Re the course taken to Ketchikan from WA there is a deviation that I always make. From Alert Bay I cross QC Strait to the east side. Sometimes over to the Broughton Is However frequently I go more or less north north west up to the NE corner of QC Strait in an all day run diagonally up the length of Queen Charolette Strait To Allison Harbour or perhaps Miles Inlet. I like the anchorages, reduced traffic and missing the bottleneck at Bull Harbour.
Taking the back channel behind Ivory and Cecilia Islands is the most popular route just out of Bella Bella and Shearwater avoiding the worst of it if Milbanke Sound is rough. When it is rough the northbound ferries turn slightly left entering Milbanke and after a bit do a 180 to minimize the time spent a-beam to the SW seas. Then it's stern seas right up Finlayson Channel and Frezer Reach. perhaps the best of the waterfalls along the shore.
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Eric
North Western Washington State USA
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