Prince Rupert to Ketchikan

This morning we got up early (0450) and listened to the weather broadcast and station reports for Dixon Entrance, our second major crossing. The report sounded favorable, and we were underway at 0510, in the company of "Augenblick". We trailed astern of Augenblick through Venn Passage and by 0615 were in Chatham Sound bound for Green Island, Cape Fox and then Foggy Bay. We will stay overnight and then head for Ketchikan early in the morning before the minus tide.

Chatham Sound is nearly flat calm, with the biggest waves created by Augenblick, about ½ mile ahead of us. The skies are clearing to the west and it is looking like a beautiful day. The weather held, with calm winds as we passed by Green Island Lighthouse.

Shortly after 8 am Alaska Time (9 am PDT) we crossed back into US waters. The low westerly swell increased somewhat, but the wind remained light. Cape Fox was abeam at 0830. By 1030 we were anchored in 30 feet of water in the inner inlet at Foggy Bay, having called Customs and informed them that we would check in on Monday morning. Cell Phone service is non-existent in Foggy Bay, but was 4 bars at Tree Point, just 5 miles further south from Ketchikan.

By 1630, there were four boats anchored in the inner inlet, all of them had been at Prince Rupert in the morning when we left. Two sail and two power boats fill the inlet. The day has continued mostly sunny, with just a light westerly breeze. Since we have not yet cleared Customs, we think we must stay on the boat, but not everyone has the same idea, especially the one Canadian boat, which has set crab pots and taken off in the tender to explore the rest of Very Inlet.

As we approach Ketchikan for our first refueling stop, we are pleased that we have burned slightly less fuel than planned, and accumulated slightly less hours on the main engine. Due to the cruising alternator failure, we will need to arrange an oil change for the Northern Lights genset in Ketchikan since we are running it more, before we continue on North. We have shelved the charts for British Columbia, and the cruising guides such as Waggoner, which stop at Prince Rupert.

Some statistics:

Miles covered: 740 NM

Hours on main engine: 97

Hours on Generator: 80

Total Fuel, all sources ( the Kabola heater has been operating continuously except when the main engine is running): 610 gallons

Days at anchor: 8

Equipment Failures: Cruising Alternator, sea temp sensor on one of the depth sounders (it thinks we are in the Caribbean, reading 80 degrees), BBQ propane switch.

May 17, 2010

After a quiet night an anchor in Foggy Bay, we headed for Ketchikan. We arrived about 1045 am and are moored in Thomas Basin. We called on the alternator status and it had just arrived, so we hopped a taxi to the other end of town and picked it up, and shipped the bad one back in the same container. The new one has been installed and tested dockside and appears to be working normally.

While waiting for the taxi, we ran into the owner of "Panta Rhei", an Apogee 50, who we had met at Roche Harbor several years ago on our Jeanneau 49 DS "Spirit". To our surprise, he was travelling with "Dilligaf", our former "Spirit", so we walked down to the city floats, and sure enough, there she was!