Horta has long been a stopover for ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Explorers and settlers arrived in the 15th century, followed by trading ships in the 16th through 19th centuries, and most recently, ocean-crossing pleasure craft. To accommodate the increasing numbers of these smaller boats, a large 300-slip marina was constructed in 1986. It is…
Alaska 2021 Behm Canal
Behm Canal
Spirit and crew spent a four-night interlude in Ketchikan, mooring for the first time at Ketchikan Moorage, a private marina with room for 4-8 boats located north of Cruise Berth Four. There was plenty of maintenance to do, changing main engine and generator oil, replacing an anchor light, installing a new VHF radio on the flybridge, servicing the watermaker and so on. We also needed to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables that we were not able to take through Canada on our transit.
We had a victory dinner at the Oceanview Restaurant, a combination Mexican and Italian menu, with a very good Shrimp Piccata, among other things. Miriam took her first independent field trip without Patrick along, to Walmart, driving a scooter with one hand.
The weather was a mixture of rain, wind and sunshine, always cool.
May 18-22, 2021
We departed Ketchikan Moorage at 0758, two minutes ahead of plan in brisk 15-20 knot winds from the north, proceeding up Tongass Narrows, through Clover Pass and into the Behm Canal, stopping for the night at Marguerite Bay in Traitors Cove. We anchored in 60 feet of water just off the USFS float at 1210. We could have conceivably tied to the float, there was plenty of water depth, but we would have hung out significantly. There is also a USFS buoy, but the rusty shackle did not look adequate for Spirit, except perhaps as a stern tie.
Setting four prawn pots in Traitors Cove, we let them soak for 4 hours, returning to the pots just as several Humpback whales were breaching and feeding in the cove, giving us some additional entertainment. The four hour soak only yielded 9 large spot prawns, so we left two pots down overnight.
May 19, 2021
Returning in the morning, one pot had only 26 and the other pot only 2. Nonetheless, we now had enough for a nice dinner.
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| Spot Prawns from Saks Cove |
Departing at 0915 we continued clockwise around the Behm Canal, diverting to Shrimp Bay and Klu Bay for an exploratory view of the twin waterfalls and the USFS buoy in Klu Bay. Continuing our journey, passing by the abandoned and derelict Bell Island Hot Springs we turned the corner and anchored in Fitzgibbon Cove. Harry and Teri headed in the Mink to Saks Cove to set the prawn pots while Miriam and Patrick relaxed on board and did maintenance to ready Spirit for the next day’s voyage.
Spirit has now covered 712 NM.
May 20, 2021
After a peaceful night at anchor in Fitzgibbon Cove, we checked the crab pots and were able to harvest nearly our combined limit of Dungeness Crab, 11 in total. Harry and Teri then took the Mink down to Saks Cove while Patrick and Miriam raised the anchor and brought Spirit down and stood by while the prawn pots were pulled. There was not a huge amount of prawns, but the ones we did get were very large, enough for several more meals.
Continuing down Behm Canal, we took a chance and went into Rudyerd Inlet and Punchbowl Cove, with the spectacular 3640 foot high granite wall along one side. The buoy was occupied, so we anchored in 120 feet of water off the creek flowing out of Punchbowl Lake.
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| Cliffs in Punchbowl Cove |
Setting two prawn pots, Harry and Teri then explored Rudyerd Inlet to the end, some 10 miles further in. Meanwhile, the boat occupying the buoy left, so Patrick moved Spirit to the buoy for the night. The weather was still pleasant, so we cooked steaks on the grill, along with salad, asparagus and baked potatoes.
May 21, 2021
The weather remained settled overnight, but the sunny skies were replaced with high clouds, still with little wind. The UnCruise Ship “Wilderness Explorer” arrived late in the morning, anchoring where we had been anchored. Presumably after lunch, the passengers disembarked into kayaks, paddleboards and zodiacs. We spent the morning processing crab and prawns for the freezer. Miriam was able to pick the crab meat from the bodies of the crabs, while Patrick focused on the legs.
About 1600 we were treated to a brown bear walking along the beach, which provided good entertainment for both us and the cruise ship passengers.
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| Brown Bear in Punchbowl Cove |
The “Wilderness Explorer” left at 1800, leaving us alone in Punchbowl Cove except for a small group of kayakers camping on the beach near the creek draining Punchbowl Lake. We wondered how they would deal with the brown bears, since they asked to tie up their food kayak to our stern, but never showed up. By sunset, a light rain washed down the boat as we enjoyed crab and prawn cocktails and finished some of our leftover meals.
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| Our Prawn and Crab Cocktails |
May 22, 2021
Rain overnight, sometimes heavy, provided a nice background noise to our peaceful night at the buoy. Morning brought more rain and the ceiling was low, so the top of Punchbowl cove was obscured. Departing at 0805 we motored down Rudyerd Inlet and continued our clockwise transit of the Behm Canal. The low ceiling turned into fog as we passed by New Eddystone Rock, but then cleared near Smeaton Island.
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| New Eddystone Rock in the fog |
Exiting Behm Canal near Twin Islands we joined the parade of vessels headed to Ketchikan. The wind abated and after retrieving the Mink we moored at Ketchikan Moorage next to the Westport 112 “Snowbored”. With intermittent heavy rain showers we took both the Mink and our tender to the fuel dock, filled the watertanks and relaxed for the evening.
