Time to Head for Points South

We said goodbye to Ketchikan on the last day of August. The long range weather surface analysis maps suggested a swarm of gales landing about every 3 days for the next few weeks. The Alaska cruising season was coming to a close.

Our last task in Alaska was to obtain a negative Covid test and get to Canada within 3 days!

We left Tongass Narrows for the second time in a week, but continued heading south towards Dixon Entrance, a notoriously rough stretch of water that needs good timing and it looked like we had a several day weather window. We eased into Foggy Bay, near the Canadian border, with plenty of time to plan our crossing the next day.

We enjoyed our last evening in Alaska, vowing to return. We feel like we haven't even scratched the surface of all there is to explore in SE Alaska. The next morning we left early, enjoyed a smooth crossing and arrived in Prince Rupert in the early afternoon, where we cleared customs without difficulty, despite only opening to Americans a few weeks prior.

We followed a narrow, winding route through the islands before the passage opened up to this view of Prince Rupert at the base of the mountains.

All nestled up to the dock, we let out a big sigh of relief. The weather showed a gale in a couple days, so we decided to spend a few days exploring until the front passed.

Art abounds in this remote Northern town.

Charles Melville Hayes, "Founder of our City."

Wandering through a tunnel next to the courthouse, we found a treasure!

We weren't sure who to cheer on.

A curious shop.

A rental car for the day allowed us to drive into the mountains along the scenic Skeena River.

A lovely hike brought us back to nature, like this old Sitka Spruce,

Twistedstalk (L) and a First Nations Carving

A 3 mile loop hike near Prince Rupert took us out to Butze Rapids.

The storm did indeed blow in with 30+ knot gusts in the marina.

A perfect day for the salon.

Finally, the storm blew itself out and we made plans for departing in the morning.