M.V. Gyrfalcon

06/02/2026

Alaska 2026
Day 7

A day of R&R in Shearwater. Got up, made breakfast, read the papers, practiced Spanish. Around noon we took the NFB (New Fast Boat - our inflatable that replaced the GFB - the Go Fast Boat several years ago.) to the dock here in Shearwater, and took the shuttle to Bella Bella across the channel. Bella Bella has a Big House (closed), a Cutural Education Centre (closed), a cafe (closed) and a Waglisla Band Store (grocery store), which was open and doing a booming business. The barge delivers fresh supplies on Sundays, so lots of townspeople were stocking up today. Everyone in town waved and said hello.

One of my favorite stories about Juneau is that since all the groceries arrive on a barge, one week every store in town will have baby bok choy, while the next week there are no bok choy, but lots of green peppers. May be apocryphal, but I love telling it. Today the store in Bella Bella had - drumroll please - Baby Bok choy. Of course we bought some - Dan Dan noodles in the next few days.

After we returned to Shearwater (the tourist center of this part of the coast), a local fisherman motored by the Gyr. The guy said, “your Trump flag is marring the beauty of your boat”. I said, “I think I have to fly it”. He said, “ No you don’t. About half the American boats aren’t flying their flags this year. It’s like you’re giving us the finger!”. I told him I’d cover it. I checked, and it turns out he was wrong about needing to fly the flag in international waters, but I don’t want to offend our hosts.

Dinner tonight at the pub in Shearwater. Nancy had fish and chips. I ordered a hamburger, but was told they were out of beef, so it would be a bison burger. Fine by me. Twenty minutes later our waitress came out, apologized and said they were out of burgers, and would I like a chicken burger? I would not, so I got the pork chop special. Excellent meal, don’t know why I didn’t order,it in the first place.

Here’s a picture of the Gyrfalcon at anchor in Shearwater today as well as one of the big house in Bella Bella.

06/01/2026

06/01/2026

Alaska 2026
Day 6

Since we were planning on spending the day anchored behind Knight Island, I didn’t bother to set the alarm this morning. When I got up, the shine was shining brightly, the water in the anchorage was glassy, and the other boat, Bear Paw, was leaving headed north. I checked the weather forecast, and it had improved - 3 foot wave with a 5 second frequency - much better than the 5+ foot from the day before. I waited about 20 minutes and then raised Bear Paw on the radio. They reported minimal waves with some swell.

We decided to go for it. We left the anchorage, came around the corner and headed for Cape Caution. It was incredible. The waves were under a foot the entire way. The frequency started around 5 seconds and improved to 8 seconds by the time we reached the northern end of the passage. It was gentle swell the entire way. We agreed that this was the second best crossing we have ever had (once we crossed with no swell at all; a trip that will be hard to top). The actual conditions were so much better than the forecast. “Goes to show, you don’t ever know, you watch each card you play, and play it slow.”When we were about half way across, there was an announcement on the radio from the Canadian Coast Guard that there were Gale Warnings in Johnstone Strait. What a difference a day can make!

Once we got behind the headlands of Calvert Island, the swells disappeared and it was smooth sailing up Fitzhugh Sound. We turned west into Lama passage, and then north toward Bella Bella. We are anchored tonight in Shearwater, a large bay across the channel from new Bella Bella. Since we have had a couple of very long days (and our arrival time in Juneau is still looking good), we are going to spend tomorrow at anchor in Shearwater. Exciting plans include going over to new Bella Bella, hitting the grocery store (fresh produce arrives on Sunday), a visit to the chandelry for some bits and pieces and maybe a meal in the local pub. High life on the high seas!

05/31/2026

Alaska 2026
Day 5

Our goal today - somewhere in the vicinity of Cape Caution.

There are 3 open water crossings on the way to Alaska. Since they are exposed to the open Pacific Ocean, they can get rough, depending on offshore conditions. The first crossing (headed North) is Cape Caution, just beyond the northern end of Vancouver Island. It takes 4 hours, and we have crossed it when it was as smooth as glass, and once when one of our passengers was clutching her rosary beads and praying.

