2007 Alaska northern inland passage wilderness cruise

thataway":gctanhtf said:
You really have me thinking about the Mokai Kayaks...not sure I want the drag of towing one all of the way from BC to AK. (assuming we get to go to AK next year!)

Thanks, Bob
Click to expand...

Bob

Though there had to be some drag. It was not noticable when compared to other trips. In fact with the way we had it set up it was much easier to use in all ways then with the RIB dingy we have used previously.

Jay

Part 7

6-18-2007

Up early again 4 AM to catch quiet water to Auke Bay, Juneau. Fog had lifted and turned into a steady pouring rain.. Could see all the boats and icebergs as we left Tracy Arm Cove and out through Tracy Arm Entrance to Stephens Passage. There was a 7 mph flood tide coming through the entrance to Holkam Bay. Sure glad it wasn’t like that last night in the fog. Several whales coming up Stephens Passage, but to rough to see well.

Into Auke Bay early. Three c-dorys at the docks. Went for a ride in the mokai around the docks looking at boats and while talking to some fisherman a whale came up right along the outer dock. Followed it along the sore for several miles. It was going in among the buoy tide boats in front of the homes along the shore. Fun and interesting following and watching the whale.

Steve and Colleen fellow C-brats stopped by the Hunkydory and invited us to their home, which is less then a mile from Auke Bay. Steve picked us up and we spent a enjoyable hour or so in fine conversation. We all had been up since very early, so had to break it up sooner then I think we all would have preferred. Hope to meet up with them again some day. Was a swell way to end another fine day. 96 miles today 1472 total miles on trip

6-19-2007

Again up early hoping for smooth water up the Lynn Canal to Haines.
Lighthouse Lynn Canal
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Checked moter oil level and found port motor oil over filled with a strong gas smell, so somehow gas is getting into oil. Not good. We headed up to Haines on starboard motor and it without a charge coil. Very glad wehad the Honda generator. It kept the batteries up all the way back to Skagway. Close to Haines in Lutak inlet we anchored.
Lutak Inlet anchorage
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I took the mokai up the Chilkoot river which flows into Lutak Inlet to where it is blocked coming out of Chilkoot Lake. Lots of rocks and fast water. In 2000 we had seen many bears here in September catching fish. No bears today, but good time anyway.

Into Skagway boat harbor fairly late. The scenic setting of the Skagway boat harbor is so beautiful it has its own special place above all the others and that is comparing diamonds to diamonds. I took the mokai out to watch the 4 cruise ships leave. Now that is about the ultimate in big and little boats. Felt as tiny as I must have looked out there with those monsters. Don’t care for what the cruise ships bring with them, but sure can see what draws them here.
This rates fairly high in the big and little too.
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The motor problems are ending our cruise about 6 days earlier than planed. Has been a fantastic voyage and of a life spent adventuring this topped it all. Not bad for a couple of boat novices pushing 60. Won’t let the motor problems get us down just glad we weren’t stranded in one of the many remote places we visited. Will use the boat now as camper on slower than planned return road trip home. 96 miles today 1588 miles total for trip.

6-20-2007---------7-9-2007

Up late then had to wait for the tide to raise for boat loading.
Gathering energy while waiting on tide to take boat out of water and prepare for road trip.

video Skagway End of Cruise
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Boat trailer wheels would have dropped off the end of ramp the tide was so low.

