Alaska 2007

Jay,
Thanks for the refresher on the Cassier HWY, it was 11 years since we came back that way. I remember it was paved in the Stewart/Hyder area and probably was back to the Junction to PR. We did the "ALCAN" which starts in Dawson Creek BC and we detoured at Whitehorse to go to Dawson City via Klondike HWY, across the Yukon on the ferry (with the big RV) on the Top of the World Hwy and then to Tok and Fairbanks. The Alcan goes directly (sort of) from Dawson Creek to Delta Junction.

There is wonderful boating in BC; for us it gets a bit more crowded than we like in the middle of the summer, and we really love the wildness of parts of Alaska. Not to diminish BC--and if we find time is more restricted may just do parts of BC again. Although the drive to PR is fairly long, it is much cheaper and faster to drive there than to take the boat to the Alaskian border on its own bottom. We haven't tried a C Dory on the ferry, but we had a RV plus a 14 foot skiff and it was a pain getting on and off the ferry. That particular didn't have a camera and I could not see the boat--A Tom Cat plus a truck will get up around 55 feet.

Bob Austin
 
My name is Steve, also. I have a C-dory 16. I have book ferry transport for my Dodge 4x4,pop up camper, boat and trailer, 40' from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan and from Ketchikan to Hollis on Prince of Wales Isl. My dept. date from PR is June 15,. My dept date back is July 15 from Prince of Wales. I went to the Sacremento Cal. Sportsmen Expo. last weekend and connected with 5 Lodges on Prince of Wales to find out what I was up against. I checked on fuel, fishing and distances by boat. What to expect as far as weather. I'm looking forward to a really special C-Dory experience. Hope to see others up there.
 
Bob --
Agree that southern BC can be a bit crowded, relative to Alaska, in summer. There is, however, Hildebrandt's Law that states that "the number of people decrease with the square of the distance from a black top road". On the water, there's El's Law -- "the number of boats decrease to the square of the distance from the nearest marina" -- we found that there are few boats anytime north of Cape Caution and that the farther you go into the fiords away from the red-line main route north, the fewer the boats until you are on water as remote from other boats as most parts of SE Alaska.

Steve -- you'll sure enjoy the far side of Prince of Wales -- lots of otters, whales, puffins and beautiful water. Sounds like a great trip coming up for you.
 
Yes, after rounding Cape Caution, the other pleasure craft you see REALLY thin out! There are spots where you will see a few, around Shearwater for example, but mostly, it is just scenic solitary cruising. Around Behm Canal, I think the only other boats we saw were little Boston Whalers zooming out from the fishing resorts.


El and Bill":2dqu6ydc said:
Bob --
-- we found that there are few boats anytime north of Cape Caution and that the farther you go into the fiords away from the red-line main route north, the fewer the boats until you are on water as remote from other boats as most parts of SE Alaska.
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Those that know me know that I don't shy away from an adventure. I've had many boating adventures, some planned, some unplanned. I'm still bent on making this trip happen though, just getting a bit of 'cold feet' trying to absorb all the cautions and preparations necessary.

Along with a set of Charlies Charts, Blue Charts for my Garmin 188 w/sounder (and accurate tidal data), handheld GPS, a good heater, backups for just about everything (which I have), my biggest worry is going into waters I've never been on without another boater with local knowledge.

I'll gladly align my summer voyage with 1 or more others that have done the trip from Washington north (to BC coast) or from Prince Rupert north and around. Have any of the boaters going this year done this before?
 
Certainly agree with Bill and Pat. Which brings up an other issue, if one wanted to cruise the area above Vancouver Island with short time, it might be more economical of time and fuel to launch from Prince Rubert, but looking at the numbers below--the best option is to trailer to N. Vancouver Island.

We spent 2 weeks up a fjord in Central BC where we were the only boats and the only other human we saw was the cook in a logging camp, who had been left to guard the place while the rest of the crew had 4 days off (and not only gave us a tour, but fixed us a great dinner).

