Well, we have been onboard and cruising for almost five weeks. We have traveled 1,189 miles since leaving Olympia. Things are just fantastic but why are the refrigerator and freezer still full???? Our flotilla completed its mission to Juneau. We will miss the fantastic people we have been traveling with but know we have made some new lifelong friends. The final night we were together, we all piled onto Somewhere In Time and celebrated Jani’s birthday with song, laughter, joyful tears and great treats. I can’ really express how much we have enjoyed the last month.

We departed Juneau with Tim and Sue of the Justine Marie. There were several exciting whale sightings and great cruising conditions. We both have new guest onboard and have been enjoying great meals and fun games together. We stopped in Haines and while visiting the Haines Visitor Center we met a woman with an inside connection to the White Pass Railroad.

White Pass was a route to the Yukon during the 1898 Gold Rush. Trey’s father had made the trip in 1939 and floated solo 500 miles down the Yukon River. Trey and his brother had repeated the trip in a canoe in 1994, and had spread his father’s ashes. Yesterday was Treys Birthday and getting tickets for the railroad was very fortuitous. Unfortunately, we had to make a snap decision that caused a commitment to a 0500 departure from Haines. Becky jumped out of bed to help Paul with fenders and lines while in her pajamas, with wild hair and barefoot but we made it the 16 miles to Skagway for the 0900 check in.

We had a beautiful Day, the weather was terrific, our emotions were filled with gratitude and we enjoyed the story of the Sourdoughs trekking over the chilkoot trail up to the Yukon. 100,000 people started the trek in the three years of the Gold Rush, only a few thousand ever found any gold and only around 300 found enough to be considered rich.

We returned to our boat around 1800, in time for a wonderful chicken cachatory dinner onboard Justine Marie, along with a game of Farkle Dice and Birthday Cake. It was a great day yesterday and Trey was really happy that we were able to do the train trip. This morning with a soft rain coming down, a warm bed and fresh coffee; as I write this; I am very grateful and happy. It’s nice to have a day off, as we await the weather and wind in Lynn Cannel to abate. So back into Skagway today for shopping, laundry and sightseeing.

Friday Morning at 0430……. Yep an early start for an attempt at Dixon Entrance. We had a wonderful time in Prince Rupert, I helped two Boats with Electrical Issues and was able to find what we needed at the awesome Marine Chanderley Store in Prince Rupert. We maneuvered thru Venn Channel somehow ended up in the lead of the eleven boats. Everyone was in such a good mood. hailing me to warn of the close approaches of the fishing charters that were buzzing by, so we could brace ourselves and grab our coffee cups. We poked our heads into Chahtam Sound and found that once again the Canadian Marine weather service was overly pessimistic in there predictions. With just the faintest of wind ripple and a one foot swell it was clear the the contingency plans were no longer needed and we were spending the day on a 81 mile journey to Ketchikan. The wind stayed slack for most of the morning but picked up as we entered Alaska. It remained light with just maybe a meter of swell to deal with. Not enough to upset the M.C. Esher puzzle that my sister was able to start. We made it into Ketchikan around 1400, cleared Customs using the Mobil CBP app on our Phone and then getting a phone call from an agent.

Ketchikan has lived up to its reputation and has provided us with a large fresh water wash down from the sky. So we were in foul weather gear as we toured the shops downtown. Ketchikan is an interesting spot that supports year round fishermen and survives by catering to several cruise ships each day. There is a lot of history rubbing elbows with current day tourist shops. The highlight for me was meeting Ray Troll, the artist of classic Alaskan Tee Shirts; at his shop on Creek Street. Coho Soho, a former brothel of the historic Creek Street Red Light District.

We have moved on a day ahead of the rest of the group, leaving Ketchikan and cruising to Thorn Bay. It is a small community of several floating homes scattered around the bay. We have had a fantastic evening of placing crab pots with the stinkiest of bait, sharing happy hour with our friends on another boat who joined us and were invited to spend some time with a delightful couple from Portland, OR on a beautiful vintage boat, the FranSus. The rain has stopped for a bit and we were treated to a glorious sunny evening. We are so blessed!

We continue to move farther North each day. Every night our group leader, Mark Bunzel, editor of the Waggoners Cruising Guide give us an itinerary of our next days cruise. We then try to find the destination on the chart plotter and plot out our Route. It has been frustrating learning a new navigation system, but is getting easier each day.

Wind, weather and tide occasionally have an impact on our daily destinations; but there have been no large rapids the last few days. The scenery gets more and more dramatic as we head towards Prince Rupert. We have been anchoring in tucked away bays with beautiful waterfalls, have seen several whales, which really means seeing a far off spout and then a glimpse of a tail and then they are gone. We have also seen a bear, dolphins, sea otters and had a crow land on our rail while we were under way. It would not leave until we gave it a couple of crackers.

