Well, we made it from Vancouver to Ketchikan. Had a great cruise and were lucky not to have any weather days. The winds on Straits of Georgia, Johnstone Straits, and Queen Charlotte were very high during the time that we went thru the area, but we just waited for the right time of day & tides and did it.
We waited for the winds to die down on Straits of Georgia and left Vancouver at noon. About 2 hours north we hit some pretty big (relative) waves but that only lasted a hour or so and we had basically calm seas up to Campbell River. In Campbell River we had the pleasure to talk with a gentlemen named Tom the Watchman that was kind enough to sit down and show us how to get thru Johnstone Straits. We left Campbell River around 9AM and headed up Discovery Channel with the plan to turn starboard and make our way around the back of Johnstone Straits. When we got to the "starboard" turn we saw that the currents were moving with the wind at 5kts. Johnstone Straits were completely flat. We decided to go WOT and turn off a channel if the seas picked up. We made it to Sunderland Channel right before Port Neville. There the seas picked up with very closely spaced waves about 4ft - not fun. Tom the Watchman told us to ride the shores and nip & tuck our way. That worked great once we got thru that mess. We kept going until we hit Havannah Channel and headed for Lagoon Cove for the night.
We were very happy to get through Johnstone Straits as the wind forecast for many days out showed 50kt winds. Now we wanted to get setup for rounding Cape Caution. We slow boated the back route to Wells Passage. Got fuel at Sullivan Bay and asked the gentlemen at the marina advice to cross. The winds in the morning were to be light increasing the 25 to 35 later in the day. He told us a nice anchorage at the end of Wells Passage and we headed that way. Very windy with a fair amount of waves on the way. The anchorage was perfect for a small C-Dory.
That night the winds died down and at 5AM we hit Queen Charlotte Straits. The first part was flat but then the waves began to build toward shore. We knew it was still at an ebb tide, but the gentlemen at the marina said early morning was the best. We noticed a group of trawlers a few miles off shore so we headed toward their line. We got in front of them and dealt with large swells, but nothing that worrisome. The water had that puffy (no wind) look, so we felt pretty good. The trawlers were on the radio deciding if they should turn back, but they continued on. Later they would tell us that "if that little boat (us) could do it, so could their 50ft boats". As we rounded Cape Caution, someone came on the radio and told us that we are one of few (relative of course) to round Cape Caution - that was cool. The seas mainly stayed in the large roller category.
Before we left on the trip we installed a AIS Transponder. We had no way to test it before we left. While rounding Cape Caution we hear the Canadian Coast Guard hail MeyerMeyer on the radio. Immediately my thoughts were that they were going to tell us we are too small for the waves ahead...but they only wanted our assistance to look for a lost kayaker. At least our AIS Transponder was working!
We made it around and anchored for the night in Fury Cove. The next day we headed up to Ocean Falls for the evening. This whole time we had seen many whales - many times we were in "get to port mode" so we didn't stop but many times we did.
We then made our way up Mathieson Channel to the Fjordland area. That was spectacular with the aqua colored water, mountains, and waterfalls. Because they haven't had any rain up here for weeks, many of the waterfalls were dry. We spent the night anchored in Windy Bay.
The next day we headed to Klemtu to get fuel with the knowledge from the books that they were closed on Sunday. We figured we'd just stay on their docks until Monday. To our surprise, they are open on Sunday and we filled up with fuel and headed to Hartley Bay. We wanted to make sure we had enough fuel to make it all the way to Prince Rupert so we went 5kts until we made it to Hartley Bay. We anchored in front of the waterfall in Khutze Inlet.
The next day we made it to Hartley Bay to see if they had fuel. They answered on 06 quickly but not so much getting to the fuel dock. Finally they made it down and we filled up with fuel ($1.79 liter). That night we stayed at their docks - free, but it felt like you were in a landfill (dump). Crazy how dirty, messy, stuff thrown all over, crab bait just sitting in the traps, etc. Even with that being the case, it was fun to walk around their "boardwalk" town. Every house, school, etc is connected to a boardwalk (maybe that way they can just throw their trash over the side).
With the fuel full and knowing we had more than plenty to get to Prince Rupert (2.7mpg @ 24kts 5mpg @ 5.5kts) we headed up Grenville Channel. That morning alone with saw at least 7 whales that we stopped and watched. Expecting Grenville Channel to be a nice calm easy narrow channel was not quite. The current runs strong, so we used the tide to push us later in the day. At the end of the narrows the waves began to pickup and we got pounded making our way to Kxngeal Inlet. We anchored there for the night.
The next day the channel was still wavy by the Inlet so we kept both motors down and cruised to Prince Rupert. Mostly flat all the way there. We filled up on fuel ($1.10 liter) and spent the night at the Prince Rupert rowing and yacht club.
The next day the winds on windalert.com showed light winds in the morning. So, we decided to cross Dixon Entrance. All but a bit of the middle of the cruise was pretty calm, in the middle we probably had a ebb tide causing us some problems but not bad at all. On the way to Ketchikan we actually had a following sea - probably the first one the whole trip.
We cleared customs via phone with our Nexus cards, fueled up, and now sitting at the Ketchikan City Docks. My wife will fly home for a few days on Sunday and when she returns we will explore this area. We cruised a total of 824 miles and spent around $1100 on fuel. We spent a lot of time with one engine down going 5kts.