With ideal conditions the TC 255 could make it from Anacortes to Ketchikan AK, (about 650 NM) in 3 days, but that would probably take over 300 gallons of gas each way (at $4 a gallon) or $2400...vs driving 1000 miles in 2-3 days @ 10 mpg and fuel at about $1 a gallon less (plus about 100 miles by boat). ~ $700?? From our past experiences ideal contitions are rare in the Inside passage. Taking a Ferry to Vancouver Island and then Port Hardy to Prince Rupert appears to be about $2900 round trip. Another option would be launching at Port Hardy or Port McNiel and then on the boat to PR (The Ferry Port Angeles to Victoria is not bad--appears to be about $173 for the TC and truck).

Lots of ways to skin...er transpot a cat...
 
Or drive to Tsawwassen (basically just across the border on I-5), ferry to Duke Point (Nanaimo), drive to Port Hardy up the Island Freeway...now, you just have to cross to Calvert Island, and it is pretty easy going from there on...we love Desolation Sound, and the Broughtons seem interesting, but the REALLY scenic cruising is from Fitzhugh Sound north...
 
Bob, I like your thinking -- and you're math! Looks to be about 4 long driving days from So Cal to PR, not sure of the roads above the border though and how much progress can be comfortably made in a day.

Pat, thanks, great idea to compress the trip and launch from North Vancover Is, would be exploring BC coast up to PR I'd imagine, beyond that would probably require greater than 3-4 wks total time (from home) to smell the roses.

I did some quick searches on how to get weather info during such a trip, found an answer -- there IS NO weather info! True? Do you just wet your finger and stick it up in the air (...not that finger) and do a seat-of-pants judgment? Or is there a VHF net everyday, or WiFi reception on a PC? Hmmm, nothing but questions, sorry.
 
Steve,
Two easy days drive from the border to Rupert. Good two lane (one lane in each direction that is) highway for most of the route. It will take you through some very scenic country thats for sure. It will certainly seem unpopulated compared to California, but there is lots of small communities on the route so no problem with services needed. Posted speed on the route will be 90-100 KPH (55-60) except through the towns.
There are other roads that go to the ocean part way through BC (Williams Lake to Bella Coola and Terrace to Kitimat) that are not as far a PR but they don't save any driving time and are still quite a few boat miles from AK. There really is only three alternatives to get to AK. Boat from the Washington border, drive to Rupert and then boat, combination drive, ferry and then boat. All depends on how much time driving verses on the water and how much money you can afford to spend.
Its going to be a very memorable trip for you and your son whichever way you choose. If you do decide to drive let me know and if you want I'll give you directions on which border crossing to use to avoid the congestion of driving in to Vancouver.
Hope to see you somewhere in BC.
Ron
 
It's the other Steve again..Grover. As I posted before I'm on the Ferry from PR to Ketchikan 6/15 and then to Prince of Wales for three weeks with my 16'. I was told that crossing into BC at Sumas might be the best. Also, since I will have a camper that I should plan to spend the night at a casino at Deming not too far from the boarder. Could that be correct?
 
Weather:
We used the VHF--there is surprising good reception thru a lot of the area.
We did have a dedicated Furuno Weather Fax--not practical for the C Dory, but a computer program is. Any quality reciever will get the fax signal. We used high seas weather on marine sSB (recieved on the ham set) and the NorthWest Boater's net: http://www.toandos.com/nwbn.html which meets at 08:30 Pacific time 3865 mhz. There are boats up and down the coast who report in with weather and predicted contitions.

Another reason to have a ham radio aboard--as well as hooking up with other C Brats!

Bob Austin
 
I hear you on the ham, Bob, great if you have one. A few years back, well more like a LOT of years back I experimented with a 50ft copper wire strung between my house and a large tree (with isolators on ends). Hooked it to a decent shortwave receiver and then to my PC. With some judicious BFO adjustments I actually got a somewhat readable weather fax via my AEA FAX II program (Advanced Electronic Applications, Inc) (on 5 1/4" floppy...!). Did it once or twice, took me hours. About a year or so later weather pictures became available from NOAA direct over the Internet, all above OBE.