One day we pulled away from the group, which means letting them leave ahead and then never catching up. It was fun being on our own so to speak. However it was nice to be together last night when we were gifted 4 large dungeness crabs. Becky mixed up some cinnamon rolls and we had a treat the next morning.

The scenery is dramatic and the rain showers make it even more so with breaks of sunshine with the mist still on the mountains, There is still snow and with the spring thaw the waterfalls are numerous and flowing strong. I love this area north of Cape Caution, it isn’t very crowded and the anchorages are not crowded.

Sunday May 28th, Day 14, 470 miles north of Anacortes. Today we are anchored in Rescue Bay, a cove off of the main channel of Mathieson Inlet. it is low tide and we have been watching for bears, but none so far. The flotilla life is going smoothly and I am enjoying having destinations decided for me, arriving into them early enough to do some exploring, visiting with the great folks that are on this trip with us and doing boat projects. We have been side tying with the wonderful people who have the largest boat in the flotilla when we anchor.  It is pretty funny to see the two boats side by side.

We crossed Queen Charlotte Strait and Cape Caution on Thursday and the wait for calm winds and seas was worth it. Becky was dreading another rough crossing. We did 81 miles that day and ended in Purth Bay, where there is an Oceanographic Institute and a trail to a beach on the Pacific that we walked. 

We saw Humpback whales coming and going from Hecate Island and in Fitzhugh Sound. It is always exciting when there is a whale directly under the boat and you have to quickly take the engine out of gear. One actually blew 25 yards off of my STBD Beam and then again 45 seconds later off of the Port. 

The Ghost Town of Ocean Falls was our next destination, the site of a former pulp mill that has been idle since the 1980’s. We had a great potluck and encountered our first insects, so I spent the afternoon installing a magnetic closing insect screen on our door. One of our mates set out a crab pot and I broke out our steamer pot and the Butane Stove, so in return they set our pot out for us and brought back one keeper, but we cooked five for the potluck and I had my fill of those. 

Last night we stopped in Shearwater and were surprised by the quality of the food at the Pub. Great Chowder and Fish and Chips. Another great evening with folks for a meal. It is a great group we are traveling with and I am adjusting to shorter trips most days.

The boat continues to run well, we are happy onboard and I am enjoying my sister working on the fourth 1000 piece puzzle. Though I have to admit that I was run off of the last one. I was working on it late at night before Becky told me to turn off the lights and come to bed. Cell service and internet are spotty but our new friends are allowing us to use their starlink for this posting.

It’s been a great week and things are going very well. The boat has travelled 362 miles this week, since Olympia; we have met some really great, interesting people and it has been a pleasurable time being part of a flotilla.

About an hour after we cleared customs via cell phone we looked up to see a boat with a flashing blue light barreling up on our port side. We pulled over and 2 Canadian Mounties boarded our boat to verify our documentation. It was a bit startling since we have never been stopped in Canada before. They were very friendly which helped our fast beating hearts to calm down.

Even though we have traveled each day, there has been time enough to take hikes, explore the places that we have visited, do boat keeping, relax and visit with the folks on the flotilla. We are one of the smallest boats, therefore the slowest, except a smaller sailboat and a smaller but fast 30 foot Cutwater, planing hull boat. We are the first to leave and the last to arrive. But it is alright, Ellie K is one of the simplest and easiest to operate.

We were able to buy fresh prawns off the boats as they came in for the day. I sautéed them with a recipe from one of the other boats and we wished we had bought more. The next morning as we were preparing to leave, our boat neighbor handed us freshly baked cinnamon buns. They were even better then ones from a local bakery.

We spent a night in Prideaux Haven which is usually bumper to bumper boats anchored there. There was only one other boat when we arrived and a few showed up that evening. It was great to be able to spend a night there without a huge crowd.

Last night we had a fabulous dinner at Blind Channel Marina. I had only stopped there for a short visit to the store and I had dropped of Becky there to catch a water Taxi to Campbell River in 2010.

Today we are in Lagoon Cove in The Broughton Archipelago. It is fun revisiting places that we have been before, now under new owners and rebounding after Covid. We are some of the first of the season and definitely the first large group, so the marinas are practicing on us.

The weather has been outstanding! Warm and blue skies with a bit of breeze. Tomorrow looks like it may change a bit and get cooler. We are eating well and taking turns with chores. Having my sister, Sue on board has been great. She is the first person to put together a puzzle while underway.

We look forward to new amazing views and adventures as we continue to move North.

We apologize if the pictures take a while to publish. Becky is still figuring out the postings.