May 10, 2006

Prince Rupert Rowing & Yacht Club
Prince Rupert, British Columbia


Hello from “Rainy Rupert” or “Rinse Rupert” as it’s also known! We’ve been enjoying a few days at the dock at the Prince Rupert Rowing & Yacht Club located in Cow Bay, Prince Rupert. It’s a little unusual to be at the dock and have the depth sounder read 108 feet; Prince Rupert boasts the third deepest natural harbor in the world and there is much shipping activity in the commercial port. Prince Rupert is known for rain, and it hasn’t disappointed us….it’s rained for the past four days. We chuckle when we can definitely pick out the locals as they carry on through the “mist” without raingear, whereas visitors are decked out in yellow. PRRYC is a very friendly place located close to the downtown area for shopping and re-provisioning. The clubhouse is cozy with access to showers, computer, and phone in comfort. Jo, the caretaker, is a great resource and always has a smile!

This is our last stop before crossing into ALASKA! We’ve traveled 733 miles since leaving Port Townsend, WA on April 1, 2006 and a TOTAL OF 3,160 MILES since leaving San Diego, CA on June 1, 2004! It’s a little overwhelming when we look at the numbers and know that we’ve enjoyed most of the miles.

It’s only been a few weeks since we overwhelmed you with a LONG log, so this one is short & sweet.

After leaving Port McNeill with full water tanks, fresh produce, 6 new house batteries, and clean clothes, SV Wand’rin Star headed to Miles Inlet on glassy seas; dolphins accompanied us on the way through Shelter Passage. Murray the Cat has made great strides in becoming comfortable while we’re underway. He knows all the signs when he should get ready, i.e. getting out the PFD’s, checking the engine room, starting the engine, hoisting the anchor, and reports to his favorite spot on the pilothouse settee or out in the cockpit if the weather’s nice. He’s not really fond of going below when the engine's running, so it was a big event when he did so to use his litter box while we were underway this day. We would strongly recommend taking a pet if one is cruising and living aboard full-time. Murray provides much entertainment and is often a diversion when one is feeling at odds with his/her cruising companion (not that that happens often!) A boat was already anchored right in the middle of Miles Inlet, so we dropped anchor in the northern arm and enjoyed a pleasant evening.

Fury Cove, between Penrose Island & Fury Island, was our next stop and went on the “Great Places” list. It was a secure anchorage with a view of Fitz Hugh Sound over a sandspit that appeared and disappeared with the changing tides. It even had a beach, which is unusual up here as most of the time the rocky islands drop right to the water with no horizontal surface. It looked like white sand from a distance, but was really broken up clamshells. Gary took the dink ashore for some photo ops and later we both did some exploring. It was a beautiful place to stretch our legs and enjoy a walk. As lovely as it was, we only spent one night there, anxious to continue our trek northward.

It was almost 40 miles to Codville Lagoon off Fisher Channel so we were underway for 8 hours. The seas cooperated and the ride was comfortable. We each have an iPOD and when we’re underway for a period of time, we enjoy listening to our “own” stuff. Gary is a fan of the pod casts, “TWIT - This Week in Technology”, “Inside the Net”, and “Science Friday” so he used this time to catch up on the ones he’d downloaded when we were connected to the net. Codville Lagoon was a large, protected anchorage, which was good as we spent 5 nights there waiting out a Gale Warning. When we finally hoisted the anchor to move on, several starfish had taken up residency on it! Our next move was a short one to Fancy Cove, just 8 miles away, but at least we had a change of scenery!


We were expecting mail in Bella Bella on Denny Island, and to get there we had to transit Gunboat Passage, a very narrow, twisty passage with several rocky outcroppings…we went very slowly and Gary did a great job piloting us through with no problems. Entering Kakushdish Harbor, an eagle greeted us as we passed within 100 yards of shore. This was a handsome bay with a drying shoreline; it did have some shallow spots that were supposedly marked on the charts…notice the word “supposedly”? Well, there’s now one called Wand’rin Star Shoal that we “found” as we were leaving at low tide, luckily we only had to wait 15 minutes for the rising tide to float us off the shoal and we arrived at Shearwater Marine an hour later. This is a great little marina with a restaurant, store, post office, and IMMACULATE shower & laundry facilities, one of the few in this part of the world. The folks were friendly, our mail arrived, and Gary had a great time taking pictures of the two resident eagles, he’s definitely enjoying his new lens! Aren’t the results great??? (see the Photo Page) Did I mention that we arrived here on May 1, the day the rates jumped from the winter rates to the summer rates of $1.00/foot…meaning that it costs us $50+ per day to stay in a marina…we only stayed one night. We did meet several friendly and interesting folks while there who offered advice on good anchoring sites. In fact we met up with Chris & Jean on MV Penguin, a 46’ Nordhavn, two nights later in Bottleneck Cove – one of their recommendations!

