Cruising travelogues usually bore us and we rarely read them ourselves. So, we hope we’re not doing the same to you with all these updates to you!

Prince Rupert is the northernmost city in British Columbia. The marina usually has slips available, and there are several well protected anchoring spots within dinghy distance from town. Coming into Canada from Alaska one has to stop here for Canadian Customs. We’ve come this way to use our Verizon cell phone and broadband connection – which worked great along Vancouver Island. However, it doesn’t work in Price Rupert. Something about the local phone company having a monopoly.

We were asked to tie to the outside of the breakwater float – not a good spot because of current and the wakes of passing boats – and in a blow it would be very exposed. But for a boat our size, for the night, it was OK. Next time, knowing the lay of the land, we’ll stay at anchor.

Not many marinas boast a watch eagle. This fellow was keeping a sharp eye on things as we pulled in. He looked cool on top of the pilings. But this benign view of an eagle might change if he were sitting on our mast head.

Several of the boats had these prop guards, made by one of the many local metal working shops (there are lots of metal boats around here). These guards are used to keep fishing lines out of the props. Might this approach work in ice with our props?

Walking the docks, we noticed this anchoring set-up on the bow of a sailboat. That’s a plastic rope reel, with anchor line and chain wound around.

The roll turns on a stainless shaft supported on the bow roller. If you don’t have room for a proper self-stowing anchor rode locker, this makes sense.

A different approach to rode storage. You see a lot of these hydraulically operated reel winches on big and small boats in this part of the world. The norm is to use a combination of galvanized wire and chain.

This brand new aluminum trawler is on its maiden voyage. They told us that Gardener Arm, back 75 miles on our track, is one of the most spectacular places in British Columbia – something we’d heard once before. Now that we’ve heard it twice, we might check it out on the way south.

Power boats tend to shear around a lot at anchor. This is the first riding sail we’ve seen. The sail would benefit from halyard and foot tension, and a few more battens would be nice, but the concept makes sense.

The Canadian weather forecasters are calling for another gale. The barometer, sky, and US faxes don’t indicate anything intense to us. Of course, we said that last week, and then it blew 60 knots up here. But the distance to Ketchikan is short – just a few hours, and there are several protected anchorages along the way. So, we’re off for Alaska.