InsidePassageNews.com

In summer 2007, Gene and Sandy Johnstone of Anacortes, Washington and Los Bariles, Baja California, took their M/V Migrator to Southeast Alaska for the first time. We found their descriptions as novice Inside Passage cruisers fresh and frank, and couldn’t resist asking them to share their emails with you on our website.

Like all good seamen we left Anacortes to begin our trip on Thursday rather than Friday the 13th. I would hate to think what we would have encountered if we had started out this morning.

We left the dock last night about 6:30 in dead calm and water smooth as glass. We made it to Blind Bay (across from the Orcas Island Ferry Landing) and anchored just at dark. Perfect start.

About 2 a.m. this morning the wind started blowing and Gene was up all night checking the anchor. By the time we left this morning it was very nasty but nice and warm with our new heating system Gene spent the last month installing. Then we started crossing Haro Strait. What an experience! Between the wind, rain and following seas we had furniture and anything not tied down flying everywhere. That crossing has claimed the #1 Most Extreme experience for us! We are so thankful we left Pinta home with Grace. She would have been one sick little doggie.

Another bit of excitement was our entry into Sidney Harbor. As we tried to go thru the entry channel into calm water a big following swell rolled the boat sideways and pointed us right into the jetty. Both Gene and I were sure we were going to smash onto the rocks and our trip would end right there. Luckily, being the good sea captain that he is, Gene was able to whip the steering wheel around quick enough to get us straightened out. Just barely in time. I don't think we missed the rocks by more than a couple of feet. Right before we went in I had told Gene to let me take the boat in while he attached fenders and lines. Good thing he didn't listen to me!

After we got inside, the water was calm and the wind actually worked with us for docking. Thank goodness, because there was no one out on the docks to help us tie up.

When we left Sidney and went back out into open water we thought we’d have the same miserable conditions all the way to Maple Bay, but as soon as we rounded the corner to go north past Canoe Cove the water calmed down and it was smooth sailing all the way to Maple Bay. Amazing! Sidney and Canoe Cove are just a little skiff ride apart, but they might as well have been on opposite ends of the earth as far as sea conditions went.

We had a good night's sleep at Maple Bay, tied up to the dock with no worries and used Dave & Evie's broadband connection to send this out. I don't know when we will get the next one. Internet connections may be even scarcer than we anticipated. It seems that any Wi-Fi using a router manufactured before 1/30/07 is not compatible with VISTA.

We had short trip to Nanaimo today where we’ll see what the weather dictates for future sailing. Today the weather forecast was for Hurricane force winds for the north end of Vancouver Island. Can't wait. [Note: Dave Frisby joined Gene & Sandy at Maple Bay for the cruise to Ketchikan.]

We left Nanaimo on Sunday morning and had a wonderful flat water cruise to Small Inlet off Kanish Bay—a 95 nautical-mile day.

Monday we went from Small Inlet to Blunden Harbor, a 93 n.m. day. Unfortunately for Gene and Dave it was a very cold, rainy day, but still relatively smooth water.

This morning we left Blunden Harbor and headed up Queen Charlotte Strait on our way to Shearwater. It was pretty lumpy and snotty crossing Queen Charlotte Sound, but not too bad until the steering failure.

The rod connecting our rudders broke and Gene was not able to turn the wheel to the left. (As it turns out, after the fact, Gene & Dave decided it actually had started to break the day before and finally just gave up the ghost when the going got tough.) Gene came flying down into the cabin and we tore the bed apart as the whole mechanism is under the head of the bed in the master state room. Sure enough, the rod was broken and bent so that one rudder was turned as far as it would go and the other was just straight. Gene got a gaff hook and some duct tape and tried to splint it but it wasn’t enough to hold it together. (Sorry 3M, this is not a testimonial for your product.)

The boating gods continue to smile upon us. What could have been a disaster turned into another bit of very good luck. Dave was talking on the VHF to John on the "Ted K" (our buddy boat) asking if he had any angle iron and hose clamps, etc. and another friend of Dave's, Dan on the "Provider" cut in and said he had lots of parts and a welder on board and he was in Safety Cove (about 1/2 hour ahead of us) and would wait to help us. By that time we were across the Sound and the seas were getting calmer so we decided we didn't need to don the survival suits.