Amazing trip and still loving it. Our C-Dory boats are excellent - never did we feel uncomfortable with the conditions and LOVE the ease of docking, fuel, anchoring, etc.
Highly recommended.
We waited for the winds to die down on Straits of Georgia and left Vancouver at noon. About 2 hours north we hit some pretty big (relative) waves but that only lasted a hour or so and we had basically calm seas up to Campbell River. In Campbell River we had the pleasure to talk with a gentlemen named Tom the Watchman that was kind enough to sit down and show us how to get thru Johnstone Straits. We left Campbell River around 9AM and headed up Discovery Channel with the plan to turn starboard and make our way around the back of Johnstone Straits. When we got to the "starboard" turn we saw that the currents were moving with the wind at 5kts. Johnstone Straits were completely flat. We decided to go WOT and turn off a channel if the seas picked up. We made it to Sunderland Channel right before Port Neville. There the seas picked up with very closely spaced waves about 4ft - not fun. Tom the Watchman told us to ride the shores and nip & tuck our way. That worked great once we got thru that mess. We kept going until we hit Havannah Channel and headed for Lagoon Cove for the night.
We were very happy to get through Johnstone Straits as the wind forecast for many days out showed 50kt winds. Now we wanted to get setup for rounding Cape Caution. We slow boated the back route to Wells Passage. Got fuel at Sullivan Bay and asked the gentlemen at the marina advice to cross. The winds in the morning were to be light increasing the 25 to 35 later in the day. He told us a nice anchorage at the end of Wells Passage and we headed that way. Very windy with a fair amount of waves on the way. The anchorage was perfect for a small C-Dory.
That night the winds died down and at 5AM we hit Queen Charlotte Straits. The first part was flat but then the waves began to build toward shore. We knew it was still at an ebb tide, but the gentlemen at the marina said early morning was the best. We noticed a group of trawlers a few miles off shore so we headed toward their line. We got in front of them and dealt with large swells, but nothing that worrisome. The water had that puffy (no wind) look, so we felt pretty good. The trawlers were on the radio deciding if they should turn back, but they continued on. Later they would tell us that "if that little boat (us) could do it, so could their 50ft boats". As we rounded Cape Caution, someone came on the radio and told us that we are one of few (relative of course) to round Cape Caution - that was cool. The seas mainly stayed in the large roller category.
Before we left on the trip we installed a AIS Transponder. We had no way to test it before we left. While rounding Cape Caution we hear the Canadian Coast Guard hail MeyerMeyer on the radio. Immediately my thoughts were that they were going to tell us we are too small for the waves ahead...but they only wanted our assistance to look for a lost kayaker. At least our AIS Transponder was working!
We made it around and anchored for the night in Fury Cove. The next day we headed up to Ocean Falls for the evening. This whole time we had seen many whales - many times we were in "get to port mode" so we didn't stop but many times we did.
We then made our way up Mathieson Channel to the Fjordland area. That was spectacular with the aqua colored water, mountains, and waterfalls. Because they haven't had any rain up here for weeks, many of the waterfalls were dry. We spent the night anchored in Windy Bay.
The next day we headed to Klemtu to get fuel with the knowledge from the books that they were closed on Sunday. We figured we'd just stay on their docks until Monday. To our surprise, they are open on Sunday and we filled up with fuel and headed to Hartley Bay. We wanted to make sure we had enough fuel to make it all the way to Prince Rupert so we went 5kts until we made it to Hartley Bay. We anchored in front of the waterfall in Khutze Inlet.
The next day we made it to Hartley Bay to see if they had fuel. They answered on 06 quickly but not so much getting to the fuel dock. Finally they made it down and we filled up with fuel ($1.79 liter). That night we stayed at their docks - free, but it felt like you were in a landfill (dump). Crazy how dirty, messy, stuff thrown all over, crab bait just sitting in the traps, etc. Even with that being the case, it was fun to walk around their "boardwalk" town. Every house, school, etc is connected to a boardwalk (maybe that way they can just throw their trash over the side).
With the fuel full and knowing we had more than plenty to get to Prince Rupert (2.7mpg @ 24kts 5mpg @ 5.5kts) we headed up Grenville Channel. That morning alone with saw at least 7 whales that we stopped and watched. Expecting Grenville Channel to be a nice calm easy narrow channel was not quite. The current runs strong, so we used the tide to push us later in the day. At the end of the narrows the waves began to pickup and we got pounded making our way to Kxngeal Inlet. We anchored there for the night.
The next day the channel was still wavy by the Inlet so we kept both motors down and cruised to Prince Rupert. Mostly flat all the way there. We filled up on fuel ($1.10 liter) and spent the night at the Prince Rupert rowing and yacht club.
The next day the winds on windalert.com showed light winds in the morning. So, we decided to cross Dixon Entrance. All but a bit of the middle of the cruise was pretty calm, in the middle we probably had a ebb tide causing us some problems but not bad at all. On the way to Ketchikan we actually had a following sea - probably the first one the whole trip.
We cleared customs via phone with our Nexus cards, fueled up, and now sitting at the Ketchikan City Docks. My wife will fly home for a few days on Sunday and when she returns we will explore this area. We cruised a total of 824 miles and spent around $1100 on fuel. We spent a lot of time with one engine down going 5kts.
Amazing trip and still loving it. Our C-Dory boats are excellent - never did we feel uncomfortable with the conditions and LOVE the ease of docking, fuel, anchoring, etc.
Highly recommended.