We departed Gig Harbor at noon on our way to Olympia to compete in the 2010 running of the Capital to Capital Navigation Contest. Skies are overcast and cloudy with light variable winds, as we cruise through the Narrows, Balch Passage and Dana Passage to Olympia. Arrived at Percival Landing, Olympia, at 1530 and moored at the dock. Registered as a reciprocal to South Sound Sailing Society.

Olympia Yacht Club hosted the Alaska bound racers and the racers who will do the Capital to Capital Leg 1 race, then return home or continue on to Bedwell Harbour to participate in the International Cruiser Race. The group enjoyed a potluck dinner and cocktails at OYC, then returned to their boats to dress ship for an early start of the Alaska 1000/Capital to Capital Leg 1 race.

Today’s Distance: 28 nm

We departed Percival Landing at 0715 to participate in the formal start of the AK1000/ Capital to Capital Leg 1 at 0800 off the Olympia Shoal Marker. Each boat was introduced by the OYC host boat, starting with the fastest boat, by skipper and boat name. The boats left at 1 minute intervals at 7 knots to Dofflemeyer Point where the race began.

The race course took us down Dana Passage, around Johnson Point and Devils Head, Balch Passage, and north to the Narrows bridge. A heavy ebb current made predictions difficult and the scores generally were high. There was a moderate south wind and lots of rain as the fleet proceeded to the Narrows. I undressed ship as we rounded Devils Head. The signal flags were drenching wet.

Nor’wester continued on north after the contest, taking advantage of the ebbing current. Our plan was to make Blakely Harbor and anchor for the night and catch the Saturday ebb current to Lopez Island, but the weather forecast for Saturday was for 15-20 knot winds, so we elected to continue north up the inside of Whidbey Island. At West Point in Seattle, we increased speed from 8.5 knots to 10 knots in the hopes of making Deception Pass at or near slack water.

Despite the rain and moderate wind, the seas were fairly flat, and our transit of Saratoga Passage was smooth. We made it to Hope Island at 1745, but we were not going to make Deception Pass at slack, so we decided to join a group of 6 other boats at anchor on the north side of Hope Island. This proved to be a very nice anchorage which we will remember for the future. Very close to Deception Pass and good protection from south winds. Next time, we will anchor closer to the island.

Today’s Distance: 99 nm Distance to date: 127 nm

At 1020 we weighed anchor and departed for Lopez Island and transiting of Deception Pass at slack water. We crossed Rosario Strait in a steady rain with light south winds to Lopez Pass, then north in Lopez Sound and Harney Channel to Blind Bay, where we rafted to Fred and Linda Cole on the Mousetrap at 1315.

We shared red wine and blocks of dark chocolate for cocktail hours with the Coles. The red wine was a gift from Helen Parrott at Olympia. The chocolate was from Kevin Jenkins, as went real good with the red wine. We decided to put the signal flags in the engine room to dry, as they are still very wet.

Had a light meal for dinner and retired for the night after watching a movie on DVD.

Today’s Distance: 22 nm Distance to date: 149

This morning started with partly sunny and cloudy skies, but later became heavy rain. Winds were light and variable. We departed Blind at 0900 and transited Wasp Passage and San Juan Channel on our way to Friday Harbor to pick up a few things we decided we needed before continuing north. We arrived in Friday Harbor at 0945 and moored at the breakwater north of the customs dock to walk up to town.

At 1130, we departed Friday Harbor and cruised up San Juan Channel and Boundary Passage to Bedwell Harbour, South Pender Island, arriving at 1330 to check in at customs. After phoning in our arrival, we were instructed to wait for an officer to come to the boat and interview us. After a short wait, we were cleared with customs clearance number 1500352.

We moved to the Poet’s Cove Marina dock where reservations had been made for the Alaska fleet. Moorage was $70.88 Canadian, including 30A power. Poet’s Cove is a very nice place with swimming pool, hot tub, espresso shop, and fine dining room at the hotel. We decided to join the Coles and Timmermans for dinner at the hotel.

Today’s Distance: 22 nm Distance to date: 171 nm

We awoke this morning to light rain, fog and overcast skies as we prepared to compete in the International Cruiser Race.

The ICR started at 0813 off Gowland Point on South Pender Island and continued east until turning northwest up Plummer Sound, Navy Channel, and Trincomali Channel to Dodd Narrows where we finished at 1247 off Round Island just south of the narrows.

