Aug 31 - to Spicer Island Anchorage
Pulled anchor and when we turned the corner out of the cove we ran into a rain squall which followed us as we passed Kitkatla, it was so dark we almost couldn’t see the town. Cleared a little when we arrived at Spicer Anchorage and got better.
Aug 30 – Prince Rupert heading south to Phoenix Creek Cove
Diane & Willard saw Charles to the bus and hurried back so we could get out of town.
The kids are all gone, and we are for the most part healthy again. Glen is the only one who has not gotten the crud at some level. He’s too mean to get sick.
Weather was good when we arrived so Glen, Willard, & Diane took a dinghy cruise up Porcher Inlet to investigate. A strong current pushed them in and up near its dogleg they saw some splashing that turned out to be dolphins. As they turned away the dolphins chased them down and surfed in Willard & Diane’s bow wake. The two dinghies proceeded to the lagoon and tried to enter but the tide was too low so continued on to the end of the inlet and found a bunch of salmon and a nice place to anchor in the future. Headed back to the lagoon and waited another 15 minutes for the tide to rise to the point they could run up the rapids and went as far as the second rapids which did not have quite enough water to get thru. On the way back to the boats they almost made it back dry but the last half mile was done in a down pour.
Shot of the day --- Deer swimming between the islands.
Aug 28 & 29– Prince Rupert
Staying in Prince Rupert for the day and night. The Thomas’s kids are all flying out on the 28th and on the 30th. Plans changed and now we are staying in PR for three nights. Three nights in one place that is unheard of. LOL Who cares, we are on vacation. The PR airport is on an outlying island so you check in at a hotel across from Walmart and then board a bus to get on the ferry and be delivered to the island. This all starts 2 hr 15 min. before takeoff.
Prince Rupert is busy; seems lots of boats are heading south. Several of the large yachts have come in, checked in with customs and then headed out again. ‘Talos’ and ‘Sin or Swim’ have come in.
The fishermen with their guides are coming in daily with fish, not tons each but enough to say they went fishing. Today one boat came in with a large Halibut for each member on the boat. The smallest one was about 50 lbs. and the largest reported at 65 lbs. That will keep those guys happy for a while. There were so many fish being cleaned (Halibut and Salmon) that the resident seals were not even going near the cleaning station. Yep the seals were either full or picky eaters today.
The salmon here is dwarfed by the Halibut
‘Sin or Swim’ leaving PR at 6:30am.
The crew looked like they wanted to still be in bed.
Aug 27 – Fillmore Bay to Prince Rupert
Reportedly it was a sunny day again. The Thomas crew went for a dinghy ride exploring Willard Cove in the morning to see what Willard could claim. Exploration done, we pulled out headed for Prince Rupert Canada. Apparently there were lots of whale sightings, including breaching today and not many photos taken.
I managed to get up after we docked in Prince Rupert. Feeling a bit better but not human yet. I may send Glen back to school for nursing school, his idea of nursing is to turn on a movie and leave the room. Oh and to turn on another movie (very loud) upstairs so he could not possibly hear anyone calling.
At some point today both Willard and Glen had their beards sucked back in or shaved off. Not sure when or where meaning there are no pictures. They are both happy now. Their rule is – no shaving in Alaska.
Checked in with customs by phone, very easy to work with.
Glen went and had a Spaghetti dinner on Sea Life while I stayed back on Magic.
Aug 26 – Nakat Harbor to Fillmore bay
It’s raining! Had a lazy morning. No one wants to do much as it is raining. Also the crud seems to be going around the Thomas boat.
Odd starfish that came up with the prawn pot. Very fragile/brittle.
Spoke to soon, I got it next. I spent the next 24 hours in bed. Not sure what Glen did.
Aug 25 Foggy Bay to Nakat Harbor
We headed out under a bright blue warm sky. Definitely shorts weather. At one point Glen checked the outside temp at 75 degrees. Then when we were out in the more open waters the temp dropped quickly to 68. After rounding the corner and into Nakat Harbor it was back up in the mid 70’s again.
Whales …. About 6 or 7 of them. They were bubble feeding but we didn’t manage to get any bubble photos.
Here is a photo of bubble feeding from our 2008 trip just to show. Bubble netting or Bubble feeding is when a group of whale swim down in a circle around a school of little fish or crill, and then they all come up together in a circle with one whale in the center. They all get a large mouthful of ‘lunch’, with the whale in the middle getting the ‘center cut’. Then they find another spot and do it again, trading off who is in the middle.
Eagle up in the inner islands during our dinghy adventure. He was not posing and took off immediately after I got this shot. There are at least 40 Eagle back amongst these islands. People must not come back here much as all of the birds were very skiddish and took flight before we could get too close. There were also thousands of salmon up at the end of the bays. No real river inlets found so these salmon must just spawn in the sand at the end of these inlets.
Glen and Willard were out setting shrimp pots when a local fisherman cruised by and called them over to his boat. He said he had caught a couple steelhead in his nets and couldn’t sell them so would we like one. Of course we said sure and brought it back to the boats for dinner.
Glen showing Roman a good sized fish. Almost taller than a 2 yr old.
Another beautiful sunset
Aug 24 Ketchikan to Foggy Bay
We left Ketchikan about 4:00pm after fueling up with 820 gallons for our trip south. The plan is to spend the next few days playing our way south into Prince Rupert, BC. The Thomas’ crew/guests including both their adult children Alisha and Charles and Alisha’s husband John and baby Roman (20 months), are with us and will be flying out on the 28th from Prince Rupert.
Yacht in Ketchikan --- ‘Sin or Swim’ ……. Interesting name!
There was another boat over in Naha that called us on the radio --- they too had an unsusual name …. ‘Long Since Dead’ ….. there must be a story behind that one but Glen didn’t want to ask on the radio.
Creek Street Ketchikan
Salmon heading up the Creek
Salmon jumping all over the place
