Chapter 1, Chapter 2

 (EDITOR’S NOTE:  the author and his college fraternity companion aboard a 25-foot twin outboard plywood hull left Seattle, motored through Puget Sound into the island-strewn coastline off southern Vancouver Island, crossed the Georgia Strait and wound up the narrow confines of the Inside Passage toward Skagway, Alaska.  Two weeks were spent (Chapter 2) negotiating predominantly wilderness waters and a crossing of an arm of the North Pacific to reach Skagway in just under  two weeks.  Now the return trip begins)

 We bade Skagway adieu on a cloudless early morning with the knowledge we faced a rapid return journey to culminate our three week charter in Seattle.  Calm waters on the Lynn Canal led us to Juneau, a brief overnight and only a couple of flagons at the Red Dog Saloon.  Next day we followed the Inside Passage to Petersburg and moored amidst a fleet of salmon fishing craft.  Sheltered waters and no pause for salmon angling brought us to Ketchikan as darkness fell the next day.  A fierce Pacific gale blew in from the Dixon Entrance below Ketchikan and we were happy to find some shelter by hugging the mainland coastline into Prince Rupert, B.C.  Forging southward next day, we took the narrow, wind-sheltered route via Grenville Channel to a refuel and rest stopat Butedale.  

Ever onward, we followed Tolmie Channel to a provincial marine park anchorage just north of Namu and an opportunity to gather both Butter Clams and Dungeness Crab as refreshment for another crossing of Queen Charlotte Sound.  We arose at the burst of dawn to face the ocean swells on the Sound, and soon found ourselves enmeshed in a fog bank to test our compass-reading accuracy.  Port Hardy at the northern end of Vancouver Island beckoned us from the fog with a harbor horn that brought us to dock in the lee of the Alaskan Ferry.  

Estimating we were slightly ahead of our return schedule, a decision was made to travel the next day to Minstrel Island, marking the mouth of Knight Inlet, longest (80 miles) fjord on the B.C. coast, and well worth a scenic side trip.  We trolled angling lures in the upper reaches of the Inlet and snared a rare catch in a pair of Sockeye Salmon, not known for responding to hook and line temptation. We were also rewarded by clear sky, calm water and spectacular alpine vistas, with Mt. Waddington, highest peak (13,104 ft.) in Canada, towering above us in glacierized glory.

We anchored for the night in upper Knight Inlet, feasting on our fresh grilled Sockeye.  Morning mist lay low as we sallied forth at daybreak.  Over the sound of our motors, we both heard a periodic whooshing sound about our bow, which soon proved to be a frisky Killer Whale playing tag with our craft, nearly touching our hull on frequent passes over a period of several minutes.  

Disaster strikes journalists

Emerging from our inland journey, we took to the chop of Johnstone Strait and thence to the tidal rips around Stuart Island, which we wisely negotiated at slack tide into the Big Bay resort where we had paused on our northward leg.  Here we heard a tidal horror story…just days before, a party of Time/Life journalists had hired a dugout outrigger canoe from local Indians to paddle themselves on a photo shoot up Bute Inlet.  These hardy explorers heeded no cautions concerning a return to Stuart Island only at slack tide.  The Yuculta Rapids swirled around and upended their frail craft, throwing six persons among the tidal whirlpools.  Three journalists lost their lives and only the intervention of the flat bottom, high-powered boat in which an Indian guide had given us a tidal tour on our way north saved the remainder of the canoe party.

Digesting this scenario, we cancelled our plan to spend a few hours of small craft fishing along the edges of the fearsome Yuculta maelstrom.  The licensed premises at the Lund terminus of the road and ferry path from Vancouver beckoned and we toasted our survival good fortune in guiding a barely adequate rig this far.  From Lund, we crossed the Georgia Strait to the east coast of Vancouver Island, pausing at Savary Island en route.  Savary is a small horseshoe shaped isle In mid Strait, with a curving white sand beach remindful of a tropical location and an invitation to go swimming which we accepted.  Nightfall found us at port in Nanaimo, a veritable metropolis of 70,000 souls and offering a truly urban evening.

Somewhat chastened by over-indulgence, we motored leisurely the next morn from Nanaimo into the Gulf Islands adjoining the American San Juans at the international border.  We anchored for the night in a deserted cove, bathed in moonlight.  Sunrise reminded that we were in the final hours of our charter period, and we carried onward through Puget Sound to a Seattle afternoon arrival.

Thus ended a rapid and rather reckless voyage that covered well over 2,000 winding nautical miles into Alaska and back, bouncing over the main at up to 25 mph for three weeks.  Both exhilarating and exhausting and probably quite removed from any designation as a “pleasure cruise,” but an adventure to treasure for a lifetime.

© 2003 Oregon Magazine