After several hours of road preparation we started on our way. Stopped in town of Skagway for coffee and noticed the EZ loader trailer had two rollar support arms broken and the forward part of the boat was resting on what remained of the support arms and u-bolts, so it was back to the harbor for repairs. Jacked up and blocked boat and inserted 2x4 boards in section rollers would normally support. Also transferred everything to back of pick up that we could. No place to purchase parts needed in Skagway so off to Whitehorse, Yukon where we hoped to purchace rollers and support arms. No such luck. The only place carrying them had sold the last one the day before, so worked over the temporary set-up a little more and it did hold together with only a little paint loss the additional 3500 miles to home. While in Whitehorse we toured the last paddle wheeler to work the Yukon River. They had done a beautiful restoring job on the Klondike 2 and we highly recommend anyone traveling the Alaska Highways to put it on their things to see list. It was especially interesting to Jo-Lee and I due to our having tied up to the wreck of the Klondike 1 when we cruised the Yukon River between Carmacks and Whitehorse in 2003 in the Hunkydory, which was the first year we had our c-dory.
Hunkydory tied up to the wreck of the Klondike 1 in the Yukon River
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Decided to go south via the Cassier Highway which is a 450 mile stretch linking the Alaska highway in the Yukon to the Yellowhead Highway in British Columbia. It intercepts the Yellowhead Highway approximately 100 miles inland from Prince Rupert where we started and finished our 2004 cruise. In some ways the Cassier HY is in worse shape now than when we first traveled north on it in 2001 towing a small RIB on a trailer with a chevy astrol van. Only 40 miles left unpaved, but much of the pavement for 200 miles is in poor shape. We actually appreciate the poor roads and wouldn’t mind if they were even worse if it contributes to the slowing of development in this area. Now even this remote area is showing signs of civilization. I guess it’s a given that development will happen to any area that is so strikingly beautiful in such a grand rugged way. Just Hope some of these areas will stay the way they are for the time Jo-Lee and I have left. Feel very fortunate to have seen them the way they were our first trip through.

Where we stopped for the night just off this highway a bear was eating grass alongside us when we turned in for the night. What a fitting way to say good by to this wonderful country for now.
video The Goodby Bear
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Stopped at Deception Pass State Park in Washington State and had planned on stopping by EQ to order charge coil and see what they thought of gas in oil crankcase. After waiting there an hour after there normal opening hours finally figured out we were a day off and they were closed. It’s a fine thing when a vacation is long enough to lose track of the days of the week. Also coming from the beauty of the far north didn’t stop us from appreciating Deception pass State Park. In some ways its very similar of course the amount of people being the difference.

Stopped close to Amboy, Washington and spent a couple days with Jo-Lee’s Sister and Family then headed south toward the coast highway, through the redwoods of northern California to my parents home in Potter Valley, Calif. Arrived back home in Cokeville Wy on July 9 and had to return to work and regular living the next day. The memories, photos and video plus reading and listening to others share there travels will have to suffice until we can again head out on our next adventure.

Jay
 
Jay and Jolee, No wait, don't stop. Come back and get some more material to write about. We are all going to have withdrawl. Better yet, take us with you next time. When you come up again, plan a few down days around Juneau and we can put you up at the house, haul Hunky-Dory out for repairs or whatever.
 
Let's see, motor coil out, gas in the oil on one motor and a broken trailer...I would NOT have coped well with these things! I need AAA to change a flat! Great story, Jay, enjoyed every day and every photo!
 
VERY COOL! We enjoyed the photos and trip log; sorry to hear about the motor problems. Thank you for sharing your trip with us.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Jay & Jolee - if you ever pass through the Northwest again on one of your adventures, please let me know. I would consider it a privilege to meet the two of you, even if we only had time for a cup of coffee together.

Rochester is only about 70 miles NW of Amboy as the crow flies.
________
Dave dlt.gif
 
An update on our motor and trailer troubles.

The charge coil burning out again was due to me connecting both batteries to cabin power, so we could up the voltage for the wallas stove. If the twin motor rpm isn't in sync the alternator output varies and can take out the charge coil. Should have learned this lesson in 2004 when it burned out the first time.

Thought the fuel in oil crankcase to be a major problem. Drained out 3.5 quarts of oil and gas where there should have been only 2 quarts. And had to have ran it several days as it was filling with gas. These Honda's don't burn oil, so I don't normally check them every day. The problem motor is actually the strongest of the two. It would run 5500 at max rpm compared to 5300 rpm on the other. I had just tested this again the day before noticing the gas in oil.

