Heading North Very Soon - 2013 Plans

We are both very excited about our 2013 PNW boating plans.  Unlike our adventures in 2005 and 2008, we'll be cruising with a more flexible schedule.  We know we want to spend more time cruising in the Broughtons than we have previously.  We'll then decide if we head back north to SE Alaska or spend the summer in northern BC.

Stay tuned.

Journey's End of our 2008 Cruise, from the Skipper

As the skipper of El Bucanero, I was tasked with both keeping us safe and keeping the boat out of harm’s way. This was constantly on my mind until the boat arrived back in San Diego and was put in the water in Mission Bay, San Diego. We traveled over 2,400 miles on the boat his summer so one has to be prepared to deal with ‘issues’ as they arise.

There were challenging times: in the category of boat operation, the alternator did not charge the house batteries from Anacortes to Petersburg, Alaska. Our primary battery charger/inverter stopped working by the time we got to Ketchikan. We had an aged charger on board so that was put to work. My skills as a mariner were tested as well. We often had to make passages in very limited visibility conditions – very heavy fog and rain. Or being on anchor with gale force winds blowing made for sleepless nights. This coupled with sea conditions and debris in the water (logs, deadheads, etc.) made for challenging times.



I think what I will remember most about our adventure this summer was the remoteness of Alaska- the natural beauty and wildlife, as well as the people we met in the course of our voyage. The experience of sharing dock space at Warm Springs on Baranof Island with commercial salmon seiners won’t soon be forgotten. Waking early one morning and watching brown bears not 30 ft. away from our boat go about digging for clams at Pack Creek, Admiralty Island, was very special.



It was truly and experience of a lifetime for Darlene and I. We will never have to think back at some time in our lives and say, “If we only went to Alaska when we could have..”



There are no guarantees in life and we did indeed experience some things that were very special that we will remember the rest of our lives.

Summary Itinerary

Here is a quick posting to provide a summary view of our PNW 2008 Cruise Itinerary.

0516 – boat departed MBYC
0516 – spent the night at home, in San Diego
0517 – departed home, spent the night in Redding, CA
0518 – Anacortes, WA
0519 – “ “
0520 – “ “
0521 – “ “
0522 – “ “
0523 – “ “
0524 – “ “

0525 –Anacortes to Blind Bay, Shawl Island
0526 – Blind Bay to Prevost Harbor, Stuart Island
0527 – Prevost Harbor to Tseshum Harbor, Vancouver Island, BC
0528 –Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, BC
0529 – Comox, Vancouver Island, BC
0530 – Campbell River, Vancouver, Island, BC
0531 “ “ “ “ “

0601 _ Shoal Bay, East Thurlow Island, BC
0602 _ Port Neville, BC
0603 – Lagoon Cove, The Broughtons, BC

0604 – Lagoon Cove to Port McNeill, BC
note: I need to reconcile my notes to our log, as I believe we spent 3 nights in Port McNeill due to Gale Winds

0605 – to Allison (30.7 nm) (stay over an extra night due to gale winds)
0608 – layover in Allison

0609 – Allison to Green Island (47.5 nm)
0610 – Green Island to Shearwater, BC (40 nm)
0611 – Shearwater to Bottleneck Inlet, BC (52 nm)
0612 – Bottleneck Inlet to Khutze, BC (29 nm)
0613 – Hartley Bay, BC
0614 –Kermelean Cove, BC
0615 –Prince Rupert, BC (33 nm)
0616 –Foggy Bay, Misty Fiords National Monument Wilderness, Alaska (39 nm)
0617 –Ketchikan, Alaska
0618 – “
0619 – “
0620 – “
0621 – Ketchikan to Meyers Chuck, Alaska
0622 – Santa Anna Inlet, Alaska
0623 – Wrangell, Alaska
0624 – “ “
0625 – Petersburg, Alaska
0626 – “ “
0627 – “ “
0628 – Snug Harbor, Gambier Bay, Admiralty Island
0629 – Windfall Harbor (Pack Creek), Admiralty Island
0630 – Hobart Bay, Alaska

0701 – Petersburg, Alaska (our cell phone died so we returned to Petersburg to wait for arrival of a FedEx pkg, for a replacement phone)
0702 – " "
0703 – " "
0704 – " "

0705 - Pybus Bay, Admiralty Island (52 nm)
0706 - Warm Springs, Baranoff Island (35 nm)
0707 - Appleton, Baranoff Island (40 nm)
0708 - Baby Bear Marine Park, Baranoff Island (22)
0709 - Sitka, Baranoff Island (29 nm)
0710 – “ “
0711 – “ “
0712 - Baby Bear, Baranoff Island (29 nm)
0713 - Appleton (21.8 nm)
0714 - Warm Springs (39 nm)

0715 - Petersburg (72 nm)
0716 “
0717 - Wrangell (40 nm)
0718 - Frosty Bay (32 nm)
0719 “ “
0720 – Meyers Chuck
0721 – Meyers Chuck

0722 - Ketchikan (lengthy stay in Ketchikan due to Gale/Storm Winds)
0723 – "
0724 – "
0725 – "
0726 – "
0727 – "
0728 – Ketchikan to Foggy Bay, Alaska

0801 – Foggy Bay, Alaska to Prince Rupert, BC
0802 – Prince Rupert to Klewnuggit
0803 – Klewnuggit to Hartley Bay
0804 – Hartley Bay to Khutze Inlet
0805 – Khutze Inlet to Rescue Bay
0806 – Rescue Cove to Codville Lagoon
0807 – Codville Lagoon to Fury Cove, Penrose Island
0808 – Fury Cove, Penrose Island to Blunden Harbor

0809 – Blunden Harbor to Jennis Bay
0810 – Jennis Bay to Sullivan Bay
0811 – Sullivan Bay to Shawl Bay
0812 – Shawl Bay to Echo Bay
0813 – Echo Bay to Kwatsi Bay
0814 – Kwatsi Bay to Lagoon Cove
0815 - Lagoon Cove, The Broughtons, to Forward Harbor

0816 – Octopus Islands, BC
0817 – “ “ “
0818 – “ “ “
0819 – Squirrel Cove
0820 –
0821 – Pender Harbor
0822 – Nanaimo
0823 – “
0824 – “
0825 – “
0826 – Newcastle Island
0827 – Maple Bay (MBYC), Vancouver Island
0828 – “ “ “ “ “
0829 – Ganges, Salt Spring Island
0830 – “ “ “ “
0831 – Lyall Harbor, Saturna Island
0901 – Prevost Harbor, Stuart Island
0902 – Roche Harbor, San Juan Island
0903 – Garrison Harbor, San Juan Island
0904 – Jones Island (77 nm)
0905 – Blind Bay, Shawl Island (6.1 nm)
0906 – Anacortes, Fidalgo Island, Wa
0907 – “ “ “
0908 – “ “ “
0909 - EB was hauled out in Anacortes, WA. We spent the night in
Grants Pass, Oregon.

0910 – We spent the night in LeBec, CA
0911 – We arrived home and were able to sleep in our own bed.