August 22, 2009 Frederick Sound-Misty Fiords

All,

It’s been a wonderful 2 ½ weeks since I sent the last update.

As I finished the last report, we were on way back to Auke Bay for another “crew change”. My daughter, Stephanie, her husband, Jason, and kids, James, Jackson and Johnathan, left “ship’s company” the morning of August 8th to return to the real world of Longmont, Colorado.

That evening, I caught the “blue canoe” (Alaska Marine Highway ferry), with the Land Cruiser. I got off the ferry in Skagway and drove to Whitehorse that evening. The next morning, I started the long drive back to the lower 48 the morning of the 9th and crossed the border in the Okanagan valley the evening of the 10th, just over 1,000 long miles later. After stopping briefly in Omak, WA at Dave and Dawn Hellyer’s, I drove on to a motel near SeaTac. On the 11th, I met Phyl and Will at SeaTac and flew back to Juneau with them.

On the 12th, Phyl, Will and I bid fond farewell to Auke Bay for the last time this season and started south. We made our way down what has become a well-travelled route for Arcadia 1 to Gambier Bay and for another quiet anchorage in Snug Harbor for the night.

On the 13th, we set off for Petersburg on an extraordinarily calm day. As we approached Portage Bay, we had another of those marvelous encounters with a group of humpback whales. Once again, we motored right among them and shut everything down. In that quiet condition, the whales seem to sense that we’re totally benign to them and either simply go about their business around us, or better, get as curious about us as we are about them. It’s really a special experience! This guy was so close we could literally see down his, (or her), blowhole.

By about 5 pm, we were once again in Petersburg’s North Harbor, comfortably tied to a guest slip.

On the 14th, we continued down picturesque, but heavily travelled, Wrangell Narrows and ended our day with our first visit to Wrangell. We tied up at a guest slip on the city float there that evening and took a walk around town, did laundry and treated ourselves to a nice dinner ashore.

On the 15th, we set out for Misty Fiords on a calm, but foggy and rainy day. By 6:30 pm that evening, the rain stopped as we tied up to a Forest Service float in pretty Helm Bay. We moved the lawn chairs onto the dock so Will could fish, to no avail, and Phyl and I could simply enjoy the beautiful setting.

The next day, the 16th, we again started off in fog and rain to round the corner and start South on Behm Canal. We tied up this time, mid-afternoon, to a forest service anchor buoy in Bailey Bay. Phyl and I deployed the dinghy and we all set out to see if we could enjoy the hot springs reputed to be nearby. We hiked up a nice trail, meeting some other folks that gave us directions to a nice canoe that the Forest Service had spotted on Lake Shelokum. After finding the canoe, we paddled a mile or so to the head of the lake. We never did find the hot springs, but had a wonderful, if a bit wet and chilly, afternoon of good exercise before returning to the boat before dark.

On the 17th, we went into Walker Cove, one of the beautiful fiords that Misty Fiords is known for. This fiord was marked by literally hundreds of waterfalls coming down very steep and tall granite sides. And, as the name implies, misty conditions. As always, pictures fail to do justice to great panoramic views such as these.

We spent nearly the whole day in Walker Cove, then motored across Behm canal to a nice quiet anchorage in Manzanita Bay.

On the 18th, we toured nearly all the arms of Rudyard Bay. This is the most visited of the fiords in this national monument. The views are, indeed awe-inspiring.

As a small pod of orcas bade us farewell, we left Rudyard Bay by noon and were in Ketchikan by early that evening.

Consistent with our experience all during our stay in Alaska, we simply raised the city harbormaster on VHF channel 16 when within ½ hour of arriving in town. As always, we were greeted by a friendly voice that directed us to a nice slip with all the amenities. In the case of Ketchikan, the ramp from the float led almost directly into the parking lot of a shopping center, this one with a full-sized Safeway store.

On the 19th, we spent the day provisioning the boat for the trip south and doing small projects on the boat. (If you don’t want small projects, don’t buy a boat.)

On the 20th, we topped off with 350 gallons of fuel, then picked up Ron Fawcett at the dock at the airport, (It’s across Tongass Narrows from Ketchikan). The weather reports showed a pretty good weather window for Dixon Entrance that evening, with deteriorating conditions thereafter, so we immediately got underway for the trip south. The Dixon crossing was uneventful and crossed into Canada by 7:30 that evening. Our intent is not to stop in Canada, so we didn’t clear customs in either country at this end and shouldn’t have to do it in Bellingham, either. Arcadia 1 has a full suite of electronics, with two independent chartplotters an two independent radars. Over the summer, we’ve developed confidence in the equipment and our ability to use it. Nonetheless, the first night of travel down narrow fiords, without a light to be seen outside was, to say the least, discomforting, even though we proceeded on course all night without incident. By midnight, we were in Chatham Sound.

The 21st was spent in non-stop travel along the inside passage, by midnight we were threading our way through Bella Bella. Even a small town like this has enough city lights to make navigation confusing and the channel makes several turns marked only dimly with navigation lights. During this part of the trip we met two tugs with large barges in tow and some kind of large ship. Harrowing is the best description of the 3 hours or so that it took to get through here and safely into the relatively broad reaches of Fitzhugh Sound.

Today, (the 22nd), we passed through Queen Charlotte Sound without incident. As with everyone that makes this trip, we’d looked forward to this part with some trepidation, since it is exposed to open ocean conditions. We did, indeed, experience 10-15 foot quartering seas and relatively high winds. However, we’d set the paravane stabilizers and Arcadia I rode it beautifully. Phyllis, especially, had been fearful of being seasick on this segment. However, only Will experienced any seasickness and it only lasted for a few minutes, (and one plastic bag), before he was back watching his movie as if nothing had happened at all. We cleared Pine Island light at 10:30 am at low slack tide. As this is written, we are travelling along the inside of Vancouver Island in extraordinarily calm seas. Phyllis has a king salmon in the oven and we’re looking forward to another night underway. Life is good!!