Departing Dent Island for the Broughton's

We just finished a great breakfast at the lodge (two kinds of smoked salmon, cold cuts, cheeses, juices, coffee to start then eggs, bacon, blueberry pancakes and hashbrowns) and are making final preparations to depart at high slack water for the trip into the Broughton's.

The dinner at the lodge last night was memorable, and we were the only guests so it was like being in your own private resort. We began with appetizers, including oysters baked on the half shell with parmesan cheese, then steamed clams or green salad, followed by Dungeness crab and then the main course of beef tenderloin topped with fresh BC spot prawns and bernaise sauce. We finished off the meal with strawberry shortcake and waddled back to the boat.

Dent Island

Getting ready to leave Ganges on May 2, Miriam's cousin Dean Sevold seeing us off.

Slack Water at Dodd Narrows was at 1300 today, so we did not leave

Ganges until 0900. Dean Sevold joined us for breakfast before we left. Weather was nearly flat calm, little did we know what was coming.

When we arrived at Dodd, we were still a little early, but there was no trafic and the current was down to a couple of knots, so we went ahead and transited. The day was still young, it was Sunday when the shops would be closed in Nanaimo, and the Straits of Georgia appeared calm, so we continued on to Pender Harbor.

By the time we arrived, the benign forecast had changed to a severe wind alert, so we let out more scope on the anchor. Also in Garden Bay at Pender Harbor was another Selene 55, Rendezvous. Their stern thruster coupling had failed, and we had a spare, so they were able to replace it. The wind gradually built to sustained winds in the mid-thirty knot range, with gusts to 47.2 knots. Spirit sailed around on the anchor over about 100 degrees, but the anchor was well set. Neil and I stayed up to watch over things, and is was 0330 before the front passed and we both got some sleep.

The next morning we listened to the weather forecast, and it seemed OK, with winds at Grief Point only 15 knots, so we left. We should have stayed. Malaspina Strait turned into a washing machine, with the winds building back to the mid-30 knot range and short steep seas. We ended up slowing down to 4-5 knots to keep from slamming too hard.

By the time we got to Grief Point, the weather alerts now called for waterspouts, and sure enough, we saw them on the horizon ahead. We dodged around the line of thundershowers and finaaly started seeing the winds decrease as we entered Thulin Passage.

At 1535, we anchored in Prideaux Haven. Raindancer, a Selene 60 was already anchored. We had been moored adjacent to Raindancer at the Selene Rendezvous the previous week.

At anchor, Prideaux Haven, Desolation Sound

The weather continued to improve, we set the shrimp pots, cleaned as much of the salt off the boat as possible and relaxed.

Noreen baked fresh cinnamon pull-aparts for breakfast.


Ladies Cocktail Cruise

Checking out our inflatable Kayaks.

Neil and Patrick enjoying the sun on the boat deck.

Miriam checking out the hammock chair suspended from the davit

Our spot prawn appetizers were worth the effort.


The weather was so pleasant we decided to stay another day, but today, May 5, we reluctantly departed Prideaux Haven and and cruised easily up to Dent Island Lodge.

Departing Desolation Sound, with spectacular scenery.

May 1, 2010

Approaching Ganges

It is 0515 and the sun is just beginning to light the eastern sky over the Anacortes refineries. The gulls have started making noise, so even those now asleep will soon be awake. Calm winds in the marina right now. Time to make that first latte and fire up the navigation electronics as we prepare to cast off lines and motor to Ganges, BC. There will be another minus tide later today, and we will be bucking it most of the way. Just the way it is this time of year, where the big ebb tides are in the middle of the day.
By 0530, most of us are up since Sean and Margaret need to be back in Seattle by 0815. We made a quick batch of breakfast sandwiches (rolls, Canadian bacon, eggs and Havarti cheese) to go with more latte’s.0650 – The last line is cast off and we motor slowly out of the marina, resisting the temptation to give our sleeping friends a blast on the airhorn. The tide has begun to ebb, so we get quite a boost down Guemes Channel. There is very little traffic, and we see only a few boats between Anacortes and Bedwell Harbor. May 1 is the first day Bedwell is open for customs, but it is telephone only, and we are cleared in just a few minutes.