We reached Safety Cove and Dan provided us with a couple lengths of rebar and several hose clamps, and the connecting rod was splinted and ready to go in just a few minutes.

You have to realize, there are NO boats out here this time of year. It just so happened that Dan & Carol on the Provider (very aptly named) had to hold over a day to go across the Sound because of the weather. They are the only other boat we have seen (besides our buddy boat the Ted K). And just like last year in Beaver Inlet off of Johnstone Strait when we needed a doctor, and the only other boat in the bay had a doctor on it, here was a boat waiting for us with what we needed. Thank you, boating gods!

The weather seems to be clearing and even though there is fresh snow on the local hillsides it is quite pleasant this afternoon. We're enjoying it while it lasts.

We're hoping we pick up some wi-fi in Shearwater so this can go out. And maybe some cell phone signal so we can touch base.

We pulled into Ketchikan on Friday, April 20 in beautiful balmy weather under a blue sky. We walked all the way downtown and back in our shirtsleeves and couldn’t believe it. It was like July-August weather at home.

In fact, except for crossing Haro Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound the weather and water has been quite good. The boating gods continue to smile on us.

Wednesday we went from Shearwater to Lowe Inlet, a 118 nm day. Then from there we anchored last night at Brundige Inlet on Dundas Island, an 87 nm day. Getting in at 1 p.m. today, it seemed like we should just grab a bite to eat and continue for another 6-8 hours. But, no more of that. We met our rendezvous date and now we are on vacation. No more schedule!

The Douglass' (Baidarka) and Princehouses (Passages) pulled in within an hour of us and we are all moored right here on the same dock. Cocktails are at 5:30 on the Ted K.

It is nice and quiet here this early in the season, but it is going to turn into a zoo later. They have been expanding the cruise ship dock and it has displaced the city dock for now (it is supposed to be replaced by September) so moorage is going to be at a real premium this summer.

Unfortunately there is no free Wi-Fi at the dock, so I either have to find a free spot and carry my computer to it (such as one of the hotel lobbies or there are a couple of seedy looking internet cafe bars down towards town), or sign up for internet at $12.95 per day. We will probably be here until at least Monday so I have lots of time to decide.

Gotta go enjoy this beautiful Alaska weather while it lasts. Réanne Douglass told me they had a 12-hour blizzard earlier this week and they were behind us!

We took the bus to Wal Mart [north end of town] and there was a big squall with sleet or snow in it, but it never really hit town or the marina. We just got a few drops on the deck of the boat. Gene said you could sure tell we were tourists. All the locals were out in tank tops and t-shirts, but we were in sweats and had our coats and vests on. We're not quite acclimated yet!

Gene took the connecting rod for the rudders to a welding shop this morning and got it fixed and reinstalled. Believe me, this sucker will never break again. They stitch-welded 1” x 1” x 3/16” angle iron the whole length of the rod, one on each side. The total welding bill for materials and labor and tax was $51. The taxi ride was $70. Gotta keep those boating gods happy! (I actually thought we had done our tithing the day before when Gene bought two running-light bulbs for $36 a piece, but I was wrong. This boating is an ongoing daily collection plate.)

Tomorrow will be my cleaning/laundry day; Monday will be internet/bookkeeping and grocery shopping day; weather permitting we’ll leave Tuesday morning for Helm Bay. The rest of the group is heading for Elfin Cove to wait for a weather window to leave for Prince William Sound.

Today it is cold, foggy, rainy and windy. More like the Ketchikan in July that I remember. Sure am glad I got the laundry done yesterday. I'm going to have to put on my full raingear just to walk to Safeway. [3 blocks from the marina]

We are peeling off from our traveling buddies because they are going on to Valdez and we do not want to try to go across the Gulf of Alaska with them. We don't have any flopper-stoppers on our boat and they will be going about 300-400 miles in open seas. Where we are now in the Inside Passage is more or less like being in the San Juans. We will just gunkhole around here by ourselves this summer and then maybe meet up with someone again to head south.