The race was pretty difficult due to heavy fog that limited visibility, especially around the ferry lanes near Active Pass. Everyone made it without incident and Nor’wester was lucky enough to finish in 4th place overall and First in Class.

Following the race, we continued through Dodd Narrows, Northumberland Channel and into Nanaimo Harbour to spend the night at the Nanaimo Yacht Club.

Today’s Distance: 47 nm Distance to date: 218 nm

This is our lay day to prepare for the 1st leg of the Alaska 1000 and to do last minute shopping, fueling and filling water tanks before continuing north. We dropped the dinghy and went to town for some shopping and a trip to the marine store south of the mall. What a shock to find the mall almost empty, except for the grocery, drug, and liquor store. They are planning to tear down the mall and replace it with a high-rise condo project with a new grocery, drug and liquor store on the first floor.

At the Nanaimo Chandlery I was able to find the swim step boarding ladder I had been looking for, so we made that purchase for installation as time permits. The weather is pleasant with partly cloudy skies and occasional showers.

At 1700, the Alaska Group met at the Dinghy Dock Pub on Protection Island for our skippers meeting, last minute instructions for the trek north and a great pub meal furnished by the race committee.

After dinner we returned to the boat, filled the water tanks and listened intently to the weather reports for a crossing of Gulf of Georgia tomorrow morning.

The weather report for today is not good, so we will stay in Nanaimo and use one of our scheduled lay days before starting the AK 1000. The wind was so strong last night that a couple of the boats reported seasickness at the dock. Others had to tighten lines, move dinghies, etc. to allow for the swells and waves hitting the NYC docks.

We spent the day walking to town, getting Canadian money at the bank, etc. We keep hoping for a break in the weather for our crossing and Leg 1 of the AK 1000.

We awoke at 0500 to calm seas and no wind, we were underway at 0521 for our crossing to Pender Harbour and the running of Leg 1 of the AK 1000.

The race began off Hudson Rocks outside Departure Bay and continued north, east of Winchelsea Islands, west of Ballenas Islands, then a straight course for the daymarker on the south end of Texada Island. The ride up to Ballenas Islands was absolutely flat and calm, but immediately upon making the turn for Texada, the winds started to pick up. By the time we were at the southeast tip of Lasqueti Island, the winds are now at 25 knots from the southeast, making our final leg of the race a ride along the troughs of the seas. We couldn’t wait for the finish line so we could change course for a more comfortable ride.

Immediately after the finish line at 0851, we changed course to a more southeasterly to quarter the 4-6 foot seas. After getting a little protection from Epsom and Thormanby Islands, we changed course for the entrance to Pender Harbour. We arrived at Francis Point at 0941 and continued on to the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club outstation in Garden Bay where we moored for the night.

The group went to the local pub and sat on the deck for lunch, results of Leg 1 and instructions on tomorrow’s Leg 2 cruise to Squirrel Cove. We were hosted by Mary Walton, Tommy Trapp’s daughter, and a member of RVYC, for a potluck dinner at the outstation building in the evening. Mary and her husband keep their sailboat at the outstation during the winter, as it is only about 2 hours from their home.

Today’s Distance: 35 nm Distance to date: 253 nm

We departed RVYC’s outstation at 0535 to get an early start on our trip to Squirrel Cove, with Leg 2 of our race included. The race portion was a short 10.5 nautical mile race beginning at Nelson Point, going around Cape Cockburn and finishing at Northeast Point on Texada Island. The seas were calm with light winds northwest at 5-10 and scattered light showers.

After completion of the race, we continued up Malispina Strait, rounded Grief Point and continued past Westview, Powell River and Lund. The trip through Thulin Passage and the Copeland Islands was very pleasant with afternoon sun breaks. We were told that there is a new fuel dock just north of the Copeland Islands with the best prices, but found that the fuel dock has not been completed.

We entered Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island at 1115 and anchored in 22 feet of water behind the small island in front of the lagoon entrance. Fred and Linda Cole on Mousetrap rafted for the night. We launched the dinghy and toured the cove. Later, we had to go over to Tewasi to re-set her anchor, as she began sliding down on a sailboat at anchor while Don and Carolee were over at Refuge Cove in their dinghy.

