Photos:
1. Jim at the "office" (local coffee shop in Prince Rupert)
2. 
Climbing the dock ramp at low tide.
Climbing the dock ramp at low tide.3. Rafted Boats
4. Lara's breakfast (almost like home!)
5. Sunset (finally!) at 11pm.
Alaska to Prince Rupert, Canada
We had a bit of a rough ride in the open ocean (Dixon Passage) to get from Alaska to Canada. I (Lara) felt a little barfy with the motion. Fortunately Jim took over and I got to “sleep it off”. It is funny how sea sickness just shuts me down into hibernate mode.
We arrived at 11pm (or 10pm Alaska time – there is a loss of one hour from Alaska to Canada as we moved both south and east). See how light it is out at this time. You can really get a sense of the 20 hours of daylight each day.
It was dicey last night as we called for a marina spot and there were no openings ANYWHERE. When they run out of space they just go home and no one answers the phone here in Prince Rupert – This is the place where the guide book says, “Prince Rupert – Decide to BE HAPPY”. Land of no cell phone.
So we sweated it out, nearing midnight, and found a spot deep in the bay. This process involves Lara at the helm while Jim is outside with the binoculars looking for a space that he can wedge this 55’ beast. Fortunately his docking skills with this monster are now world class!
We needed to contact customs to “in process”. They don’t monitor the radio and cell phones don’t work. SO at midnight we had Canadian coins in our pockets and headed out to find a pay phone. Fortunately, there were a few really nice, feeling good (drunk) blokes on the dock who lent us a cell phone.
We reported our alcohol inventory (minimal), our tobacco and weapon inventory (none) to customs and they gave us our clearance number which we have to tape to a window! It turned out that the customs guy we spoke to was the same guy we spoke to when we cleared into Victoria a few weeks back. He remembered the boat name and we had a nice chat.
The harbor where we are docked is very interesting with boats just stacked higgley-piggley everywhere! Rafting (one boat tied to the dock and as many as three other boats tied to the first boat) is very common. Fortunately, this is mostly done with smaller boats since noone wants to risk having a boat our size tied to their gunwale!
Alaska to Prince Rupert, Canada
We had a bit of a rough ride in the open ocean (Dixon Passage) to get from Alaska to Canada. I (Lara) felt a little barfy with the motion. Fortunately Jim took over and I got to “sleep it off”. It is funny how sea sickness just shuts me down into hibernate mode.
We arrived at 11pm (or 10pm Alaska time – there is a loss of one hour from Alaska to Canada as we moved both south and east). See how light it is out at this time. You can really get a sense of the 20 hours of daylight each day.
It was dicey last night as we called for a marina spot and there were no openings ANYWHERE. When they run out of space they just go home and no one answers the phone here in Prince Rupert – This is the place where the guide book says, “Prince Rupert – Decide to BE HAPPY”. Land of no cell phone.
So we sweated it out, nearing midnight, and found a spot deep in the bay. This process involves Lara at the helm while Jim is outside with the binoculars looking for a space that he can wedge this 55’ beast. Fortunately his docking skills with this monster are now world class!
We needed to contact customs to “in process”. They don’t monitor the radio and cell phones don’t work. SO at midnight we had Canadian coins in our pockets and headed out to find a pay phone. Fortunately, there were a few really nice, feeling good (drunk) blokes on the dock who lent us a cell phone.
We reported our alcohol inventory (minimal), our tobacco and weapon inventory (none) to customs and they gave us our clearance number which we have to tape to a window! It turned out that the customs guy we spoke to was the same guy we spoke to when we cleared into Victoria a few weeks back. He remembered the boat name and we had a nice chat.
The harbor where we are docked is very interesting with boats just stacked higgley-piggley everywhere! Rafting (one boat tied to the dock and as many as three other boats tied to the first boat) is very common. Fortunately, this is mostly done with smaller boats since noone wants to risk having a boat our size tied to their gunwale!
1 comment:
Jim - doesn't look like you'll be back near Seattle / Victoria for a few days. Both Lauri and I will be there through Sunday morning, and Lauri will be there for the next 6 weeks. Give a call when you are a couple of days out with your plans.
Duane
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