Boru to Alaska

Roger and I set off from Olympia this year on our second attempt to make it through the Inside Passage. Last year we spent so much time in Blaine, WA replacing a worn out Atomic 4 engine that scrapped our plans to make it to Alaska. We spent the summer of 2004 exploring British Columbia, Canada finding the hidden harbors of the Broughtons and Desolation Sound.

This year we set off on a bright sunny day and as we picked up more wind in the afternoon. Just north of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge I accidentally jibed and suddenly the boom slammed across the cockpit and the end of our traveler lay broken on the cockpit floor. I thought of last summer and all the mechanical problems we experienced but Roger pulled a bolt out of his trusty back pocket or rather his tool box and proceeded to fix the problem. We spent the night in Blakely Harbor and then headed out with our hopes held high for a good trip.

It took us a month to make it to Alaska where we were inundated with rain and wind on our bow. Yes the prices of gas are astronomical in Canada. We enjoyed all the joys of Alaska, crab, salmon, after several tries, shrimp, other sailors, secluded harbors, more whales than we could count and one incredible sighting of whales bubbling.

We broke down more times than I wanted to count but Roger always was able to fix us up. We learned about our exhaust system, our heating system, and our fuel system, why boats overheat and what to do when you break down when a tug is coming right at you and you are in their way with no engine and no wind. Do not talk on channel 16. I also learned how to spend a fortune doing your laundry, what to do when the fish gods are against you, and how many paper towels you should pack. All in all, our entire trip was an event of a lifetime, but I think we will stay home next summer and try and salvage our yard and garden.

You can read about our travel adventures. Along the way I sent back e-mails. They are collected below:

May 20, 2005, lastst report 9/9/05

Ahoy me maties,
Roger and I are getting ready to set sail again for the briny seas of Alaska. At least we hope that we are able to make our final destination this year. Roger has spent the winter “going to work” at the boat. Most days you could find Roger working on projects to improve our trusty craft. We now can generate enough power to fill the batteries by running the boat at idle, instead of racing the engine at 2000 rpm, in about an hour, instead of all day. Our oil pressure actually holds at 30 psi; the engine had to be pulled again and some additional modifications made. We have a new radio, with a panic button for me to push if something terrible went wrong and we had to notify the coast guard to come and rescue us, and we replaced our radio antenna which blew off God knows when. We even sprung for a new bimini ... a little contraption which allows me to stay out of the sun or, as appears to be the case for the last few weeks, Roger to be protected from the pouring rain. We decided that our last years adventure was truly a shake down cruise and that this trip would be the real deal with a short stretch of open ocean, something for me to ponder and worry about, a chance to see not just brown bears on the shore but real live grizzlies, and new vistas to enjoy. Perhaps our whale friends will come to greet us again.

Today I will be loading my clothes and the bedding on to the Boru. Everything will be wrapped in plastic as it appears the dry weather we enjoyed this winter has given way to record breaking rain this last month. Saturday the very last of the frozen food gets loaded into the refrigerator/freezer and the good kitchen knives find their way into the appropriate drawers and finally on Sunday morning at 8 am we take our tooth brushes and head out to sea. I have already loaded boxes and bags of canned goods, books to read as Roger mans the helm, art supplies to while away the hours and this time we have film in the camera for the really special shots.

While Roger slaved at the boat I got our scrapbook finished, all 74 pages of it, and my journal completed just in time to start the process all over again. This year we hope that as nice as Blaine was that we do not spend five weeks there and that our other repairs hold. Roger and I know that things will break, that is just part of the journey, but we really would like to see the shores of Alaska from something other than a cruise ship.

Our weather forecast was for a bright sunny Sunday, it has now downgraded itself to rain hopefully ending in the afternoon. Ah, but what do the weather gods know? We’ll see you along the way or in the fall.

Suzie and Roger

We are spending Memorial Day in Nanaimo after an adventure filled week. We set sail for Alaska on Sunday May 22nd. Unlike last year, we had cloudy skies, not rain drumming on our roof top, and six stalwart souls standing on the dock waving bon voyage instead of what appeared to be the unlucky number 13 from last year. We left early in the morning to catch the tide under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and we managed to do that. The tide switched shortly after we gazed up at the cars traveling across the bridge. We never go under that structure without my thinking of the engineering it takes to build such a magnificent bridge and remembering Galloping Gerdy, the first bridge which tumbled into the rushing waters below. I imagine the winds were strong enough that there were no sailboats around that day, but how frightening that would have been for any boat unlucky enough to have been on the water that famous day. But I digress from our adventure.

Well after we made it under the bridge we hoisted our sails. The skies threatened rain, but you could count the drops which actually hit us on our two hands. However, I was still able to break the boat. We had our sails in a position called wing on wing, for our non sailing friends that means that one sail is let out on the left and one on the right side as far as they will reach. The whole idea is to give a huge area for the sail to catch the wind which is coming from directly behind you. You always have to be watching for changes in the wind because an unexpected change can cause the boom to swing across the cockpit and nail someone in the head. Roger uses a boom preventer to help keep this from happening. Anyway, as Roger was attaching the preventer the wind changed or I lost my concentration, probably the latter, and the boom slammed to the other side of the boat. As I checked my steering all the apparatus slammed back and hit the end of the traveler, a pulley system which holds the main sail in check, and everything went flying. Luckily no one was in the way, but we did have a problem if we expected to keep sailing. Our sheets had pulled loose from the deck and they were dangling in the air. Roger thought for a moment, grabbed his trusty box of bolts. We pulled everything in and used the long bolt in one of the holes in the traveler to serve as a temporary stop and we were able to keep everything from pulling loose. But alas we had something for Roger to find a permanent fix for. We did that by making an unscheduled stop in Seattle to get a bolt the proper size and length and a threading die to make his own permanent screw to fix the problem.

We made it to Blaine in good time. I do not know how we could spend another $140 for food, but there were spices which didn’t get aboard, meat to add to our refrigerator, and fresh vegetables to add to our larder and finally the spatulas which I had left at home. We saw old friends, and reveled in the fact that we were not there for a long visit. Blaine is great, but we did not want to make it our final destination. We left about 0730 and motored on to Nanaimo. The winds were right on our nose, and we had over 50 miles to travel before night fell. We motored almost 11 hours and decided to drop our anchor across the bay from our usual moorage. Roger climbed over the ropes and the dingy, which has its own perch in the bow of the Boru until we get a little further north, to drop the anchor. After he got everything set I was supposed to go into reverse to set the anchor. But suddenly the engine died and I could not restart it. When Roger turned the key over to see if he could get the engine going, he noticed that we had no oil pressure. Needless to say, it was pretty quite around the dinner table Saturday night. We both had visions of spending five weeks in Nanaimo instead of Blaine. Luckily, when Roger opened everything up the next morning he found out the choke had come loose. He reattached the choke, tightened the bolt which affects the oil pressure and hopefully we are good to go. We’ll know for sure until the next time we have the engine churning for over an hour. There are good winds expected tomorrow, so it probably won’t happen for a day or two.

We have had good winds this week as we traveled to our destinations, mostly from the right direction and strong enough to overcome the huge currents we battle as the tides rush in and out of the Puget Sound. Sometimes we have rushed along at 10 plus knots and sometimes it is all we can do to go 2 knots despite winds blowing at 10-15 knots. As we came into Flounder Bay, just outside of Anacortes, when the winds of the day were finally falling off and the currents were slack and we were drifting slowly towards the end of the day a group of porpoises came to say hello. The sun shone down, the water was beautiful and I thought, this is what this trip is all about, seeing new things, being excited again while observing our marine visitors, and having our mettle tested when we least expect it.