Today’s Distance: 48 nm Distance to date: 301 nm

We weighed anchor at 0935 this morning in light showers and sun breaks with light southwest winds of 10-15. Cruising up Lewis Channel to transit Yuculta and Dent rapids at slack water on our way to Blind Channel resort. Moored at the Blind Channel dock at 1414 for the night.

Most of our group dined at the German restaurant for dinner. Owner Phil Richter, his wife, and son and new wife made sure we had a good time and enjoyed the food.

Today’s Distance: 37 nm Distance to date: 338 nm

Today is race day for Leg 3, which is a short 8.4 nautical mile course from Green Rapids to Whirlpool Rapids down Cordero and Chancellor Channels, with the transit of Whirlpool Rapids at 7 knots.

Skies are cloudy with lots of sun breaks, light northwest winds of 5-10 for a great day of cruising on our way to Lagoon Cove on East Cracroft Island.

We departed Blind Channel at 0450 and started the race at Lyall Point Light at 0557. The race ended at Carterer Point Light in Whirlpool Rapids at 0656. The currents were nothing like the predictions and most boats had high scores today.

Following the race, we continued on down Sunderland Channel to Johnstone Strait, then turned into Havannah Channel, then Chatham Channel , then through the Blow Hole to Lagoon Cove. We arrived at Lagoon Cove at 1112, took on 209 gallons of diesel, then moored at the dock.

Bill and Jean Barber, along with the helpers Bob and Pat, made sure we had everything we needed. Bill provided crab and prawn for dinner. The whole group met on the patio in front of the shop to listen to the music of the "Northward Bound 4" (Larry Price and Billie Henry on the accordion, Colleen Price on the keyboard, and Mike Henry on the drums) before dinner. A light rain shower did not dampen the spirits of the group as they enjoyed the music, did some dancing, then devoured the crab and prawns along with the salads and desserts provided by the contestants.

Several of us put out prawn pots with some luck. I only had 4 good sized prawns in my pots, but lots of small ones I did not keep. The best pot only produced 9. I don’t think we had them down long enough for a good harvest.

Today’s Distance: 48 nm Distance to date: 386

We departed Lagoon Cove at 0935 for Sullivan Bay via Spring Passage, Retreat Passage, Cramer Passage, Penphrase Passage and Sutlej Channel, arriving at 1447. No race today, just leisurely cruising in overcast skies with a few sprinkles and light winds.

On the way to Sullivan Bay, we passed the Gautorason’s on Nordic Sun as they were returning to Echo Bay from picking up supplies for the property they purchased in Echo Bay.

Chris, the manager of Sullivan Bay, made sure we had everything we needed for our stay.

We had a skipper’s meeting to discuss the upcoming Leg 4 of our AK 1000 race, which has us racing along the coast of BC to Skull Harbour. It was decided to depart early and make a decision after the race to either put into Skull Harbour, continue around Cape Caution and put into either Fury Bay on Penrose Island or go the whole distance to Pruth Bay on Calvert Island, depending on the weather and sea conditions.

Today’s Distance: 40 nm Distance to date: 426 nm

We departed Sullivan Bay at 0445 under overcast skies and light wind after the sun finally came up. We began Leg 4 of the race at Jeanette Island Light after clearing LaBouchere Passage and ended at the Harris Island Light, a race of 7.8 nautical miles. The water was smooth with ocean swells.

We finished the race at 0844 and the entire fleet decided to take advantage of the calm seas and continue around Cape Caution instead of putting into Skull Bay. At 1013, we rounded Cape Caution and proceeded to chart a course outside Egg Island, to Cape Calvert, then up Kwakshua Channel and into Pruth Bay. We arrived at Pruth Bay at 1409 and picked a good anchorage spot that was fairly well protected from the westerly winds coming in from the ocean.

Fred and Linda Cole on MouseTrap put down their anchor and we rafted to them. We rigged a stern line to shore, then accepted Ken and Karen Klett on the Klettitat and Andrea Schock and her all girl crew of Maggi Murphy and Becky Garvie on Schocking to the raft.

The weather was sunny in the afternoon with broken clouds and a steady westerly wind. A large private yacht of about 160 feet, Triple Seven, was anchored in the main channel in front of the Pruth Bay dock, so our anchorage in the south arm was ideal.

Today’s Distance: 83 nm Distance to date: 509 nm

This is our lay day and scheduled beach picnic at the West Beach of Pruth Bay. Pruth Bay is no longer a fishing resort, as an Institute has purchased the property and buildings to do research on the wildlife and horticulture of the island. With permission, they will allow visitors to use the path to the beach. All visitors must register with them and especially if they have pets. The volunteers and students are studying wolves and don’t want to mistake dog prints for wolf prints.