Glad to hear we can pick up VHF weather most areas, that will certainly help.

Ron, thanks for the road info, another sigh of relief. I plan to spend most nights on the boat, what is the recommended method to stop for the night: Wide spot in road, rest areas, store parking lot, KOA (similar), or? Is it considered fairly safe in most remote areas of BC -- I'd expect so.
 
Hello,

I've launched twice out of Port Hardy. I took the Black Ball Ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria ($117) and drove to Port Hardy. 290 miles of good road, lots of four lane from Nanimo to Campbell River then very good two lane through an massive tree farm to Hardy. I can make the drive in a day. Returning I sit in the ferry line up and "camp" in the boat in Victoria, fun after a couple months in on the IP (Ferris's Oyster Bar in Victoria :thup). Showers are in the harbor area. Once on the trailer, we sleep on the boat both ways. BC rest areas are frequent and nice.

I've also done Rupert twice (Sumas crossing) and it is two long days of driving from the border (980 miles). In both cases I fill to the gills with gas in the US and siphon from boat to cans to truck. Thats my usual rest area activity. If you go to Rupert, buy gas in Prince George there is a marine fuel pump away from the islands at two stations, right after you make the left turn onto 16 "The Yellowhead Highway". Canadians call this "boat gas" it is 3 to 4 cents less per litre than car gas, 91 octane and it is dyed red. You must be filling a boat or cans. The stations are on side of the road you are on. It took me 90 gallons so I can make it both ways fueling just in Prince George if I fill extra cans when I leave Ketchikan (Petro Marine, ask for the discount - best price in Southeast). We like to camp on the return at a provincial park along the Frasier River called the Gold Pan, right off the road. Warm dry weather and sagebrush here is a nice contrast. Once you leave here its back to civilization and millons of people for the first time since you came north.

So this thread is killing me because I'm just starting my semester and I'm already chomping at the bit. I do love the BC coast, know that their weather forecasts are great and there seems to be repeaters everywhere, plus manned lighthouses that will answer your call. Barring those life altering things that can happen, I'm going to go again this year but like you all, I'll have wiegh out options and time before my launch site is determined.

Shawn
 
Just to remind those who don't have ham licenses that you can listen to the broadcasts and still get a lot of information. A Grundig Yacht Boy 400 has the capability of recieving both the ham nets and marine SSB. I had to laugh, one of my friends who I loaned the AEA FAX program to 6 years ago, just returned it--yep it had both the 5" and 3" discs. There are better programs currently which will work thru any decent SW radio reciever. You have to have the schedule (on the internet for both FAX and Marine SSB) and frequencies.

Bob Austin
 
Grundig 400 Professional Edition Yacht Boy for $79.99 here. This looks like the best price, and a lot of sites are reporting "unavailable," so maybe we shoud snatch these up?
 
Bob - could you please elaborate a little on this whole deal? Suppose I have the Yacht Boy and a laptop...exactly what info can I get? What hardware / software do I need? What are the internet sites for the schedules and frequencies? Thanks!


thataway":1m5cc51a said:
Just to remind those who don't have ham licenses that you can listen to the broadcasts and still get a lot of information. A Grundig Yacht Boy 400 has the capability of recieving both the ham nets and marine SSB. I had to laugh, one of my friends who I loaned the AEA FAX program to 6 years ago, just returned it--yep it had both the 5" and 3" discs. There are better programs currently which will work thru any decent SW radio reciever. You have to have the schedule (on the internet for both FAX and Marine SSB) and frequencies.

Bob Austin
Click to expand...
 
Boy this is thread is old, doesn't anyone do it any more ?

It has always been a dream of ours to do the trip by boat. I'd like to go from Prince Rupert to Skagway, or the reverse, but not necessarily BOTH. Have any Brats done a trailer swap - one going by boat each way, then using the others trailer/vehicle for the return? If so how did it work out ? My main problem is that when I do a trip like this I don't like schedules - probably wouldn't work for me - but then again...
 
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