Its the 8th of August today, and the new dinghy is here, good thing, Bert was going a bit crazy, waiting for it.  Its a nice little boat, should do well for us. Tomorrow morning, i will bring the bonsai away, then we anchor out in Pillsbury cove, and wait till the weather improves, its blowy and the waves are big in Dixon Entrance. We are quite excited about Alaska, not sure what to expect, but the stories from Dean and Leo are wonderful, and we should see lots of whales for sure. We figure, once we start heading back south, the bears will be at the creeks for the fish, and maybe we still get to see the Kermodei Bear.But,apparently there are lots of bears to watch in Alaska. So, i will sign off for now, and hope to be able to write in Alaska.

For 16 years now , i am the proud owner of a little bonsai tree, its a Japanese Hornbeam, and its 66 years old.  For the last 9 years, it has lived on the boat, and goes every where with us. We want to go into Alaska, but , i dont think its possible to bring the tree along, and losing it would be heartbreaking.  So, i went to talk to the owner of Cowpuccino’s, a wonderful coffee shop here in Prince Rupert, we went there almost every day, and i like the atmosphere in there, and the owner seems like a very nice guy.  So, i approached him to ask if he would consider taking care of the bonsai, just for 3 weeks, and he said;”No problem”!!! i am so grateful, and i know it will be ok there. Thank you Judson, i hope i spelled your name right, thanks to you we get to go into Alaska!!!! See you in 3 weeks!!!!

Lots of fog here, it was not too bad at first, we saw the huge bulk of a whale, no tail showing in the dive sequence, so maybe a fin whale, (he was big!!), or a minke whale. We were planning to go to Mcmicken beach, recommended by our friends, but the closer we came , the more fog appeared, then the wind started up, i thought that would be a good thing, might  blow the fog away, but no way, it became very thick, the coast looked treacherous, rocks everywhere, it was a chore to find the entrance to Mcmicken, then we sat in the middle of bullkelp, which means, more rock, enough of that, we made a total turnaround and headed out into the open , deeper water, Martha had told us about Weinburg Inlet, which was easier to enter, so we headed there. I didnt realize how nervous i had been, how tense, once we were anchored , in a very quiet spot, i felt like a puddle, and had to sit quiet for a while. We stayed here for just one night, the dinghy was giving lots of trouble, getting worse every day, we decided to go to Patterson inlet, on Pitt Island, a nice place, good anchoring, for one night. Next morning we were on our way again, we really needed to get to Prince Rupert, the failing dinghy was becoming a big problem, we couldnt go exploring, had to pump it up every day, couldnt (still) not find any leaks, so away we went to Captain Cove, through Petrel channel. There was a humpback in Petrel Channel, i didnt think they would come in here, its not that wide, but the surroundings are wild, absolutely beautiful. In Captain Cove, SV Ectasea was anchored, we saw no one on board, so we hoped to chat with them the next morning. After seeing Rusty and Jo and Sam, we headed out towards Prince Rupert, Ogden channel to Arthur passage, the tide was in our favour , we made good speed. Saw another Humpback whale, all by himself, he seemed to be rubbing on the rocks. ( probably feels good to get rid off the barnacles). Everyone had warned us of trouble going towards P.R. but we has no problems at all. Motored by the loading docks for coal and grain, very large freighters waiting outside, the train runs here too, and slowly Prince Rupert came into view, with, further up the very tall mast of a sailboat anchored, i know that mast, belonging to SV Maddogvoyager!!!!  We had not seen our friends for over 4 years, well, they are doing well, and seem to still work on the computer all the time.   After greeting we headed off to get fuel, it is not always easy here, as there is only one fueldock here, and all the fishing boats seem to have priority. We lucked out, and bought our fuel right away, the last time we bought fuel was in Dawsons Landing, so we did well, with still half a tank left. Then, into the marina, tricky here to do, as the tide runs very strong. We ended up only one night here as they needed the slip for another boat, we anchored near the guys, across from the town and tied things down well as a storm was approaching.  A bit of a bumpy night but no problems.  Back in the marina the next day,and now,we are still here, waiting for the dinghy to arrive, from Vancouver. We both like the town, plus the weather has been great, its a well known fact that P.R. has rain for 364 days of the year, but its been sunny and bright , very nice!!! We like the waterfront area, and the coffee shop nearby, “Cowpuccino’s, we sit outside in front, watching life go by.