Foggy Bay to Prince Rupert

The alarm sounded and we awoke to dim morning light with light rain and mist. The goal was to try to beat the worst of the forecast winds by leaving as early as feasible.

A quick shower and I was on deck retrieving the stern line and moving the dinghy to the port side of Alaskan Dream so we could maneuver. Karen followed shortly and we cast off our lines from Grand Adventure. The anchor rode pulled us away from the raft of six Grand Banks as we proceeded to haul anchor.

After the anchor was secured onboard, we quickly took the dinghy aboard and secured it for the forecast three to four foot waves.

We departed Foggy Bay at 5am, leaving the rest of the fleet to finish dismantling the raft. Our early departure was based on our plan to run a bit slower than Mother Goose typically goes, about 7 knots instead of eight. This conserves about 20% more fuel during the passage. Also, our plan was to run down the eastern shore while the fleet is planning to cross over to Dundas Island, travel behind the protection of the small islands off of Dundas, and then make a crossing at the point of shortest distance.

My take on the weather was different than the forecast on the radio, so my plan was to expose myself to any beam seas early before they had an opportunity to build.

This northern and eastern route (see Douglass and Douglass) also has a few options to run on the inside of some islands, such as Tongass Passage, if the sea state dictates.

As we departed Foggy Bay, the bay itself was full of swells approaching 3 feet with a very short period. It was not a great ride, but as we got into open water and proceeded southeast, the ride improved substantially.

Overall, my forecast of 15 knots winds and seas less than 2 feet was spot on and we were able to take the most direct route to Prince Rupert.

Alaskan Dream was the first to arrive on the docks with Patos tying up shortly thereafter. Clearing Canadian Customs was the usual quick and efficient phone call at the pay phone in front of the Prince Rupert Yacht Club. (There is a toll free number pasted to the inside of the phone booth, so no Loonies required)

The colors change every year, but you'll find these visible at low tide

Dollys Resturant

Karen takes advantage of the WIFI at the market

A late lunch was at Dolly’s, a fish monger who also serves great food. The atmosphere is simple with a slight smell of fresh fish, but the food is fresh and very good. They are a short two block walk from the Yacht Club, and they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We accomplished our mission of getting wine, a fishing license, some Canadian money from the ATM, and finished provisioning at the Safeway for those items we could not bring in to Canada from the U.S.

Dinner was with Lance & Kathy at the Breakers pub - a place for a decent burger and fries.

The night was pretty calm, though Karen noted that about 2am, there was some rocking and rolling despite being tied to the dock.

Ketchikan to Foggy Bay

Breakfast on the boat in Ketchikan - Must eat the fresh fruit early in the trip

Well no surprises here, it’s raining in Ketchikan. The Mother Goose fleet is planning an 8am departure. The wind is forecast to be 15-20 knots and we expect a nice but bumpy ride. Three of the six boats are stabilized (including ours!), but the other three will experience some rolling motion today.

As we worked our way south, we saw very little traffic once we left the Ketchikan area. No pleasure boats were to be found, and only the occasional fisherman was spotted. We saw a couple of tugs with their tows, but all in all it was a trip devoid of ships and wildlife.

Cruise Ships and Float Planes? It must be Ketchikan!

The rain was on and off again all day. Not really a factor in our travels. Once we arrived at Foggy Bay, Deception made fast a stern tie and then called each boat in turn until all were rafted. The two outside 49’s were each rigged with a stern tie to shore and their anchors were carried out and dropped by Captain Rich and Jordan using the dinghy.

Deception crew sets her stern line

Building the raft

The little dinghy that could

While successful, it became difficult for the little 9.9 hp Honda outboard to pull it’s load as more and more chain was paid out. The target was 200 feet of rode, but at about 150 feet Rich and the Honda both decided that it was time to set the 100lb. anchor.

Five of Six boats rafted in Foggy Bay

Shortly thereafter, we launched the dinghy for an excursion up Very Inlet in hopes of seeing some black bear and anything else that caught our fancy. The rain would come and go, and with it our interest in staying out too long. We did manage to travel a few miles up to the first rapids. They were running too strong on our bow to warrant an attempt at running them. So a quick about face, and we returned to Alaskan Dream with the cold mist in our faces.