Everyone headed for the beach this afternoon for hotdogs, hamburgers and smores provided by the race committee. The path to the beach is loaded with small mesquitos that love to bite. The beach is a large flat beach in a semi-circle with lots of sand. I would campare this beach to Sunset Beach in the Coos Bay, Oregon area where I grew up. Very protected and pretty.

Another lay day in Pruth Bay before running Leg 5 tomorrow. The weather is about the same. Cloudy skies, scattered showers, and strong westerly winds. The group is getting restless and would prefer to move on.

We had a spaghetti dinner on MouseTrap, then retired for the night.

Departed Pruth Bay anchorage at 0700 and started Leg 5 of the race from Kelpie Point Light on Hecate Island, crossed Fitzhugh Sound, and finished off Fog Rocks Light. A 15.8 nautical mile race with a optional time out as we passed Namu if anyone needed fuel or provisions. No wind today, but overcast skies.

Following the race, we travelled north in Fisher Channel, then west in Lama Passage and north in Hunter Channel to Bella Bella. We then decided to put into Shearwater for the night, spending the night at anchor. We anchored at 1258, lowered the dinghy and went to "town". Purchased a few grocery items and scoped out the laundry facilities.

The wind has picked up to 15-25 from the southeast and we are getting heavy rain.

Today’s Distance: 45 nm Distance to date: 554 nm

We took the shore boat to town in a heavy rain with laundry and laptop to do laundry at the Laundromat. Purchased a wifi user and password from the grocery store for $10.50 per day to catch up on emails and internet news while the laundry was being washed and dried. They need to have an espresso stand at the laundromat, as everyone was there doing laundry and surfing the internet.

The group decided to head for Rescue Bay so we would have a lay day in Khutze Inlet. We loaded the dinghy in a heavy rain, covered the flybridge, and weighed anchor at 1345 to head for Rescue Bay.

Despite the heavy rain and wind, the seas in Seaforth Channel were relatively calm. We had some pretty good ocean swells as we made the turn to enter Reid Channel, then again as we crossed over to Lady Douglas Island. We continued north in Mathieson Channel to Rescue Bay on Susan Island, arriving at 1755.

MouseTrap anchored and we rafted to them for the night. We had a run in with a boat named Silk Road, a 53’ Selene from Orcas Island, who thought we had invaded their own private anchorage. They wanted to know our schedule so they could avoid us, so we gave them our itinerary.

Today’s Distance: 35 nm Distance to date: 589

No racing today, but we will move on to Khutze Inlet. We have light southwest winds and heavy rain showers all day.

Departed the Rescue Bay anchorage at 0930, travelled down Mathieson Channel to Oscar Passage, up Finlayson Channel and went inside Cone Island to observe Klemtu. The tide was at a minus 3.3, so we decided not to transit Jackson Passage. As we slowed to pass by Klemtu my cell phone started going off with incoming emails, so we called home for the latest updates from Karen and Debbie. After Klemtu, we continued up Tolmie Channel and Graham Reach to Khutze Inlet.

We arrived at Khutze Inlet at 1535 and rafted to Peachy Keen, Sundance, Outbound, Solmar, and MouseTrap with three anchors and three stern lines to shore right under the waterfall. The heavy rain is continuing, but we are well protected from the wind.

Mike Henry and Owen Ritter wasted no time in setting their crab and prawn pots. We were unable to put the dinghy down due to our raft position. The guys had quite a haul of crab and prawns. They shared their catch of crab with everyone on the raft after cooking them. Each boat got 5-1/2 crab.

Today’s Distance: 51 nm Distance to date: 640 nm

Another lay day in Khutze Inlet, a beautiful place to stay. The waterfalls, snow capped mountains, Khutze river and river delta make this a great place. The crabbing and prawning is great. The rain let up just after I had rigged a catch basin to put all of that water to good use by filling our water tanks. In the afternoon, the whole group took a dinghy tour up the Khutze River about a mile and a half, then toured through some of the smaller tributaries that wander through the river delta looking for bears. We didn’t see any bear, but we did go by the old abandoned gold mine operation.

