We contacted Amy and Tim and received good news, seas of 1M or so, and departed about 11AM or so, nothing like keeping banker's hours. After all I had to listen to more complaining about water drip torture. I never let on that I was absolutely dry and comfy in the back of the sev.

We entered Queen Charlotte Sound, heading 1M plus seas at an inspiring 4 knots, and fell off to quarter the seas at maybe 6 knots, so being on a cushion of air was not a guarantee of haste. As we went around the corner the seas came at our beam, and were smaller as we were now beginning to hide from the Pacific fetch, behind a stretch of shoal water and Calvert Island.

Speeds came back to normal, around 20 knots, about half power, which was our average speed for the trip, pretty good since we were essentially going "uphill", against prevailing weather, burning around 2.2 gallons per hour. With a maximum fuel load of 45 gallons, that gives us a fuel range of 400 nautical miles at fuel exhaustion, an incredible range for so small a craft as Explorer.

We then passed into Fitzhugh Sound where we caught up with Amy and Tim, as they were putting sail on.

It was then on to our destination, Bella Bella, via Fisher Channel, Lama Pass and Hunter Channel, where we refuelled and tied up at the Shearwater floats, with hot showers. Amy and Tim came in at dusk, proving that you can make long passages at low speed.

It was surprising how few watercraft were out there. Most recreational watercraft disappear after Nanaimo, to be replaced by infrequent fish boats and other commercial craft. It is normal to cruise for long periods with no other watercraft in sight. In Bella Bella we encountered the first of the huge cruise ships, seeming alien in this rustic environment.

I woke up early and had a good long hike over the roads in back of the Shearwater resort and we then set out for our next destination, Prince Rupert, via Seaforth, Finlayson, Tolmie Channel, Frasier Reach, McKay Reach, and on through Grenville Channel, where we ran above 30 knots for almost the entire length of the relatively narrow channel. We did make a short side trip in a light drizzle to Bristol Bay Hot Springs, a base for tourists to touch, so they can talk about it, not quite hot enough, and causing one to seriously consider possible high coliform bacteria levels. Here there were several recreational cruisers arranged at a float around a big fish boat, their decks decorated with bright red range extenders, plastic fuel cans.

Both GPS units, which hinted at malfunctioning earlier, were now almost totally useless. Whether this was due to poor satellite geometry (not enough satellites with sufficient orbital inclinations, or high terrain, I do not know.)

After getting lost behind Smith and Ridley Islands we made a 10PM arrival to tie up at a Prince Rupert yacht club. This was our longest leg, over 200 nautical miles, and the first time we had seen some "hover-friendly" terrain since our departure from Treadwell Bay. The cell phone started working. Civilization!

After a morning delay, trying to stop the water drip torture by smearing the entire windshield frame with some sticky black stuff we set out for Ketchikan. The route took us up Chatham Sound, through Main Passage and on across Dixon Entrance, which is another section of the inland passage that is exposed to the Pacific Ocean.

I got a call on the cellphone, just as we passed into Alaska. I told the customer where we were. He just wanted to know why he hadn't got his Vanguard parts.

We rounded the south end of the mainland of Alaska, with its beautiful pinkish shell beaches intermingled with rocky headlands, right into a gauntlet of fish boats. There would be a gilnetter at right angles and next to the shore every few hundred yards, and a seiner just west of the gilnetter, to snare any south-streaming escapee salmon just before it could change its citizenship. Bryan ran over one of the nets, getting the fisher real excited and agitated.

And then it was up Revillagigedo channel in perfect weather, and on to our goal, Ketchikan, all 700 plus nautical miles. Originally it was planned to go no further, and make the "downhill run" back from this point. However, Bryan had an opportunity to cruise on northward to demonstrate the Explorer to interests in Juneau. I left the party here to get back to business and return by Alaska State ferry , while Bryan and John continued on up north.

All in all, the Explorer performed flawlessly from the surface skimmer standpoint, and no repairs needed, and the weeine 1.4 L Subaru was still running like an electric motor. Problems were still being encountered with weatherproofness of the top and windscreen, though. Bryan's Explorer was built from the very first set of Explorer plans, and the "prototype" was in the mind of a computer, just numbers, only.

No "dialing in" of rotors or drive ratios was ever needed. Balance was all right, perhaps just slightly nose heavy. (The only changes since made to the original plans were rudder area has been added, and the skirt fill port increased in size, and another band was added to the thrust drive belt, as the standard engine was changed to the Subaru EA82 1.8 L design. This is a current engine, and the older engines are becoming hard to come by. 80hp vs. 55hp for Bryan's Explorer.)

Bryan would add another 500 plus nautical miles to the cruise, on to Petersburg, Wrangell, and Juneau, and he had time to explore up a river, and go into floating ice, watch bears, and lick a glacier. I will let him write that part.

Bryan and John and the Explorer would return on an Alaska State ferry, and after demonstrating his Explorer at the Pacific Northwest Hoverin he would immediately put the Explorer to work, hauling tourists on rides out of the south end of La Conner through the end of the summer to places such as Deception Pass, the Skagit River Delta and up the Skagit River. (We will look for him at this same location next summer, but he is available for charter any time.)

All in all, even though the terrain was almost devoid of places where a sev could haul out, the sev concept is realistic for long range cruising from the economy standpoint alone. There is undoubtedly more cruising in places where only the sev can go on the surface, but our trip was mainly in the deeper channels of a half submerged mountain chain. It was nice, though, to go using only cruising guides, rather than charts. However, to do the trip in comfort, you really need a bigger sev, maybe a 25-30 footer.