A little trivia that makes cruise ships look like a very inexpensive way to go boating: we have traveled about 630 nm since leaving Anacortes, putting 106.7 hours on our engines. We have used approximately 365 gallons of diesel, which averages 3.42 gallons per hour or about 1.7 mpg. Diesel here in Ketchikan is ONLY $3.00 per gallon. Not wanting to get caught short on fuel, we filled up in Shearwater, B.C., where the price was about $4.50 Canadian per gallon. Oh, the boat gods are so happy with us . . . [The boat gods are not smiling on cruisers in 2008!]

I'm going to finish my internet banking then turn on the electric blanket and crawl under the bedspread and hibernate for a little while.

Our buddies are gone now and we are sitting here waiting out the gale force front that’s predicted to last through the next two days. If the forecast holds we should be able to head out on Friday.

Getting a little cabin fever this afternoon, we donned our raingear, braved the wind and rain and headed for downtown. With no schedule and no particular place to go, we explored all over town. We set out for the two main museums but they were closed—Ketchikan is still officially in "hibernation" until the first week in May when the cruise ships start showing up. Some places, like the museums, jewelry shops (I swear, every other store is a jewelry or gem shop), restaurants, souvenir shops are feverishly getting ready to open in a week or so. It's really neat to have the town to ourselves and the proprietors willing to chat with you because they don't have anything better to do.

We were able to visit the library where I bought a whole sack-full of good books for $6.50. We also found three or four galleries that were open and I got to study the work of several good watercolorists. Gene was going totally cross-eyed with boredom so I took pity on him and cut it short. If I get to go back I am going to drop him off at the Tongass Trading Co. and I will go to the galleries by myself.

Unless something exciting happens, like the dock blowing away in the storm, you probably won't hear from us again until we reach Wrangell—probably in a week or two.

It took six days to get from Maple Bay, Vancouver Island to Ketchikan, Alaska, a distance of approximately 600 nautical miles. We left Ketchikan last Thursday, April 26th and arrived in Wrangell today, Wednesday, May 2nd, taking seven days to go approximately 53 nautical miles. Needless to say we had quite a change in weather.

We went to Helm Bay the first day and were stuck there for three days. The weather was so bad we didn't do anything but listen to the forecasts.

Our boat no longer has a beautiful teak handrail around the bow. It was blowing so hard when we got to the raft dock in Helm Bay that we had to power up to the dock. Then when we got up there and Gene jumped onto the dock to tie up, the wind shifted and I put the engines in reverse but didn't rev them up enough and our bow collided with the piling. The good news is that Gene collected all the pieces and should be able to put it all back together when we get home. Fifteen minutes after all this happened, the wind and rain had let up by about 75%, so we learned a good lesson. From now on, if we find ourselves in a position like that we will just jog into it until things calm down. Gotta hand it to Gene, he didn't even get upset about his handrail. We both just heaved a big sigh of relief to be tied up and done with that storm.

In a very short weather window we jumped out of Helm Bay and headed for Meyers Chuck. When we turned into Clarence Strait a big, black front came rolling towards us so we changed course and headed for Lyman Anchorage. That turned out to be a nice, very well protected little anchorage that we enjoyed. The only problem with it is you can only get in and out on the top half of the tide. So, when the next window opened up, we went to Meyers Chuck, only about 15 miles away, stayed overnight there and left early this morning for Wrangell.

Had a nice, smooth travel day today, starting out with a beautiful, sunny morning, ending up with overcast but mild breeze and calm water all the way to Wrangell. When we pulled in and called the Harbormaster she said there was no open space on the docks but we were welcome to raft up to a commercial fishing boat of like size. Their new moorage by the cruise ship dock is not finished yet and they don't have their summer moorage floats out yet. But once again the boating gods smiled upon us and there just happened to be ONE opening at the dock that the Harbormaster didn't know was empty. We now have electricity, cell phone coverage, internet Wi-Fi (not free, but at least we have it!) and streets to walk on. It is amazing how big the little things we take for granted get when you go without them for a while!

