We were greeted with lovely weather this morning for our departure from Ketchikan on the way to Meyers Chuck. Great Escape stayed behind for a bit to wait for a part to be delivered, but the rest of the boats headed north. Ralph on Rubicon made a dinghy airport run before he left (we’ll miss you Jeanette!!). The Ketchikan airport is on an island across from town, so it’s always … Read more
We left our anchorage at Foggy Bay around low tide (a -2.8ft this morning!) and had a much skinnier exit than we did coming in at high tide. The shallowest we saw on the depth finder was 16ft, The conditions in the channel were calm and the skies were brightening and it was so nice to have promise of better weather ahead! Our time in Ketchikan was spent doing chores, … Read more
We’re now in Alaska!! We went to Kelp Passage yesterday to set ourselves up for a possible Dixon Entrance crossing. Dixon Entrance is the final open-to-the-ocean section of the Inside Passage. It deserves respect, and can be dreadful in bad weather. For the last week or so we’ve been watching the forecast for Dixon. Generally, there has been exactly ONE good day in the forecast between weather systems, but that … Read more
We’d made a plan to exit Watts Narrows again at high slack (or nearish, anyway) which was at noon, but this group seems not to want to wait around at all in the mornings, and so voted to go on the early low slack at 6:00a.m. instead (still a lot of depth mid-channel and no issues transiting about a half an hour after slack with a knot or more of … Read more
We left Lowe Inlet around 8:00a.m. this morning in order to arrive at Watts Narrows near high tide (around 11:00a.m.) Watts Narrows is a short but narrow passage from Grenville Channel that connects into scenic Baker Inlet. There’s a dogleg turn near the inner part of the entrance that makes it difficult to see any opposing traffic. It’s not imperative to go through Watts Narrows at high, but for a … Read more
Today’s 54nm cruise up to Lowe Inlet was long and gray and filled with heavy rain. We had the current with us most of the way, so that was a plus, but otherwise, picture windshield wipers going nonstop and waterfalls every couple miles. We all got anchored in Lowe Inlet just fine, but took only one photo the entire (rainy) day…and it didn’t even have the waterfall in it. Here’s … Read more
Another gray, drizzly, but beautiful day! Today was just 27nm from Bottleneck to Khutze, so we did not leave super early. We cruised past Butedale, which looks as if nothing much has changed since last year. We turned into Khutze Inlet and made our way to the head of the bay where there were….no other boats! After the rain slowed down a bit, we all headed out in dinghies to … Read more
We woke to light drizzle and some fog, with a little bit of blue sky in the distance. Our plan to transit Jackson Narrows at high tide made for an uneventful experience. Jackson Passage is a beautiful (and shorter) route from east to west, but often avoided due to Jackson Narrows, but at high slack transiting the narrows is easy. We made our way north in Finlayson Channel and up … Read more