|
|
|
||||||||
|
-Ketchikan, AK to Prince Rupert, B.C.
-Prince Rupert to Green Inlet
-Green Inlet to Shearwater
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
7/26/03 Ketchikan to Prince Rupert:
We woke early after the previous night's weather debate on whether or not to cross the Dixon. The revelers at the Artic Bar wokes us up a couple times, adding to our grogginess. Quite frankly, any crossing of the Dixon gives us some apprehension. It's a long stretch of changing conditions and water. The top of the Dixon runs south of a couple of big canals that, at ebb tide, pump water hard abeam, so we decide to run at low slack at around 6:30 am. Last year we had experienced that ebb on our starboard quarter, with a strong headwind. Ouch!
Today, however we found a classic "washboard" of 8-10 inch chop, under heavy overcast and fog. Radar was necessary for exiting Tongass Narrows, so that we could "see" and stay clear of the Royal Caribbean and Holland America cruise ships that were inbound to Ketchikan. The narrowness of the passage and the fog made this a bit more challenging than usual. As R.C.'s "Legend of the Seas" passes, We stare in the ship's windows, and we're able to see place-settings on banquet tables, aerobic equipment, laundry stewards pushing carts. It's a city afloat, preparing for another day. The docking crews are already prepared for Ketchikan. We point our bow into the very steep and fast-interval three-foot waves created by the ship's wake. Bang! Bang! Bang! on each wave--that's the consequence of navigating near these ships. One advantage of passage at such close quarters is that we remember to point the bow toward the wake as the ship passes. When the ships are further away, we sometimes forget about the wake, only to experience the mini-tsunami set ten minutes later.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Narrow, foggy passage out of Tongass Narrows
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Holliday Island: First Lighthouse in Canada from Dixon Entrance
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
How Alaskans get all their stuff: Barges carry everything (notice trucks, etc. on top) up the Inside Passage
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
7/29/03 Green Inlet to Shearwater, BC
We woke to bright sun and warm temperatures. We pulled the anchor at 9:30 am after our usual "deep anchor sleep." On land, Tonie sometimes suffers from insomnia. On the water, especially at anchor, it's an entirely different story. Maybe we should build a pond in the back yard and float the boat on it.
Green Inlet is so protected, that we receive no radio transmission. The full gale that was blowing on "the outside" had no effect here. Our goal had been to get to Shearwater by way of Klemtu. We made an easy run to Boat Bluff, with some breezes and minor tidal rips in the passes. We decided to motor through the inlet in front of Klemtu, since we like the town. We had plenty of fuel, so there was no real reason for us to stop, other than to wave hello to the nice folks there. As we throttled down, the port engine sputtered a bit. We kept thinking that we had picked up a stick with it. Just past Klemtu, we stopped and shut down each engine. After doing so, we couldn't start the port engine. Was it flooded? There was plenty of starting power, but she wouldn't turn over. Panic was followed by lots of head-scratching. We got her to turn over, but she didn't like to idle. We continued with the other engine (putting us at half-speed) while trying to think over our new predicament. Shearwater has good repair facilities, and sea conditions were reasonable for the moment, so we kept on going. After awhile, we got the port engine to turn over, and we opened it up. The engine had no problem at 4500 rpms. We continued on, taking a route new to us, through Oscar Passage, Mathieson Channel, and through the narrow Reid Passage. The sunny, warm day was fueled by a high pressure system that continued to kick up the wind, bringing small craft and gale warnings further south, as we progressed.
Entering Seaforth Channel, we passed the northbound BC Ferry in Milbanke Sound. As we cleared the final pass out of Reid Inlet, we immediate were welcomed by the ferry's big wake, then by old, familiar gentle rise and fall of the open ocean swell. To add to the mix, winds (the ones to which the radio forcasts were referring) began to come up at 15 knots, and building. Thankfully, this all stacked on our tail, so we rode a big wind and low swell right up Seaforth Channel to the Coast Guard Station that marks the entrance to New Bella Bella, where we pulled in for fuel and water. (Bella Bella has some of the best-tasting water on the Inside Passage).
The Bella Bella (Waglisla) Band operates a fuel service at a crowded and busy dock in front of town. At the dock we found a large boat run by a traveling Christian ministry, people waiting for the water taxi to Shearwater, two Vietnamese gillnetters, working with their boats in tandem, as well as assorted fishing and cruising craft. The day was so hot and wonderful, that the local boys were diving and jumping off the fuel dock. We were tempted to jump in with them, but stuck to filling the water tank. Then we pushed off for the quick run to Shearwater, where we easily docked between the larger vessels at the nearly full moorage. We gathered the laundry, took the showers, then made the appointment with the Honda mechanic to help us figure out what was happening with our port engine.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Ships passing in the narrow Grenville Channel. We saw kayakers in here. We don't know how the fare with the ship's wake, when there's nowhere to pull out.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Northbound Kayakers traveling into the wind on Grenville Channel
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| page created with Easy Designer |