Stopped at the Honda dealership in Whitehorse, Yukon and they told me I had probably seriously damaged the motor with that much gas in the oil and the cause was most likely a sticking float needle valve in one of the carburetors. Bought a needle valve for $38, thinking I would install it upon returning home.

Called EQ for there input following arrival home and they said gas in the oil on the Honda 40 would be caused by only two things. Fuel pump o ring and stuck thermostat. Also they doubted there was any damage to the motor. Fired up the motor and the pee water doesn't heat up, so hopefully its the thermostat. Ordered one, but haven't had time to install.

Concerning the EZ loader trailer. The roller support arms that broke were the two outside 2nd back from the front. Don't know for sure when the first one broke, but I think I would have noticed it before loading the boat. The 2nd one broke when making a sharp U turn in Skagway. The trailer brakes locked up while making the turn and I was blocking traffic where the buses needed to go to pick up passengers for the Whitehorse Railroad, so I drug it forward in a tight turn to get clear. Shortly after that a kid came up and handed the broke off roller to me and said it came off our trailer.

Have installed another bow roller support like Dave installed on His C-Voyager. Also am installing another set of arms and rollers in the front. This area always did seem on the weak side to me. Will feel much better on our next trip north with these additions. The roads between here and there will sure seek out any weak spots if there.

Thanks again to all who made those :thup comments and Steve and Colleen its sure good to know that you are there and willing to give support if needed. Hope next time its just another good visit or maybe even an outing.

And Dave the privilege would be ours.

Jay
 
Hi Jay,

Great write-up and pictures!

Could you provide more information on how you towed the Mokia? I have towed a few dingys and have had problems when it got rough. How did you keep from getting water in the kayak? Did you have any problems with jerking when in large waves and the kayak was out of sync with the C-Dory?

Could you tow at any speed?

The Mokia sure looks like fun but not sure how much it would complicate cruising.

Thanks,
Steve
 
Great story and photos! I too am curious about the mokai, not so much about towing but more regarding your impressions of it after putting it to good use on the trip. Did it work out like you expected?
 
Sorry about your problems at the end of your trip. Thank you for your story and pictures. Stuff like this keeps the dream alive.

Fred
 
Steve and Lee

Haven't said much about the mokai due to I think most here are more interested in the c-dory aspect of the trip. Being as you asked--- I'll let her rip.

We couldn't have been more pleased with the mokai in every way. For the type of trip we made where the main object was exploring remote inlets and bays and the rivers that feed them the combination of the c-dory and mokai was perfect. Its really made for one person but two can make do especially for going to shore and short forays of an hour or so.

It comes with a quick removing cover that we add a couple bungee's to, that makes it pretty well water proof. We tow with a floating polyurethane rope 30' long that is attached to a rope with a loop tied between the top cabin hand rails in the rear where it meets the cockpit. This kept the bow of the mokai up even in the worst of condition. I wasn't exaggerating about the conditions on the Lynn Canal on the first day out with the boat. This is the first time we have turned around due to conditions being so bad that that we feared for our safety. When making the turn I didn't even think about whether we would lose the mokai or not. All thoughts and priority was just making the turn without getting rolled or swamped. Would have loved to get video or photos of these conditions. In comparison if you have watched the Fords Terror Video you will observe the filming never quit. Well the mokai survived even though Jo-Lee said she could see it suspended in the air and other times totally disappear. That was the end of our concerns on weather and conditions at least with the mokai.

Have to slow down some in short choppy waves or the mokai would go airborne on them. Of course in these conditions you are happy to slow the c-dory down anyway even with the trim tabs fully down.

Have been used to especially in the past to the c-dory drawing a crowd. Well it never drew them like the mokai. It was an endless what is that?? Does it have a motor? Is it jet powered? How shallow will it go? Man I got to get one!! When I would take it for a cruise around the docks people would wave and give the :thup especially the crews on the fishing boats.

I tow it with the motor and fuel tank left in this keeps the center of gravity low and provides a little more weight to prevent wind interference. It weighs 100 lbs with out fuel and motor and 150 lbs with.

