SE Alaska 2022 - Family of 5 in 22' C-Dory

ChrisMcBride · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2022 3:04 am Post subject:

June 1, 2022 Day 5: Wigham Cove to North Kelp Passage Cove: 177 miles. 710 total miles.

It's staying brighter considerably longer. Last night Ellen had the hardest time falling asleep because it was still pretty bright at 11:00 PM.

We have a good weather window to cross Dixon Entrance tomorrow, and we want to move quickly through Canada, so we are in somewhat of a hurry. We woke up around 6:00 AM, made some oatmeal for breakfast, pulled anchor around 7:00 AM, and off we went.

The radar overlay has been offset by up to 20* from the charts, depending on the orientation of the boat. With all the autopilot use it's been irritating me and I've spent a decent amount of time fiddling with the settings the past couple days. Long story short, I needed to re-calibrate the auto-pilot due to moving, ever so slightly, the CCU a few weeks prior when working out storage in the boat.

We filled up with gas in Klemtu and stretched our legs on the dock for a few minutes. Ellen loves tossing rocks, shells, and other debris off the dock into the water.

A bit after fueling up, we stopped at an old cannery/ghost town and got out to walk around. Ellen knocked my sunglasses off my head and I didn't realize until we were too far away to turn back. Polarized sunglasses are part of my "must have" navigation gear, so I'll need to get a new pair (and backup) asap.

This section of the trip is really incredible. We are in this valley in-between these beautiful mountains covered in pine trees. The tops of the mountains are covered in snow. We saw so many waterfalls from all the snow melt, truly a stunning place. As we were puttering along we saw a whale. This time it was a fin whale. It was our first time seeing a fin whale so we were incredibly excited about that. So far that puts us at seeing orcas, minke, humpback, and now fin whales.

The fuel stops along this part of the trip are pretty far apart. We spent several hours today traveling just above hull speed, to make sure we'd have enough fuel + reserves to get to Prince Rupert.

We stopped at a little inlet called Lowell Inlet for lunch and saw our first bear. We splurged on a pair of stabilized binoculars (fujinon 14x40) before the trip. While quite pricy, they have been well worth the investment.

During dinner the wind really started to pick up. I'm not used to being out of VHF and cellular weather range and was a bit stressed out, but the wind died down not long after leaving.

Didn't quite make it to Prince Rupert, so we stayed in North Kelp Passage. The fuel dock doesn't open super early, so it won't really affect our scheduled crossing tomorrow morning.

Ryan’s Thoughts: We saw a fin whale and a bunch of starfish we even saw bears!!! And I am trying to get better armor.

Lillian’s Thoughts: Today was amazing!!! We started off with oatmeal for breakfast and we went to this cool gas place! There were a ton of starfish and sea pickles, and sea anemone, and sea urchins! Then we think we saw a fin whale? (Once we had internet we checked and it was a fin whale). Then we saw our first bears! One by one we saw bears!! It was so fun and now it’s time to brush, mmmm.

ChrisMcBride · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2022 3:27 am Post subject:

June 2, 2022 Day 6: North Kelp Passage to Ketchikan, Alaska. 122 miles. 832 total miles.

The gas situation this trip has been tighter than I anticipated (I know, we need to SLOW DOWN...) We were happy to tie up to the fuel dock and get gas. The chartplotter is networked to the Yamaha outboard, and gives us real time fuel burn.

The chart plotter said we had 4.5 gallons to empty, but at the time we weren't too sure how accurate it was (turns out it's surprisingly accurate), plus we had our extra five gallon jerry can.

After leaving Prince Rupert it was time to cross Dixon Entrance. We really did have ideal weather and for the majority of the time it was really calm. A bit later it got rough (between Grey Island and Connis Rocks) and it rolled us around pretty good, but overall we made good progress. The upside is that Ellen took a well needed 3hr nap!

We cleared customs in Ketchikan (CBPRoam app makes it really easy) and booked a much needed hotel for the night.

It took us 6 days to get to Ketchikan, Alaska from Edmonds, Washington.

Ryan’s Thoughts: Nothing happened except we made it to Alaska!!!!

Lillian’s Thoughts: Today is amazing! I woke up really early but i had an amazing breakfast and guess what! We made it to Alaska! But our trip is far from done! And for the first time in five days we do not know what that means! It’s amazing! Well that’s it bye!

ChrisMcBride · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2022 3:45 am Post subject:

June 3, 2022 Day 7: Ketchikan to Kluth Bay: 51 miles, 883 total miles.

Amanda's phone fell into the water at the harbor when getting off for the day. Since our primary carrier is not AT&T, we couldn't get a replacement phone in Ketchikan. We aren't sure when we'll get one, but will figure that out later.

