Hello Glacier Bay! Nice to be back
August 2026
Two good strikes and they both escaped about 60ft from the boat. Couldn’t see them but betting on coho!
lol- Kinky Island 😂
July 2026
Confused seas to wrap the week. Gray, raining and 100% chance of whale sightings
Our second time here. Wind surprisingly funnels through even when there is not much wind outside the bay.
No bears but good fishing outside, caught a fairly sizable king that snapped the line when I was trying to net it, 7 rockfish most of which have been released and a pink salmon.
This is our second time at Sitka and for some reason, I think we found it much prettier on our first visit.
Lots of trolling but only 4 rockfishes, no salmon.
Saw a grizzly watching us from the bushes!
Fish on!!
Short hop across Chatham Strait today. In 2023 we got to stuffing knocked out of us out here, so very appreciative of mostly flat seas.
Headed to our first hot springs! This is one of the few places I like being on the dock because riding back to the mothership soaking wet in 50 degree weather after hiking a mile from the springs is not top of my list!
We got served up a beautiful one today!!!
Anchorage was very calm with just 1 other boat visible and only wake was from a passing cruise ship in the middle of the night.
We had a lazy morning except we pulled anchor and went to pull the crab pot we threw and it was no where to be seen! We finally found it about 1/4 away from the drop site. It had a massive kelp ball attached to the line, must have caused too much drag and the currents moved it. Bummer… no crab.
Seas are glass smooth and sky if mostly blue with fluffy white clouds…. It’s a beautiful day. I feel greedy asking for just a bit o wind :)
Fresh prosciutto/arrugula flatbread in the oven for the England/Norway match. 💙
First icebergs of the season!
Isn’t Alaska beautiful? 🙄🤣 You couldn’t tell if there were mountains or a desert out here right now. It’s 100% foggy and gray 🤣
Nice downwind sail partly, partly motorsail. Sailed by whales and otters 😁
Not a lot going on out here today. No wildlife, no sun, no wind, just gray seas and green mountains…. Sometimes uneventful is good.
A little bit of lumpiness but we’re jib only above 5kts. Should smooth a bit in two hours or so once we get a dogleg protection from the island.
Clarence Strait can be a jerk… last time we were here it kicked our ass, grateful it’s just mildly annoying today
June 2026
Peaceful and beautiful anchorage with a bit of a nerve wrecking entrance. Great fishing around (but no crabs)!
Excited to be here!!! Time change too, so now we are -1 from PT and -4 from ET which will make work 🙃
Welcomed to Alaska in the most Alaskan way possible.
We see a large orange buoy ahead, “strange” we think, it’s 600’ deep, no one crabs at this depth. As we get closer a fishing trawler heads towards us. A minute later we see them stop at the buoy (and we are in the middle of shore and the buoy).
Trawler hails us and lets us know that we’re about to run over his set net which is between the buoy and beach. So with full sails, 6’ swells we make the sloppiest tack away and clear the net. Welcome to Alaska Renaissance.
I love it when Dixon crossing is under a leisurely sail!
Blue skies 💙
Technically, I guess the forepeak cabin was a submarine for a bit 🤣
Quite a bit of green water over the bow on this last bit.
We think most of this is the river outflow current countering the wind and swell making the waves stack 3-5” at 3-4 seconds. Not something we want to do all day, but Renaissance handled it well.
Bashing of Chatham started!
Bashy bashy 25 on the nose. I think with these conditions it may be an early shorter day for us. Almost no way we can comfortably pass Chatham Sound
9:30pm glow
And like the nutters we are…. We decided to move our anchorage for the night another 25 miles 😳 away. Thank gosh for the midnight sun and late sunsets!
Downside: a long, gray, rainy and boring motor through the strait.
Upside: Waterfalls everywhere
It’s pretty but boy is it a slog, and 😣 currents against us.
Long channels, no anchorages. Just got to push through.
The undulating Pacific swells are back!! It’s like looking out over a gray carpet that’s mesmerizing, rolling up and down and around you.
We’ve got 10 miles of open water but probably a whole day of gray ahead.
Lingcod at the lighthouse but too small, released. They are fighters, these lingcods!
Here fishy fishy fishy. Lots of fly-in fishing lodges around here so there’s got to be salmon… right?
Two rock fish. Not exactly what we wanted but still grateful for the generosity of the sea. Released them.
From fog to sunshine and it’s a stunner
As we get closer to the sound conditions have started to deteriorate. Winds ticked up so we’re taking it on the beam at a higher frequency. Looking forward to being inside the sound.
Sails are out and up stabilizing the boat but alas the sun has stayed away.
