MV Dirona

Gremlin, our cat, accompanies us on all our trips. He spends most of his time as pictured, in what we call the "Cruising Position" - passed out in the aft stateroom. As soon as the engines start, that's his cue. He seems to really enjoy the boat though. Most of the time he stays inside, but every night does a full exterior inspection, from flybridge to bow to cockpit, before he goes to sleep.

When traveling up the inside passage, we commonly see very large cruise ships. These really catch your attention because they are so huge compared to everything around them, and move surprisingly quickly. The Celebrity Cruises 965' Summit is no exception at roughly 25 times the length of Dirona.

This is a small black bear digging for food on the southern shore of Johnstone Strait. We were planning to anchor here on the second night, but couldn't get the anchor to set well enough, so continued on to Helmcken Island.

This is the view looking south down Johnstone Strait on the morning of our third day out. We like to get an early start most days, and among the rewards are beautiful, calm mornings like this one.

We came upon the Lady Washington at anchor in the Broughton Archipelago. A replica of a 18th-century merchant brig, it is one of the tall ships that participates in the various exhibitions that have been held recently. When this picture was taken, it was under private charter. That has got to be one of the biggest American flags we've ever seen on a ship - notice the thirteen stars corresponding to the number of states at that time.