For us it was the perfect addition to the c-dory and much better than a dingy. For those with more people aboard or pet owners it wouldn't be so good or they might consider what we are thinking about for the future and that's our dingy back on top with a torgeedo motor along with the mokai. Now that combination would be hard to beat. The cost factor might just keep this in the consideration phase.

Jay
 
Jay and Jolee

I enjoyed reading your Northern Inside Passage journal. We are planning
on trailering our boat from our home on the Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage to Haines early next June and spending 2 1/2 to 3 weeks in the Northern inside passage.

I was hoping you might be able to help me with some more info.
Would you mind sharing your original trip routing plan with me??? (before the trips to Juneau for GPS and camcorder shopping and the early pull out of the boat for the engine problem)

Could you tell me why you guys decided to avoid jumping thru the hoops for Glacier National Park? I talked to the ranger last week who guards the entrance letting only 25 boats a day thru. It sounds like a pain, but it sounds possible to get a permit.

Did you guys fish, crab, or shrimp along the way at all??

You obviously used the Douglas book extensively, is there any other book you would highly recommend for this trip?

Thanks for any help you can provide.
 
John

Will do our best to answer your questions and pleased to help in any way. There have been several other C-Brats that have cruised in this area and maybe they will chime in added or maybe even better information. Personally I wished more would have shared there trips with us here.

Our original trip plan was not much different than the one we made. Changes were due to weather, motor, wallas stove, and garmin gps + nobletech software navigational problems and the desire to stay away from the more populated areas even more than pre-planned. There were times when both navigational systems wouldn't work fortunately never at the same time. Had originally planned on going to Dundas Bay in Glacier Bay National Park before the Pelican area. Weather prevented that. In fact weather was the major concern in the whole Cross Sound, Chichagof Island west coast areas. Gales were constantly coming through with very little time in between. Don't know if this is a normal late May early June thing or not. From the weather reports we listened to these gales didn't effect the more inland sections such as the channel waters around Admiralty Island near as much. From Pelican we had planned on continuing down the west coast of Chichagof Island to Sitka and then out through Peril Strait to Frederick Sound. Finding the more isolated northern section of the west coast of Chichagof Island, Pelican-Elfin Cove area more to our liking and still wanting to see Dundas Bay and the more northern sections of Chatham Strait changed our plans. The run to Juneau didn't change any of our original plans only added to the miles because we came back and ran our original routes only in different directions. In case of bad weather we had planned on being back in the Lynn Canal area those last 6 days, so the motor and wallas stove problems didn't really change any routes just prevented some relaxing exploring and maybe fishing in that area.

There were several reasons for not visiting the main controlled section of Glacier Bay with jumping through hoops actually being somewhat low on the list. We had already been in and around several tide water glaziers and the beauty and freedom to do your own thing in the Tracy Arm, Sawyer Glaciers would be awfully hard to beat. We have questioned many people who have been to Glacier Bay in small boats, trawlers, and Yachts with most of these being disappointed in the lack of access to areas they had wanted to see and other restrictions encountered. There is a restriction on the number of small private boats, but there are many large passenger paying ships and charters in the bay. But for us mainly its just the restrictions and someone watching over your shoulder. We make these trips to challenge our abilities to cope with what ever comes up added to the solitude and uniqueness of the people and communities in the Northern Inland Channel and Glacier Bay National Park just doesn't fit into this for us. To each there own and with the number of boats in the waiting list and many who do go back it may well be worth the seeing for you.

We don't crab or shrimp and fish only rarely. Our thing is mainly exploring, wildlife watching and trying to meet our own personal challenges.

Along with the Douglas book we recommend the Marine Atlas, Volume 2. Port Hardy to Skagway and the route planning map "The Inland Passage" Northern Portion, Published by FineEdge. com Anacortes, WA. You will see The Inside Passage map hanging up in lodges ect. in every town. We bought both the Map and Marine Atlas on previous trips to this area. Maybe one of the C-Brats knows and can let you know now where they can be purchased on the internet.