Safely moored at Ganges Marina

Our crew near the Tree House Cafe

By 1315 we are tied up to the dock at Ganges Marina and shortly thereafter headed for the stores to stock the boat with all the things we could not bring across the border. Of course, the only rain was on the way back to the boat with the supplies.
The breakwater at Ganges Marina has been damaged by a large boat dragging anchor recently and drifting into it. There is yellow tape blocking access by foot, so until the breakwater is repaired, moorage may be limited.
We had a delightful lunch at the Tree House Café, with both good food (everything from monster burgers to open faced baked tuna melt sandwiches) and great Bloody Caesar’s. After we did some more shopping, we went back to the boat to log on and get our Canadian fishing licenses. We had a moment of panic when we found we needed login information from three years ago on our last trip to Alaska. Fortunately, we were able to reconstruct the information and print out new licenses.
Dean Sevold, Miriam’s cousin, came by the boat later in the evening. He lives on Saltspring Island and we have reconnected with him on our many trips across the border.

Neil keeping up Spirit's appearances.

T-7 Hours

The party is over, the debris has been swept away, the rain has returned, we are ready for SE Alaska.


Just a little Beefeaters left, Margaret stepped up to the challenge!



The excess!!!!
The rest disappeared somewhere.


The final repairs have been accomplished, our thanks to Steelhead Marine! The excess liquor has either been packed away and sent to Bellevue, or consumed, and we are making the final preparations for departure at 0700 from Anacortes Marina. Not many hours left. There is still some waterline showing, so I guess we are good to go!

Next Post from Ganges, BC.

T-3 and Counting

The Selene rendezvous is complete. There were 39 Selene Trawlers in attendance. The rendezvous at Roche Harbor was well attended and we were able to see how many of the other owners had customized their vessels. We always pick up new ideas. Weather was variable, with everything from sun to intense rain, but we had a great time in spite of the showers, and even the power failure on the docks.

From the picture, you can see we launched the tender. Good news and bad news! The tender ran well, but the davit developed a problem in luffing down. We got the tender back on board, and Steelhead Cranes will be up on Friday, cutting it close, to make repairs.

On the way back to Anacortes, after the rendezvous, we put an additional 808 gallons of fuel on board, bringing the total to about 1450 gallons for the trip North.

Today, Wednesday, we transitioned up to Anacortes and loaded the fishing gear and crab pots for the trip. The weather is clearing here in Anacortes, and Spirit is nearly ready for departure! We can still see the cove stripe, so we have a little room for more supplies, but not much.

Our son Cameron will be living at the house and taking care of things in Bellevue while we are gone, so that there is always somebody at home.

Just the davit repair and Bon Voyage party to go!

T-10 and Counting

On Sunday, April 20, Spirit finally left Selene Yacht Service for home base at Anacortes Marina.
All the mandatory items from the survey have been accomplished, although some work has been deferred until the fall.
We are in the final stages of packing and finalizing plans for departure (on-time) from Anacortes on May1. We made a stop at Armchair Sailor and purchased the remaining paper charts for the trip, since they are still a requirement even with all the electronic aids.
Tomorrow we depart for the 2010 Northwest Selene Rendezvous at Roche Harbor and will use the time to make sure all the systems are really ready. We will return on Sunday afternoon, April 25 and will top off the fuel tanks. We expect to take on about 800 gallons of fuel.
Back to Bellevue for last minute arrangements and then we transition to Spirit on Wednesday, April 28.
Our guest list has filled out (more on that as our guests arrive and depart) and all provisions are on board except for the perishable items. We still have some boot stripe showing so we could pack some more items, but are running out of places to put things. It is sort of like packing for any trip, the last minute "nice-to-haves" seem to explode in volume.





Spirit on the "hard" at Canal Boatyard

2010 Plan

We will be gone just over 4 months, from May 1 to September 5, 2010.

Month 1 May 2010 – Anacortes to Juneau via the Inside Passage, with stops in Desolation Sound, Dent Island, the Broughton Archipelago, Bishop Bay Hot Springs, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Tracy Arm.

Month 2 June 2010 – Exploring east and west coasts of Chichagof and Baranof Islands, with possible side trip to Lituya Bay, weather permitting. Sitka will be our base of operations, and we hope to visit Baranof Hot Springs, Goddard Hot Springs and Tenakee Springs. We will end up in Wrangell.

Month 3 July 2010 – Making a brief side trip back to Seattle from Wrangell, then exploring Prince of Wales Island, Behm Canal (Misty Fjords) ending up in Ketchikan.

Month 4 August 2010 – Heading South through British Columbia, spending more time in the Broughton Archipelago and then cruising south to Anacortes.

Month 5 September 2010 - Roche Harbor Yacht Club cruise to Port Townsend.

We will be joined at various points by friends and family. Stay tuned for updates.