We left Cannery Cove and Pybus Bay around 6am and headed into foggy but super calm conditions. Our destination today is Explorer Basin on Kuiu Island. Today is a long day (roughly 58nm), and a bit of a detour to make between Pybus and Red Bluff, but the opportunity to see a lot of humpbacks and potentially some bubble net feeding is a huge draw, and today the gamble paid … Read more
We left Scenery Cove around 6am for the 50nm cruise up to Pybus Bay. Water was flat calm and the scenery was majestic. Kevin put the 360 Cam down at the bow and got some killer footage of the porpoises…he wins: We spotted a handful of humpback spouts ahead between Pybus Bay and the Brothers Islands, and Carrie on IF got some nice shots of a mama and a … Read more
We made a “leave whenever you want to” plan for today…some people left at 7, some at 8 and some not until after 9! Clarence Strait was bumpy for a bit (2-3ft chop, 15-22kts of wind on the nose), but it calmed down eventually and I think most of the boats saw some kind of wildlife along the way. We first saw a couple humpbacks, but didn’t get any great … Read more
(Yes, I know, five bears and I lead with a picture of a duck, but isn’t that a cool duck??) This morning we woke to bright sun and blue sky, again. Lovely. We were the only boats in here now, so after breakfast, Kevin took the Mavic Mini* up for a few aerial photos. Today was all about looking for bears! High tide was around 2pm, and at noon we … Read more
We left Rescue Bay around 8am this morning…another sunny day with clear blue sky! Feeling pretty lucky the past few days with the weather. Today’s 8am departure saw us through Jackson Narrows about an hour after low tide, so still nice and skinny (for the fun) but plenty of depth under our keels. Airship saw 13ft at the shallowest, and we had a beautiful glassy cruise through Jackson Passage over … Read more
We’re back!! The 2025 Flotilla to Alaska officially began last night at Prevost Harbor on Stuart Island, but most everyone was in Anacortes the night before, so we had some extra time to get acquainted before our first official meeting. We left Cap Sante around noon yesterday, and Carrie (on Ranger Tug 29 named IF) got some great photos of a pod of transient orcas off of Shaw Island, including … Read more
Saturday – We opted to leave our nice calm spot in Smuggler Cove this morning and go south down the Strait of Georgia rather than waiting for tomorrow, even though we knew there was a chance it would be bumpy. The forecasted wind (15-20kts except near Vancouver Island 25kts) would be from the NW, which means mainly behind us, but still with a long fetch where the waves could build. … Read more
Blenkinsop Bay was calm and beautiful this morning. A tiny bit of fog laying low on the water, but clear besides that. Unfortunately, our timing wasn’t great for the current in Johnstone, and we had as much as 3.8kts against us in some places. We expected current against us, just perhaps not quite that much, and for as long. Luckily though, some of our Pacific white-sided dolphin friends from yesterday … Read more