We plan to stay here until at least Sunday, then see what the weather is doing and head for Petersburg.

I've been in town two days now and have met several friendly artists who invited me to paint with them on Thursdays. They have a little gallery on main street and it’s open only on Thursdays when they all meet to paint. I'm sure that as summer and tourists arrive it’ll be open every day.

We toured the museum yesterday and it is very impressive. They have done a world class job in displaying their history and information. I was impressed with was the beautiful watercolor paintings done on big, old nautical charts that are hung throughout the museum.

They also sell prints and cards of those paintings in the gift shop and, while I was talking to the lady in charge, I asked if the artist was local. She told me yes and with a little prodding I found out where her studio was and off I went.

Brenda Schwartz is the artist who does these paintings. She just happened to be in when we got there and we had a nice long visit with her. She exudes friendliness, enthusiasm, personal energy, and endless, prolific creative ability. She’s quite a character and personifies the type of rugged individual that comes to mind when you think of an Alaskan. Besides her life as an artist, she is a mother of three children and personally operates her own charter fishing boat in the summer. Wow! Her website is: www.marineartist.com.

Well, I've got to get busy and find a TV where I can watch the Kentucky Derby tomorrow. The bars up here are hopeless. They are so smokey and all anyone around here watches is hockey.

We had a beautiful trip from Petersburg to Juneau, with stops along the way in Gambier Bay, Tracy Arm and Taku Harbor. We didn't have any rain until we pulled into Auke Bay here in Juneau. Unfortunately, it has been raining ever since.

At Gambier Bay there were nice beaches for walking, long and straight and flat. But after watching a mama bear and her two cubs and spotting another bear at the end of the beach where we were walking we decided to go back to the boat and stay there.

We planned to go up Tracy Arm and visit the Sawyer Glacier but the icebergs were so thick we just barely got in the entrance, took some pictures and turned around and left. That was a big disappointment as we had decided to substitute Tracy Arm for Glacier Bay.

As we headed up Stephen's Passage, just outside of Taku Harbor, the humpback whales put on a spectacular show for us. Don't know if they were feeding, bathing or just plain playing. We don't know if it was several whales or just one who would first jump straight up out of the water and then splash down on it's side (breaching) several times in a row. It would raise a big flipper and splash the water several times in a row, then stick its tail out of the water and slap the water in front and back several times in a row. Then it would start the whole thing over again. We couldn’t tell if there was more than one whale or more. The show went on for a long time so if it was just one whale it was probably exhausted by the time it was done! Don't know why we didn't get the camera out and take some pictures. We were getting ready to enter a new harbor and were watching the depth, checking charts and looking for uncharted rocks I guess. Hindsight being 20/20, we should have gone past the bay entrance, stopped the boat and watched the show and then gone back to the harbor. Hopefully, we will get another chance to do it right.

We went into the beautiful little bay named Taku Harbor and spent a night. There were four boats tied up at the float, another couple from Anacortes and two couples from Juneau. The weather was overcast but nice. One of the boats had caught a bucketful of crab, so we all put our tables and chairs on the dock and had an impromptu potluck. The guys from Juneau were genuine Alaskan characters who kept us in stitches all evening long with their stories.

We were going to stay in Taku Harbor another night, but Gene popped a crown off of one of his molars and we decided we'd better get to Juneau and find a dentist before the holiday weekend. We got to Juneau about three in the afternoon and our friends Jon and Ann on the Ted K were here and they had rented a car so we were able to call a dentist and get right to his office. The boating gods were smiling again! However, the tooth fairy was a bit extravagant and we ended up paying $235 to have the crown glued back on. Could'a bought an awful lot of Gorilla Glue . . . . .