Then the whole group met on MouseTrap for a potluck dinner where Billie Henry provided the large batch of freshly cooked prawn from the day’s catch. The prawns did not last long.

We departed our anchorage in Khutze Inlet at 0652 and headed for Lower Inlet to keep on our schedule.

The morning was started with a high fog with sun breaks and light winds.

We headed north in Graham Reach, Fraser Reach, west in McKay Reach, across Wright Sound and then entered Grenville Channel at 1332. A northwest wind of 15-20 picked up to face the incoming flood current making for a choppy ride up Grenville Channel to Lower Inlet.

We anchored in 95 feet of water near the north shore of the inlet. MouseTrap and Schocking rafted to us for the night.

Today’s Distance: 54 nm Distance to date: 694 nm

Today is race day, with the running of Legs 6 and 7, the final two legs of the Nanaimo to Prince Rupert race. The winds are 10-15 out of the northwest and we have overcast skies.

Leg 6 started just outside Lowe Inlet at 0728 and continued up Grenville Channel to Klewnuggit Light. The current was ebbing south at about 4.5 knots (a surprise to all the racers), so this short 10 nm contest did not have any good scores. Leg 7 continued from the finish line of Leg 6 to Watson Rock in Chatham Sound. Once again, the currents fooled everyone so the scores were extremely high.

Following the race, we continued toward Prince Rupert in heavy seas of 4-6’ through Chatham Sound. Everyone was relieved to finally arrive at Prince Rupert to put everything back in it’s place on their boat. We arrived in Prince Rupert at 1457 and moored at the Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club dock.

A large group of the contestants went up to the Breakers Pub for snacks and drinks.

Today’s Distance: 58 nm Distance to date: 752

This is a lay day in Prince Rupert. We moved the boat over to the fuel dock to take on 1,000 litres of fuel at .9115 per litre, then returned to the yacht club dock. We walked up town with Kent and Carol Soffel of Windy-I to shop for groceries at the Safeway store.

Our awards banquet was held at 1600 at Breakers Pub. We had to start early, as a cruise ship was due to dock at 1600 and Breakers could not insure us of seating after the cruise ship docked. The food is great at Breakers, the servers were well trained and efficient for such a large group, all ordering something different from the menu.

The winner of the Prince Rupert race was Chuck Silvernail on Solmar with a 0.8242 percent error. Second place was won by Don Larson on Tewasi with a 1.26983 error. Owen Ritter on Outbound was third with a 1.42466 error. Norwester finished in 11th place with a 2.35896 error, thanks to terrible scores on Leg 6 and 7.

We started very early this morning to begin Leg 8 of the AK 1000 race, then continue to Ketchikan.

We departed the dock at 0425, ran in the dark through Venn Passage, Metlakatla Bay and Duncan Bay to start the race at Hogson Reef Buoy at 0556.

The race was a 12.8 nautical mile course straight for Green Island Light in flat water with no wind and sunny skies. Following the race leg, we continued on to Ketchikan across Dixon Entrance and up Revillagigedo Channel in flat calm seas with small ocean swells. Continuing north in Nichols Passage and Tongass Narrows to arrive in Ketchikan at 1235.

After receiving moorage instructions from the Ketchikan Harbormaster, we moored at the Thomas Basin. Cleared customs at the dock by agent KET 019. The weather is sunny with a brisk north wind, unusual for Ketchikan, which is noted for its 13 feet of rainfall.

Shirley and I walked the town and looked into some of the tourist oriented shops. Since there are 4 cruise ships here, the streets are pretty crowded. We later walked south of the Thomas Basin to the grocery and liquor store, then returned to the boat. The Ketchikan Yacht Club invited our group to join them at their Friday Night Hamburger BBQ, so we took advantage. Their clubhouse is a floating building right in Thomas Basin. They have a little over 100 members and all of them are very friendly.

Today’s Distance: 82 nm Distance to date: 834 nm

We walked up town for lunch at Annabelle’s at the hotel. Ate lunch with Fred and Linda Cole. The food was not great and the service was very slow. After lunch we went to Tongass Outdoor to look for rain gear. Found some great rain coats and pants, which I purchased for the remainder of the trip. The last cruise ship left town at 1500, and all the shops closed. The weather is sunny and warm despite a steady north wind. Had dinner on the boat and went to bed early.

