We’re on our way to the promised land. There’s a big high pressure system sitting out to the west and the sun is shining. Potentially, this may foretell a drier summer to the north.

You know by now we are into boat watching, and this very interesting design was anchored near us in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. She has nicely balanced hull lines, even with that big rear end. This will make the hull easier to steer, and it provides a large interior.

Speaking of steering, note the outboard rudder and trim tab. Simple and powerful. There are also lots of hull windows and a nicely protected inside steering station. The designer of this very efficient looking cruising boat? SetSail’s own Michel DeRidder. We met the owners who told us this is Michel’s first design after their own Magic Dragon over 30 years ago; a very advanced design for any era, but especially that long ago. That the original owners still have her is a testament to the design.

We couldn’t help but take photos of this little ketch-sailing jib and jigger, OK, she’s not in racing trim, but she was making good time uphill against this northwesterly breeze. For a moment it made us nostalgic for the olden days when we used to sail too.

In this part of the world you will often share anchorages with log booms.

This boom is made up large trees, with two tugs working to maneuver sections onto each other. The entrance to Allison Harbor was almost blocked, but there was just enough room between the south edge of the boom and a rock, for us to squeeze by. If we had been expecting a frontal system we might have chosen a different anchorage, as this huge boom did not seem all that well secured to shore and we would not have wanted it to drift down on us!

Last year when we made the entrance of Milbanke Sound we had a southerly gale with rain squalls and low clouds. This provided some excellent surfing. But we prefer the sunshine the high is bringing us. Look at that blue sky!

The clouds are tending to stack up against the mountains, but the atmosphere is dry and relatively warm. The big question is, will this last as we get further north?

We are up here two months earlier than last year. In theory, earlier is better in terms of rain for Alaska. It also means better waterfalls along the inside passage.

And beautifully textured snow to delight the senses.

Last year we were passing lots of power and sailboats. But this year it has been mainly power. Maybe it is the time of year. This is the first design of the Nordhavn line, their 46. To our eye it is the prettiest of their boats. As they have kicked up the volume for more interior space the appearance has suffered (as too will the sea-kindliness). It all depends on how you are going to use the boat. Lots of volume on a short waterline is nice at anchor or in a marina. But if the boat becomes too uncomfortable at sea, then it never goes anywhere. All designers fight this tradeoff.

We spent the evening anchored next to Catalyst. We don’t know her history, but it looks commercial. She has a lovely set of lines. Note the minimum bow and stern wakes. She is running here at 8.5 knots, a speed length ratio of about 1.05 to 1.1 (we’re guessing here on her length). There is almost no stern wave. That rounded stern and the pinched lines aft will give her a very soft ride uphill, as well as helping slow speed efficiency.

Back to the subject of hull shape and interior volume. How is this for a design solution? Lots of room for sure, and very practical. Find a great spot, hire your tug, and move the "boat" for a long stay. Or, maybe the tug is part of the package? The rooms on this cruiser are nicely furnished, there is lots of outdoor furniture in case the weather is benign, and there are even potted plants in the rooms and around the porch.

Now here is a really clean wave. The prismatic coefficient on this doe is probably quite high, which probably leads to a suppression of wave-making in her hull form. Of course, if she is heading into the seas, she’ll pay a big motion penalty for the high PC. But then, she’s probably smart enough not to go to sea when the waves are running. She came by to say hello to us as we were anchoring in Metlakatla Harbor, near Prince Rupert, BC.

With the long days – we’ve got light to see debris by 0530 which stays with us until after 2100 – it is easy to put in lots of miles. Between the fine-tuning on the exhaust and new props we have given up on trying to go slow and are back to running at our 11.3 knots (we had decided to slow down to 10, but it is difficult giving up those 30+ miles a day). The early starts have been made more interesting by our Direct TV satellite system – which is bringing us the America’s Cup action from Valencia. This morning we watched Oracle recover from a terrible start against Luna Rosa and win on the last leg. We’re also watching the NBA Basketball finals – all while keeping an eye on the navigation and watching for debris.

This report is being sent from Ketchikan, where we arrived with the sun still shining (although a front is on the way). We are just five days from Puget Sound. We’re excited to be back in Alaska, but sad about all the wonderful cruising areas we’ve bypassed (again!). Maybe we’ll catch them on the way south. Right now, we are anxious to get ourselves into new territory – which means Prince William Sound, the Kenai Peninsula, and Kodiak, so we’ll continue this fast pace until we’re further north and west.