Trip Plan: Preparing for Cape Caution

Day 5 - May 31)  Echo Bay to Port McNeill and then to Port Hardy:  47 miles

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Day five is the last day that I will assign a date, May 31.  June will be all about watching the weather and making wise decisions, and really about discovering new places, things and making new friends.  From here forward we are going to be flexible.  On Day five Cindy & I will cross a threshold to places we have never been before.  We have cruised the Broughtons a couple of times previously and really love this area.  But we have not been past Port McNeill.   New water for us!

We plan to reprovision in Port McNeill or Port Hardy.  We are going to top up the tank, put some veggies and groceries on the boat.  I bet we hit a hardware store and maybe a tackle shop.  Port Hardy is "the end of the road" and the last large grocery store for a while.

We will be looking for an internet connection in town and will download weather, take a look at the offshore buoy data and get a good handle on making our way around Cape Caution safely and comfortably.   Check this blog for an update on our progress on the evening of May 31st, hopefully we will have a forecast for you.   Steve

Trip Plan: Johnstone Strait and the Broughton's

Day 4 - May 30)  Blind Channel to Echo Bay: 67 miles

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Johnstone Straits is the narrow piece of water that separates the North American Continent from Vancouver Island.  This body of water is full of whales, tugboats (American and working), beautiful tree lined shores, and current.  I really enjoy this transit. 

I like to be on Johnstone early in the morning before the wind rises and go with the current.  Peak current on May 30 is about 7am.  We will leave Blind Channel near 5:30AM and plan to ride the current north. 

Cinnamon Girl will take a right turn up Havannah Channel and thru Chatham Narrows on the way to Echo Bay.  I keep hearing what Pierre & Tove have done with the Echo Bay Resort and look forward to seeing them again.

Trip Plan: Navigating through Yaculta & Dent rapids

Day 3 - May 29)  Cortes Bay to Blind Channel via Big Bay!   41 miles

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I love Desolation Sound.  It will pain me to pass right on thru this area without exploring it further, but we will be sliding out of the narrow entrance of Cortes Bay and moving north early. 

Slack tide at Yaculta and Dent rapids is the key to this leg.  We want to be there when the water is calm, as three hours later it will be boiling and not navigable.  Our slack is at 9AM on May 29th.

Blind Channel is a very nice resort with a restaraunt, fuel, supplies, and a great hike on their nature trail.  We will have an early night as the next day will come very early...



Trip Plan: Gulf Islands to Cortes Bay: Heading up the Straits of Georgia

Day 2 - May 28)  Moving north past Texada Island to Desolation Sound: 80 miles

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Day 2 is a long day, one of the longest of the whole trip.  My thought is to make tracks early and leave more time to explore the areas between Rivers Inlet and Alaska. 
We plan to rendezvous with a pair of American Tug 34's near Silva Bay; LaBelle and Peapod.  We will be cruising together up through the Broughton Islands.  More about the other boats as the trip unfolds.

Slack tide at Gabriola Passage is approximately 8:30am.  Cinnamon Girl will make her way through on this slack when there is only minimal current in this narrow passage.  Hopefully the wind will be down and the trip north up the Straits of Georgia will be smooth.  We will have a little current with us.  Cortes Bay is a nice protected anchorage and will be a welcome sight.

Trip Plan: The road to Ketchikan: Day 1 Bellingham to Gulf Islands

Day 1 - May 27)  Bellingham to the north end of the Gulf Islands: 67 miles

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We will slip off the docks in Squalicum Marina in Bellingham and make our way past Lummi Island.  Our initial destination will be the Canadian Customs dock in Bedwell Harbour.  Then we  will find a quiet anchorage in the north end of the Gulf Islands.  I am sure that night we will be looking through every cruising guide aboard Cinnamon Girl in anticipation of a great trip.

Fine Edge publications: Discounts for American Tug family

Mark Bunzell at Fine Edge publishes the very best cruising guides and planning books for cruising the northwest.  I have always relied on the yellow "Exploring" series books.  A few years ago I discovered the new "Dreamspeaker" series and they are a great compliment to my on board library.  Mark has generously offered a 15% discount on all of his books to the American Tug family. 

These books will be with us on our trip to Alaska later this month.

See: http://www.fineedge.com/americantug/ .  Mark is also now the publisher of the Waggoner Cruising Guide and has the new 2011 book on his site.

AT-395 and AT-435 Side by side in the Swinomish

Did you ever wonder how much larger an American Tug 435 is than the AT-395?

"Click" on the photo to see in higher resolution.

Today we drove AT-395 #2 and her big sister AT-435 #45 to Anacortes for display at Trawler Fest.  The boats were side by side heading up the Swinomish Channel.  This is a new AT-435 was just put into the water yesterday for the very first time.



It makes an interesting comparison.   They both look great on the water!!

Steve
Cell 206-930-6139
steve@expeditionyachtsales.com

Heading to Alaska aboard Cinnamon Girl: AT-41 #9

I am pretty excited... Cindy and I will be skippering the American Tug 41 Cinnamon Girl to Alaska in a few weeks.  Cinnamon Girl is in charter with San Juan Yachting and she has a charter booked in SE Alaska for five weeks.  We are delivering her to Ketchikan for the owners.



We will be posting photos and blog stories as we make our way up the inside passge.  I have wanted to do this trip for twenty years and am really looking forward to seeing Alaska.  A couple of the other American Tugs will be heading north with us, which I am confident will lead to some fun adventures.

Please subscribe to this blog and you can keep track of us.  Cindy is a great photographer and we will post many of her pics.   This will be a good time!  Steve.

Tonka is heading home to Vancouver!

Congratulations to Per & Janet Palm on their new boat Tonka.


American Tug 34 Hull #65 now renamed Tonka. 

Thank you very much for working with me.  Please let me know how I can continue to be of service and support with your American Tug.  Call me anytime at 206-930-6139.

Steve Scruggs, CPYB
Broker & owner of Expedition Yacht Sales, LLC
steve@expeditionyachtsales.com
Anytime 206-930-6139

Emerald Star II and Mount Baker

I just spent four beautiful days at the Victoria Inner Harbour, at the annual boat show.  It is always great to visit Victoria and see old friends.  On the way home Emerald Star II looked great cruising down the Straights of Juan de Fuca heading back to Anacortes.


The new AT-395 Emerald Star II passing the Trial Islands Lighthouse



Emerald Star II with Mount Baker


Thanks to Duane & Lynn for letting me spend time aboard their new American Tug 395!

Steve