We've seen many lighthouses with their characteristic red & white attire staffed by the Canadian Coast Guard along the way. This one on Ivory Island was just so striking in the brilliant sunlight! Ivory Island is one of the locations that reports on the marine weather from Environment Canada, so it was fun to go by it.



The next several days were spent in narrow channels heading north. Gary nicknamed Fraser Reach in Princess Royal Channel “Waterfall Alley” as we were treated to all sizes and configurations of falling water from the spring melt in the mountains. Some of the falls are visible in the summer, but because the snow at the higher elevations was melting rapidly now we were treated to more & larger falls.

The economy in this area has gone through major changes as the fishing industry has declined and canneries are no longer operating. There are many almost-“ghost towns” as companies just walked away from their buildings. Butedale is a prime example of this as it is slowly falling into the sea. Several groups have attempted to repair and preserve this historic site, but from our observation while passing, it doesn’t look too hopeful. The guidebooks did say that moorage was available as well as ice cream, pop, and rustic rooms for rent. (?)


Our day ended at Bishop Bay Hot Springs and what a treat! A First Nations' group has built wonderful soaking tubs to take advantage of the natural hot springs here and it’s a MUST stop on the cruising route. As we approached the small float to tie up, Brett, from MV Christav - a boat doing oil cleanup from the BC ferry that sank a couple of months ago in Grenville Channel, came to help with the dock lines. Within minutes, we’d been invited to a turkey dinner with all the trimmings! Brett is the cook on the boat and had put a turkey in the oven before he knew the boat was coming to the hot springs; the rest of the crew were already soaking while he waited for the turkey to finish cooking. Shortly we had our swimsuits on and were relaxing in the 100-degree+ water…heavenly! Another boat approached the dock, we went down to assist them in rafting to ours so they’d have access to shore; they were quickly invited to dinner too! Luckily I had baked bread while we were underway and had the makings for a salad to contribute to the feast…and what a feast - it was delicious…roasted turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy, vegetables, cranberries, salad, and ice cream cones for dessert! Plus I came back to the boat with the turkey carcass for soup. I took advantage of another soak in the hot springs before climbing into bed…what a blissful feeling!! The next morning as we were preparing to leave, Ollie from the MV Brand New Day asked if we’d like some fresh crab…what a silly question…of course! He even cleaned the crabs before giving them to us. We pulled away from the dock with the turkey carcass bubbling away on the stove and 2 crabs in the frig, just another one of those golden memories.

The “Ditch” now needed to be transited; it’s really the Grenville Channel and is a straight run of 45 miles with mountains rising on both sides. It was pretty impressive and Norbert the Autopilot did an excellent job of piloting! As most folks don’t do the entire channel in one day, our stop was Lowes Inlet, which is known for the waterfall that you can anchor right in front of if you’re lucky enough to be the first boat in. The inlet is very deep, so other anchoring possibilities are limited, but still available. A Canadian Coast Guard boat had the prime spot, so we dropped the hook closer to shore and were treated to four sea otters and sighted Northern Shovelers, a bird species we hadn’t seen before.

Before arriving in Prince Rupert, we had to cross Chatham Sound, one of the few unprotected areas in the Inside Passage. The weather report was a little iffy and we had planned to stop in Lawson Harbour to wait for better seas; however, it seemed pretty calm and we decided to make a run for PR. We rolled a little bit, but not even enough to keep Gary awake when he laid down for a little snooze and then woke up as we were approaching PR! He was amazed that we were almost there. While in Prince Rupert, we learned about the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Reserve on the Khutzeymateen Inlet and hope to go there on our way to Ketchikan in the next day or two. The bears are just beginning to come to their summer grounds in the sanctuary, maybe we’ll be lucky and catch a glimpse of them.

It seems a little unreal to think that the next time I write a log we’ll be in ALASKA…it’s been a goal for several years and now is coming true. Even as I say it’s a goal, I feel that’s not quite right; our entire life is now a journey and the joy of traveling is more important than where we are going. Robert Louis Stevenson’s quote at the end of this section definitely speaks to that.
Did I mention “short & sweet” when I began writing this morning? I guess short wasn’t quite correct, but hopefully you’ve enjoyed the update and check out the new photos on the Photo page.. Please feel free to share your thoughts with us via svwandrinstar@yahoo.com; we enjoy hearing from folks. May you enjoy the blessings of each new day!

Dorothy, Gary & Murray the Cat


“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

”Awareness is the first step towards compliance” ~ Gary Engelman

© Copyright 2006
Last updated on May 23, 2007