Suzie and Roger

Dear Friends and Family,

We are alive and very well. What an exciting week we have had. First we have had no bad weather to speak of ... several times we have bundled up with all our rain gear only to have the sun break out, or the gray clouds drift by without leaving us a drop. All the rain that has fallen has chosen to fall during the evening and night when we are safely anchored.

We left Nanaimo and motored over to Pender Harbor. The engine worked well, oil pressure stayed where it should and the temperature seemed to stay stable. Those are the two things we seem to really have to watch. We still are not able to hold 30# of pressure if the engine runs for a long time, but we settle for 20 and keep a sharp eye on the gauges. Our new water sensor reads a little low so we have to watch that too. Luckily I brought along the kitchen thermometer, one of those digital ones, so when Roger gets worried he hauls it out and checks the temperature and we go merrily on our way. Funny the things you use in the most unexpected way.

As we headed out from Nanaimo we had to detour around a section of water called Whiskey Golf. Sounds like somewhere they might be manufacturing whisky in, but instead it is the firing range for the Canadian Navy. When this section of water is active you are not allowed to enter it. We heard one boat being hailed by a frustrated traffic controller; he called the vessel for over 20 minutes. Finally he told the guy, “Do you see that battle ship off your bow? Turn around immediately or else!!!!” The captain of the vessel finally responded and he definitely turned around. It makes for a little excitement while you are motoring along. We had visions of armed troops boarding the boat, or guns shooting across the bow. All this drama happening on the distress channel!

The next day we had planned on making it to Cortez Bay in Desolation Sound. We had great winds, 15+ knots; the only problem was they were right off our bow. We sailed close hauled up the strait but after over 9 hours we had only progressed 23 miles to Powell River. Reluctantly we pulled in and found a spot on the dock. The next morning the harbor master greeted us like long lost friends saying, “I never thought we would see you again after your problems the last time you were here.” This was one of our 5 day mechanical stays. They were happy to see us, I think passing out those Peanut Butter cookies last year probably helped.

After motoring the next day we finally coasted into Cortez Bay after we dropped our prawn trap. We have our act together and we actually were able to do this chore as a team. I edge the boat into the spot, turned off the engine so the rope doesn’t get caught in the propeller and then I hold the rope around my arm. We drop the trap in close to 350 ft of water where all the juicy prawns live. We scurried below to gobble up dinner and see a movie. We are watching the Horatio Hornblower movies.

We knew that we had an early morning start so we could make it through the dreaded rapids. We pulled our prawn trap and there was one prawn and a big fish inside. It seems that the fish ate all the prawns. We could not find any fish like this is our books, it was like an eel, it was slimy and had no fins, but it had a head like a red snapper. We found out later it was like a salt water salamander. We’ll get even with it for eating all our prawns. We will use it for crab bait as we head off for crabbing spots latter in the trip.

This time we made it through the rapids in record time and stopped off at Oleo’s for roast duck. It is very interesting sailing north this time of year. The boats are fewer between, the stores have not really gotten all their stock in and we were the only guests at Oleo’s. As we traveled thought the long narrow straits we were often the only boat around. You might see a cruise ship off in the distance, or a small motor boat darting off to the big city to get supplies, or even the inevitable fishermen. But the recreational boaters are few and far between. Makes you enjoy the pristine beauty and you think about the people who live here year round. It reminds me a little of the way it was for many people in Montana. You had to be self sufficient, your winters were filled fixing equipment you would use and often break again in the summer. A hearty lot you needed to be.

We stayed last night in Lagoon Cove and ate prawns and heard Bill, who is over 75 years old, tell his stories. We enjoyed a potluck and this time I had stocked away something to bring for Happy Hour. I will be known as the artichoke queen with my quick hot dip. Oh the joy of being prepared. We spoke to another couple who are heading to Alaska. They told us great spots to visit, places to get gas; we are adding two more jerry cans just for fuel. And where not to go. As we left Lagoon Cove we picked up our trap and hauled in about 150 prawns and 5 lobsters; those are really big prawns. Tonight we’ll have grilled prawns for dinner. We were able to sail today doing a great maneuver called wing on wing for about a third or our journey. Oh the joys of beating the gas pump. We are sending this e-mail from Sullivan Bay, the place with all the painted gas and oil tanks and the floating million dollar homes, one with its own helicopter pad. We will sail on to Blunden Harbor tomorrow. We are very near the tip of Vancouver Island and we should make it around Cape Caution, now that is something to make me lose sleep over, in the next few days.

Internet access is very limited in this area so it may be two weeks until you get your next missive, but don’t be surprised if you get a phone call some early morning, when the cell towers are available and we are passing by. It is good to hear from everyone, I will pick up e-mails in the morning before we set off.

Love Suzie and Roger

Well everyone we are well on our way!

I am sitting at a computer in Shearwater, BC it is right across from Bella Bella if you are looking at a Canadian map. We are a two day trip from Prince Rupert and from there we make another ocean crossing to enter Alaska. The trip seems to be going well, Roger and I are speaking to each other and we have had limited mechanical trouble. I’ll get to that later.

We left Sullivan Bay with all its beautiful scenery and floating docks and headed off to Blunden Harbor to wait for our chance to skirt around the Queen Charlotte Strait and Cape Caution. We dropped our crab pot in the early afternoon and figured that we would pull it up in the morning, but after we listened to the weather report we decided we would get up very early in the morning and make the crossing before the heavy winds and waves arrived. So we gave a tug on the crab pot and there were about 8 crabs in 4 hours. We kept the three biggest and left the others to grow. Crab cakes were on the menu as a reward for our trip across the open ocean. We left about 0500 and found relatively smooth seas and some swells. We had just enough wind to set our sails and smooth out our ride. We got into Millbrook Cove, Harbor Inlet, about 1400 as the winds and seas were rising. There was one other sailboat there to share our cozy anchorage. The crab cakes never tasted better with the dreaded trip behind us and just more adventure before us.

We sailed the next day on to Green Island Anchorage. We had to motor some, but we snuck in about 4 hours of sailing. The skies were gray and cloudy and it seemed that we would have rain pouring on us, but not for this part of the trip. Just felt cold and damp and I am hoping that we were able to pack enough warm clothes. The Green Island Anchorage had more boats, but we still have the sense of isolation which comes with seeing very few boats in a very big body of water. We continued on to the next anchorage a beautiful setting1 called Codville Cove. We dropped our prawn trap and threaded our way through a narrow passage which was 30 ft deep and had a huge rock on the left side and found ourselves in a beautiful lagoon with deep water and a stillness because it was so protected from the winds.

We finally got rain that tested out our rain gear and it appears our windows. The rain gear worked fine, the windows leaked like a sieve. The pillows got wet and water was there on the navigation table. We have had lots of rain during the evenings, but it must have been the wind and the direction. Luckily everything dried out. We did sail during this downpour, or rather Roger sailed and I lounged around making cookies and reading one of the Patrick O’Brien books. I don’t think that I mentioned it, but we treated ourselves to all 20 of his Master and Commander series and I am enjoying them tremendously, It is a little like reading the Centennial Series which encompassed the Revolutionary War time these tales are filled with sailing terms, some of which I know and some which I don’t care if I know, but the story is good and the characters are interesting and I think I just might get all 20 books read before the summer is over if Roger doesn’t make me work to hard pulling in the sheets or tugging on the lines.