We went to Costco today and restocked our provisions. Not that we had run low, but you know how it is when you go to Costco . . . . . we have enough food on the boat now to last several people several months. Afterwards we went downtown and had lunch in the infamous Red Dog Saloon, complete with sawdust floors; then across the street to the Juneau Public Library to use the internet (one of the nicest libraries we’ve seen lately). We strolled around the downtown shopping area looking at the tourist shops. Lots of neat stuff to buy, but we’d already spent all of our money (and then some) at Costco. Darn!

We hope to get at least one nice day before we leave so we can visit the Mendenhall Glacier and hike some of the 262 miles of trails in the Juneau area. (Did you know there are only 63 miles of roadway here?)

We finally got what everyone has been telling us not to expect a beautiful, picture perfect sunny, warm day in Juneau. So off we went to visit the Mendenhall Glacier. It is impossible to do justice in photos to this spectacular work of nature.

In the pictures below, if you look at the one with the glacier you will notice a little waterfall off to the right. To get an idea of the scale of things, I also attached a close-up picture of the falls and a picture of the climbing thru rocks that we had to do to get to it.

This has got to be about the coolest little zip code on earth. The residents here have a wonderful sense of humor—from the name of their settlement to all the quirky little humor signs along main street; main street being the only "road", a 6 foot-wide gravel lane that runs the length of the "city". There are no leash laws in this "city" but about every other utility pole has a pooper scooper for your use. Other than the ¾-ton pickup used as the fire and EMT vehicle, there are no cars, just ATV's and golf carts.

Fluctuating from 80 to 100 in population, there are a surprising number of accoutrements of civilization. There is a ferry and float plane landing, a fuel and water dock, a volunteer fire and EMT department, a general store, cafe, lodge, bakery, church, post office, library and school. At the general store there are a stack of 8 x 10 color photos of this year's high school graduation ceremony, their biggest class ever—5 students (2 were actually juniors who had enough credits to graduate early)—with 100% of the class going on to higher education. The clerk in the store will gladly show you each of the photos and tell you who is in them, where they live in the community and where each of the students is going on to school.

We went to the Blue Moon Cafe for lunch. Never have we eaten at any small taco stand or street vendor with as much trepidation as we had at the Blue Moon Cafe, but by the time we had finished our delicious meal of burgers and fries we had become well acquainted with Rosie and knew all about her vacations to Las Vegas, Reno and Bellingham casinos. The diet Pepsi we shared wasn't the greatest though—it said "best used by Jan 03, 2005."

As we walked into the café, we wound our way down the little isle left open in the middle of stacks of cardboard produce boxes. There was only one round table open to sit at, and 1/2 of an oblong table against the side where Rosie sat. Everywhere else in the “restaurant”, boxes and boxes, were piled high, even on the top of what should have been the bar and the other tables and chairs.

We sat down at the table, looked around and couldn't see any menus, Rosie just looked at us, so I asked her what she served. She said, "You want beer or wine?" (There were almost as many cardboard boxes of Franzia as there were produce boxes.) I had to ask her a couple of times what she said as she has a very strong accent—she’s most likely of Japanese descent as she told us her family built 22 hiding places in the hills during the war.

I then asked, "What do you serve for food?" Eventually I understood her to say hamburgers and fries so we said OK, we'll take two of those. She started gathering the food to fix; some in a freezer in another box-lined isle to the back; some in a refrigerator in the isle leading to the kitchen (mostly full of beer). Then we heard her peeling potatoes. In the meantime, because we hadn’t seen TV for so long, we watched a cartoon on PBS, the only channel she gets. While the frozen food was thawing and cooking she came back out and talked to us for a while.

It seems that once a year she, her cousin and her aunt go to a casino somewhere for a vacation. They do not fly, they take the ferry to Prince Rupert and then the bus to the States. They used to go to Vegas and Reno, but the bus ride is too long; so now they go to Bellingham. She told us how her passport had expired on this last trip and how she fed the Immigration officials a sad story and they let her go anyway. She said, "I told them a lie, well, not really a lie, well, yes I guess it was a lie . . . . but I get my new passport now, because that gets old after a while." (We were just cracking up!) Then she told us how expensive the hotel and meals are now and how they put pieces of meat and bread in their purses at lunch so they don't have to buy dinner and can just eat in their room.