One other thing as we stated on El and Bills thread Halcyon Days we have no Alaska trip at this time planned for this year or for that matter the next two. Hope to make a full summer trip in 2010 following retirement that spring. Was great making the three cruises with the c-dory and our other adventures in the north lands thus far and if we had it to do over wouldn't have missed a one. The reason for waiting untill retirement for the next one is not due to hazards encountered or losses suffered, but rather the anxiety brought on by knowing we have to return to work by a specific date with a very unforgiving employer and all the many things that could prevent it. When we first started considering cruising the northern sections of the Inland Passage we bought the Douglass-Hemingway cruising guide and picked out all our must see areas. Believe it not we have accomplished this knowing of course in a lifetime you couldn't see all of the inlets, bays, ect. Having accomplished the must sees really helps us to wait, so we can do a much more relaxed slow and even more enjoyable future cruise.

Don't know what your previous experience is in making this kind of cruise. On our first in this area we had basically none and only the forgiveness built into the c-dory boat and our innate ability to get out of situations we found ourselves in and considerable luck prevented disaster. If needed would provide a list of some of what we would consider to be the must haves on making a wilderness cruise like this.

Sure hope this helps in making plans and if our answering any of your questions steers up more please don't hesitate to ask.

Jay
 
Jay,

Thanks much for all the additional info. I will modify my book list to add the coast pilot. Our extended cruising experience has mainly been in Prince William Sound, where we have left the port of Whittier and not returned until 8 days later, living off the boat the whole time and sucking down drums of fuel on the rear deck.

I would certainly be interested in your list of recommended items to compare with our checklist. I certainly want to be prepared for this trip. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.
John
 
All

I've inserted one to seven minute length video's to the dialogue and photos in parts 1 through 4 of this travelogue. This was done so you could see where the video fit into the cruise and back up the storyline and photos. Like just how much did you think I was exaggerating the extent and conditions on this cruise. There is no video of the worst conditions we encountered because we were to occupied during those times, but I think you will find some of it pretty interesting even in this poor quality format. Don't know how to make it any better on line.

You will probably need DSL or better to view.

If they add to the travelogue of the cruise let me know. If so I will take the time to add more to the rest of the travelogue or I could just combine all the video shorts to one spot for easier access.

Jay
 
Jay and Jolee --
We have just returned from vacation time with family, logged on to the site, found your post about the videos -- and WOW -- have you kept us glued to the computer. Your photographs are marvelous, but the videos put a viewer directly in the cabin with you two -- thanks for the time and effort to post them up for all to view. What a great experience and you shared it with us all and we sure appreciate it.
Trust you had a great holiday and best wishes to you both.
 
All or at least those whom may be interested

I added a one and a half minute video to Part 4 Travelogue date 6-6-07 which shows us checking ocean conditions the evening before exiting Pass and Dry Pass when it was dry. The weather report was calling the seas 8 feet when we went out to check. This video has a link to another video directly below it that shows us exiting Dry Pass in very poor visibility conditions the following morning.

Mirror Harbor entrance video is located Travelogue Part 2 date 6-1-07.

I was rather surprised that only 17 c-brats or c-brat visitors out of the over 500 who viewed my last post saying they were available actually viewed the Exiting and entering of Mirror Harbor and the exiting of Dry Pass video. Dry Pass and the Mirror Harbor entrance are two of the most challenging places to maneuver in the whole Inland Passage. Gps and charts will only get you to the entrances. After that you are completely on your own in making the passages or not. These videos show in some degree how that is accomplished.

There are several pages in the “Exploring Southeast Alaska” cruising guide by Don Douglass and Reanne Hemmingway-Douglass describing these two entrances and the difficulties involved. I have read several post where C-Brats have mentioned owning the guide. It is seldom that a person who may someday consider cruising in these areas can compare what a cruising guide describes with what a video shows. Page 325 describe Mirror Harbor and 327 Dry Pass. If you own this guide you might consider reading the description given then watch the video.

Jay
 
 
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