Conditions this morning for Dixon Entrance still looked fantastic, so we were off the docks by 5am.
Turns out, we weren’t the only ones. This is what happens when the weather window is as good as it was today (and yesterday):
We transited Venn Passage, a twisty but nicely marked channel, calm in the early morning (in theory), but small fishing charter boats zooming past on either side add a bit of drama (and more than a few wakes, as they don’t really follow the couple of marked “no wake” zones in the passage. Oh well.
Fellow Nordic Tug folks on Neowise sent us some shots of us that they took this morning as we were all headed out (there are a few non-flotilla boats also in this shot) — I really love this photo!
Chatham Sound was calm and alternating between rippled and glassy.
Out past Dundas Island we were barely even feeling any swell, and most of the cruise across Dixon looked like this:
Carrie sent these photos to show how calm it was on Ranger Tug IF… so calm that they made sourdough bread, and Tony practiced piano. Rockstars!
Kinda fun watching this little clump of boats heading north:
Due to the large number of boats departing Prince Rupert this morning, we opted to give Pond Bay a try (vs. the usual Foggy Bay). We figured Foggy would be pretty crowded, and it’s not that big to begin with, so…a last minute plan change. Ralph and Jeanette on Kali stopped at Pond Bay last night and said it was pretty and quiet and uncrowded, and that as they left this morning they saw a whale breach right outside, so it sounded like a nice option! Plus, it gets us a bit closer to Ketchikan for tomorrow’s cruise into the harbor.
We all gathered on Airship for a happy hour to celebrate our arrival into Alaska! I made some fresh crab dip, poured everyone a little Prosecco (for cheers!!), Carrie and Tony brought some homemade sourdough bread topped with burrata, cherry peppers, and artichoke hearts, and fresh watermelon from Sound Waves. Another great evening with this wonderful group of people.
Also, three more crabs in our traps here tonight!
Tomorrow, into Ketchikan for a couple days!