Ketchikan to Port Townsend

On the morning of July 24, with fresh oil from a routine oil change coursing through Alpenglow’s Lugger engine, we headed out of Ketchikan. First stop was the fuel dock at the south end of town where we took on a little over 290 gallons of diesel. We probably could have made it back to Puget Sound without taking on fuel, but we like the extra ballast a ton of fuel provides when we go around Cape Caution.

We stopped just short of the AK-BC border at a small cove in Sitklan Passage, which allows us to arrive in Prince Rupert around noon the next day even with the time change from AKDT to PDT. The weather was settled and crossing Dixon Entrance was comfortable.

We moored at the Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club (PRRYC) facility in Cow Bay for two days while we provisioned with the fresh produce that we couldn’t bring across the border. We also played with Drake several times, went for walks and probably bought more treats from the local Tim Horton’s than were healthy for us.

We squeezed our way out of the PRRYC marina (it required a 3-point 180° turn in the fairway) on July 27 and headed south out of Prince Rupert Harbor. Because of the timing of the currents in Grenville Channel, we elected to take the outer channels (Ogden Channel, Petrel Channel and Principe Channel) along the west shore of Pitt Island. Our anchorage for the night was the south end of Patterson Inlet.

The next day we continued south, crossing Estevan Sound, Laredo Channel and Laredo Sound then transited through Meyers Passage. We anchored on the west shore of Swindle Island at the elbow where Meyers Passage meets Tolmie Channel.

Often, we’ve travelled this section more slowly, covering shorter distances and stopping to fish, but with only 3-weeks before our haul out in Port Townsend we wanted to concentrate our BC fishing time in the Fitz Hugh Sound area. We made one more stop, Fancy Cove in Lama Passage, before arriving at Goldstream Harbor on the NE corner of Hecate Island.

We spent 8 nights in Fitz Hugh Sound fishing in a variety of locations. We stayed four of the nights at Pruth Bay where the Hakai Institute generously provides shore and trail access to the spectacular beaches on the west shore of Calvert Island. Drake enjoys his time on the beach where he often meets the dogs from other boats. Our final night before heading south around Cape Caution was at Safety Cove on the east shore of Calvert Island.

This was our thirtieth crossing of Cape Caution (15 round trips) but we never take it for granted. We always carefully monitor the weather forecasts days ahead of when we want to do the crossing and choose the best day we can find. This year the weather gods were good to us, and we didn’t need to put our stabilizing fish in the water. We headed directly to Port McNeill on Vancouver Island rather than turning into the Broughton Islands on the mainland side of Queen Charlotte Strait.

Drake reminded us that we needed to spend two nights in Port McNeill so that he had ample shore time to play ball. Because of that, we didn’t depart until the morning of August 9. With a forecast of strong afternoon NW winds in Johnstone Strait and adverse currents in Johnstone Strait (it was mostly ebbing north during the middle of the day), we had to do a stutter step approach to getting around Seymour Narrows. Our first night was in Douglas Bay in Forward Harbour where we shared the anchorage with about ten other boats. From here we did a very early start and traveled first to Otter Cove, south of Chatham Point, on the dying flood current, anchored for a leisurely lunch during the building ebb current then fought the dying ebb current down Discovery Passage to transit Seymour Narrow at slack before stopping the night in Gowlland Harbour on Quadra Island.

The next day, August 11, we again started very early and made the long slog down the Strait of Georgia. We anchored that night in Boat Harbour a couple of miles south of Dodd Narrows which made for an easy next day to Montague Harbour on Galliano Island. We slotted ourselves in among the many boats already anchored.

Our original plan was to spend two nights at Montague before crossing the border back into the US and the San Juan Islands. Unexpectedly, we added an extra day when we discovered that our anchor windlass had failed and would not haul the anchor up. After calling the US distributor for the windlass, we got some troubleshooting tips and determined that we weren’t going to be able to fix the windlass ourselves. Fortunately, the windlass can be operated by hand and the anchor was ultimately raised off the bottom and stowed at the bow.

On Thursday August 15, we got our anchor pulled up, crossed the border, and headed to Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes for the night. The next day, Friday, we continued to Port Townsend and began to prepare for our haul out the following Monday. The failed anchor windlass becomes another item on the work list for the Port Townsend Shipwrights Cooperative who will be doing the work.