We moved harbors to be closer to laundry, shopping, and McDonalds. Errands weren't much fun, but everyone enjoyed stretching their legs.

The "best" weather in Clarence Strait wasn't for another day or two, so we decided to spend two days looping through the Misty Fjords. To make the loop without running out of gas, we planned to do a lot of this route going slow.

We were able to see a humpback whale on our way out, and Ryan is pretty certain he saw a bear.

We left Ketchikan to the North and did the loop that way, we came out South of Ketchikan. The first night we didn’t get too far, since we had so many chores that day. We found a nice private anchorage and we even got to use the forest service mooring ball at Kluth Bay. We didn’t leave Ketchikan until pretty late, so we didn’t tie up until about 10:30 PM.

Ryan’s Thoughts: I saw a whale. We woke up in a hotel and I saw a bear all by myself. No minecraft today.

Lillian’s Thoughts: Today was not much fun! Well, it was a little fun. We woke up in a hotel which was nice!

ChrisMcBride · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2022 3:57 am Post subject:

June 4, 2022 Day 8: Kluth Bay to Walker Cove: 55 miles, 938 total miles.

Today was actually the first time we had real rain this trip, we feel pretty lucky about that!. When we woke up there were Bald Eagles in the trees, a seal in the bay with us, and a perfect Alaskan mist.

Today was a slow day. We kept it at hull speed so for us we went about 3 1/2-6 1/2 knots. It was a perfect place to slow it way down. While we were boating through the fjords Amanda and I both thought it reminded us of Yosemite. Huge mountains through a glacial carved valley, the difference was this valley was full of water.

We did see a humpback whale that swam on by us. It almost felt like passing a car going in the opposite direction of you. In the distance we also saw a few orcas. We were going to our place and they were going to theirs.

We got to our anchorage site earlier than we normally do, around 7:30 PM. We made dinner there, cleaned up and got ready for bed. Everyone was tired and fell asleep pretty quickly. This anchorage was the most beautiful place we’ve anchored so far. We were in-between huge snow capped mountains. Waterfalls just pouring off the mountains. So many waterfalls. There were two other boats anchored near us. It was just stunning.

Ryan’s Thoughts: We went very slow. I am making progress in minecraft, even though I hate it right now.

Lillian’s Thoughts: Today was fine, I didn’t have a good breakfast. Then when I was going to have delicious snow balls (packaged chocolate cake covered in marshmallows and covered in pink coconut) I hate coconut and guess what? Well, they were covered in coconut! Hmmmf! And we did not go on land and it is so cramped UGGG!!!!

ChrisMcBride · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2022 4:08 am Post subject:

June 5, 2022 Day 9: Walker Cove to Vixen Harbor: 125 miles, 1,063 miles total.

Today we finished up our slow(ish) trip around Misty Fjords. We stopped in Punchbowl Cove on the way back to Ketchikan. Punchbowl Cove was more open than Walker Cove, but the mountains were bigger. It was all very grand. I guess there are hikes you can take up to mountain lakes, not a good fit for our crew, but I can imagine it would be spectacular.

After Punchbowl Cove we went fast the rest of the way. Along the way we did pass Misty Fjord National Monument. It really was a stunning trip. On our way into Ketchikan we saw several more dolphins that swam along our boat for awhile. It's always a highlight for all the kids, even Ellen.

A bit after that we saw a pod of orcas hunting. They were in a few different groups around us. It even looked like an older orca was showing a few young orcas what to do. Ryan is bored of orcas, so he wasn’t thrilled we waited around so long, but everyone else enjoyed them.

We made it back to Ketchikan for some food and gas and back on land after 48 hours on the boat! We ran into the other c-dory owner we saw earlier in Canada. It sounds like he had a little worse weather crossing Dixon Entrance, but it made it through just fine. I wonder if we will cross paths again,

We did have to hurry to leave Ketchikan as a storm was picking up. We needed to go up Clarence Strait to leave Ketchikan. If we didn’t leave that evening we would be stuck for several days. The waters were getting rough, but nothing too bad and we made it out just in time.

Once we left the strait we had more protection from wind and the waters calmed right down. We decided to anchor in Vixen Harbor. The Slowboat people talked about it, and it stood out to us. All the books and the Slowboat people mention that you don’t follow your charts on this one. Where we pass through looks too shallow on the charts, but is the least rocky option. Sure enough that’s how it worked out for us as well. It was another beautiful anchorage that we shared with three other boats.

Ryan’s Thoughts: I saw some whales and dolphins that went with the boat.