We stayed in Codville Lagoon and extra night because of gale force winds out on the open waters. It poured most of the day and we were content to study the maps, Roger, and paint, me. We did meet another couple who are headed to Alaska and we had them over for drinks. We were going to head off and hike up to a lake but it just seemed to miserable to venture our and so we hid below and stayed dry.

We are here in Shearwater for at least one day, maybe more. We both hear something scrapping inside the steering column and we would hate to loose our steering as we are covering a particulary challenging patch of water. We do have a back up handle. Roger isn’t here so I will describe it as a stick you put onto the rudder so we can set our direction. I think it is called a tiller. That would cause a great deal of excitement since it is buried underneath our fenders, steps, electric cables, fishing gear, and whatever else we have buried in our outside storage hold. We should, if all goes well, leave tomorrow and get to Prince Rupert on Wednesday.

Suzie & Roger

----- Original Message -----
From: Roger & Suzanne Shaffer
Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2005 1:33 PM
Subject: Prince Rupert is know as a rainy city!

Hi everyone,

We have finally reached the upper reaches of Canada, we have been surprised with how well our trip is going, and how quickly we are traveling on our way. We have had a great, but rather exciting week.

We left Shearwater on Wednesday and headed off to Bottleneck Inlet to spend the night. We had read that it was protected if there were heavy winds and the scenery was reported to be beautiful with high towering walls. Little did we know that we were in for an exciting time. We had just left Milbanke Sound, which heads off into the open Pacific Ocean, and we were beginning to enter Finlayson Channel when the engine died! Dead, Gone, No Chance of Starting! I had visions of us drifting out to sea as the tide went out. Roger of course had no time for any fanciful dreams; he started fixing the problem.

The engine was not getting any gas, and we had a full tank. We wondered about the chance of having gotten bad gas, but we have been diligent about getting gas from marinas which have a high turn over of gas so there is less chance of getting water mixed in with the gas. Roger finally figured out that the fuel pump had failed and tossed aside the covers on the bed, dug into the spare parts and pulled out a spare fuel pump. Luckily he had thought to include an extra fuel pump in this planning. I stood at the helm and pointed the boat so we did not go sideways into the ocean swells. One power boat passed us by but a sail boat came over and asked if we were okay. We told them the problem and they decided to hang around to make sure we did not need a tow.

I have never seen Roger change out a pump quite so quickly. In about an hour we were back on our way. The sail boat said they would continue on with us, and we were welcome to see their boat as the engine died again. This time Roger found air in the line. Finally up and traveling again. WHAT! Dead again in the water, Roger was busy adjusting the pressure screw on the fuel pump. The engine chugged along with the fuel pump going continuously. We pulled into Bottleneck Cove where we finally were able to let the engine cool down and Roger began checking out everything. He tore the boat apart again getting the spare fuel filter, checked gas line and did everything to get us ready to go. We did look at the beautiful lagoon, we didn’t drop our traps and our hearts were hanging heavy. It appeared things would be okay, but you never know until you have several hours on a warm engine and we were headed up a narrow channel with no wind.

Thursday we left early, we were on the road, so to speak, at 0600. Engine running like a top. Ah relief. Oh no, about four hours down the way the engine quit again. This time there was a little wind, 4 knots, and we let out the jib and semi drifted down the channel trying to get to the next port. Our friends on the sail boat Thulani, which means quiet one in South African, called back and decided to stay with us.

Roger checked everything again, something just wasn’t right. It is a good thing I know how to sail, because that is what we did as Roger was down in the hole working, working, working. Suddenly, around the corner a big tug, pulling a container came around the corner, just in my direction. I called him on channel 16 to let him know that we were disabled and that I might not be able to get out of the middle of the channel. He was great, said no problem, he would go down one side ... remember I am traveling at a whopping 2 knots, reminds me of racing when there is no wind and you are trying to get the most out of your sails, except I have no crew to help and we have no main sail hoisted.

Next thing I know the Coast Guard is calling us asking if we need assistance. Roger is going, “Oh No”, and I am giving them our co-ordinates and telling them that we are okay. Finally we get started, but it is not for long. We limped into Goghlan Anchorage near Hartley Bay and Roger was pretty quiet as he checked everything out for the third or fourth time. Suddenly he was back in the hole and out came the fuel filter, we have two on our gas line, the engine started running, just like it should. He had found the real problem our 30 year old fuel filter had failed, all the replacement filters could not solve this problem, it required a full replacement. We were in business and all we had to do was make it to Prince Rupert to find the right parts. We caught up with our friends again in Prince Rupert and we will set off for Ketchikan on Monday morning.

We arrived in Prince Rupert on Saturday after starting out at 0420. We were coming out of Watts Narrows and we needed to make it to slack water. The seas were gentle, my idea of a perfect crossing. I thought about all the trouble we had last year, how there are not many boats around and how we made the right decision not to journey north last year. We would surely have been stranded somewhere. We try and sneak in some sailing but the wind does not cooperate. We had been told that this would happen, but our sailing blood always tries to hoist the main and get a free ride.

Prince Rupert is a beautiful city, everything seems to be within walking distance, and the parks are beautiful. After we docked I went out to explore the city. Where did all these people come from? One of the cruise ships had stopped and over 800 people flooded the shops, the restaurants and mostly the pay phones. I waited 45 minutes to get to the phone to check in with family. Our cell phone does not work here but calling cards do. Roger got the new fuel filter unit and installed it. We are having our sailing neighbors, Jeremy and Danni over for dinner tonight and we are off at 0500 for Alaska.

We do not know where we are going after we arrive in Ketchikan. We don’t know how far north we will go, but we will follow the wind and see where it takes us. We passed so many beautiful spots we want to explore that we may meander back through northern Canada and not spend all our time in Alaska. Who knows, we certainly don’t. Even with the problems we are having a great time. I surprised myself when I was able to step right up and hoist the sails, give the Coast Guard our exact position, and I have even stood my share of watches at the helm. Maybe I know more about this boat than I give myself credit for. I am still not willing to rush out and sail around the world, but I am more comfortable than I was last year.

To all you fathers out there, Happy Father’s Day. And to you Mothers, I guess we have to leave earlier to send you a Mother’s Day message. We are off for our next adventure, crossing into Alaska which can be rough, but lets all pray for a nice smooth crossing.

Suzie & Roger

----- Original Message -----
From: Roger & Suzanne Shaffer
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 11:42 AM
Subject: Ketchikan

After 12 hours of rough seas and 15 to 20 mile knots of wind on the bow we made it from Brundage Inlet on Dundas Harbor to Ketchikan. No mater what, we can say we made it! One month after we originally set sail.

Roger is bottling beer which will be ready in two weeks. We’ll see how it compares to his home brew. We lost about two liters of beer when the spigot got accidentally turned on while we were heeling. Luckily my brief case, where I had my scrap booking material stored, soaked up the brew and none of the papers and stickers got wet. We would have had a difficult time if my water color paper had gotten soaked. I would have needed to make every composition follow the beer stained paper. Probably there would have been lots of mountains and valley’s in those painting, maybe that is how Picasso got started.

I am hitting the local stores to stock up on food we could not bring in. Got rid of all the beef, potatoes, citrus fruit. There is a huge Safeway here to get everything you need. We are also getting some big plastic envelopes to hold our maps when the rains are falling or the sea is spraying in the cockpit. These maps, at $20 each, are just to precious to ruin, and I have been encasing them in plastic zip lock bags and we always seem to be needing to give them a turn at the wrong time. And of course we need to get fishing licenses so we can try and catch a salmon or a halibut.

