Sleeping in this morning was difficult—something about the combination of sunrise around 4:00 a.m., several days of departing at the crack of dawn, and heavy rain pelting the deck had us up long before we should have awoken. Later in the morning, Ralph on Rubicon called on the VHF to let everyone know there was a brown bear on shore. The first brown bear of the trip! We enjoyed watching … Read more
Guess what? We liked Skull Cove enough to stay a THIRD day! There is so much to explore around here, and with decent internet we are able to get a lot of work done. It’s also nice to have some down time before we start our next flotilla in three days! This morning we decided to visit Nakwakto Rapids near max ebb. Well, we decided to visit NEAR Nakwakto Rapids, … Read more
We liked Skull Cove so much that we decided to stay another day! This is a beautiful anchorage with endless nooks and crannies to explore, the weather is great, and we have internet so we’re also able to get a lot of work done. We took the dinghies out to Nakwakto Rapids (at slack) to take a look. We were a little bit early and the tide was still ebbing … Read more
After our incredible day at Pack Creek, we headed back down Seymour Canal, joined by a couple of humpbacks. Then, as we were cruising across Stephens Passage toward Windham Bay, we were greeted by about 30 Dall’s porpoises who played in Airship’s bow wake for about a half an hour. We never tire of these guys—they’re so playful!! We anchored in the southern nook just inside the entrance of Windham … Read more
If you want to know what Deception Pass looks like at max ebb (in this case, about 6kts of current against us) we’ve got some video for you! We knew we’d be arriving around max ebb, and Sam had been through before and wasn’t worried. Great to see how these boats handle the conditions. (Here’s where the Nordic Tugs’ semi-displacement hulls come in handy!) On Airship, we increased power to 64% and were … Read more
Ford’s Terror might just be the most beautiful place on the planet. Cliffs—absolutely humongous granite walls, really—rise from water’s edge to snowcapped bowls and peaks 5000 feet above. Countless waterfalls, some trickles, others torrents, plunge from these peaks. Bears forage ashore. Dolphins frolic around anchored boats. The scale of Ford’s Terror is difficult to comprehend and impossible to convey. It’s like Yosemite, but with water in the valleys, no crowds, … Read more
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
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