But in order to get to Cape Caution, first we have to go the length of Johnstone Strait. We spent the last 2 nights anchored in the Chained Islands, waiting for a change in the weather. Today we started early and headed west.

Johnstone Strait runs more or less east-west, so there are often strong winds funneling through the strait. Today when we first entered the strait, the wind was blowing 20 knots, and it looked like a long day of getting beat up. About a mile down stream, the wind dropped to negligible, and we had a strong current pushing us westward. We were going as fast as 11.1 knots, which for this old boat is just short of flying.

Every day before we depart, we consider where we will anchor that night. Depending on the weather, we pick a bay which we are certain that we will be able to make, even if the weather goes south and we spend the entire day being beat up by the elements. Today, that was one of several spots near the western end of Johnstone Strait. After a few hours of great speed under excellent conditions, we reassessed how far we could go. We knew we couldn’t get across Cape Caution before sunset, but we wanted to get as close as possible.

We ended up going much farther than we had thought possible, passed through the Broughtons, crossed Blackfish Sound, and ended up at Knight Island, a spot just south of the open water crossing. As we got closer, we began to rock in the swells from the waves coming in from the ocean.

Tucked behind the island, we were calm and secure. We could see the action out in the Strait, but didn’t feel it in the anchorage. There was only one other boat, a 100 footer named Bear Paw.

It’s a beautiful spot, which is good, since it looks like we will be here for 2 nights. The forecast for tomorrow is for 5.2 foot waves with a frequency of 4 seconds. This would be a lot of bouncing for 4+ hours. The forecast for Monday is much better - the waves should only be 3 feet high, and the frequency will be about 6 seconds - still a bumpy ride, but one that we could handle. Perhaps we will take the dinghy down and explore the nooks and crannies of Knight Island. In the comments, I’ve included a picture that Nancy took of the moon over the anchorage tonight after dinner.

05/30/2026

Alaska 2026
Day 4

Several folks have commented on our trip animation (TravelBoast). You will probably notice that there is none for today. We didn’t go anywhere! The winds from last night continued throughout the day, with steady winds around 20 knots and gusts in the low 30s. We could see whitecaps on the channel leading to Johnstone Strait. After lots of internal discussion and consultation of weather sites, we decided to be prudent mariners and stay put. There were a few small maintenance projects on the boat (always a few remain) and we spent the day reading, deleting old emails, and generally lazing about. It’s not a big problem, since the weather at Cape Caution (our first open water crossing) remains unsettled for the next few days, so there is no reason to rush only to wait again. The wind began to drop in the late afternoon, and tomorrow’s forecast for Johnstone Strait looks much more favorable. In place of the regular video, here is an image of the Gyrfalcon at anchor today. The bits that look like rope on either side of the vessel indicate the path she took as swung back and forth (and back and forth) while anchored.

05/29/2026

Alaska 2026
Day 3

Our goal was Seymour Narrows. In order to go north through British Columbia, you have to pass through one of several narrows - passages where large amounts of water come roaring through a steep channel. Seymour Narrows is the largest option, one that is used by most of the commercial traffic (tugs, cruise ships, etc.). There is a “back-door” option, but it involves several consecutive narrows and a lot of math and worrying, so we have almost always taken Seymour.

Seymour used to be a lot scarier, because there was a large rock (Ripple Rock) right in the middle of the narrowest part. In April, 1958, the Canadian government blew the top off the rock. It was the largest intentional non-nuclear explosion ever. I put a video link in the comments. It’s worth a watch.

The current through the narrows is determined by the moon (tidal). Since we are just about at full moon now, the maximum current is around 12 knots. Since we travel at around 7.5 knots - well I’ll let you do the math, but we would either be flying or traveling backwards, depending on the direction of the current.

So we aim for slack (no current, when the direction is changing). There is a short time on either side of slack when the current is under 2 knots. That is our window.

There is a slack today at 4:51 pm. We knew that the current would be against us in Discovery Passage going north to the narrows, so we added an extra hour to make sure we reached the Narrows before slack.