While we were at Prince Rupert the fishing boat in front of us, the Shamrock, that is about as Irish as the Boru, gave us some fresh halibut. We enjoyed really fresh halibut for dinner last night. We definitely felt we had something to celebrate. When we came through customs we told them we had an I-68, a form you go and visit the customs office for, and the young officer came, looked at the form, wrote down the number and said, “Do you have anything to declare?” We said, “No,” and off he went. That was sure easy. Thank you Kelly for your information. If you are traveling north and going into cross over the border, it makes it so much easier to get either a Nexus card or an I-68. We had heard horror stories of boats being searched stem to stern while you waited on the dock. These few minutes getting everything done ahead of time has sure paid off.

While we were in Brundage Inlet some little bug, some kind of “No See Um” bit the heck out of both of us. They seemed to like the outside of my ear, I thought I had somehow skipped the sun screen there, and I kept checking it because it was red and swollen. I finally figured that I had 2 or 3 bites and that was why my one ear is double the size of the other. Roger even has swollen arms and spots on his neck. Our friends were bitten by what ever it was, so the four of us look like we lost the fight.

We will be here in Ketchikan until Friday morning, so send your e-mails right away. Then off for new adventures ... I can hardly wait. It is supposed to rain tomorrow so I will hold off doing laundry and cleaning, it is more important to go and see the sights. We will take the dingy off the bow of the boat so the early morning light can flood in and wake us at 0500 and we can go and explore the beautiful coast, waterfalls and fjords. We are ready to get going.

Roger and Suzie

----- Original Message ----- From: "Roger & Suzanne Shaffer" Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 1:01 PM Subject: Wrangle is here to stay for awhile

Dear Family and Friends,

Time to get out your maps and find the fine city of Wrangle, Alaska. We are sitting by the dock in the bay, not drinking Margaritas or Hot Buttered Rums but waiting for parts to be made for the boat. We marvel at our incredible luck! About two hours earlier we had come through a narrow and very rocky channel, called Zimovia Strait. During that passage you are required to make very precise turns to pass through the rocks without going aground. We had about 15 separate entries in the GPS to lead us through these tricky waters. We were able to accomplish that feat with no trouble; however when we pulled into the dock at Wrangle to get gas, Roger noticed that the water coming from the exhaust system was acting odd. We had been having trouble for the last couple of days, with our propane sensor going off while we were motoring, which seems to be all we are able to do most days. Roger had planned on finding out what was going on when we got to Wrangle. We did notice before we pulled into the fuel dock that our fenders were like big blown up balloons when we took them out of the cockpit locker. Well, we got our gas, filled with water, started up and pushed off from the fuel dock. We had gone about 30 feet and the engine died. It would not start and the harbor master had to come with his trusty little boat and move us out of the main channel of the harbor.

I have to admit I was laughing, you know that kind of funny laugh you do when something stupid happens and you have no control over the situation and you either laugh or cry. Our friends from the Thulani were on the dock and we rafted next to them. As soon as the engine cooled down Roger started pulling things out and checking what he thought was wrong. You may remember last year that we had similar problems when the manifold gasket was leaking and that was Roger’s first thought. No, now he looked at the whole exhaust system. Ah ha! This is why we say we were truly lucky. The whole system had rusted through and we had exhaust and water going into the bilge rather that flowing through the exhaust pipe out into the sea. We could have had this part fail while we were in some secluded inlet, or when we had to have our engine to navigate. Here we are in beautiful Wrangle with three blocks of stores, a machine shop to put all the necessary galvanized pipes into the perfect shape to put back into the boat. It is a relatively easy fix because at this point it looks like we do not need to have any parts shipped to us. Roger turned the engine over this morning and it appears that no water got into the engine, none of that emulsified oil is evident, and everything turns over. I know that all you armchair mechanics or even working mechanics will know what I am talking about, even if I don’t use the exact terms. Anyway we will have time to explore and see the only city which has had four different governments, the Tlingit, Russian, British and United States, rule them. There is a brand new museum and the Petroglyph Beach to explore during low tide and of course the ever present laundry and shopping to be done.

Now you probably think this was the highlight of our trip this week, but I have something which took my breath away. As we were fishing off Behm Channel a huge humpback whale came within about 20 feet of the boat. He was arching his back and swimming between all the fishing boats. What a treat. I kept watching and about 200 yards off his huge tail rose from the ocean, as though he was waving us goodbye. I was speechless, and that says something for me. Roger was assembling his fishing gear and almost missed the whole thing. So even when we didn’t catch any fish after trolling for about 2 hours we still felt that we had had a beautiful day. We spent the rest of the day sailing off to a secluded harbor. We tried crabbing but got one very small rock crab, not worth cooking, and no prawns. We hiked into the lagoon lake looking for bear tracks as we went. Bears like to roam these areas. Here I had my voice going non stop since Roger is so quiet I had to talk loud all the time to keep those pesky bears away. We didn’t see any fresh signs, but the next day we found out there were bears walking the same trail we had been on. Glad we missed the excitement.

We stopped at a small community called Meyer’s Chuck. It was a very picturesque community which has six people during the winter and 25 residents, during the summernot counting the countless boaters. They had an art gallery with local artisans work. One couple has shows in Seattle and they take old growth stumps, make bowls and beautiful salad tongs. I may get a pair of salad tongs when we return. They are not cheap, and I keep thinking is that something I really need, but then when do we really need all the stuff we own?

Our next night we enjoyed the scenery in a “guaranteed crab ground”. We off loaded the dingy and dropped our crab pot. There were signs of a commercial crabber when we came in, and we watched him haul in his traps. We landed 7 crabs, all too small to keep.

We tromped through an old rusting cannery which now was just pieces of rusty metal strewn about a small creek. You know that someone worked hard in this remote spot to eke out a living, maybe they were successful, maybe not, but they had moved on. As we travel in this remote area maybe seeing three or four boats a day, I have to marvel at the strength and endurance of the human spirit. The dreams the pioneers had to have had to strike out in a lonely inlet to make their living. Did they bring their families? Did they wait for other fishermen to bring them their catch? Did they leave during the winter months and hole up in some other small community until the cold winds of winter had blown over so they could go back and work in the cold rushing streams to can whatever seafood came their way? Did they arrive with provisions or did they take their food from the land? Did they ever get tired of fish? All these and many more questions to be answered, I guess I had better head off to the new Wrangle Museum and get some of the answers. In the meantime I enjoy the luxury of e-mails, grumble when my cell phone won’t work, and rejoice that there is a metal shop in town which should be able to get us up and going soon.

God willing we will spend the 4th of July in Petersburg, after traveling through the Christmas Tree Narrows, otherwise known as the Wrangle Narrows. Another week, another adventure coming up!

Suzie & Roger

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Juneau July 12
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 18:04:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: Roger & Suzanne Shaffer

Dear Family and Friends,

Well some of you must really be worried about us; no phone calls, no e-mail, nothing for about two weeks. That just means that we have more to say this time around. At Petersburg we got an internet connection for about two minutes, enough to find out about our bills which were due, and then we were never able to make another connection. I have had to resort to using calling cards because Verizon does not have much service in Alaska. So calls have been few and far between. We have been having a great time of it as we travel along on our journey. The Seas have been good, the rain horrible, and the people we have met encouraging and fun.

