Inner Foggy Bay

 Position

N 54 D 56.986

W 130 D 56.402

The wind and rain stopped last night for a bit of a reprieve.  The plan was to get up early and get going early before the wind and rain started again.  So we cast off at 05:30 this morning and tried for a bay a little less than halfway to Prince Rupert called Foggy Bay.  Foggy Bay itself doesn't offer much protection from the weather but it has an inner bay which after sneaking through a very narrow entrance, which becomes available.  In here we are protected from almost everything.  

The weather did turn against us about two hours after departing and reduced our speed to under four knots, but eventually we made our way in.  The weather is forecast to continue to be contrary and worsen tonight and tomorrow so the earliest we can leave is probably Wednesday.  Thanks to our Starlink we can keep an eye on the weather and hopefully make a very early start in order to make it all the way to Prince Rupert in order to check into Canada.  This bay is rather pretty and supposedly full of wildlife.  A nice way for us to say our farewells to Alaska.

A view to the main Bay

The very tight entrance to get in

Ketchikan (Still)

 We are ready to leave Ketchikan.  Paid up through tomorrow.  Windy today.  Supposed to die down tomorrow and then get windy again Tuesday and Wednesday.  Not bad but with these channels and mountains when the wind is from the wrong way it can make it nasty.  Pretty sure we will leave tomorrow take advantage of the short window and run to Foggy Bay.  Sitting on an anchor is more favorable and easier to leave when the weather next breaks.

Ketchikan

 We left Kasaan yesterday at 0800 and tied up to a slip in Ketchikan around 1300. After checking in with the harbormaster and paying for a 5-night stay, we went out looking for spare parts.

Our guest took us out to dinner at a lovely ocean view restaurant. Lovely view and yummy food. Pauline was glad she does not have to cook.

 

enjoying drinks before dinner

ocean view from the restaurant patio

 

Our guest left this morning and it is time for chores.  We will be here till Monday.

Kasaan

Position :    N 55 D 32.206

                    W 132 D 23.918

 

We left Tolstoi Bay at 0800.   The anchor snagged a very thick steel cable and it took a little effort to get it off.

 

The trip over is uneventful, which is good.

 

Kasaan is a little Haida village, with a lovely trail to a longhouse and lots of totems.  We went to a museum of sorts and spoke with Stormy, a Haida master carver of totems and canoes.  It was a lovely sunny day out.

 

 

Kasaan Bay

the boardwalk

Sari Timur tied up at the dock

the trail to the longhouse

a killer whale, someone stole the fin

a bear

inside the longhouse, with the fire pit

Stormy showing us his carved canoe

Tolstoi Bay

 Position N 55 d 39.433

               W 132 d 26.895

The weather Sunday was kind of miserable so since we were tied up we opted for another night.  Gave us a bit of time to unwind.  Coffman has a store and we picked up some veggies and potato chips, Pauline made up some Coho Salmon and we watched a couple of movies.  This morning we opted for Tolstoi Bay we were debating going all the way to Kasaan Bay but the wind was dead on the stern and we were too lazy to sail so we opted for the shorter hop today.  Tolstoi itself would be exposed to this wind but on the west side there is a little hooked bay that offers great protection.  The wind still gets in here but no chance for seas to build up.  There is a cabin on the north east shore and a sailboat is tied to what looks like a private dock there.  The entrance is a little narrow but is exactly as the guidebook and charts describe.  The depths are a bit deeper than we like at over 16 metres but the anchor snugged up right away so seems to be good holding.

We should head to Kasaan tomorrow and will spend a couple of days there looking at Totem Poles and walking some trails.  Then it is back to civilization in Ketchikan pick up some supplies and drop off our crew before heading down to Canada.

Looking Back at the Entrance

 

Coffman Cove, Prince of Wales Island

 Position  N 56d 00.689

                W 132d 49.990

Tied up to the transient dock for the night.  Coffman Cove is a lot bigger settlement than we thought and we have opted for a berth for the night.  We left early this morning but still didn't quite get the tides right.  so we bucked the current for most of the trip.  The trip was uneventful and the cobble job we did in Port Protection seemed to hold.  We are keeping our fingers crossed in hopes that the problems are behind us.

 

Port Protection Day 2

 We are still in Port Protection.

Mark worked furiously and Pauline thinks he is a rather smart guy.  He got the panel instruments wired up and working, got the engine started and stopped and wired the alternator directly to charge the batteries.  So technically, we are good to go.  We will order the replacement parts and get it properly fixed, either in Ketchikan or when we get into Port Townsend.

While Mark was working hard this morning, Pauline took the dinghy ashore.  She and Father (yup, we have our own ship chaplain on our trip from Sitka, hahaha) went for a wander.  They went up the community boardwalk to stretch their legs.

The wind is picking up so we may stay another day.

One of the friendly resident gifted us a big piece of white king salmon, which we will have for Friday's dinner.

 

 

view of Sari Timur from the lodge

going up the community boardwalk

this path leads to the beach

view of the bay from the beach

last night's sunset

last night's sunset

Port Protection

Position :    N 56 D 19.382

                    W 133 D 36.790

 

We left Shipley Bay at 0830 and we are in Wooden Wheel Cove in Port Protection, Prince of Wales Island.  It was not on our plans this morning to stop into Port Protection but life has a way of turning things around.

