Akeeva | Prince William Sound Part 1

First impressions of a cruising destination have a huge impact on my opinion of a place. Years ago, when I first arrived in Red Bluff Bay, for example, half a dozen brown bears were foraging (and mating) on the beach. Ever since, I’ve associated Red Bluff Bay with the spectacle of mating bears. The same thing happens with negative first impressions. One year we arrived in Ketchikan in pouring, soaking … Read more

Day 13 | West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Nuchatlitz to Tahsis

With just 2.5 hours to travel today we didn’t rush out of Nuchatlitz this morning, which turned out to be extremely beneficial. Last night at about 1:30 a.m. (and again at 4:30 a.m.), we heard wolves howling over on shore in what sounded like a new meal celebration, but it was too dark to see anything. Laura went out into the cockpit of Airship and recorded what we were hearing … Read more

Day 9 | Flotilla to Alaska | Blunden Harbour to Fury Cove

Around Cape Caution! When we fell asleep last night, Environment Canada (Central Coast zone) was calling for “wind light” and seas one meter all day. Windy (ECMWF model) was showing this: Forecasts don’t get much better than that, but forecasts aren’t always right. So when we woke up at 4:30 a.m. we checked West Sea Otter buoy, where the wind was gusting to 4 knots and the seas were a … Read more

Day 16 | Flotilla to Alaska | Kelp Passage Cove to Prince Rupert

After a breezy night at anchor and with Environment Canada still predicting 20-30 knot southeasterly winds, we were expecting a bumpy ride over to Prince Rupert. But as departure neared the wind died. Somehow we lucked into a calm trip across Chatham Sound and into Cow Bay Marina. Several of us caught a glimpse of the humpback hanging out in Bloxam Passage on our way out (awww, no photos), and … Read more

Airship | White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad

We left Airship in the marina at Skagway this morning and headed for the train station. I called yesterday to make a reservation for the 8:15am ride up to the White Pass summit, but the ticket seller talked me into the steam train excursion that went a bit further out to Fraser Meadows, BC, and…well, steam train!! (This particular steam train excursion leaves at 8am on just 7 Mondays over … Read more