Sunny Skies, Calm Seas, and Bears. Oh My!

Surprise, surprise, we are no longer in Ketchikan! With our Alaskan adventure comprising almost six weeks, it is a shame to admit that close to two weeks of it was spent in Ketchikan. Other than fighting off thousands and thousands of cruise ship tourists and holding tight in gale winds, I'm not sure if the Ketchikan stay really counts as an Alaskan adventure. Fortunately there is more to cruising SE Alaska than Ketchikan and pushing thru crowds of cruise ship tourists, as well as holding tight during gale or storm force winds, as we have enjoyed cruising in SE Alaska very much (more on that subject at a later date).

The three back to back storms late July all ran their course and we were able to depart Ketchikan on the 31st. We departed with Rick and Barbara, on Galatea, but they decided to make the lengthy all day run from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert. We split off, after 37 nm, to spend the night in Foggy Bay. The weather forecast was for good weather, but we had had heavy rain the night before we departed, and it was lightly raining with some wind, when we left the safety of the docks. But we left ~6am with confidence of good weather, as well as being eager to get out of dodge!

By 10:45am we were on anchor in Foggy Bay, but it wasn't foggy, nor was it rainy. The sun was actually out and to make things better it was so sunny we had to wear sun glasses. I think this photo really shows how happy Brad is to see sunshine and be on anchor, under great conditions.

















You may want to double click to enlarge this photo. The black thing, which might look like a rock, is actually a bear. He was munching on sedge grass, at the shoreline, in Foggy Bay.















Prince Rupert Yacht Club is where we stayed when we came thru here, going North in June. They provide WIFI access on the docks, which is a rare treat vs our visit to a public library or coffee shop when we are in an actual city.


Friday, August lst Foggy Bay, Alaska to Prince Rupert, BC (54 nm)

Again, we had a day of calm seas and mostly sunny skies. Here are a few photos from this leg of the cruise.
















This is Green Island Lighthouse.














Here is a photo of one of the charter fishing boats in Prince Rupert. This one takes the guests out to sea on a large boat, and once where they want to be, the guests then go fishing in their own little boats. Prince Rupert is a great place to visit if you like to fish, or simply want to explore BC. There is also great ferry connections to other nearby ports, if you are not on your own boat. I definitely want to come back to Prince Rupert again someday. There is far more to see than we have time and I'm sure there are fish that are wanting us to catch them!
















Tomorrow we'll continue cruising South. Our next stop will be Klewnuggit Inlet Marine Park, which will be a new place for us. Afterwards we'll stay in Hartley Bay, which we enjoyed very much on the way up. For the most part we'll be on anchor over the next couple of weeks, with few exceptions. As we don't anticipate having WIFI access for awhile, I doubt that I'll be able to update the blog for a bit. But keep check back later in August, if you want to find out what we are up to (or give us a call on the cell).