This is race day for Leg 9 of the AK 1000. The skies are overcast and a steady southwest wind is blowing about 10-15. We left the dock at 0652 and motored at a slow speed up Tongass Narrows to stay out of the way of the 6 cruise ships entering the harbor and docking.

We started the race at 0753 at Rosa Reef Light and continued north in Tongass Narrows, crossed Behm Canal, then up Clarence Strait to the Niblack Point Light. We had a beam sea crossing Behm Canal, then wind driven waves on our port quarter until McHenry Ledge, where we turned to go up Earnest Sound to Thom’s Place, our anchorage for the night. The afternoon sun came out and we were motoring north at the same speed as the south wind, so we opened up the flybridge and enjoyed the weather.

We arrived at Thom’s Place at 1422 and rafted to MouseTrap for the night. The wind is blowing about 12-15 from the south and the whole bay is full of crab traps. We will prepare for tomorrow’s Leg 10 up to Wrangell on our way to Petersburg.

Today’s Distance: 63 nm Distance to date: 897 nm

We departed Thom’s Place at 0557 for an early start to Leg 10 of the AK 1000, which is a 19.9 nautical mile race through Zimovia Strait at slow speed, then up to the Wrangell Entrance buoy at cruise speed. We found the current predictions for Zimovia Strait to be bogus, as the current was not running anywhere near published reports. Zimovia Strait is a very narrow, winding, and shallow passage between Wrangell and Etolin Islands.

Unfortunately, one of our boats, Windy-I, skippered by Kent and Carol Soffel, did not make it through Zimovia Strait. The hit bottom and early reports are that they damaged both rudders, both props, both shafts and some fiberglas damage to the hull. Don and Carolee Larson on Tewasi were in the same area, so they stopped and gave Windy-I a tow to Wrangell, accompanied by Bob and Audrey Gautschi on Sirena. The yard in Wrangell was waiting for them with their travel lift. First estimates were for them to be on the ways for about a week. Hopefully, they will be able to go straight to the Juneau area following their repairs and catch us as we leave Sitka and head for Juneau.

Following the end of the race, we turned west and transited Sumner Strait and started up Wrangell Narrows. The weather has been overcast all morning, but as we turned west in Sumner Strait, we received a heavy rain shower and visibility decreased to about a mile. The rain didn’t last long and visibility increased as we made our way through the 114 channel markers along this 21 nautical mile passage. They call this the Christmas Tree passage because at night the many red and green navigation aids light up the passage.

As we approached Wrangell, we noticed that the color of the water changed to a strange almost milky green color. This is because of the glacier runoff, and we will probably now begin to see "bergies" that have broken off the icebergs and will be floating in the sounds and straits.

We arrived in Petersburg at 1318, called the Harbormaster on Channel 16 VHF, then switched to Channel 9, and ask for a berthing assignment. She assigned us slip 653 on C dock. We moored at 1342 next to a DeFever 48, Sun Chaser V, and Whale Chaser, a Krogen whaleback like John and Kathleen Holt’s Kathleen II. Kirk and Barb on the Whale Chaser are from San Francisco. They brought their boat up to the Broughtons last year, then left it in Seattle over the winter so they could cruise Alaska this summer. Their son is a tug boat captain for Foss and will be joining them in Juneau.

Petersburg is a nice little town with lots of personality. They are very proud of the Norwegian heritage. The Harbormaster is a delightful young lady who doesn’t let anything bother her. Moorage rates in Petersburg were a surprise, as two nights moorage with power was only $53.00. She gave us tips on where to eat, but advised us that almost all the restaurants are closed on Mondays. She suggested Papa Bear’s Pizza for food on Mondays. For drinks, she recommended the Elks or the world famous Kiko’s Kave pub. There is a nice restaurant about 4 miles south of town, Beachcomber, that will send a van for us, except for Mondays.

Our group decided to go to Papa Bear’s for pizza and to celebrate Bill Anderson’s birthday. Papa Bear’s only has about 20 seats, so our group of 24 overfilled the place. The locals who showed up to order pizza were amazed to see so many people in this small place. I’m sure they are used to being able to walk in and order their pizza with no wait. The place may be small, but their pizzas are very good.

Today’s Distance: 64 nm Distance to date: 961 nm

A lay day to explore Petersburg. Steady and heavy rain today, so most of my time was spent on the boat doing odd jobs, doing engine room checks, etc. Fred and I walked up to the ACE hardware store and Radio Shack so Fred could get an elbow for his furnace exhaust and a splitter for his DVD/Wii players. The stores are well stocked with the basics needed by the locals. Shirley and Linda called the large grocery store out of town and they sent a van to pick them up at the dock, then delivered them back to the dock after their shopping.

