Airship | Kent Inlet, Alexander Inlet, Mary Cove

Yesterday’s destination was Kent Inlet. Kent Inlet is part of the Kitasoo Spirit Bear Conservancy on Princess Royal Island, which sounded pretty great. Potential for a spirit bear sighting, plus the added bonus of tidal rapids to navigate (or at least time for slack, which we did). The highest concentration of Kermode bears are found in the Kitasoo Spirit Bear Conservancy. From Wikipedia: “The Kermode bear, sometimes called the spirit … Read more

Airship | McMicking Inlet on Campania Island

Yesterday we cruised from Anger Island past Pitt Island, down Principe Channel, through Nepean Sound and Estevan Sound and into McMicking Inlet on Campania Island. Oh, and I keep meaning to mention…if you click the “Where is Airship?” button on the front page of the blog that shows you where we are via our Garmin InReach, and you see our location marker in a really weird place that a 50 … Read more

Airship | Captain Cove and Anger Inlet

Our very short cruise (10nm) from the Spicer Islands back around to Captain Cove was beautiful and calm, and we passed a couple of humpbacks on the way but I didn’t manage to get any decent photo of either of them.  We dropped the anchor at the very head of Captain Cove in about 35ft, and then decided to go fish for halibut just outside the entrance. A few bites, … Read more

Airship | Spicer Islands

First, a few photos I haven’t posted between Kah Shakes Cove, Dixon Entrance (nice and calm), and one night spent in Prince Rupert (yay sushi!): We left Prince Rupert early this morning and bypassed the turnoff to Grenville Channel, opting for another trip down what we call “the outside of the inside.” Instead of heading for Captain Cove as we’d originally thought, we continued around to the Spicer Islands this … Read more

Day 15 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Kelp Passage to Foggy Bay

We left Kelp Passage near first light for our Dixon Entrance crossing. The weather forecast looked excellent — wind NW 15 diminishing to light early, seas 1 meter. We popped up early to check the 4AM update to be sure nothing had changed for the sinister overnight. It looked even a little better, and a soft fog layer confirmed that the air wasn’t moving much. On big crossings, fog is … Read more

Day 14 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Lowe Inlet to Kelp Passage

Before we left Lowe inlet this morning, Airship pulled our crab traps and had a couple of nice keepers – after several consecutive days of empty traps. There will be crab dip tonight. We left Lowe early to find the calmer winds in Grenville Channel, and to catch the currents at a more favorable time. The wind part worked. The currents – not so much. Grenville currents are complicated and … Read more

Day 13 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Khutze Inlet to Lowe Inlet

We left the Khutze Inlet anchorage early (5:30am-early) to beat the increasing winds that were forecast. Conditions were calm calm calm. By the time we reached Whale Passage and Wright Sound, the wind had picked up a bit (10-20kts from the NW) and we had about a one foot chop. Quite pleasant! Additionally, we think every single boat at one point had Dall’s porpoises surfing their bow. (That must really … Read more

Days 11-12 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Rescue Bay to Khutze Inlet

This morning the plan was to transit Jackson Narrows about an hour before low slack…giving us a little more water under the keel and maybe only a slight bit of current against us, but we actually had a little current with us, so apparently it had already turned. We all made it through just fine and it was a fun piloting challenge! The rest of our cruise today through Jackson … Read more