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Travel Adventures - Cruiser's blog on an adventure trip to Alaska

Follow the adventure of Shirley and Grahame aboard the yacht
TANGLEBERRY on a three month expedition trip along the Inside Passage from Vancouver to Alaska.

Page 1 - The Boat and the Crew
Page 2   Provisioning for the boat
Week 1    Week 2    Week 3   Week 4   Week 6  
Week 7    Week 8     Week 9  Week 10   HOME AT LAST

Week 8  August 3 to August 9

August 3 Sunday.  SUNNY.   A sunny day in Ketchikan.  The Alaska travel brochure does not mention anything about rain, but it does say that Ketchikan is in the middle of a RAIN FOREST.  It sounds romantic, but it meant that rain happens. Storekeepers told us that the previous week was wet and cold.  While the sun did finally showed up, the wind tailed along, so we still had our sweaters on. 

We begun our journey home, retracing some of the places already visited, and some new ones.  There are only a few fuel stations on the Inside Passage, so inevitably we revisit these places and get a chance to reconnect with some cruising friends.

We went back to Ketchikan for fuel, water, internet access, laundry and shower, and  the most important shopping.  With as many as 5 cruise ships and 10,000 tourists visiting in one day, Ketchikan dos not disappoint.  Prices are very competitive, and there are many bargains.  The local bookstore "Parnassus Books" carry many local books not found in the big chain bookstores. 

Entering the Thomas Basin marina from the north is not as intimidating as entering Ketchikan harbor from the south but we still feel like an ant beside the giant cruise ships.


August 4 Monday.  SUNNY - Two sunny days in a row. We heard from our friends Cliff and Orma today, they are arriving in Ketchikan today, so we once again connected, had supper together and exchanged stories.

August 5 Tuesday.  SUNNY  Three sunny days in a row. -  Today we headed to the New Metlakatla in Annette Island.   This small coastal village has a population of about 1200 people.  What's so special about Metlakatla is its history.  In 1887, Father William Duncan, an Anglican missionary, together with 400 Canadian Tsimshian First Nations people emigrated to the new Metlakatla given by the US government.   Due to conflicts between the church and the Canadian government, a new Metlakatla in Alaska was born, leaving the old Metlakatla in Canada, now a village of 120 people, located north of Prince Rupert.

We found this monument dedicated to the original Canadian pioneers who immigrated from BC to Alaska in August 7, 1877. 

Unknowingly, we have arrived in Metlakatla, just the day before its FOUNDERS' DAY celebration.

There were 91 structures built by the pioneeers including church, school, cannery, houses.  Many of the structures still stand including the original church (see next photo)

　

Today, the church is now an Assembly of God congregation with regular church worship services and Sunday school.

As a sign of the times, the largest structure a boater sees as soon as he/she lands at New Metlakatla is the casino center where one sees rows of slot machines.  Here, the locals meet for their social activities

We purchased ice cream cones from a local joint, visited Metlakata's grocery store, then went back to our boat travelling a few miles to Tamgas Harbor for the night.  Once again, we had the entire anchorage to ourselves.

August 6  Wednesday.  SUNNY - Four sunny days in a row.  I count my blessings every day.  We are now about 90 miles away from the nearest Canadian Customs office at Prince Rupert.   The weather forecast is for favourable conditions today and tomorrow but not for the weekend.  So we decided to head for the nearest Canadian anchorage, to Brundige Inlet in Dundas Island, This would break the long journey to Prince Rupert into two palatable parts. 

Our traveling companion, Skylark II had planned to cruise Behm Canal in Alaska to visit the world's famous Misty Fjords Monument Park.  As there are no cell receptions in these remote places, we have once again lost contact.  However, 2 hours prior to arrival at Brundige Inlet, we heard their radio call, they have changed their plans according to weather conditions, and are now actually ahead of us, travellng to the same destination at Brundige Inlet. 

We got together for the night, played cards "Hearts" and I was the clear winner, annoying everybody.

August 7  Thursday  Foggy and Cloudy.  Crossing Dixon Entrance.  The worst bit of the trip to Alaska is the Dixon Entrance, 20 miles of exposure to the Pacific Ocean swells.  I put on my seasick patch ready to brave the ocean swells.  As always, we motored in and out of fog banks as we approach Prince Rupert.  We arrived at noon and cleared customs by phone.  Three Canadian boats immediately followed in succession.   Irish Dreamer, Determination and Lyla.  A major milestone, we celebrated together with our friends at the Cow's Bay Cafe in Prince Rupert.  While having dinner. we bumped into our friends from North Vancouver, Shirley and David Frykberg (which we haven't seen for at least one or two years)

August 8  Friday.   Foggy, cloudy and rainy.  The weather station  forecasted Southeast winds blowing out of Hecate Strait at 20-30 knots for the entire weekend.  Making the best out of unfavorable conditions, we decided to rent a car together with our friends Cliff and Orma and visit Northern BC.  After several phone calls, we discovered that there is simply no rental car available during business days, but we should get one for the weekend.  We spent the day doing laundry, cleaning the boat and catch up with our emails.

We played cards again, and the group rejoiced when I lost badly.

August 9  Saturday.   Cloudy and intermittent sun and rain.  Using the Prince Rupert tourism brochure, we decided to spend the day at the Mount Layton Hot Springs Resort, situated between Terrace and Kitimat. 

Here, we soaked ourselves in therapeutic hot springs water at 41 degree celsius (104 fahrenheit) and swum at the pool at 30 degree celsius  (90 degrees fahrenheit), from the same waters used by trappers in the areas Terrace, Kitimat and Hazelton  since the 1800's.

The resort is a little rustic, but the hot springs more than compensate.

August 10  Sunday.  SUNNY and COOL  DAY.    A visit to the New Aiyansh First Nations Village
Being an immigrant, I never had a good grasp of Canadian history and geography, so the visit to the Nass Valley is a real bonus.   A historic treaty was signed in the year 2000 establishing New Aiyansh as the capital of the Nisga'a Nation and the seat of Nisga'a self-government.  250 years ago, a volcano eruption buried two Nisga'a villages, killing more than 2000 aboriginal people.  Today, the 23 kilometer  long lava flow is preserved as the Nisga'a Memorial Lava Bed Park.  Photo below is a First Nations' pictorial history of the volcanic eruption.





Photo above shows the volcanic lava trail we took, leaving imprints in our memories - an eerie feel and a connection with the past.

From New Aiyansh, we made a side trip to Kitimat, visited the marina and had coffee at the clubhouse.


Page 1 - The Boat and the Crew
Page 2   Provisioning for the boat
Week 1    Week 2    Week 3   Week 4   Week 6  
Week 7    Week 8     Week 9  Week 10   HOME AT LAST

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