I did wait to send this e-mail after our niece Joni left; she has been here for the last few days helping us find all the cool spots in Juneau. I am sitting in the Juneau Public Library where they have free wireless access to the internet. As I look out the window I can see a huge cruise ship parked next to the library. It’s upper decks are taller than the three story library building, the streets filled with local residents and passengers and crews from the five cruise ships which fill the harbor, the Alaska State Legislature Building, I learned that on a trip we took to Mendenhall Glacier yesterday, and if I crane my neck around I can see just the corner of the governor’s mansion. The clouds are skirting around the mountain which lies behind the city. I can see the gulch where the first Alaskan gold rush was started. I found out Juneau had several names before they finally adopted the name Juneau and it was probably called Juneau because one of the original miners for the gold, named Mr. Juneau, bought the most drinks the day they were voting; otherwise I might be sitting in Harrisburg. They have installed two additional cruise ship docks and a tram since we were here back in 1999. Now the town crawls with people from all parts of the world. The streets of Juneau are crowded with tour busses, whisking people off for helicopter rides to the glaciers, or perhaps a fishing expedition or a tour boat headed out to see the whales. Whatever their destination they are looking for the adventure which Alaska offers all her visitors. We have been able to enjoy that along with some additional adventures of our own. But let me first fill you in on the last few weeks.

We did leave Wrangle early in the morning and headed out for the narrows. Roger was able to get our part made. We hooked everything up and found out the sea water had shorted out our new fuel pump. Roger put the old fuel pump back on because we figured that our first original problem was not the pump but the fuel filter. We did get another fuel pump from the Napa Auto Parts, just to have as a back-up. We are really learning to make sure that we have something to keep in reserve for a rainy day; we seem to have a lot of those. The Christmas Tree Lane, as the locals call it, lived up to its name. We traveled about 15 miles, using over 50 channel markers, to make our trip. It started to rain and the new plastic covers we had purchased for the charts proved to be a God sent. I stood beside Roger checking off each point as we passed through and wiping off the plastic covers when the moisture got so thick we could not read the map. It was a long cold trip, tedious, but not dangerous. I think it would be fun to ride the ferry at night and see everything lit up, but I am not planning that trip with Roger on the Boru. Our biggest concern was all the local fishermen in their boats, hauling in their catch right where we were supposed to be.

We pulled into Petersburg about 1400, just a six hour day. We were given an easy spot to dock our boat, but the current was moving at about four knots away from the dock. Roger pulled into the slip and I kept struggling with the catch on the gate, which allows me to get off the boat and onto the dock. What the heck, the gate wouldn’t open and I wouldn’t jump over the gate down to a low dock; I have learned my lesson about that. So next thing we know we are pushing off the pilings and making another approach. Roger had to use a wench handle to open everything up. We tried again, but this time I was saved. The harbor master had realized that we had a problem and came down to give me a little assist. How nice it is to throw the lines to someone on the dock. Sometimes the low docks give me problems jumping off the boat so I dock and Roger jumps, but when the current is tricky he usually takes the helm. Let’s hope we don’t have many more dockings like that.

We stayed an extra day in Petersburg because of the heavy rain fall. Roger actually had a day to read and putter with all his projects. We decided not to hang around for the Fourth of July festivities because we needed to be in Juneau on the 8th and there was bad weather predicted later in the week: high seas and heavy winds, and that makes for uncomfortable rides when the wind blows right off the bow of the boat. We were able to make some excitement for ourselves since we would be traveling in Fredricks Sound and this is where you can see lots of whales. Sure enough, after we cut through the thick morning fog, I sat on the bow looking for boats to emerge from the fog while Roger looked at the radar; we were able to see more whales than we could count. None were as close as the whale we saw in Clover Channel, but we saw whale, after whale, after whale. This is what you don’t see on a cruise ship.

That night as we pulled into our anchorage the fuel pump Roger had installed hic-upped and quit. We were drifting in a narrow channel. Roger waited a few minutes, turned the key, and she fired back up but the next day he crawled back into the outside storage compartment and installed our back-up fuel pump. I have to tell you this getting to be a real pain. No one can move on the boat when all this work is being done, we have lines, traps, tarps, fenders, ropes, anchors, chain, garbage, everything removed and Roger crawls into this pit and starts taking off parts, connecting new ones, mounting new brackets, fixing small gas leaks when the fittings won’t quite seat properly. It is tedious work and has to be done correctly and is done with bursts of rain pounding down on the boat. Finally after a whole day everything seems to have been done right.

We headed off the next day to Taku Harbor, a small anchorage about 20 miles from Juneau where we planned on spending the day crabbing and where Roger woulf finally be able to get some fishing done. About a half hour after we had arrived Roger decided to check our gas consumption ... what we had gone through over ¾ of a tank of gas in one day! That new fuel pump must be going crazy. We decided we were better off with a fuel pump that quit intermittently than one which devoured gas like it was going out of style. No fishing today, change out the parts time again, then as Roger started to fuel up with our last 8 gallons of gas a miracle happened. He put in about two gallons, checked the fuel stick and low and behold we had almost a full tank of gas. We finally figured that the baffles in the fuel tank had not had time to settle so we were getting a false reading, but the day had already been spent doing the mechanical work. It didn’t take long to change everything back again! Roger is getting very quick with this little job. When we got to Juneau the first thing we did was order a new, $182.00, fuel pump and had it express mailed to Juneau. Roger is installing it while I write this letter to all of you. Now, maybe we will have the mechanical things taken care of. It actually turns out that when we had our first fuel system problem we did have two things wrong, not just one. So now we should have smooth sailing, or motoring as the weather allows.

We finally were able to connect with our friends from last year. We spoke on the phone and with any kind of luck we should be able to meet up later this week. We are about two days apart and if they wait and we hurry we should make it. They are the two school teachers who spend summers on the water and the other half of the year in an RV. They get mail on something called pocket mail and use only a cell phone. Bob is an expert fisherman and I will probably take some lessons. I heard the way to catch fish in Alaska is to give the fishermen cookies or brownies and pretty soon they will come back and give you a fish, or the one time I did that some good crab. If all else fails, I will be cooking in the kitchen to bring in a fish for dinner.

Despite all the troubles we are having a great time. We do wish the sun would shine just a little bit more, but if that is our most important worry, how very lucky we are. We do not know when we will get to a city where we can send an e-mail so you better just keep checking your e-mails and know that we are thinking about you.

Love Suzie and Roger

Dear Family and Friends,

We and three other boats, DX, Last Class, and Thulani got up this morning at 0345 to make the journey through Rocky Pass. All our books say not to make the trip, because some people had removed the markers and even moved the markers in the channel. The group we are traveling with, two Alaskan experienced power boaters said everything had been repaired and was back to normal. That must be so because we are here in Point Baker, very tired and wet, but the bottom did not touch, we did get down to 15.4 feet at high tide, and we did not snag any kelp. We came through some heavy fog and as we entered the narrow passage into Point Baker two whales decided to come and check us out. Roger told me he was too busy navigating to watch the whales but they passed right in front of us and we thought we might hit one of them, luckily we didn’t!