We lost our charging regulator (in fact it blew up) and also the ability to stop and start the engine (switch panel instruments dead).

Long story short, we are fine and Mark is trying to figure out what is going on and how to jury rig a way for us to get to Ketchikan for parts and repairs.

There are friendly humans here and even a store.  Port Protection, named by George Vancouver, is a small settlement and offers good shelter from all weather as its name implies.  There is even a reality television show of this place.

The store

The cove

Shipley Bay

Position N 56d 04.652

              W 133d 32.167

We left Puffin early morning 0530 and started to make our way around the bottom of Baranof.  Once we did we got hit by 26 knots just abaft the beam so we hoisted sails and took off.  About 2/3rds of the way across Chatham the wind dropped off as suddenly as it started and we had to turn on the motor again.  We thought we were heading to Hole in the Wall but further investigation showed that it has a 26 foot height limit due to overhanging trees so our alternate was Shipley.  

This put us back in the inside passage.  When we slipped past Cape Decision Light, Sumner Strait was a mill pond so we will probably be stuck to motoring for a couple of days.  Tomorrow's destination is unclear at present but looking like a short hop to Port Protection where we might sit for an extra day as some weather passes.  But tune in tomorrow to see where we end up.

Cape Decision Light

Shipley Bay

Puffin Bay

Position N 56 D 16.461

              W 134 D 46.153

We left Still Harbor just after 8 am.   We tried sailing as a Cutter rig for about an hour but the swell was heavier today and the wind just light enough to keep the sail slapping.  We were making 3 knots for a while but eventually it dropped to 1.8 so we fired up the iron Genny.

This anchorage is stunning.  It is in a little southern hook just at the very top of the bay.  We were advised that it was worth it.  The entrance is very narrow after the hook but then opens up into a fairly wide basin with a mud bottom.  Stunning scenery here and all the way up Puffin Bay.  Tomorrow our plans are to enter Sumner Strait and make it to an anchorage called Hole in The Wall.  It will be a fairly long run tomorrow.  We do have an alternate Anchorage but hope to make it all the way there.

There is some sludge in our diesel tanks but so far the pre filter is doing its job.  

Entrance to Basin

Head of the Basin Note fast flowing river if you blow it up

Forgot to add this last night

This was taken too early yesterday in daylight was better

Third Time is a Charm

Position Still Harbour, Whale Bay, Baranof Island

N 56 D 32.588

W 135d 00.997

We tried again last Sunday to depart.  We were about three hours out when we started having engine issues.  Or maybe the engine was having issues with us.  Anyway we thought we could get access to a mechanic in Sitka and so we turned back.  Well the mechanics were all busy so Mark began going over everything again.  He found a partial blockage on the heat exchanger again.  They made it through the impeller pump again without damaging the impeller.  We missed our weather window but decided to give the engine some more testing.  First we pulled at the dock for several hours.  The RPMs wouldn’t go to max so we set off into the harbour.  For three hours the engine temps acted perfectly but we couldn’t get the RPMs up.  Then it dawned on Mark that we replaced the alternator.  And probably the tach was reading wrongly.  Back to the dock.  Off to Napa to get a laser tachometer to confirm it and sure enough that was the problem.

So this morning exactly a week later we set out again.  And everyone including Sari Timur was happy.  We are anchored for the night in Still Harbor.  And will head to Puffin Harbor tomorrow.

This harbor is spectacular and I think is protected in all conditions.  There are some scary rocks entering but they are well marked on the charts and in the guide.  The very most southern rock seems to be closer to the listed anchor spot so we anchored a little north of that.

Some Photos

A Cruise Ship With Mount Edgecombe in the backgound as we left the harbor

And Still Harbor

Oh and the StarLink works

Sunset

Departed but Returned

 Well we departed.  But we are back in Sitka.  

We left as planned.  Went to the fuel dock stocked up on fuel and headed out of the harbor.  We were a couple miles out when we noticed the engine was running hot.  Water was still coming out of the exhaust so we investigated things below to see if a coolant line was leaking.  We could find nothing visibly wrong.  So we let the engine cool down a little fired her back up and drifted slowly back to our berth.

Investigations showed both strainers were full of mussels.  We didn’t check again after the diver blasted the hull (silly us!). How water was getting thru is a mystery.  But after clearing them we ran the engine in gear at the dock.  Engine was still over heating.  So we took apart the first heat exchanger (which is the transmission cooler and it was about 75 percent blocked.  Mark attacked it with one of Pauline’s knitting needles and then began to soak in vinegar.  That doesn’t look like it is strong enough so when the store opens today we will get some barnacle blaster.  While we are at it we will try to hook up some hoses to the main exchanger so we can flush and hopefully not have to remove the main exchanger.  What a chore for Pauline’s birthday!  Anyway departure is on hold for a while.  Maybe tomorrow if all goes well.  But probably early next week.

Departure Date

 OK, we have a departure date-tomorrow. Would have been today but we are waiting on someone to machine a part for us and it will not be ready till later today.