We ate dinner on board and went to bed early.

It’s still raining pretty heavy, but no wind. The visibility is about 2 miles because of the low overcast and rain. We departed Petersburg at 0629, made our way out of the harbor and motored on a slow bell to the #62 buoy before picking up speed to 8.5 knots. We made a left turn and started up Frederick Sound for the Kake area. Seas are smooth with a nasty 1-2 foot swell off our starboard quarter. Norwester does not like these seas, so a lot of hand steering.

Some of the boats ahead of us had whale sightings, but we didn’t see them. We decided to alter course from the Kake area to Chapin Bay on Admiralty Island and across Frederick Sound for our anchorage. We saw Shadowfax on the AIS, but were just barely able to see her through the rain, even though they were only 4 miles away, heading south in Frederick Sound. We arrived at Chapin Bay at 1323 and rafted to MouseTrap in 63 feet of water. Chapin Bay is a well protected bay with a spit that almost completely seals it off from Frederick Sound. We found it to be a very peaceful anchorage. Good holding ground with a sand and silt bottom. Small beaches all along the shore with wildlife sightings. There is a grizzly bear that hangs out on the north shore, but we did not see him.

Watched a movie and went to bed late.

Today’s Distance: 57 nautical miles Distance to date: 1018 nm

We awoke to rain and heavy low clouds this morning. Underway at 0638 and cruised down Frederick Sound in 2-3 foot seas right on the beam with a 15-20 knot southeast wind. At Carroll Island, we made the turn and headed west for Chatham Strait. At Point Gardner, the wind died down a little and we had following seas the rest of the way to Baronoff Warm Springs, where we decided to investigate this small village with the waterfall, lake, and hot springs.

We moored at the Warm Springs dock at 1020 and walked up to the lake and hot springs. We couldn’t help but notice the two cabins that were broken off their supports and are sliding into the bay. Apparently they had too much snow a couple of years ago and the weight was too much for the foundation supports. There is a lot of current from the waterfall near the dock, so docking and leaving was a real chore.

At 1200 we departed Warm Springs and headed for Sitkoh Bay. As we left Warm Springs Bay, we ran into heavy fog hugging the Baronoff shore about half way out. The seas had settled down to 1-2 foot swells behind us and the wind was very light, but we found that they had an opening for the seiners, so the west side of Chatham Strait was full of purse seiners and their nets.

We arrived at Fairway Islands at 1433 to find that our group had decided to abandon Sitkoh Bay as every anchoring spot was full of crab pots. We turned west with the thought of anchoring in Hanus Bay, but the best anchorage was already taken by the Bremerton portion of our group. We continued on down to Appleton Cove and anchored at 1636 in the south bay in 43 feet of water with 120 feet of chain. MouseTrap rafted for the night. A nice quiet anchorage.

Found I had a problem with the davit winch, which had apparently got water into the switch and had completely unwound and re-wound itself backwards on the reel and had picked the dinghy up off its chocks. The winch motor was very hot and the thermal fuse was blown. I unhooked the electrical and fixed the problem after we anchored. Winch motor seems to be working ok.

Today’s Distance: 65 nm Distance to date: 1,083 nm

Today is race day, so its up and at em early, as the race start line is back 10 miles from our secure anchorage in Appleton Cove. We weighed anchor at 0723 and motored east in Peril Strait to the start line off McClellan Rock. We started Leg 11 of the AK 1000 at 0848 and cruised down Peril Strait, ending the race portion of our day at Povorotni Island at 1116, a 21.6 nm course.

Following the race, we continued south through Peril Narrows, Sergius Narrows and Kakul Narrows with a mild ebb current to help us. The overcast skies and east wind of 12-15 knots continued until we got to the narrow, when we received some heavy rain showers. Just as we entered Peril Narrows, the Alaska fast ferry Fairweather passed us doing 37 knots. It is quite intimidating to see this monster coming up on your stern.

As we were in Sergius Narrows, we heard that the group had decided to forgo anchoring in Kalinin Bay and to proceed on to Sitka. At 1244 we entered the north end of Neva Strait and arrived at the Sitka breakwater at 1520. Neva Strait is a narrow winding passage, well marked, but has lots of traffic, including the high speed ferry, which we met again on its return trip, and lots of charter boats that pass you about 30 feet off as they speed back to Sitka.