Our hamburger and fries were delicious, well worth the wait, and the entertainment factor alone was well worth the price of the meal. We continue to be surprised and delighted by the frontier spirit of the people we meet in Alaska.

We got to Warm Springs Bay today (Wednesday, June 6) and will probably stay until Sunday as the forecast is for high winds and seas until then. What a great place to be holed up!

Lots of hiking trails, no worry about getting exercise here! We hiked up to Lake Baranof today and were quite surprised to be hiking thru snow and finding the lake (not all that far up from sea level) still half frozen over. The stream that flows out of Lake Baranof has a spectacular 100' waterfall that flows into the head of the bay. Good thing we got here at low tide and were able to dock at the float without too much current. It is high tide now and the current is running past the boat at quite a clip. Sure would hate to fall off the boat right now, it would be like falling in the Skagit when it is running fast.

There is a nice, clean bath house that has a 100 gal. galvanized metal tub continuously circulating hot water from the springs. There aren't many boats here tonight so we're hoping we can go up later this evening and spend a long time in the tub. The bath house is situated such that once you are in the tub you can open the curtain and have a view of the falls while enjoying your soak.

There is a small store/gallery/coffee shop here that claims to have internet service. So far it has been closed and no store hours are posted. So if you get this before next week you will know I got online.

Our jet boat trip up the Stikine River today was really memorable despite the fact that it was a rainy gray day and all the wildlife seemed to be hunkered down in the bushes waiting for the sun to come out. Our tour guide happened to be Ivan Simonek, one of the best professional photographers in Alaska. You can see his work at www.alaskan.smugmug.com

We went about 30 miles up river, almost to the Canadian border. Quite often our captain would take us into a slough rather than stay in the main channel of the river. That was quite exciting since jet boats use their power to make turns so we were going fairly fast through some very narrow waterways.

Our guide told us a story about the cabins on the river. We learned that a lot of people had cabins up river before it was declared a wilderness area. The Feds started burning down the cabins, but then someone came up with the brilliant idea of how to get around that. Seems the state of Alaska has jurisdiction over the water itself and the federal government rules the land. The State doesn’t care if someone has a cabin, so the cabin owners put their cabins on floating rafts and anchored them in the river which seems to work OK, but I don't know what happens when the river floods and/or the ice breaks up. The river freezes solid from December through about March but the cabins are still there so it must work.

The skipper tried to take us up to the Shake Glacier, but Shakes Lake was still frozen so we didn't make it very far. We did a little ice breaking but had to turn around before we sighted the glacier.

One of the waterfalls we saw was a unique geometric design than you would think could be realistic. I thought about painting a picture of it but decided not to as no one would believe it.

I think this visit will probably end up being the highlight of our trip.

It’s really too early to count on seeing bears as the fish are just barely starting to migrate upstream to spawn. The boating gods must have put in a good word with the bear gods because we got a command performance.

The observatory is about a mile up from the trailhead at the bay and it is a nice boardwalk most of the way. The bears think it is kind of nice too, as they use it about as much as the humans. Have you ever seen bear poop from a bear that’s been eating grass for a main diet? Looks just like Shetland pony poop. And it's all over the boardwalk—kind of hard to walk, keep a look out for bears, and still watch where you step.

Not too far from the start of the trail we spotted a sow brown bear and her two yearling cubs. (When I say "brown bear" I am talking Grizzly. But they don't call them grizzlies. I guess "brown bear" sounds friendlier.) They were on the far side of the creek and we were on the near. We all worked our way up the trail towards the observatory, the bears keeping to their side of the creek, thank goodness.

We got to the observatory platform about five minutes before the bears did and we had time to go down into the viewing platform that’s built right out over the water, about 10 feet above where the bears fish. It’s all enclosed and camouflaged and has mesh screens that can be unzipped so you can watch and photograph. The sow came right up to the pool by the platform, plunked her cubs down on the rocks, and fished for about 10 minutes. She was chasing some fish— you could see them in the stream—but there just weren't enough of them for her to be able to catch one. All three of them started heading back down the stream and we spotted them again on our way back to the trailhead. At this point momma was on the side of the stream fishing in a hole right next to the trail.