Karen in her favorite spot in the dinghy

After shedding the foul weather gear, I finished up making some dip for a little planned socialization onboard Deception. Every boat brought a little snack or appetizer and whatever was their pleasure to drink. We spent a nice time getting to know one another. Rich and Emmelina briefed us on the next day’s travels and also what we can expect in the Haida Gwaii, two days out.

Where we are going, called Gwaii Haanas (The Beautiful Islands) is an Indian reservation and protected area, so they have their rules and regulations designed to protect the lands, seas and wildlife. Not a problem and understandable, we just need to clarify what is expected from us in our travels. More on this as we get closer to the islands.

The fleet has a 5:30am departure time tomorrow so by 8:30 I was asleep.

Foggy Bay to Ketchikan

We knew that the rest of the Mother Goose fleet was completing their 7-day tour of Misty Fiords. Our boat was to join up with the fleet in Ketchikan. Knowing that if we let the rest of the fleet get there first, they would find slip accommodations and we could then join up with them, ensuring that all the boats were conveniently moored.  So we hung out til about 10am and then headed north to Ketchikan.

Again, it was fairly calm, and we dodged a few  gillnetters as we motored north. It wasn’t too long before the rest of the “fleet” popped up on AIS, and they were about an hour ahead of us. Perfect! We contacted Captain Bill by phone and told him our position and asked if he’d be sure to get us a slip when he brought the rest of the goslings into Ketchikan.  All organized, we sat back and enjoyed the 5 hour trip. About 15 minutes out, we called Customs to tell them that we would meet them at the Fuel Dock, so that we were able to kill two birds with one stone.  We filled up with diesel, filled up the propane tank, and cleared customs easily.  However, when it came time to leave the dock, we were wedged in front and aft, with a fishing boat’s stern sticking out only inches behind us and a nice Nordhavn tight in front. The Nordie captain and the fuel  dock attendant helped us wedge our way out by holding the bow in while we swung the aft out into the channel, and all was well.

A rare sight. Only one cruise ship in Ketchikan. That will change soon!

It was a short ride up to Bar Harbor to join  the rest of the Grand Banks fleet, and we passed some cruise ships along the way. Met by smiling faces and helping hands, we docked Alaskan Dream near Deception (the lead boat) and proceeded to greet friends we hadn’t seen since January. 

Some summary statistics: we were on the boat for 35 days. Of those days, 86% were at anchor and only 14% at a dock. When we anchored, 77%% of the time we were totally alone in the anchorage with no other boats and 13% of the time there was only one other boat with us. Definitely some solitude on this trip!

It was a lot of fun, this trip…and we left the boat in Ketchikan already thinking of where we could go and what we could do in 2012!

Brundige Inlet to Foggy Bay, AK

In my never-ending desire to avoid long days of crossings, we planned to go about 30 miles and overnight in Foggy Bay, Alaska. It will be good to get back to US waters!  Foggy Bay is an anchorage that US Customs allows boats to stop in prior to clearing Customs in Ketchikan. We had made prior arrangements to do so from Prince Rupert, so there was no stress.

We were off by 7:52, having heard that winds will be strong from the SE. We wanted to get up and going, expecting some lumpy seas as we headed north across this open body of water. Instead, we found calm conditions crossing Dixon Entrance.  Very little wind or swell. The weather gods have definitely been kind to us on this trip.

I was at the helm when we crossed the boundary line. At one point on the electronic navigation charts, the bow (and I!) were in the US but our stern (and Bob!) still in Canada!  Once we crossed into Alaska, we started to see more targets on the AIS, including the St. Jude, the same fish buying vessel (it anchors near the fishing fleet where they off load their catch and go back to the fishing grounds) we saw last year taking on Salmon in Elfin Cove.  It’s a small world!  And we also started to see lots and lots of fishing boats on the horizon.  As we approached, it was clear they were gillnetters. It took a while to “see” the picture: orange balls marking the end of nets, but which ball went with which boat? Bob took over and ducked and weaved and dodged his way forward, in very calm and smooth conditions.

We entered Foggy Bay, enjoying the smooth ride in. It was a zero tide, so we saw lots of rocks and reefs exposed along our route.  We made our way to the inner bay and were totally alone...yet again. The anchor set well and we had planned to go kayak exploring. Before we could get ready, that wind from the SE really started to come on strong. Plus, it was misting and drizzling, not the most conducive weather for kayaking. So we started to pack up all our stuff instead, anticipating tomorrow’s unloading at Ketchikan.

