Once we left Ketchikan, there was a huge sigh of relief but also a lot of territory to cover to get farther south and out of the constant band of low-pressure systems starting to roll through in Southeast Alaska. The mission after Ketchikan was to GO and GO farther south.
As I mentioned in my last blog, we did get to enjoy some hiking in Ketchikan but we were looking forward to a more sunny and less wet weather pattern. Most of the anchorages on the way back we had been to and already done some surveillance, so pulling in at the end of the day was a bit easier to drop anchor. We had a few hurdles to get back south including crossing Dixon Entrance East, Cape Caution, and then down Johnstone Strait/Seymour Narrows.
We were very fortunate that when we left Ketchikan, we had a nice weather profile to really make some tracks. Not necessarily great sailing wind but certainly no big systems to halt our progress. We left immediately from Ketchikan to Foggy Bay (a great staging area for crossing Dixon Entrance East and still US territory) and then back to BC with customs check-in at Prince Rupert (Blip- it #1)! I say Blip-it ( made up word:)) because we did stay more than a night and got on land. After PR and crossing Dixon Entrance easily, we then made our way quickly through the Grenville Channel. We stopped back at Kumealon then exited the channel and stayed in Khutze Inlet in the Princess Royal Channel. Then Warrior Cove and off to Fury Cove to stage for Cape Caution. All known anchorages to us except for Fury.
Fury Cove was closed during COVID and stayed closed for unclear reasons. It is primarily a 1st Nations territory but boats are now able to anchor just not go ashore. We were in the company of 5 boats and Miss Treva said they had 9 boats in the bay when they were there. Luckily, we pulled in that evening but we were able to round Cape Caution the very next day.
It was quite surprising that the good weather lasted for us to continue to blast through all the channels. It became a reality that this trip is QUITE LONG - ha! It started to remind me of going to Europe and trying to see 4 countries in 10 days. One of those trips, where you have some longer respites in certain places but it is go, go, go! We were starting to get a bit fatigued with long days of boat moving and usually the engine going which ignites noise fatigue as well.
After rounding Cape Caution safely and the company of all white boats that passed us easily, we finally arrived at Port McNeil (Blip-#2). I really do like Port McNeil, it is a quaint little Canadian town and has similar amenities and a good spirit comparable to Petersburg, AK. We spent 2 days there on purpose:) to have a bit of recovery. After some laundry, hot showers, provisions, and some nice walks in town we felt refreshed and ready to push on.
The morning we left, thunder and lightning were in the air leaving the port. It was a bit unnerving and the electricity followed us down the strait. We saw lots of lightning and got squalls coming through one after another for the entire passage to our next anchorage. We do have a tiny ground plate on our hull but still not overly comforting. You always worry about fire and the loss of electronics with lightning. I started to pull up an article on lightning strikes and boats and recommendations; of course, we had read all this stuff before but a re-read felt prudent - ha. Port Neville was the evening anchorage. You anchor in the channel and there is a TON of current. Our snubber on the anchor was incredibly restless the entire night with lots of clamoring due to the current's pull and tug regimen. It was not a great sleep and you did not want to use earplugs due to the concern if you dragged the anchor, you would not hear the anchor alarm you set - uggh.
We awoke to a welcoming sky and decided we would push on to Plumper Bay and stage for Seymour Narrows. It was a Spring Tide and so on Max Flood for several days the current would be running 13-14.2 knots max, full-on white water conditions. The other issue with Spring Tides is that the slack time is VERY Short and so on either end of the flood or ebb, the numbers get exponetially higher quickly. So right after slack the current will easily start to jump from 1 knot to 5 knots in less than 2 hours for example.
If you have a power vessel that goes 20 knots this current is not a problem but caution still should be taken and certainly for all vessels under 7 knots of hull speed like us ( we are 5) it requires careful timing and precision to make it through certain checkpoints safely. In addition to the current, other challenges include weird eddies, rips, whirlpools, etc... Plumper Bay was only 1 nm from the start of the 1st checkpoint, Race Passage and it is open to the NW but luckily no big NW winds came through.
We had an 1120am slack time we had to meet and we did it successfully. Whooot Whoooot!!! Last big crux to getting down South!
And here we are.... on Quadra Island on the East side in Drew Harbor. We anchored here on the way up and I was hoping to come back to explore a bit more as there are hiking trails here and a friendly area for paddleboarding. NOW, we finally feel like we can relax!!! If we wanted, we could make a beeline to Blaine and be back in 3 days. That is not our intention!
After Quadra Island, we plan to check out Tribune Bay on Hornby and then go to Lasqueti Island & Jedediah Marine Preserve. All with trails and lovely bays with sandy beaches -whhhaattt? Tribune Bay is described as some to look Caribbean-like due to the shallow water, warmth of the water, and turquoise color. Sand Harbor along Lake Tahoe has a similar profile. The rest of this journey should include more SUN, less clothing :) and more ACTIVITY! The ingredients for a good time:)
** Ok guys, less clothing means being able to ditch wearing 2 jackets all the time and being able to wear a Tshirt - keep it PG! :)
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