Dixon Entrance and Prince Rupert

Dixon Entrance is the body of water that separates Canada from Alaska. It's wide open to the Pacific Ocean and can have very big seas and wind at times, calm as a backyard pool at others. It's 94 miles from Ketchikan, Alaska to Prince Rupert, Canada and crossing the Dixon Entrance is part of it.

Monday night the weather forecast called for 15-20 knot winds on Dixon Entrance with 6-7 foot seas. We don't like that. But it was calm inside our marina and we were skeptical of the forecast, so set the alarm clock for 4am.

Tuesday morning the new 4am forecast was a little more benign, it was still calm, and we left the dock at 4:45am to poke our nose into the big water. And it was dead calm!

So off we went, running at 1600 rpm instead of the usual 1400 rpm, hoping to complete the crossing before afternoon winds came up.

And it stayed great all day! Neither waves nor swells exceeded 3 feet, wind never above 10 knots, and at 2:30 Ketchikan time (now 3:30 in Prince Rupert) we arrived at the Canadian Customs dock. Our NEXUS cards allowed for quick clearance.

We continue to feel so fortunate to be finding good weather windows for bigger crossings. Three weeks in Alaska was fantastic. Southbound here we come.

Eagles like to perch at the top of sailboat masts in Prince Rupert.