A little uncomfortable, swells in short frequency, captains napping tho 😉. Taking some wash over the bow occasionally. Lots of massive logs to dodge! Lots of sea otter, no whales yet
We are right in the middle of the Race to Alaska pack. Looks like 3-4 of them are crossing Cape Caution today, this one aided by pedal drive.. Not much wind but medium swell. Hope they can get tucked in before dark those hearty souls.
Gray and gray. This stretch is known for its furious games and nasty seas. Very glad (at least so far) it’s taking the tame approach.
Interesting and very large anchorage. Mound island has a very particular feel. Close to a First Nation village, there is definitely a feel of history. We found a large midden on the SW corner of the island and the village on the East (New Vancouver) had very interesting totem poles. We wanted to go onshore to explore but there was no response from the village on the phone or on VHF.
Weaving between all the kelp beds and rocks is wild here. Add in 30kt winds, 4kts of current and a tidal swing of 14ft and it’s more of a technical passage vs. Easy hop!
Windy today! Yucky sea state
This is a lovely place with friendly owners. There are nice hiking trails around. Every evening there is a happy hour where boaters bring their food for potluck and the owners provide a pot of freshly caught prawns. Amazing experience!
Stop to time the slack current, pretty anchoraged
Current so strong we’re almost going backwards…. 1.9kts SOG
Currents are rough, 3-4kts against us 😵💫 but then suns out so yay!
And we’re off for a long day transiting Johnstone Strait. Current will be adverse but if wind forecast holds we hope for minimal chop/bash.
No destination set yet cause… who knows 🤷🏻♀️
And we’re off for a long day transiting Johnstone Strait. Current will be adverse but if wind forecast holds we hope for minimal chop/bash.
No destination set yet cause… who knows 🤷🏻♀️
This may be our favorite anchorage in all of Desolation Sound. It is secluded, and surprisingly well protected. When there were 20kt gusts in Laura cove from NE it was dead calm here. It would fit one maybe two boats at the extreme and stern tie is needed. Where you drop the hook is about 12ft depth at zero tide. You have mountain views in the front and forests on the back, with tons of birds singing for you. There was a deer on the shore in the morning. There is also great fishing around.
So all in all a fantastic place and much better than Prideaux Heaven and Laura Cove in our opinion.
So all in all a fantastic place and much better than Prideaux Heaven and Laura Cove in our opinion.
Salmon fishing never disappoints in Toba Inlet!
No wind but a beautifully great day to motor.
It is not an exaggeration to say Princess Louisa Inlet is the 8th wonder of the world. This place should be visited early in the season, late May or early June at the latest. You are surrounded by tens may be hundreds of waterfalls. Now twice, we had the luxury of mooring right in front of a breathtaking waterfall, literally your own private waterfall in a magical and mystical place.
Even in light winds, this girl can boogie!
Today is a dream come true. Haven’t seen a single boat in hours and the mix of sun/low clouds make the scenery just stunning. I’ve already lost count of the waterfalls.
We have a narrow 20 minute window to time the rapids so we are happily slowly sailing deep downwind.
We’re pretty tired but making good time with the jib and it’s been a fun sailing day. Still surrounded by squalls and dodging massive logs and tree root balls. Just passed 3-4 telephone pole logs and a massive football larger than a wooden pallet. It’s actually quite stressful with the logs as they are hard to see with the sea state and gray skies and rain covered dodger. Looking forward to being anchor down.
Lots of squalls ⛈️ and confused seas and brrrrr it’s cold without the sun! What a way to wild out to start the weekend
Captains first salmon fishing of the season! No bites but super exciting to be in salmon grounds again!
Strait of Georgia always a crap shoot. The last few days weather models said “nope nada nothin. Not a puff of wind.” So we said, fine we will motor. This morning the weather models sure did a 180 saying 16-26kts all day long… which generally means you will get your ass kicked cause it’s a long long strait and it can stack up.
Luckily we’re headed the right direction today and it’s a nice downwind ride (with a bit of weather helm).
We’re back in Canadian waters for the first time in 2 years!!
It can get very crowded here at times but when caught empty especially in winter, the island and trails are amazing.
May 2026
These are the days when sailing gets super fun… we are playing the currents and winds… with 5kts of wind and 2.5kts of current we are still doing 9kts+ with full sails.
Reminds me of the daysails we used to do before we were cruisers…. Just a fun day messing about with boats. 🤩
Gorgeous sail through the channel for a few days of chill in Friday Harbor
Couple hours of good sailing…. Still getting used to being heeled over
This salmon are jumping and the captain is mad as hell the season isn’t open yet 🤣
This has been our home marina for more than 4 years. On May 17th, 2024, we left it for good and started heading north.
September 2025