Azores Arrival
We got our first glimpse to the Azores archipelago on the morning after our eighth night after departing Dublin. We reached the port of Horta shortly after day break and proceeded to our berth in the commercial harbour, with views to the historic town on the opposite shore. The protocol for pleasure craft arriving into…
May 19 – Watkins Glen State Park
“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” – T.S Eliot
We spent the morning hiking at Watkins Glen State Park. Known for its natural beauty, the park’s gorge trail is a two mile hike, which takes the hiker past 19 waterfalls and up 800 stone steps. Carved into the escarpment at the southern end of Seneca Lake, this hanging valley is the oldest and most renowned State Park in the Finger Lakes region. The park is a beautiful work of natural art and it was first opened as a tourist resort in 1863. It’s amazing what a little water and thousands of years can create.
May 12 – Celebrating the Sun
“We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls.” ― Winston Churchill
The sun was out today, so we just had to go out and celebrate. We did this by having a wonderful lunch at The Ginny Lee Cafe at Wagner’s Vineyard. This has been a favorite of yours for years. We had the best table on the deck overlooking Seneca Lake. The weather was still a bit cool, but it felt amazing sitting in the sun soaking in the warmth of the day and the views of the lake.
Direct, Continuous and the Most Reasonable Route
The 2021 cruising season has begun and it bears a resemblance to last year but also to the pre-Covid-19 cruising seasons.
In 2020, during the early phases of the pandemic everything was locked down and we were confined to Puget Sound. But in late June 2020, the Canadian government began allowing boats to transit their waters, even for “non essential” purposes (e.g., recreation), if going from foreign port to foreign port. The transit had to be “direct”, “continuous-uninterupted”, and “by the most reasonable route.” The most important aspect of the policy
was the ability to stop for essential or safety reasons (e.g., anchoring at night). The rules the Canadians have in place this year are pretty much the same. The process is a bit more routinized this year but the intent and operation is pretty much the same.
We are currently in Ketchikan having completed the trip abiding by the Canadian rules as best as we could. We cleared into Canada at the Van Isle Marina near Sidney, BC on May 8. We cleared back into the United States in Ketchikan on May 14. We anchored the night before in a US anchorage about 20 miles from Ketchikan. From our last US anchorage in Washington to our first US anchorage Alaska we made five stops in British Columbia and covered 585 nautical miles. During the six days we averaged over 97 miles per day.
The difference we are seeing between 2020 and 2021 are the numbers of US boaters availing themselves of the opportunity to transit. Last year, the Canadian transit policy went in effect with little fanfare and relatively late in the cruising season. This year US boaters have been chomping on the bit and planning for summer 2021 in SE Alaska all winter and spring. On the day we arrived in Ketchikan, we counted at least ten other US boats doing
likewise.
Our itinerary in Alaska is not set in stone but we hope to get to Sitka, a stop we didn’t do last year, and do more fishing. We’ll try to get to Glacier Bay but will focus on a short notice permit rather than an advance notice permit. Beyond that we’ll let conditions and opportunities direct our route.
Direct, Continuous and the Most Reasonable Route
The 2021 cruising season has begun and it bears a resemblance to last year
but also to the pre-Covid-19 cruising seasons.
In 2020, during the early phases of the pandemic everything was locked down
and we were confined to Puget Sound. But in late June 2020, the Canadian
government began allowing boats to transit their waters, even for “non
essential” purposes (e.g., recreation), if going from foreign port to
foreign port. The transit had to be “direct”, “continuous-uninterupted”,
and “by the most reasonable route.” The most important aspect of the policy
was the ability to stop for essential or safety reasons (e.g., anchoring at
night). The rules the Canadians have in place this year are pretty much the
same. The process is a bit more routinized this year but the intent and
operation is pretty much the same.
We are currently in Ketchikan having completed the trip abiding by the
Canadian rules as best as we could. We cleared into Canada at the Van Isle
Marina near Sidney, BC on May 8. We cleared back into the United States in
Ketchikan on May 14. We anchored the night before in a US anchorage about
20 miles from Ketchikan. From our last US anchorage in Washington to our
first US anchorage Alaska we made five stops in British Columbia and covered
585 nautical miles. During the six days we averaged over 97 miles per day.
The difference we are seeing between 2020 and 2021 are the numbers of US
boaters availing themselves of the opportunity to transit. Last year, the
Canadian transit policy went in effect with little fanfare and relatively
late in the cruising season. This year US boaters have been chomping on the
bit and planning for summer 2021 in SE Alaska all winter and spring. On the
day we arrived in Ketchikan, we counted at least ten other US boats doing
likewise.
Our itinerary in Alaska is not set in stone but we hope to get to Sitka, a
stop we didn’t do last year, and do more fishing. We’ll try to get to
Glacier Bay but will focus on a short notice permit rather than an advance
notice permit. Beyond that we’ll let conditions and opportunities direct our
route.
Ireland to Azores
In late April, we continued our journey home with a 1,330-mile, 8-day run from Ireland to the Azores. We departed Dublin in strong winds, but those settled within a day and we had reasonably calm conditions most of the way. We initially were planning to start the Atlantic crossing from south Ireland, but many ports…
Alaska 2021 Day 5-8
May 11, 2021 With the extra distance run yesterday, we were able to delay our departure from Codville Lagoon until 0700. The sun was shining and the reflections of the rock walls in the water made it look like totem poles laid on their side….
SOLD!
April 2021End of the sea-road for us…. DOMINO has new owners….Our delivery trip from Zihuatanejo to Guaymas was amazing, averaging almost 15 kts against winds and currents up rhe treacherous Sea of Cortez in winter…. BigD wanted to shine fo…