Late in the evening, a small gillnetter motored by and graciously offered us a fresh salmon. We had to decline, given that it was our last night on the boat and it would go to waste. What a bummer! At least we had one boat for company on our last night at anchor.

Prince Rupert to Brundige Inlet

We were up at a reasonably early hour to head through Venn Passage and the Duncan Bay “shortcut”, knowing this route would shorten our trip to Dundas Island considerably.  We had not heard much about Venn Passage, and the Douglass book certainly made it sound quite doable – but a couple we had spoken with at Ocean Falls was extremely negative on the pass and said that they had many friends who had tried to take the shortcut and had ended up grounded.

Hmm…a quick call to Brian Pemberton at NWExplorations, our charter company,  and we were back on track, heading through Venn Passage,  prepared to keep extra sharp situational awareness with the range and various channel markers.

So…we wake up to hit a nice high tide in Venn…and find fog. Not totally obscured, as we pilots would say, but enough to get your attention.  The wind was calm, though, and we got off the dock easily, slipping away with ease. Given all the wood and kelp in the water between the boat and the dock, I had worried that we might have more difficulty than we did. We liked Prince Rupert and look forward to coming  back.

The fog settles in Prince Rupert harbour.

Prince Rupert peeks out from under the fog.

Good thing Bob is an IFR pilot, we had to keep a very close eye on the radar. The navigation over toward the start of Venn Passage was uneventful, except for all the fast moving fishing boats that would appear, ghostly and silent.

We had enough visibility to identify the airport dock and to validate that the Nobeltec marker placement was spot on. However, when we had to turn onto the range markers, they were totally obscured. Luckily, about halfway through, the fog started to lift and we could see Metlakatla in the distance. About this time, water taxis and fishing boats started to zip by. Glad we could see better!

We followed the buoys through a very circuitous route and kept an eye on all the fishing boats coming in through Duncan Bay from the north. We felt this passage was not a big deal and would do it again in a heartbeat.

The weather was calm, and we set course for Dundas Island. I had always wanted to go there. Why? I’m not sure…it’s the northernmost part of Canada that was on our course, and it would make for an easy day the next day to Foggy Bay, AK.  I had heard that the horseflies were bad in Brundige, but we hadn’t had any problems so far and how bad could it be, right?

So off we went, sunshine abounding. We were being quasi-paralleled and overtaken by a tug (Ocean Navigator) with tow. The AIS kept forecasting that we would pass quite close, and I wanted to fall off and let the tug take the lead, but Bob insisted we hold our course. About the time we got to the lovely Green Island Lighthouse and dodged a few small fishing boats, we had to give way so that the tug could pass and we could cut west.

As we rounded the top of Dundas, we saw a fancy floating fishing resort and some of their boats tooling around. Headed into Brundige, we saw one lonely sailboat headed out to cross Dixon Entrance back into the US. That would be us tomorrow.

We arrived about noon. Brundige Inlet was very long and not that visually exciting, but as we dropped anchor at the head,  I was excited about doing some kayak exploring. However, as I was outside doing the anchor dance, I was enveloped in a sea of flying insects that were totally annoying. I was too busy to see exactly what they were, and I was totally covered except for my head.  The anchor did not bite the first time, so we had to reset, extending my exposure to the flying (but apparently not biting) creatures. I even pulled my hood up to keep the darned things out of my face. Bob told me later my jacket was bug-covered when I was dropping the anchor.

As soon as I came inside, though – a different story. I had bites the size of goose eggs on my forehead, neck and hairline. They HURT! And they were a real pain for at least 3 days. This immediately dissuaded me from any attempt at outside exploration. YUCK!  We were extra appreciative of the custom door screens on Alaskan Dream that allowed us ventilation without having our blood sucked dry.

We watched a movie, and later in the afternoon we saw two large sandhill cranes on one of the beaches. I was bummed we couldn’t go out and get closer to these magnificent creatures, but there was no way I was getting more bites.

Dinner was grilled pork and mashed sweet potatoes. I admit I thought Bob would get eaten alive while grilling the pork outside, but though he saw lots of flies and bugs, nothing bit him. Guess he’s not as sweet.

We watched the movie Wimbledon and were joined by the boat Whiskey Way out of Price Rupert about 9pm.  Like many, he came into the anchorage at full speed and waked us for no apparent reason other than that he could. Grrrr.

We had a good night’s sleep, as it was quiet once his wake settled down and all was well.