After a spate of welcome meals out, provisioning, banking and fuelling the boat we left Prince Rupert considerably poorer on Monday at noon - heading south in the sheltered waters of the Canadian portion of The Inside Passage. This fabled cruising ground originates in Olympia Washington and continues north to such destinations as Glacier Bay and Skagway Alaska. Although this was Traversay's third visit to Alaska, we have always travelled at the height of the tourist season and opted to miss the more heavily-travelled Glacier Bay and Juneau area in favour of Prince William Sound and points west.

Back in BC we're now on familiar ground having made our way back from Alaska in 2002 along this route. That was a fairly fast passage with little time for enjoying hot springs and animal sightings. This time we're again feeling that our trip will be very hasty. We rise at 0700 and were on our way in the pitch dark at 0730. Today is our only 'early' day (we stopped at 1500) but we've scheduled 12 hour days from now on - leaving and arriving in the dark.

It's beautiful country. Suddenly after an almost tree-less summer we're surrounded by beautiful tree-covered mountains. We know that this vista is particularly appealing to cruise ship passengers, and that the off-side of many of these beautiful mountains would be clear-cut. The loggers in this country also have to make a living.

We are resolved to come back and spend more time - scuba diving and enjoying the trouble-free and safe anchorages.

I've planned a meal of Prosciutto-wrapped halibut. Of course, we don't have BC Liquor Store's recommended wine to go with it, but the halibut (a gift from our friend Larry Babcock in Alaska) looks perfect. So off I go to the galley.