Today we headed back to civilization! Our route took us out of the steep, mountainous Grenville Channel and into a more open maze of islands and passages.  As we cruised, we left the wilderness behind and began to see more of the commercial logging, fishing and shipping industries around Prince Rupert.  Prince Rupert is one of BC’s major commercial ports.  The Canadian National Railway ends here: bringing coal and grain from the interior to be loaded onto barges and shipped around the world.

We navigated passed the huge cargo ships and tankers waiting to be loaded up with goods.  After a week out at anchor it felt good to be at the dock.  We got in to Cow Bay Marina in the early afternoon with plenty of time to finish up our chores and enjoy the town.  We re-provisioned for the final few days of the trip, and then happily went sightseeing.  It felt great to walk around town and explore the area.

Cow Bay is a quaint part of town in Prince Rupert.  Cute shops and restaurants line the streets, most in keeping with the cow theme.  Large murals cover the sides of many of the buildings around town; depicting scenes of the local wildlife.  It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and the parks were full of kids playing.

In Prince Rupert, we met up with Mystic Eagle.  She is a beautiful 52’ Grand Banks owned by David and Leize Perlmutter that winters on the NW Explorations’ dock in Bellingham.  They kindly invited us all over for a happy hour on board and we were able to share stories of our adventures and swap advice on local ports and anchorages.  Some of the sail boat cruisers joined us as well. It’s always fun to meet others out doing what we are.