2018 Alaska Ends

July 16, 2018

This morning Spirit returned to her homeport in Anacortes after 2546 nautical miles.

Spirit and Steel Tiger in Khutze Inlet

The trip south from Petersburg was speedy, but the rain persisted until we departed Ketchikan.  Stopping for the night in Foggy Bay, we anchored with four sailboats, all headed north.  The next morning, on the 30th of June we departed under clear skies across Dixon Entrance and were moored at the new municipal docks at Prince Rupert by 1400.

We had a great dinner at the Cow Bay Cafe and reprovisioned for the dash south to Port McNeill to meet Patrick’s sister on July 7.  Our route took us to Lowe Inlet, Rescue Bay, Pruth Bay, Alison Harbor for July 4th with the Johnson’s on Steel Tiger and then a relatively short run to Port McNeill.  Cape Caution was obscured by dense fog, but calm seas.

From Port McNeill we headed to Pierre’s at Echo Bay for the Saturday Pig Roast and Pierre’s 65th birthday. After at stop at Port Harvey with it’s new buildings and good pizza we headed to Shoal Bay. We spent two nights at Dent Island Lodge and were pleased at how nice the new main lodge turned out.

New Building at Port Harvey

Spirit at Port Harvey

New Main Lodge At Dent Island

Departing Dent Island Lodge the morning of July 12, we headed to Rebecca Spit, but the northwest winds made the anchorage uncomfortable with 2-3 foot seas, so we pulled the anchor and headed to Tribune Bay on Hornby Island.  The anchorage was still windy, but with little fetch there were few waves.

The weather cooperated with NW winds as we continued south, hitting slack tide at Dodd Narrows and anchoring in Montague Harbor before 1600.  After an evening in the sun, we moved to Port Browning in the morning to try and escape the brisk NW winds, to no avail.

On the morning of July 15, we crossed the US boundary in Haro Strait and later anchored in Echo Bay on Sucia Island.  The brisk NW winds continued.

Under sunny skies we made the short 22 nautical mile trip to our homeport in Anacortes Marina, arriving shortly before noon.