We left Boho Bay at 7:40 am. The Strait of Georgia was incredible. It can often be windy with confused waves, but today it was like glass. We made great time until we got to the southern end of Discovery Passage. All the water that comes through the Narrows rushes through Discovery Passage. Our speed dropped from 8 knots to under 4. We knew from past experience that there are back eddies along the shore of the passage, where the water goes against the current, so we were able to regain some speed. We got to the southern end of Seymour Narrows about an hour early, and joined several other boats waiting for slack. When the current dropped to 1.7 knots against us, we transited the Narrows. It was uneventful - the best type of passage.

Since it was already 5 pm, there weren’t a lot of anchorages we could reach before dark. North of the Narrows, the evening wind began to pick up. We headed for the Chained Islands, which give fair protection, and have good holding for the anchor. As we came around the corner, we could see that the waters inside the islands were calmer, and since we were the first boat in the harbor, we could anchor in the center with lots of room to swing. The wind is about 12 knots in the anchorage with gusts in the low 20s. Hopefully, the winds will calm down overnight. In any case, we are snug and secure for the night.

05/28/2026

Alaska 2026. Day 2.

Today was a long day, for a number of reasons. When planning a trip north, the number one factor is tides as nd currents through narrow passages. The other number one factor is weather - mainly wind and waves. Fortunately we have a lot of resources to help, ranging from printed books (Waggoners guide) which describe all the major harbors along the way, to GPS enabled marine apps (Garmin, Furuno) which let us plot a course and tells us how long it will take to reach a point at our current speed. The Garmin app also has crowdsourcing - lots of comments by other boaters about various anchorages. For weather we use PredictWind which does a pretty good job of predicting wind strength and direction over the next few days.

Today we left Watmough Bay at 6:45 am, and cruised through the San Juan islands. By 11:30, we were at Bedwell Harbour on N. Pender Island where we cleared Canadian customs. At that point we thought we would spend the night somewhere in the Gulf Islands. But then we realized that we could make it to Prolier Pass at slack water. (We have books with all the tides and currents from Seattle to Alaska every day of the year). Slack is very important to us. Since the water often races through the passes faster than we can go in the Gyrfalcon- so we always aim for close to slack.

Anyway, we exited the Gulf Islands through Porlier Pass, and headed north into the Strait of Georgia. Then we started to consider an anchorage for the night. The wind was projected to be 6-8 knots through the night, and blowing from the northwest. There are not a lot of anchorages on this bit of the BC coast. Several of them opened to the northwest, which meant a potentially uncomfortable night, so they were out. Boho Bay off Lasqueti Island is more protected, and we could reach it before the sun set, so that one looked good. The only problem was Whiskey Golf - a large area where the Canadian Navy shoots torpedos and other arms. If Whiskey Golf is active, you can’t cross it - which would add hours to our journey. Fortunately, it was not active today, so we cut across and reached Boho Bay just before sunset. The trip across was a bit sporty - a lot of spray over the bow, with 1-2 waves and 10-20 knot winds ( more than predicted ). We are anchored now and the winds have dropped. Hopefully it will be a good night. Tomorrow we will transit the biggest narrow of British Columbia - Seymour Narrows. More on that tomorrow.

05/27/2026

Alaska 2026

The Gyrfalcon is headed north for the summer!
Day 1. We left Seattle around 10:00 am, had a quick transit through the locks, and headed to Port Townsend. We had a intermittent problem with one of our generators, which finally crashed on Sunday (the day before Memorial Day. I picked up new raw water pump first thing Tuesday morning, and we headed out. This was probably the world’s slowest one day delivery service. We arrived at Port Townsend around 3 in the afternoon, and the new pump was installed by 5. We left Port Townsend and crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The seas were very calm, and we made good time in the crossing. We arrived at Watmough Bay on Lopez Island just as the sun was setting. Dinner was linguine with pasta sauce and mushrooms. Tomorrow morning we will get underway early and head for Canada to begin the long trek north

05/15/2026

There’s a nice article on the Gyrfalcon in the current edition of Nautical Northwest. You can get a copy of the magazine at your favorite boat store/marina/or in the seatback of your next Kenmore Air flight.

05/09/2026

A blast from the past…locking inbound in 2016. All was pretty routine until we approached our slip. If you want to fast-forward to the exciting part, go to 7:10 in the video linked below.

Coming back to Seattle after our summer trip on the Gyrfalcon in the Broughtons