Upon arrival at the breakwater, we called the harbormaster on Channel 16 VHF, switching to Channel 14 to receive our berthing assignment. The entire harbor was full, all 1600 berths, as they are having a trolling opening on July 1 and every troller in the area has converged on Sitka to be ready for the opening. Chuck Hackett, the harbormaster, found us space on the cruise ship lightering dock for the night, with a promise that he would try to re-locate us tomorrow. The lightering dock is right down town, but has no power or water and its just inside the no wake zone.

We will use tomorrow to explore the town of Sitka. It is a beautiful setting with the ocean to the west, tall snow covered mountains to the east and a busy harbor with many small islands just off the main channel.

Today’s Distance: 67 nm Distance to date: 1,150 nm

It is raining cats and dogs here in Juneau. The cloud cover is so low you can barely see the mountains that border the city. The temperature is in the 50’s and the wind is about 5-10 knots from the south.

Shirley and I gathered our laundry and headed for the Laundromat in the rain. The Laundromat is about a ½ mile from the marina, but it is very clean and comfortable. By the time we returned with our clean clothes and bedding and put everything away, it was time to get ready for the awards banquet at the Prospector Hotel. Because of the rain, we decided to share a cab with Fred and Linda Cole for a total cab fare of $5.00, quite a bargain.

The awards banquet was quite a success with everyone in attendance, including Kent and Carol Soffel from the Windy-I, who just arrived today from the shipyard in Wrangell. The Wrangell shipyard repaired their damage from the grounding a couple of weeks ago and they put in two long cruising days to get to Juneau in time for the awards ceremony.

Don and Fred announced the winners of the 2nd half of the race and the overall winners. The scores were remarkably low for a race of over 250 nautical miles in unfamiliar waters. Chuck Silvernail was the overall winner. Don then presented Kent Soffel the coveted Iceberg trophy, which was a piece of the Mendenhall Glacier that had been preserved in an ice chest for the presentation. Kent was made to stand there in front of everyone and hold on to this chunk of ice while Don and others lauded his efforts to improve the economy in Wrangell and to put so many people to work repairing his boat. Runners up were Dick Timmerman on the Vagabond for his failure to notice that it was water he was putting into his fuel tank in Bella Bella. Third place was Bob Gautsche for not instructing his crew on how to navigate a dock without stepping into the hole in the dock and going swimming unexpectedly at Pender Harbour.

It’s raining again today. The ceiling was so low and the rain so hard last night that they cancelled the annual 4th of July fireworks display at midnight last night. In Juneau, it is not dark until about midnight, so they traditionally have the fireworks display at one minute after midnight of the 3rd. They plan to have the fireworks show in Gastenau Channel tonight.

Shirley is busy preparing to take her 1500 flight to Seattle, so the cab will pick her up at 1300 here in the marina.

Fred, Linda and I walked a couple of blocks up the street to watch the Juneau/Douglas 4th of July parade down the main highway. Everyone in Juneau and Douglas turns out for this annual event. The parade lasted about an hour and included fire trucks, military vehicles, a few theme floats, lots of political vehicles (minus the candidates, because there are more votes in Anchorage), and every club and organization in town. Lots of local civic pride. I thought the highlight of the parade was the float with the local ballet dance group of 6-10 year old girls in the ballet outfits and Xtra Tuf boots (Alaska sneakers). Only in Juneau would you see this.

Our racing group attended a private party dinner at Tarentino’s restaurant in downtown Juneau. This restaurant opened just for us, as most every restaurant in town closes for the 4th. They served a great

Italian meal, with everyone ordering from the menu. They were very efficient. Our servers were a mother and daughter who lived in Federal Way. The mother moved to Juneau recently and the daughter, who attends the University of Washington, is here for the summer to earn money for school.

Following dinner, Fred and Linda Cole, Chuck Silvernail and I walked the streets of downtown Juneau while there are no cruise ships here and stopped at the Westmark Hotel and Red Dog Saloon for a quick drink. When we arrived at the Red Dog Saloon, almost our entire group was already there. This saloon is quite a place with lots of unique décor, a large gift shop, and sawdust on the floors. They have a large sign that says "If their food, drink or service does not meet your standards, please lower your standards".