It’s been a week full of mining history, a few repairs, and plenty of prawns for dinner.
We started with five full days exploring Anyox, wandering through what’s left of the old copper mine and powerhouse. It’s hard to describe the scale of the place—massive concrete buildings, rusted machinery everywhere, and reminders of how big this town once was.
After that, we crossed to Alice Arm to check out the silver mine, then made our way to Kitsault. Kitsault was built in 1979 by Phelps Dodge for a molybdenum mine that only ran for about a year and a half before it shut down. The entire town was left behind, but it’s still in great shape—houses furnished, lawns cut, lights still on.
We were lucky to get permission to look around, but we promised not to post any video. If you’re part of our online crew, you might get a quick peek tomorrow, but that’s it.
Back on Tangaroa, Blaine swapped out a tired generator alternator that had started to smell a bit funny, and he finally cut apart Punga’s transom and lowered the motor. She doesn’t cavitate anymore, which is a win, but she’s throwing a fair bit of spray now—typical trade-off.
We also caught some nice humpback prawns in Observatory Inlet and have been working our way up Portland Canal toward Stewart. The border runs right down the middle, so we’ve probably drifted back and forth a few times without knowing it.
If you’ve been following along and want to see more behind-the-scenes moments (like what happens when the autopilot quits or we start cutting into boats), join our online crew at onboardtangaroa.com. Members get an extra Real Time Update every week called Wheelhouse Weekly, early looks at new videos, and a few other perks.
And since it’s Hat Month onboard Tangaroa, we’ve got 15% off all hats—baseball caps, truckers, and toques—through October. Because we’re Canadian, and of course we have to include toques.
October means hat weather, and we’ve just added a whole lineup to the store:
⚓ Classic Logo Baseball Hat
⚓ Classic Logo Trucker Hat
⚓ Classic Logo Ribbed Beanie
⚓ Classic Logo Cuffed Beanie
And for our Crew only: the Crew Baseball Hat. Tangaroa logo on the front, CREW embroidered on the back—made just for you. If you aren't part of the crew - you can still join for as little as $5/month.
To celebrate the launch, all hats are 15% off through October with code HappyHats15.
What a week. After two weeks in Prince Rupert—thank you Cow Bay Marina and Robin for making our stay amazing and my birthday week so special—we turned Tangaroa north. We’re only 91 nautical miles southeast of Ketchikan, but we knew it would take a while because of the places on our hit list.
First up was Georgetown Mill, once one of the coast’s earliest sawmills. Built in 1912, it was a hub of industry until the 1930s. Walking among the old planers and decaying machinery gave us chills. 📷
From there we hid from bad weather in Khutzymateen Bear Conservancy (ironically, no bears). Then we tracked down the two storehouses the US built during the Alaska–Canada boundary dispute—except they’re actually on Canadian soil. Both still stand, tucked into the wilderness.
We tried anchoring at the mouth of the Nass River near Gingolx, but the wind and swell made for one of the worst sleeps of the trip. The next morning we ran up Observatory Inlet and are now anchored outside Anyox—Canada’s largest ghost town. We’ve spent two days exploring and are wiped out. Tomorrow, Roxy and Ruby are coming ashore to help us scooter 5 miles uphill to the infamous dam and a rusting old steam engine.
This morning’s wake-up?
A black bear strolling the beach right outside the galley window. Forget the bear conservancy—Anyox has it covered. We also found wolf prints not far from the boat and look what Janis caught in the crab trap! It was so so heavy to haul up.
Boat-wise, Blaine swapped out an alternator on the generator (the old one had developed a “special” smell), and the autopilot decided to quit on us, so that’s on the list now too.
If you’ve been enjoying these Monday Updates, please consider joining our online crew at onboardtangaroa.com. Membership starts at $5/month and includes:
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An extra Real Time Update video each week (Wheelhouse Weekly)
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Discounts on Tangaroa gear plus Crew Only Gear!
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Early and ad-free videos
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and access to our crew only discord community
Your support helps keep these adventures coming to your television/computer or whatever you're watching on every weekend! Thanks to everyone who tuned in for our live broadcast—we’ll do another one next month.
Cheers
Blaine, Janis and Izzie
