outside the cove. Hit a rock in .............
July 20: Carp Island Cove to Ketchikan. Got a slip in Bar Harbor North Marina. Arrived in Ketchikan around noon, called Customs and waited for them to visit our boat. Wanted to know if we had any beef or potatoes from Canada. Said we didn't have to give them up, but don't throw them away in US trash cans. Either eat them or throw them overboard. After Customs, took Kay, Mark's mom, to the airport via water taxi. If we had more time, ferry would have been cheaper. Had pizza at Godfather's, our first pizza since Bellinham.
July 21-30: In Ketchikan. One thing we are learning is that every time we stop, there is maintenance to do on the boat, and it always takes much longer than expected. In Ketchikan, we changed the oil in the generator and the engine, cleaned all of the sea strainers, bought and installed all 5 new batteries, including one conveniently placed in the lazarrette, and solved the mystery of the disappearing fresh water- the pressure relief valve on the hot water tank was faulty. Replacing this valve, once it was discovered to be the problem, took at least two trips to marine hardware stores. And that was just the times we made purchases. The first valve Mark purchased was the wrong size entirely, so he ended up retrofitting the original with new parts.
There are worse places to be stuck than in Ketchikan. We enjoyed our time, did lots of laundry, grocery shopping, and occasionally ate out. Bar Harbor North does not have laundry facilities, but there is a laundromat just a few blocks away, within walking distance. The harbor does have very nice showers, I think it was $2 for 8 minutes. The Safeway is also within walking distance, and there are always a few Safeway shopping carts at the top of the marina ramp. There is also an A&P within walking distance. Mark visited several hardware and marine hardware stores, as well as a NAPA auto parts stores. Most of these he walked to, but only a few would fit under the definition of "within walking distance." It took us a while to catch on, but we would recommend getting to know the city bus. There is a Wal-Mart outside of town. Again, Mark walked, but would highly recommend going by bus instead.
July 31: Ketchikan to Meyer's Chuck. 5 hour journey, riding the current the whole way. Put up sails briefly. Good weather, sunny skies, nice sunset. Had swells part of the time. Easy, early anchoring.
Aug 1: Meyer's Chuck to St. John Harbor via Zimovia Strait. 12-hour journey. Beautiful day! Blue skies and sun. Mark saw humpback in the morning. We saw 60-80 seals sunning themselves on an islet off of Niblock Island. We circled the islet for about an hour looking at the seals and taking pictures. Sunshine all day except for a small rain shower. Water got milky white at points. We almost ran aground in mud or sand due to low water visibility and inability of depth gauge to get a reading- watch your charts! Also almost ran over a fish net that was stretched a quarter mile from its boat. Mark actually saw a buoy, so steered to avoid the net, but the net was so long that he didn't realize he steered the wrong way! The fisherman called on Ch 16 and let him know we were headed right for his net, and we steered a quarter mile back to the right to steer clear of it. Starting to see snow on the mountain tops. Anchored in 100 feet, one other boat nearby.
Aug 2: