Today was a perfect day on the water. Five hours of bliss—sunshine, drone flying (twice), a nap, totally calm water, favorable current, no major boat problems… We left Blind Channel at 8:30. First we had to transit Greene Point Rapids. Even though we were about an hour before slack, it was no big deal. The current gave us a nice boost and we made it through without drama. Read more … Read more
We set our alarm for 4am this morning to check the 4am weather and forecasted conditions for Dixon Entrance to make the final call about whether to go or wait. At Dixon Entrance East, waves were 1-2 meters. Hard to know what that means without the period of seconds between waves. At Buoy 46145, which is smack in the middle of Dixon Entrance, north of Haida Gwaii (so quite a bit further … Read more
Whoa! We made it to Prince Rupert! Two weeks after leaving the San Juan Islands. 🙂 We left Hartley Bay this morning at 6am. The cruise to Prince Rupert was almost 80 miles, so we had a long day ahead of us… …a long day in Grenville Channel, that is. (Also known as “the Ditch.”) This time in Grenville Channel was not nearly as exciting as our trip south was. (See here … Read more
Airship Goes to Alaska 2016 Kevin went out to pull crab traps while I made breakfast. When he got back to Airship, I asked “Did we get anything?” and he replied “Yes?” with kind of a question mark at the end. I went out to the cockpit to see what was up. Turns out we had 5 small Red King Crabs. (We figured that out after a while of digitally … Read more
We slept in this morning, had some breakfast, and then Kevin went to check the crab traps. (Two large keepers, woohoo!) The wind had definitely picked up, so we opted to go through Jackson Narrows and head over to Finlayson Channel, and then poke our head out to see what the conditions were like. Gale warnings were still in effect, and the wind had definitely increased, but didn’t seem too … Read more
Today was the most satisfying and frustrating day of the trip. Satisfying because we got all the boats through the rapids safely and without drama. Satisfying because I got some cool aerial images from the drone as we transited the rapids. Satisfying because the weather continues to cooperate. Satisfying because Blind Channel is an excellent stop. Frustrating because of boat and people problems. Not my boat, and not my people, … Read more
Airship Goes to Alaska 2016 Today was the best day of our trip so far. Our alarm went off this morning at 6:30am (I know, but stay with me here.) Time to pull the crab traps! We left the dock and motored over toward the dam, past the sleepy seals. We pulled the first trap and there were quite a few Dungeness in that one. We wanted to be underway … Read more
Hello from Desolation Sound! Today we had an easy cruise from Pender Harbour up to Squirrel Cove. Overcast skies, a bit of chop leaving Pender Harbour, but overall a very easy day. In years past, we’ve stopped in Prideaux Haven on the flotilla. Prideaux Haven is beautiful—the quintessential Desolation Sound anchorage, really, but it’s a little off our route. Because of the time of slack at the rapids tomorrow (we’re … Read more