How the time has flown. We left Juneau on a brisk morning expecting to have a four hour trip around Douglas Island to make it into Auke Bay but alas we did not keep to our time schedule. We had asked the Harbor Master where to find gas for the next leg of our trip. They told us to go down to Douglas Marina, so off we headed thinking everything would be right on our way. We pulled into the marina, circled around in very close quarters and finally called the Harbor Master again. “Oh,” she said “you need to go to the fuel dock in the center of town between all the cruise ships.” Remember these are those four story buildings that look and act like a boat. We headed back the way we had come, another five miles. When we arrived there the fuel dock waived us off and said they could not give any fuel out at this time. What the heck were we going to do ... we desperately needed fuel so we tried one more time to the Harbor Master. She told us to come back under the bridge and fuel up right across from where we were moored for the last few days. 15 miles and two hours later we were finally on our way. Was this an omen for the nest few weeks of traveling? We hoped not! After a long day bucking tides, currents and winds off our bow we finally pulled into Auke Bay. As we were making our way into the marina we passed a boat called La Grand Blue, it is the sixth largest privately owned boat in the world and is currently owned by a Russian oil magnet. On her deck were a speed boat, over 40 ft long, a helicopter, and finally a sail boat that looked at least double our size. When the crew came in to get provisions they were all wearing uniforms. What a way to travel.

We finally met up with our friends from last summer and we have been sailing together for the last two weeks. We have traveled down the coasts of Chichagof and Baranof Islands seeing all the sights and drinking in all the scenery. We first stayed in a little cove called Pavlof Harbor in Freshwater Inlet. There Roger and Bob went fishing and Roger caught his first salmon. We had begun to wonder if we had spent money for a license which didn’t produce any food. But finally we caught enough fish that they were finally doing catch and release fishing. Judy and I stayed inside and played cards, read and watched to bears on the beach, we saw two sows each with twin cubs and several yearlings, while the guys went fishing in the pouring rain.

The rain finally quit and we headed out with calm seas to our next stop at Ell Cove on Baranof Island, but were we in for the treat of a lifetime. We have been hearing about whales “bubbling” this whole trip. That is where whales join together in a group, form a loose circle and dive together. When they surface they have driven all the fish within the circle up and the whales come to the surface of the ocean with their mouths wide open, guzzling down all the water and fish they can. Sometimes some fish escape and then the whales crash their flukes down on the water to kill the fish so they can continue eating them. Not everyone has seen this show, earlier we saw blowing whales and whales breaching, but now we have seen whales bubbling and it is quite the sight. We had close to 12 whales gathered, usually there are five or six, and the sight was beautiful. I will see if we have better luck sending this picture off to all of you. It literally took our breath away.

We reconnected with our friends from South Africa and Australia at Warm Springs Bay. You can soak in a hot tub and watch the cascading falls. It is beautiful! I was even given a huge King Salmon by one of the local fisherman. I found out afterwards he was not supposed to have it, because commercial King season was over and I was not supposed to have it because we did not buy a King Salmon tag. Luckily one of our friends had a salmon tag and they made me legal. But the most beautiful place we have visited so far is Red Bluff Bay. There are huge towering mountains peaking over the lake. The pinks, a kind of salmon, were running in schools and jumping out of the water, sometimes as many as ten salmon would all leap at the same time, it was just like a ballet or maybe they were trying to learn about bubbling so they could escape the whales.

Since Judy and I have been having such a good time Kayaking, that is a real hoot for me, I have not managed to get much painting done in the last few weeks. But I am snapping pictures right and left and Roger does have film in the camera. We have had several set backs. We managed to loose our prawn trap again, right where there were huge humongous prawns. Bob and Judy gave us some prawns so we had something to eat and I bought a used prawn trap from another of the boaters. He was going to throw it overboard and get a nice round, no collapsible trap so we both won. I only had to shell out $15 which was a great deal because it included everything we needed. Now I can begin to taste the prawns cooking on the bar-b-y. We are having trouble with the engine overheating and Roger will get the heat exchanger boiled out when we get to Ketchikan, otherwise we will have to start opening everything up again. We will not leave Ketchikan until we can run at full power.

Well the laundry is done, I can hardly keep my eyes open, so I will send this off

Suzie and Roger

Dear Friends,

Well we are back in Wrangle, wrangling with our heat exchanger. This last week we have started running hot. Roger tore everything apart, again, and checked impeller blades, water pumps, thermostat and temperature gage. Little did I know that when I brought the digital meat thermometer from the kitchen that it would become such an integral part of our maintenance program. He uses it to check the heat of the engine, the temperature of the water, and occasionally we even check to see if a piece of meat is done. Anyway Roger has decided that maybe the heat exchanger is partially clogged so we called back to Wrangle, spoke to Randy, the guy who assembled our exhaust system, and he and Roger are getting together to see if they can get things unclogged. Roger went off muttering something about an acid bath. I am assuming he is not thinking of the local area hot springs. Anyway, when we get back to the boat we will know if we are scheduled for a short or a long stay here in beautiful downtown Wrangle. We will let you know. The boat does run, just not at full power, and we will not take any chances that we already know of.

When I spoke about the bubble feeding with the whales last week I neglected to say that while the whales are diving and making this circle it fills with bubbles and the fish stay inside this circle of bubbles. Then as the whales rise up the fish come with them. I will definitely need to do some additional research, but today you just get to hear about it.

We spend a lazy day in Point Baker. We were able to go out in Bob and Judy’s dingy to check on the entrance whales. We sat and watched as they swam around the dingy. One came so close I was forced to use the two words that are usually the last words by crashing air line pilots, OH S ...! I thought we might go for a swim and while I had my trusty life vest on I did not know if it would work inside a whale. We did make it back. When Roger and Bob went fishing the whales actually came closer. I don’t think Roger said anything and I know Bob didn’t, but they did say that whales definitely have bad breath.

I also learned how to take the ear bones out of Red Snapper. They are called otoliths and you can make great jewelry from them. We have been sharing fishing stories with the long liners who usually travel alone and pull up fishing line which have 60 hooks fastened to them. They attach the line to a wench and hopefully pull up 60 halibut weighing anywhere from 20 to 400 pounds. The 400 pounders are rare, but if you get one you have to handle it. This is a dangerous job filled by men of much courage. They remind me of all the workers in this great country who show up everyday to perform their jobs and shrug off the risks they take as nothing. I think I am having a hard time because I have to monitor the water or heat hot water to do dishes. As you look at some of the fishing boats you realize how lucky we are. When I am restless with all the clutter of repairing the boat I think I will take a moment to ponder that.

We are well and happy, and hopefully fully restored to our full power. If we are our next big stop with internet will be Ketachican ... so until then.

Roger and Suzie

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Ketchikan Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2005 14:12:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Roger & Suzanne Shaffer

Dear Family and Friends,

As I sit hear listening to the wind whistle and the boaters calling back their trips through 10 foot seas I am glad we are sitting in Ketchikan waiting for this storm to pass. After Roger finished working on our overheating problem in Wrangle and we headed off down Zimovia Strait. The engine gauges still showed us running hot, but with the help of that trusty meat thermometer we decided it was a problem with the gauge and the sensor, along with the blockage in the heat exchanger, it never seems to be just one thing which creates the problem. Like so many things in life you can’t point your finger at just one cause. Anyway Roger scurried around town yesterday looking for parts and finally got a sensor and a gauge which go together and is busy installing all the parts today. We, I say this as though I actually had something to do with it, will also be installing a raw water filter to keep those little pieces of seaweed and kelp out of our heat exchanger. By the time we finish this boat will be equipped with everything except lots of water and a hot water heater.