Lillian’s Thoughts: Today was good! We saw orcas and I had eggs for breakfast! And we saw white sided pacific dolphins. Now it is AFV (America’s Funniest Videos) time.

Hunkydory · Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:20 pm Post subject:

Chris & all, keep sharing. I finally had enough time with internet to catch up on your sharing, so far. Loving it.

Jay

ChrisMcBride · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2022 3:42 am Post subject:

June 6, 2022 Day 10: Vixen Harbor to Wrangell 67 miles, 1130 total miles.

We stopped by Anan Wildlife Observatory to see what the anchorage may be like if we wanted to stop and look at the bears there on the way home. From our understanding the anchorage is a little iffy and the guide books recommend someone staying with the boat if you do anchor. The idea of leaving one person behind while the rest enjoy the experience doesn't sound too good for us. There's a forest cabin that they rent out, which could be a lot of fun with lots of advanced planning.

We booked a place to stay for the night, got fuel, and tied up to the transient docks.

When we were unloading the boat to go to the hotel the two big kids were playing on the dock, I was holding Ellen in the cockpit, and Amanda was packing up what we would need in the hotel. All of a sudden I heard some loud thumps near the starboard bow, the boat rock, and Lillian scream. Ryan fell into the water in-between the dock and the boat.

I set Ellen down so quickly that I dropped her part of the way, leaped out of the boat, and got Ryan out of the freezing cold water. We were extremely lucky that it was a calm day, the docks were short, that he didn't hit his head, etc etc. All told, I think Ryan spent less than 3 seconds in the water.

We stripped him naked, toweled him off, turned the heat up in the boat, and got warm clothes for him. Ryan was in good spirits the moment he was on the dock again and said he was fine. Lillian on the other hand was visibly shaken up seeing her brother disappear like that. It gave us a huge scare.

He should have been wearing his life jacket, but wasn't, because Amanda and I have grown lax in requiring life jackets while on the docks. I think a combination of them getting older, a lot of time coming and going on the docks, not wearing them when sleeping, and difficulty of carrying extra lifejackets everywhere we go on shore all contributed to my complacency. Ryan and Lillian do an exceptional job (near 100%) wearing their life jackets when we're under way, without needing to be told, and I'm very proud of them for that. We have new rules to prevent a recurrence.

Speaking of kids life jackets, you may notice in some pictures that they are wearing inflatable life jackets (Spinlock Deckvest Cento). While these life jackets are certified internationally for our kids ages, weight, and size, the life jackets are not USCG approved for kids under 16. As far as I'm aware, the USCG has not approved any inflatable life jackets for kids under 16 (for lots of good reasons).

I periodically re-visit/re-consider my choice to outfit them with these life jackets, and am always open to reversing course. My line of thinking is that a life jacket that they actually wear (our story shows some gaps) is safer than a lifejacket that is stored in a hatch, and I trust the international certifications.

We still carry well fitted, good condition, USCG approved life jackets for them on-board the boat at all times for emergency use, and to stay legal.

Ryan and Lillian wore their life jackets the rest of the day, including the almost 1 mile walk to the hotel.

Ryan’s Thoughts: I fell into the ocean at a dock…so yeah.

Lillian’s Thoughts: Today hmm. So today I had the best breakfast ever! Then me and Ryan played find the button maps on minecraft, then mom booked the hotel, and then Ryan fell into the water and now here we are!

ChrisMcBride · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2022 4:14 am Post subject:

June 7, 2022 Day 11: Wrangell to Thomas Bay/Ruth’s Island: 101 miles: 1231 total miles

This morning I left the hotel earlier than the rest of the crew to change the engine oil on the boat. On the way to the harbor I stopped at the local hardware store to buy 2 more 5 gallon jerry jugs, a few more canisters of butane, and bug nets for the kids.

It was my first time changing the engine oil with the boat in the water. The oil pump worked really well and the oil change went well. I changed the engine oil, oil filter, fuel filter, and water/fuel separator.

I have spares for most critical items (for example, a spare prop, thrust washer, washer, cotter pin and wrench) since I know it's so easy to drop things in the water, especially when in a hurry, under stress, or distracted. It's really easy to set something on top of the engine, dock, lazarette, etc and then accidentally knock it in the water.

While changing the oil, I was keenly aware that the oil cap is something I could easily drop/lose. It's plastic, so maybe it would float, but I don't want to find out. Next time I'm at the parts store I'll get a spare.

We ate at Nic’s Place, a pizza place. Everyone was very happy with the food, which doesn't always happen!

