Day 9 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Codville Lagoon to Shearwater

We pulled our prawn and crab traps this morning in Codville Lagoon and, here’s what we got: five small coon-stripe prawns in the prawn trap, and in one of the crab traps, a whole bunch of green sea urchins! If you aren’t going to catch what you’re aiming for, it’s at least fun to catch something new to learn about! We did some research on the sea urchins/uni and watched … Read more

Day 8 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Green Island to Codville Lagoon

We pulled our crab traps this morning before departing Green Island and had one small spindly little sea spider but no Dungeness. Additionally, the other trap had a large clump of about a hundred of these things, which we later learned were squid egg sacs! They seemed hardy enough, so we think they’ll be fine in spite of the disruption in their environment for a few minutes. Not catching any … Read more

Day 7 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Allison Harbour to Green Island Anchorage — Cape Caution Day!

Another alarm set for 4am, but this time the condition report was “GO!!” No outflow winds, barely any wind, and very minor westerly swell. A little fog…we’ll take it! Off we went as soon as it was light enough to see. We had a very nice cruise up to the Green Island Anchorage and we’re all tucked in just off of Fitzhugh Sound. We normally stop at Fury Cove or … Read more

Day 6 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Blunden Harbour to Allison Harbour

We set the alarm for 4am this morning to look at the updated forecast for Cape Caution today. The Environment Canada forecast for McInnes to Pine Island said: Wind light except northeasterly outflow 30 knots near the mainland inlets. Wind becoming northwest 5 to 15 early this afternoon then becoming light near midnight. Wind becoming southerly 10 to 15 Tuesday morning then diminishing to light Tuesday evening. Since the 30 … Read more

Day 5 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Mound Island to Blunden Harbour

We left Mound Island by 7am this morning, not because we needed to, but because we want some time to play in Blunden Harbour later today. There’s so much to explore there, and the weather is (still) amazing. The folks on Two’s Out sent us this nice photo of Airship underway in Queen Charlotte Strait this morning. So pretty! Not long after we entered Queen Charlotte Strait, we saw some … Read more

Day 4 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Kanish Bay to Mound Island

Another beautiful day! We left Kanish Bay by 6am for the 60nm trip up Johnstone Strait. Mound Island is a spacious, scenic anchorage with room for many boats. We all got settled and then headed out in dinghies to further explore the area. On the north side of nearby Berry Island, there’s a rock formation called “Chief’s Bathtub” and right above it, a fast-fading group of pictographs. Here’s what it … Read more

Day 3 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Tribune Bay to Kanish Bay

Today was another long day…58nm from Tribune Bay to Kanish Bay. Today’s timing-critical spot is Seymour Narrows, about 7nm north of Campbell River. Currents in Seymour Narrows can run 14-16kts, which means we plan to arrive near slack. Unfortunately, the first slack today was a little too early for us, so we opted to catch the evening slack and go through on an ebb, which is preferable.  We saw our … Read more

Days 1-2 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Prevost Harbor to Ganges to Tribune Bay

Day 1 Not a lot to report for Day 1! We had an easy cruise from Stuart Island into Canadian waters, clearing customs via phone (thanks Nexus) with no drama and gorgeous weather. We met our fourth boat here in Ganges Harbour (a Selene 45 called Two’s Out, visible just to the left of the tall piling in the photo above) and then we commenced provisioning and wandering around Ganges. … Read more