I actually navigated the boat through the Zimovia Strait, a tricky little channel with 90 degree turns and rocks which could ruin your day if your didn’t do it quite right. I took my blood pressure medicine, but I could still feel my heart beating in my chest. I always worry that I will make a wrong turn and put us into a rock. The skies were sunny and with the news of the big gale force winds on our way we decided to make a long day of it and head on down to Meyers Chuck. That is the place where 25 people hang out during the summer and they have 6 permanent residents during the winter. As we pulled into an almost empty dock we noticed a huge hole in the landscape. The lodge had burned down in the month since we had last been there. We do not know if the lodge was operational this summer and no one was able to tell us what happened, just that it had burnt to the ground. We were actually able to sail for a short while as we traveled down Ernst Straight, but soon the wind died and we had to revert back to the use of our trusty engine.

As we came into Ketchikan looking for moorage we were competing with planes, tug boats, cruise ships and other cruisers for ocean space. At one point we were surrounded with five different float planes in the process of landing or taking off. They were hurrying to show all the cruise ship passengers the beautiful sights of Alaska and for once they had a beautiful day to do it with. There were some high clouds in the sky but Tuesday was on of those days you hope for when you are traveling in a favorite spot, not to cold, good currents, clear skies and a few orca whales thrown in for good measure.

This weather did not continue as Tuesday evening the winds started to blow and the beginning of the rain appeared. Yesterday it blew and wept from the sky all day. Roger came home from his parts search drenched to the skin. We are sure glad we have our force ten heater to take the chill off these damp days. I think my arthritis would be much worse if we did not have the ability to turn the heat up.

Tomorrow we plan on heading down towards Foggy Bay, a little cove just before you cross into Canada, and then we will continue to Prince Rupert and re-enter Canada. We will be slowly heading home and hopefully we’ll find some warmer weather. I could use just a little more sunshine. I have purchased art, an ulna knife, groceries, baby booties, gin, and a hat for Roger but not a single shirt that says Alaska, so today I think I will have to go shopping for just a little bit.

We know the next few days will be rough as we make the trip back through Dixon entrance. We leave early in the morning for the great rolling water ride. Hopefully we will just have heaving seas and not rain to contend with. I will of course take my Dramamine.

Roger and Suzie

Dear Family and Friends,

First let me tell you the modern miricles of science. I am sitting at a very slow computer in Sherewater, Canada looking at pictures of our new grandchild over the internet. Isn’t it amazing. When we had kids you only got these pictures if something was terribly wrong. Now we receive them as a great gift when we manage to get to a computer.

We have not been in much civilization for the last several weeks. We managed to arrive at Prince Rupert in one piece, I didn’t even get sea sick. Customs this time was easy, a phone call from Ketchican before we left and them a quick phone call when we arrived.

We headed off to the wilderness, at least there were fewer boats for about a week. After we had gone for several days the darn engine started heating up again. What with the no-see-ums, the engine, the lack of wind and cabin fever we had a few cranky days, and I do not mean the engine. Finlly we pulled into a small harbor called Hartly Bay to see what other magic Roger could pull off. He took apart the whole engine and inspected everything he could think of which had anything to do with water ... but all this work was to no avail. Finally he said, I’m going to disconnect the heater which runs off the fresh water system, Finally, the boat is running at 160 degrees at full power, and has for two days. I really think this problem is finlly licked. We were talking about having the boat towed and having someone else look at it or just ordering new pumps and a heat exchanger. No matter what it was, it was an expensive project. Now we wait for the heat of the sun in the morning, or throw on an extra sweater, but that is better than being stranded in the middle of nowhere.

I will include more of our adventures next week when we get to a bigger city, but until then know that we are alive and well and looking forward to sailing in the Broughtons. We do not know if we are going through the Seymore Narrows on our journey home, or what the days are right now, but we should be back in Olympia between the 15th-20th of September.

Suzie and Roger

Original Message --------
Subject: Sullivan Bay again
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 18:19:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: Roger & Suzanne Shaffer

Dear Family and Friends,

I am sitting below, trying to get my letter done, while Roger is holding down the helm. We started out this morning from Blunden Harbor where we had bright sun shinny skies and calm seas. As we headed out to Wells Passage, the highest point we traveled north last year we have found the conditions quite different. The seas stayed calm, for a while, but the wispy fingers of the fog began to fill the air. Soon we were not able to see more than a quarter of a mile in any direction. I am certainly glad we have radar and Roger has so much experience using it. I sit and track where we are supposed to be on the chart and stand log watch; this is as interesting as standing watch of the bow of the boat to see if we are going to connect with one of the shoals reaching out in these narrow inlets. My whole body stands, or sits as the case may be, in eager attention ready to call back to Roger in case he needs dodge a log. These logs can be the size of telephone poles and can do quite a lot of damage to the hull of the boat. Sometimes we might have to dodge over ten different logs in stretch of open sea. You are prepared for that, because you can see many of them in the swells or riding on the crest of a wave but it is the lone errant log which catches you unaware. We did hit one smaller piece of wood and the sound it made as it scraped along the bottom of the keel only inspired me to keep a closer vigil. We have now begun to get the swells which are hitting us abeam. The quickness of these swells makes we wonder why I did not take my Dramamine this morning. We are having swells equivalent to 8-10 degrees of heel, except we are not heeling, just bobbing back and forth. Soon we will turn into Wells and the ride should quite down.

Now, let’s go back and fill you in on some of our adventures in the last few weeks. Before we left Ketchikan we were reunited with our errant prawn trap. Several days after we left Honey Dew Cove other boaters picked up our trap and we hoped that we would be able to reconnect, otherwise we would be in the states and our trap would have to winter over in Ketchikan where they store their boat. Luckily, because the weather kept us in Ketchikan for a few extra days we were able to have a happy reunion. These little things are not cheap when you count the line, the buoys, the weights and the trap I think I could probably have shrimp everyday for a month from the grocery store and still come out ahead. I actually think it is the fun of pulling up the trap and counting our take which adds to our trip, so if we loose another trap I’m sure we would replace it. Many of our meals here have been enhanced with a salmon catch or fresh crab or large prawns dragged from the depths of the sea. But I stray away from our story.

Our crossing back to Prince Rupert was so quiet it was almost a non event. We had small swells; my Dramamine just put me to sleep as we had no seas to make me sick. Instead of a long grueling 12 hour trip with wind on our bow we actually sailed, for about 20 minutes, and then re-engaged our engine and continued down the passage. We were reunited with our friends Thulani as they emerged from Dundas Island the land of the no-see-ems. Again, Last Class, Thulani, and Boru all went together and threaded our way through the buoys of Venn Pass. We met numerous speed boats which seemed to take great delight in making our keel dance over the rock as they sped through with a high wake which seemed to rock the boat at the most inappropriate time. We met a boat towing four small fishing boats behind them, obviously a charter company taking people out to catch their own salmon. I wonder if a cruise ship has a place to store your frozen salmon, or maybe they cook it for you, if you go on one of their excursions. We didn’t have a chance to ask anyone so maybe some one out there has the answer and will let us know.

There were no rooms, so to speak, at the dock so we rafted with Last Class and marveled at our good luck in crossing. We got a spot at the dock the next day and stocked up for the next week or so. We finally set off for new adventures. This time we headed down what they call the outside, inside passage. That means you go outside the long boring channels, but you really don’t get your feet wet with a lot of ocean swells. We found a great place were you could zip around in a dingy when the tide was high, but was totally dry when the tide went out. It was fun to see the nooks and crannies along the shoreline. Our first stop had us checking out the vacation spots of many of the people of Price Rupert. They build elegant summer homes where they can spend the weekend or their vacation. It reminds me of the cabins people build in the mountains so that they can find their own retreat away from the hustle and bustle of city life. It appeared some people must have lived their full time as we walked past their gardens. I almost wanted to stop and pick a bean or two off the plants, but I had second thoughts about someone yelling at me.