We lost sight of her in the brush and didn't have a clue where she was going to show up again, which was kind of scary! Gene took his pepper spray out of the holster and had it at the ready and we sang to warn them we were coming. We must have scared them off with our singing because the next time we spotted them they were on the other side of the creek in a grassy meadow. Just then a helicopter flew over, saw them, circled back around low and scared them into the brush.

All in all, quite an experience. Wish we could go back in about a month when the fish are really spawning and the bears are thick.

We are back in Ketchikan now after a three-day tour of the Misty Fjords area. We really needed a lot more time than that to do justice to the area but maybe a flightseeing jaunt will make up the difference.

We anchored (actually tied up to the buoy) in Punchbowl Cove and did the hike up to Punchbowl Lake. Another trip highlight. Gorgeous, unbelievable scenery, the pictures just don't do it justice. However, I feel compelled to note that "hike" is a gross understatement. It is more like a "mountain climb". Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the really steep stuff because we were too busy hanging on and making sure we didn't fall off the trail. We almost stopped and turned around before we got there, but we kept going and were finally rewarded with a ride out into the lake via one of the forest service's skiffs. No motors, only oars, so we didn't explore the whole lake. It is a huge lake and very remote. Would be nice sometime to go back in a float plane and take a little motor.

When we got to the little forest service lean-to at the lake there were some maps and information about the area. We were devastated to learn that the trail we had come up on was only 0.9 mile long—it took us two hours and nearly killed us!
Coming down it took one an hour and 20 minutes, but by then our muscles were so fatigued we were practically crawling on our hands and knees. We were definitely wishing for some warm springs that night!

We’ll be in Ketchikan over the 4th of July, then start watching for a weather window to cross Dixon Entrance and begin the slow journey south.

Alaska may still be the last frontier in many places, but the cruise ship towns are pure "tourista" now.

Ketchikan’s "The Local Paper" (mainly just a shopping ad flier) publishes the cruise ship schedule with the name of the ship, arrival and departure time and number of passengers. This is how many tourists invaded the little town of Ketchikan this week:

          THURSDAY - 5 ships, 9,034 passengers
          FRIDAY - 4 ships, 7,478 passengers
          SATURDAY & SUNDAY - 1 ship per day with approx. 2,000 each
          MONDAY - 4 ships, 6,985 passengers
          TUESDAY - 4 ships, 7,256 passengers (we actually saw 5 ships in port)
          WEDNESDAY - 5 ships, 8,690 passengers

This morning we had a tour of Alaska Protein Recovery’s [APR] processing barge, which was tied up at Trident Seafoods this afternoon, gearing up to start the salmon season. The manager is a long time acquaintance of friends of ours.

APR takes the fish byproduct from the canneries and processes it into a valuable commodity, such as pure food grade fish oil used to make Omega3 fish oil gel capsules, and protein base for use in commercial feeds and fertilizers. It is an impressive process that, most amazingly, DOES NOT stink. I personally smelled an open bottle of the finished product and it smelled as good as olive oil. The processing area doesn't stink either. Except for one small conveyor belt and hopper the whole process is done in a sealed, pressurized system of stainless steel pipes and equipment.

I truly think we have become acclimatized to Alaska weather. Here it is, almost the 4th of July, it is pouring down rain, the wind is blowing, and it is only about 57°F. And we've been out running around, visiting, shopping, doing laundry, getting groceries, etc. just like it is a normal summer day! Holy Cow! Unbelievable!

Editor's Note: Sandy and Gene enjoyed the remainder of southward cruise, visiting various marinas throughout the Broughton Archipelago. We have not included those emails since the area is well documented; however we have included a few emails from their cruise along the South Coast of B.C.

Hartley Bay, B.C. is another unique wilderness village. It is a Gitga'at Nation settlement that has been very well subsidized by the Canadian government.

