Farewell to Alaska 2011

July 11, 2011

Today was another unusual sunny and warm day in Ketchikan as we prepare to leave Alaska for British Columbia, completing our time in SE Alaska in 2011. We did not go downtown, leaving that area to the passengers from the four cruise ships that were here today. We have been in SE Alaska for nearly two months and have explored new harbors, fished new places and visited familiar spots. The weather has fluctuated from sunny to torrential rain, but unlike 2010, no high winds. Also unlike 2010 we have become somewhat more expert in catching fish, crabs and prawns, so much so that we shipped most of the catch back from Sitka.

We reconnected with Matheson's on Sea Jay this evening as they completed their circuit of the Behm Canal. The prawns they caught were huge!! After Matheson's were settled in their slip we gathered on Spirit for a spot prawn feed, moving on to Annabelles's in Ketchikan for a final dinner before heading towards Dixon Entrance in the morning.

We will make the 86 mile trip in two days, stopping at Foggy Bay (in the USA) tomorrow before heading out across the open water of Dixon Entrance early on Wednesday morning. The weather report is favorable and with luck we should be in Prince Rupert by 1:00 PM local time as we lose one hour crossing back into Canada and Pacific Daylight Time.

Our path south is subject to change and weather, but we should be across Cape Caution within one week and then have further updates to our adventures. The area of the North BC coast is nearly devoid of cell phone coverage until we get to Shearwater.