As you know from our last e-mail we did continue to have problems over-heating, but those were finally solved when Roger disconnected our heater inside the cabin. For awhile we were low on propane and had lost the other heater and all we could do was throw on more sweaters and then cuddle up nice and close. We have been sprinting down the coast to try and take advantage of the good weather; there was plentiful sunshine and finally some light winds, in our favor. We left Hartley Bay and returned to some of the places we visited on our trip up the coast. Except this time we sang as our little engine hummed along with us. As we were coming down the coast we saw more pods of whales doing their blowing, diving and tail waving. They seem to be coming down. I do not think of whales as dangerous, I know they are big and bulky and graceful and elegant to watch, but this morning as we traveled further down the coast we heard a sailboat call the coast guard and say they just hit a whale which came up in front of them. Apparently there was no damage, but I wonder if that is equivalent to hitting a log. The sail boater did sound a little shook up but by his second call to the Coast Guard he had regained his composure. Maybe we will give those beautiful giants just a little more space

We found a new place to enjoy; it is called Fury Cove where the white sandy beaches are actually shells which have drifted ashore and have been pulverized by the ocean. They look like they would be great fun to walk on until you see them up close. We waited for two days to make our next crossing. It was not as good as our passage back into Canada from Alaska, but it was still good. There is lots of fog and boats that can become their own form of no-see-ems. Boats call back and forth giving each other weather fixes and warn of logs jams in the ocean. It is comfortable to know that there is someone else close by if something were to happen.

We have stopped at Sullivan Bay to buy those groceries and for me to finally send this letter. This morning, while we traveled we heard from Curlew, the other boat we traveled with last summer so we are in the middle of making plans for our big reunion. Our plans are to head south. Roger wants to try something with just a little adventure so, if weather permits we will try and go down Johnstone Strait and through the Seymour Narrows where hopefully we can meet up with the original owner of the Boru. He and his wife are sailing up near Cortez, one of our favorite places.

I must get this letter off before they kick us off the dock and because we are back in Happy Hour marinas I must hurry and make my appetizers.

Suzie & Roger

----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger & Suzanne Shaffer"
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 10:21 AM

Dear Family and Friends,

Here we are on the last leg of our trip home, what a great trip we have had. Winds, high seas, calm days, lots of motoring, traveling tight passages, having miles of sea with no boats in sight, seeing old friends, meeting new friends, whales, dolphins, fresh salmon, fresh crab, lots of prawns, whales bubble feeding, and of course the inevitable mechanical problems which Roger always figured out a way to fix. We will not make this trip again for several years, at least, so it is a bittersweet time for us, but like always, it is better to move on and tell you of our adventures rather than to dwell on the past.

We returned to one of our favorite spots in our Canadian travels, Lagoon Cove. I had all the ingredients lined up on the cabinet ready to make the usual appetizer which is called for during happy hour. When we pulled into the dock they told us, no happy hour, it was potluck dinner tonight. What! I had carefully planned for appetizers, not dinner fair. I prowled around in my limited larder and discovered that I had enough noodles to make gourmet Mac and Cheese. What is that you say, it is a cheese sauce made up of bits of blue cheese, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, and a little cheese whiz all dumped into a cream sauce. I figured is you put enough different kinds of cheese in something you can surely call it gourmet. It is amazing all the great food you get when 25 boaters gather and share their food. Dinner was great.

While we were at Lagoon Cove, one of the people we had met earlier came over to see us and bring us two crabs. Roger grabbed him a beer while I copied down a special recipe for shrimp creole. The next thing we know we have four more crabs to clean and pot into the boiling water. What a great gift, now we were able to have crab omelets for breakfast, crab salad for lunch and crab cakes for dinner. I still have a few crab cakes in the freezer and I plan on mixing them with a little left over salmon for a hearty fish chowder. Almost like the Mac and Cheese a one time recipe never to be tasted again. My mouth waters in anticipation.

We returned to Oleo’s for dinner with our friends on the Curlew. We met up with them about a week earlier and had spent several nights together laughing and playing cards. Bob, the skipper of Curlew, also sailed as a crew member in the Swiftsure this year. He told us about their harrowing experience. It seems they were doing great, sailing along, probably in the lead, when the helmsman reported that he could no longer control the boat. Everyone was looking around trying to figure out what was happening when Bob looked over the side and saw the keel canted off to one side and twisted out of line with the boats centerline. This was a 7 foot high aspect keel, that means long and narrows for you non sailors like me, with a lead bulb at the end and some of the keel bolts had failed. They immediately lowered the sails, after putting on their life jackets and closing the hatch, and started the engine in order to regain steering. Shortly thereafter the keel separated from the boat and the boat became highly unstable in the 30 knot winds they were experiencing. They called the Coast Guard requesting an escort back to Victoria in case they capsized. First a large cutter came to escort them but they had to leave and a new boat came to continue the escort. When the cutter left they almost sunk the boat with their wake. The stability of the boat was such that they had to move about with extreme care and without the keel the wind was causing a great deal of leeway, that means the boat was going sideways just as much as it was going ahead. They were very fortunate that the keel did not separate from the boat while the sails were up since they would have immediately capsized and probably sunk. Bob said he went right home and checked the bolts which hold his keel on. Incase any of you are worried, every time we take the boat out of the water, Roger makes sure that the keel bolts are nice and snug.

We are heading out of Ganges Harbor today and heading for the United States. We will clear customs and spend the night in Roche Harbor or Reid Harbor and meet up with Bob and Judy on Last Class for one last visit for the year. We plan on heading down to Port Townsend and enjoying the sights with our friends on the Thulani. She is staying there while parts are being shipped to replace her steering. They needed to replace their whole steering assembly, that not quite a bad a replacing an engine, but it does not come cheap.

Speaking of not being cheap we need to share our experience in Ganges Harbor. We read in Douglas about a great restaurant here. The restaurant had been written up in Gourmet Magazine and Roger in a moment of foolishness said, “Why don’t you make reservations for dinner, we haven’t been out to dinner in a long time.” I called and got reservations. When I asked the women on the phone what the dress was she said, “Smart Casual.” Oh no we had smart jeans and shirts but nothing dressier. I explained our situation, being on a sailing boat for almost four months and she said since it was such a slow night it would be okay just this once. I rushed off and got my hair cut and purchased a simple shirt without some city or island or country blazoned across my chest. We headed off, me with make-up on for the first time in months and Roger all spit and polished in his best jeans, we had $200 tucked into Roger’s wallet for dinner. We walked to the restaurant and meandered through their beautiful gardens. When we entered the restaurant we were greeted with our own customized menu for the evening. We began to think we might be in trouble when the cheapest bottle of wine was $35. Dinner was magnificent, three appetizer courses, one being a duck breast with pear and pine nut chutney that I could have made into my whole dinner. We both had roast leg of lamb, I am sure they much have used a miniature lamb because the slices were no wider than 3 inches and I have never seen a lamb leg that small, and finally we finished off with a great chocolate dessert which had ice cream and a peach sauce. Truly scrumptious! But that could also include the size of the bill. Needless to say, after taxes, they are over 15% here in Canada, and tip we had to use our trusty credit card after all. The dinner was certainly worth it and I have saved the menu for my scrapbook

We are getting ready to head out so I had best get this letter in the internet pipeline. We’ll see you all soon.

Suzie and Roger

P.S. To those of you who wondered gravlox are just like the lox you serve with bagles and lox. Sort of a pickled salmon.