Dixon Entrance Southbound

Our route from Foggy Bay to Prince Rupert, who was he anyway??

The Cow Bay Cafe

Fkying Kiwi Savignon Blanc

The entrance into Foggy Bay

Our last view of Ketchikan and the cruise ships

Leaving Ketchikan for the last time in 2011, under sunny skies, we headed for the fuel dock and added 300 gallons of fuel. We don't really need it, but want the extra margin in case we decide to do some additional cruising in British Columbia. After fueling, we headed down Revillagigedo Channel into Foggy Bay. We were the only boat there and after anchoring we sat out in the sunshine and enjoyed the unusually warm weather.

Monitoring the Central Dixon Entrance buoy on our satellite weather system, we knew we might have a somewhat rough crossing the next morning, so we got up at 0345 and began the preparations for leaving. The 0400 weather report sounded acceptable, seas to 5 feet, so we left at 0412 under clear skies. There were dozens of gill netters along the coast as we headed across Dixon Entrance, but most were north of us by the time we arrived at Cape Fox. The wind increased to 25 knots from the southeast, not the forecasted direction, the visibility decreased to 1 mile, and the seas became lumpy and confused with a 4 foot wind chop from one direction (SE) and a 6 foot swell from another (SW).

After three hours, we were finally in the lee of Dundas Island, and the swell abated, as well as the wind, now only 15 knots, with visibility now increased to 5 miles. We dodged sport fishing boats, and the gill netters as we entered Venn Passage for the final run into Prince Rupert. We were fortunate to have a slip at the Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club, but it was on the outside of the breakwater and the motions were pretty violent at times from all the traffic in the harbor..

After clearing Canadian Customs, we resupplied at the local Safeway and then had a great dinner at the Cow Bay Café, trying both the halibut and the rack of lamb, along with some "Flying Kiwi" sauvignon blanc from New Zealand. One of our cruise ship friends/chefs living in Texas goes by the name "The Flying Kiwi", so it was fun to try the wine. The weather was predicted to deteriorate, and it did, with light rain and fog by the time we were finished with dinner.

We are waiting for Matheson's to cross Dixon Entrance, hopefully in the AM.