Back in Canada

 As planned, we finished up our 2020 cruising season with a passage from Cordova, Alaska to Victoria BC where we are staying the winter. 

This last passage was a bit of a letdown compared to the glorious summer we'd just spent in Alaska. We'd decided to skip the inner passages of SE Alaska as we'd seen most of it before and didn't think it could compare favourably with what we'd just experienced anyway. Also, Canada was calling and we were starting to get anxious about potentially nasty September weather in the Gulf of Alaska. As it was, the weather was reasonable for our crossing, but, no wind! So, again, it was a slow motor against a north-setting current. We hugged the shoreline, so, we'd at least have something to look at. We anchored in Icy Bay for two nights and a day of pouring rain, then on to Yakutat. We anchored there for two nights, surrounded by fantastic mountain scenery, but, didn't go ashore, or, visit the very active glacier there. We knew we'd probably not be welcome due to Covid concerns and didn't want to cause any resentment in the native population. Maybe we'll go back someday. 

We then quickly pushed south towards Dixon Entrance. Dixon is one of those mythic sailing places where a fearsome reputation for horrific weather is usually justified. It takes a full day to enter and we were amazed at our good fortune to cross in brilliant sunshine, calm seas and with no wind. That combination probably doesn't occur very often. The international border runs down the middle and we were heading directly for Prince Rupert, Canada. The sunny day gave way to a pitch-black night. There were a lot of both cargo and fishing boats as we squeezed through the narrow entry. Most local boats, including commercial fishing boats and even some tugs, don't have AIS which makes things a lot more complicated than it has to be, especially with fishing vessels that are constantly changing direction. It's so inexpensive to fit AIS these days, there's really no excuse not to have it. Dawn arrived and we were exhausted as we'd both been up all night dealing with the tight traffic situations. It was quite a relief to enter Prince Rupert harbour.

Arrival in Prince Rupert was not very welcoming. We'd hoped to finish up our 14-day quarantine upon arrival, there were only two days left as we hadn't been off the boat in twelve days. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. We were informed that our sea time just didn't count, as it had in Alaska and our quarantine must start on our day of arrival into Canada. It was a big disappointment as we'd planned to refuel, reprovision, get caught up with internet activities and get some exercise in Prince Rupert. The marinas had been told not to let any boat in that had any kind of a quarantine restriction on it, even if nobody got off the boat. We sat on the Customs dock trying to decide what we should do. After ten minutes, Port Security showed up to tell us we couldn't stay at the dock. Of course we hadn't planned to stay there, but, maybe longer than ten minutes would have been good. We said ok, we'll cross over and anchor in the bay with the fish farm and we left. We then got called on VHF and told to call Port Security. We weren't allowed to go into that bay, they suggested another instead. It wasn't ideal, but, sufficed for the night. We couldn't wait to leave Prince Rupert the next day. The new quarantine length wasn't really going to be a problem as we'd only be visiting remote anchorages as we worked our way slowly south through the labyrinth of the Inside Passage anyway, but, it did mean not getting off the boat for a full twenty-six days now, not good for the body.

We stayed in some very nice anchorages on the way down, Blunden Harbour and Port Neville were a couple of favourites. We timed the trip down so that we'd arrive at Port McNeill right at the end of the 14 day quarantine and that's what we did. It was a relief to get off the boat for a while and to get some fresh provisions again. While crossing Queen Charlotte Strait to get there we encountered the first of what turned out to be continuing fog. Upon leaving Port McNeill, smoke from the forest fires in Washington state was added to the fog. The only difference in the sky between fog and smoke was the colour of the sun, orange when smoke and white when fog! 

We didn't see much of the scenery, the glimpses we did see looked lovely. 

Not having sailed in this area before it was quite a challenge planning a viable route from the many, many variations that could be traversed. There was no getting away from having to pass through tidal gates, however. Each route had one or more and it required careful study and calculation to deal with them. Some were worse than others and it was clear that no matter how well you plan, there can still be unknown variables that come into play such as the amount of runoff from recent rain, wind over tide etc. Many of the passes are referred to in the sailing guides as 'reversing salt water rivers', so, maybe that will give you some idea of how they work. As newbies, we avoided the trickier ones and the ones with very strong potential flows, but, it still wasn't a walk in the park. Thankfully, our tidal calculations seemed to mostly be correct. Early on, we got caught by the tide only once. Running a tide rip with rapids, whirlpools, eddies, standing waves and haystacks wasn't something we'd expected to have to do in a 14 meter sailboat. It was only a short distance, we managed it, but, won't be trying for a repeat performance anytime soon!

Once through the gates, it became a little more relaxed after the smoke left and visibility improved. We took our time continuing south as our winter berth didn't start until October 1. We spent a couple of nights at Ganges, Saltspring Island which was very nice. We hauled out on a short lift at Canoe Cove to clean the bottom and replace anodes in preparation for our long, winter stay. A couple more nights at anchor and we arrived at Wharf St. Marina in downtown Victoria a few days ago. 

 

The weather is promising a coming week of sunshine and warm temperatures, perfect for getting Gjoa and ourselves ready to hunker down here for the 'winter'. The coldest month here has an average temperature of +7C, so, it won't be much of a hardship and we'll be looking forward to spring blooms in February. The Covid situation is much better here than in other areas of the country with only about 230 cases island-wide, but, it does we mean we probably won't be travelling very far. We have a few winter projects in mind to occupy ourselves.

Victoria, so far, has been wonderful. We're not in the prime spot we'd hoped for, directly in front of the Empress and Parliament buildings, but, we're nearby and can enjoy all the urban activities on offer. New, no-traffic, bike lanes have been installed in the central area since we were last here and a myriad of more rural no-traffic walking and biking trails surround us. 

The marina facilities are reasonably-priced and very nice, much better than some of the dumps we've been in recently. Old Town Victoria is full of the heritage buildings we love, there's a small, but, interesting China Town and many international restaurants. Even in these virus times, downtown seems to be booming with new construction, outside patios at full capacity, immaculate flowerbeds and many pedestrians. We're looking forward to being here. 

As we don't plan on much, if any, travel during the coming months, we'll probably take a hiatus from blog posting unless there's something interesting to report. Otherwise, check back in the spring when we hope to have plans made for a summer cruise in '21. Thanks for sharing the journey with us so far and stay safe during these difficult times!