Bears.....and Alaska

Sunset over Prince Rupert Harbour

We left Prince Rupert bright and early (yes....it was a nice, sunny day on Thursday!). I wanted to transit out of Rupert through Venn Pass and Duncan Bay, which can claim boats on sandbars....so we were underway for high slack tide, at 0600. Very little wind for our trip northbound, until around noon when we started picking up a fresh following wind into Steamer Channel. We sailed into the channel, and the wind picked up even more, as a quite brisk inflow. Broad reaching, and wing-on-wing, we followed the channel into Khutzeymateen Inlet, sailing at 8-9 knots straight into the inlet. About 4 miles down the 13 mile-long inlet we came to the float home/cabin owned by Greg Palmer, with a beaver aircraft tied to the dock. We sailed in, and tied up, visited with Lorne, the pilot, until Greg and his friend Lisa drove back in (on a Rigid-Hull-Inflatable boat) with the tourists who'd flown in. They made us feel very welcome when we introduced ourselves as friends of the Coast Guard folks in Rupert, and of Reyann. We broke out the scotch, and rum, and wine, and started to party. Greg had lots of crabmeat which we all devoured with crackers and cheese, and followed up with a special garlic caesar salad created by Greg, and followed by more scotch, and an evening sauna.

Inside the Floathome of Palmerville

Relaxing on the deck - Pictured: Lisa, Greg, Kelcy, Don

Friday dawned bright and beautiful, and Greg and Lisa took us out in their high-speed boat to drop our crab traps and to check theirs. We hauled out 16 beautiful large crabs, which became dinner that evening.

A catch of crabs

Cooked up, and yummy!

Then they took us further into the inlet, bear-watching. Near the crab pots were three grizzlies - a male, and two females which he was working on seducing. We later saw three more grizzly bears, alone and munching on their sedge grass along the shorline.

Sedge Grass makes a tasty appetizer

"What are you looking at?"

A visit to the ranger station was interesting, as well, with informational data on the area, the bears, and the natives in the area. Back at Palmerville, which Greg calls his place, we decided to utilize the inflow winds which had again developed, and took the two of them for a sail in the inlet - they hadn't experienced sailing in brisk winds before, and found it quite exhilerating.

Jade 1 tied up at Palmerville dock.

I found it thirsty work, so we went back to the dock for some refreshments, and cleaned the crabs for dinner. Al and Jerrod, the two rangers from the station, dropped in, and we made a night of it noshing on a crab / pasta dish created by chef Greg.
Saturday morning was another beautiful sunny day, and yet another early departure.....I wanted to avoid the inflow winds which begin late morning. We picked up our crab traps on the way out, and discovered I am a true jinx at crabbing, as no-one should be skunked at catching crabs here - but we were! We motored out of the inlet and channel, into Dixon Entrance, westbound for American waters. As the wind picked up we were able to sail close-hauled, and by 1100 were across the border and into Alaska. As we passed Lord Islands we were able to fall off the wind a bit for a nice beam reach northbound. There was a 2 metre swell runnning, with a bit of wave action on top, so we were experiencing a bit of movement in lots of directions.....enough to have Kelcy feeling a bit queasy, but not bad for only two bouts of seasickness in over 35 days of sailing.
By 1400 we were picking our way around the rocky entrance to Foggy Bay, Alaska, where we had a nice peaceful anchorage for the night.
I am now sitting on the boat in Ketchikan, following another good sail. The day started out quite cool and cloudy, but broke out into another fine day as we approached Ketchikan in the early afternoon. Ketchikan is a lively tourist city of 8000 citizens, and as we entered the Tongass Narrows to approach the harbour, were met by a cruise ship (Carnival Spirit), outbound, with very little room in the narrows for the two of us.

Ketchikan

Downtown Ketchikan

In the harbour, two more cruise ships were docked at the city centre. We found a spot at the marina, and managed to clear customs quite readily. A walk to the local mall found some bbq'd chicken for dinner, but very little wifi for uploading pictures. There is a weak signal near the marina, which I'm using for posting this blog entry......not sure if the pictures will work or not, so if you're reading this without pics, then check back later ......we will find a way to add them!