We've arrived in Alaska

Two weeks to the day and a few days quicker than planned to keep ahead of a weather front, we are sitting in Ketchikan, where our almost constant sunshine has degenerated into clouds, rain and much cooler temperatures. No complaints, though. It's looking like more sun after this front passes. And our crossing of Dixon Entrance yesterday (the second open water crossing) was flawless, the broad expanse of ocean as calm as a lake.

Fougner Bay - Seaducktress floating in the sky

Nightly Movies

Ocean Falls - An abandoned city

From Fury Cove, our itinerary through northern British Columbia took us to tiny Fougner Bay, then Ocean Falls, once a city of 5000, now home to about 30.  Jane interviewed one of the old timers, Nearly Normal Norm and we spent time in his museum where he's collected memorabilia from many of the abandoned buildings, including the hotel. But as you can see, they have a fine dock and even (very slow) internet.

The next day we proceeded north to a small shallow bay without a name. So we we nicknamed it LLC (lovely little cove.) More drone shots and one of the best sunsets I've seen in a long time.

Lovely Little Cove (LLC) from the air

LLC sunset 1

LLC sunset 2

We proceeded through Fiordland with its many waterfalls, all the way to one of my favorite spots on the planet--Khutze Inlet. Imagine a three mile fjord ending at a river delta with lush green "bear grass", snow capped mountains in the background, and a tall waterfall off to the right. Sure enough, an hour after our arrival, a mamma and two brown bear cubs spent several hours in the grass. I didn't include a picture because they were too far away, but proceeded to try and capture the feeling of the place on "film". You get the idea - but the pictures still fall far short.

Klutze Inlet

Panorama

Drone shot of waterfall

From Khutze we enjoyed bathing in Bishop Bay hot springs, sharing the bay with Wolf, a German man traveling by himself on a trimaran he plans on taking to South America. Did I mention popcorn, by the way? We continue our "tradition" of nightly movies, accompanied by huge bowls of air-popped popcorn. I've fallen in love with tamari, parmesan, brewer's yeast and butter on mine, Jane's famous recipe. We invited Wolf over for a movie and, naturally, popcorn. At first he seemed shell-shocked by this unusual opportunity miles from anywhere. He started out cautiously, picking out one kernel at a time, but before long it was handfuls, and he finished his own ridiculously large bowl at the same pace as us experts.

Michael and Jane enjoying a drink in Bishop Bay

Breakfast the next morning

We met up with old friends, Patrick and Miriam, on Spirit in Lowe Inlet. We managed to anchor in the stream of a waterfall. After playing in kayaks, we all went over to Spirit and were treated to freshly baked apple pie (Miriam was getting rid of apples for customs in Ketchikan), ice cream and martinis. Not too shabby.

Kayaking in the outflow of Verney Falls, Lowe Inlet

Green Island - the last island before leaving Canada

Tree Point Light - we are now in Alaska

Black bear greeting us into Foggy Bay

Because of weather, we decided to skip Prince Rupert, heading from Lowe Inlet all the way to Foggy Bay, an anchorage between Prince Rupert and Ketchikan. Because the distance to Ketchikan is so great, US Customs allows boaters to stop here for one night along the way. Entering our first Alaska anchorage, we were greeted by a big beautiful black bear munching on grass. She looked at us with mild curiosity, but as we passed, she went right back to her dinner.

Here in Ketchikan we'll wait out the storm, do laundry, and shop for the next week of meals. We're not yet sure where we'll be going, but will end up in Petersburg by May 25th to pick up Ron and Pam. The six of us will then set out on the grand birthday cruise - but more about that later...