As nice as hotel stays are, they are also a huge pain (and $$). We have to unload quite a bit of stuff, and most hotels are a non-trivial walk to get to. We are normally tired and grouchy and I’m not sure how refreshed we felt after this stay. I’m not sure how many more hotel stays we will do. We need to try out marina showers, as I know that's something Amanda is apprehensive about with young kids.

We were looking forward to spending some time in Petersburg, but the weather was looking OK, so we just got gas and decided to do a side trip and visit LeConte Glacier and skip Petersburg for now.

The guide books we used in planning this trip (Exploring Southeast Alaska: Dixon Entrance to Skagway by Don Douglas, has been my favorite) make the entrance to LeConte Glacier sound particularly treacherous. I was very nervous for this part of the trip, also my first time boating through icebergs, but had read numerous trips reports and felt it was doable.

A few miles before the entrance, off in the distance, we saw a group of boats just hanging out. They either looked like they were fishing, or waiting for something. Even further in the distance we thought we saw what what could be waves breaking.

My first thought was there was a small bar in the entrance, and that the boats were waiting for slack (I'm always very aware of what the tide and current are doing, as that tends to be one of the most important aspects of navigating)

As we got closer to the “boats” that were just hanging out we realized they weren’t boats after all, they were huge icebergs. The waves we thought were breaking in the distance was an ice field. The closer we got to the glacier, the more ice there was. Huge blue icebergs, small clear icebergs. Beautiful ice sculptures. It was incredible!

We slowly picked a path through the ice and it just got more and more thick with ice. Everyone was mesmerized. The kids kept saying that this would make the whole boat trip worth it. We went as far as we could, but had to turn around before we reached LeConte Glacier.

After LeConte we headed to our anchorage spot for the night in Thomas Bay. We stayed at Ruth’s Island there. Once we were anchored we pulled out some bergy bits we got at LeConte and all had some bergy bit soda. The kids thought that was the coolest thing. Such a spectacular day!

Having later visited Glacier bay, Tracy Arm, and Endicott Arm, I still think that LeConte is one of my highlights of the trip. The sheer size and quantity of the iceburgs was incredible.

Ryan’s Thoughts: We saw a deer and we saw icebergs!!! It was amazing. In Minecraft I went to a woodland mansion and got a totem of undying. I made it home with a parrot very very happy!

Lillian’s Thoughts: Today was fine, I didn’t have breakfast and pizza for lunch then we went on the boat and we drove to some icebergs! not its dinner! Love it!

Pat Anderson · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2022 10:01 am Post subject:

Excellent narrative and photos! You and the kids will remember this for a long, long time! I am however really surprised at how many miles you are choosing to run per day. You must have a "schedule." On our 2017 Great Loop, 40 miles was a long day for us! Once you rounded Cape Caution,there was so much great scenery to see that you must have just whizzed by! Misty Fjords National Monument is worth more than a day or two! Be that as it may, I am enjoying your journey vicariously for sure. I cruised from Blaine to Ketchikan in 2006, and at my age the odds are slim to none that Patty and I will ever get back to Alaska. Between you and Hunky Dory Jay, you are providing great information for future Alaska cruisers. Looking forward to more!

JamesTXSD · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2022 3:51 pm Post subject:

Oh, Pat... am I misremembering* you doing Alaska in a week or so? Twisted Evil

We all travel at our own pace. I remember you doing the Erie Canal and Trent-Severn portion of the loop in just a few days. It took us a couple months for that same stretch, with so much to see and do. One way isn't "the best way," it just depends on one's traveling style.

It is fun seeing what this family did on their adventure. I also enjoyed your "Baxter Pooped Here" tour. It is interesting to see how we all do things, and in a way that suits each traveler.

--------

Our mutual late friend Warren introduced me to that "misremembering" phrase.

ChrisMcBride · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2022 4:58 pm Post subject:

hardee · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:39 am Post subject:

WOW, I just started and caught up with you for today. . . . What SUPER thread. Great pix, and narration. That is a trip that you all will enjoy for a very long time. Has anybody said that yet Wink

Thanks for sharing it. I agree, your miles are many, and you do what you have to do, but going back is more work and $$$ than many of use will ever do, and then there are some that go back over and over and over again (Jay and Jolee for instance).

The other C-Dory you met that was single handing was probably Devon on C-Ration. He mentioned that he saw you.

On my smaller and older Garmin plotter, sometimes it freezes up or blanks out. I have to disconnect it, and take the battery out, the reinstall it and hook it back up before restarting it. That usually brings everything back to working order. Always good to have double redundancy.

Yes, on the PFD's, and I think you are doing the right thing. The best one is the one you wear.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon

ATPNW · Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 2:43 pm Post subject:

Thanks for sharing your stories, what an adventure. Have you got to do any fishing along the way?