It has just about everything except a bar, grocery store and cell phone service. It has power, telephone (landline) and broadband internet service. What makes it unique is what it doesn't have: NO ROADS. All the houses, businesses and all other buildings are connected by boardwalks. The boardwalks are mostly about 12' wide and there are many ATV's, golf carts and motor scooters running around. And all of the buildings are built on pilings because about 90% of the land mass is swampy.

We had dinner at the Red Feather Cafe and visited with the owner Nick. He said he also had other services to sell - internet, laundry, showers, etc. We didn't take him up on any of those because his cafe was what probably used to be the rec room and deck of his house and we would not have felt comfortable using his laundry room and bathroom.

It was July 10th and we had the second day of our trip where it was warm enough to actually sit out and eat on the aft deck. Two days out of 88. Oh well, the next day it was actually warm enough to get up and put on shorts and a tank top! We haven't done that since we left Mexico in March!

Another wonderful little village out in the middle of nowhere. Still no cell phone service, but there is internet. And it is free. Most places along the way here in B.C. charge top dollar for everything (we paid over $50 per night for the privilege of tying up to the dock in Shearwater—no power or water, plus $10 per day for internet—but Ocean Falls is much more user-friendly at $30 per night including power, good clean water, and free internet. It also has lots of walking, either along the nice, flat road or various relatively easy hiking trails. The village is nestled in Cousins Inlet with tall impressive mountains on all sides.

Ocean Falls is a ghost town that at one time boasted a population of around 5,000 when the Crown Zellerbach mill was operating (circa 1970's). Now there are approximately 40 year-round residents, swelling to 100 during the summer. Even though the mill is no longer here the hydro electric plant still operates and supplies the power for Ocean Falls, Martin Valley (a little community about 1.5 miles away), Shearwater and New Bella Bella. There is a new hatchery and rearing pen facility at the head of the inlet.

The first thing we did when we got here was meet the town's most famous character, Nearly Normal Norman Brown. He was painting some stripes on the edge of the dock and I recognized him from his picture in the Waggoner Cruising Guide, so we introduced ourselves and had a nice chat. Among all kinds of interesting things, he told us they have had 242 inches of rain so far this year, and it is only half way through. Ocean Falls is the only place on the coast that receives more rainfall than Ketchikan.

There is also a nice little "clubhouse" at the head of the dock, named "The Shack". It holds the office for the wharfinger and has a couple of tables and chairs, a counter with a computer that anyone can use, and a borrow and trade library. One of the tables has a checkerboard painted on it and a collection of painted rocks for checkers. We are having a potluck there tonight with all the boats here at the dock since the cafe is not open this summer.

Today is a day of laundry and boat cleaning. We were going to do the laundry at the lodge, but there is only one washing machine and three dryers and they were busy. (Price was right, though, only $1.50!) Good thing we have a washer on board. Now if the sun will just stay out so we can get everything dry . . . . . .

Potluck at Ocean Falls. The picture of the entrance to Ocean Falls shows the houses in Martin Valley which is about 1.5 miles from Ocean Falls and it is where most of the people live. The mountains here are spectacular as you can see. Can you believe a town of 40 permanent, fulltime residents can have such a nice information sign? And the other pictures show some of the abandoned buildings and houses in this ghost town. This is such a neat little place it's a shame they can't keep things going. Probably, between all the rain and the distance to anywhere else it just isn't feasible.

Oh, and they even have a website, can you believe that? It is: http://www.traveloceanfalls.com/index.html

Check it out. It is amazing! There must be a retired computer guru lurking in the bushes around here somewhere. [Note from Reanne: There is, and he’s very good!]

We had a potluck on the dock last night and couples from nine boats joined in. It was great fun! Out of those nine, three were members of the Flounder Bay Yacht Club. Small world! We have met more people from our marina on this trip than we have in all the years we've owned our slip!

As we were walking through town Gene happened to spot a buck grazing off the side of the road. We whistled at it and it posed beautifully for him for about five minutes.

Tomorrow we’re going to walk to Martin Valley where the store. It’s open only on Mon - Wed - Friday from 3 to 5. We have been told to expect to see bears along the way