This week we’ve been tucked up in the far north — 103 miles into the interior of BC — exploring the long, narrow stretch of water that makes up the Portland Canal and Pearse Canal. The Portland Canal is also the dividing line between Canada and the U.S., and at the very end sit the little border towns of Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska.
We spent three nights there and loved every minute of it. You can freely cross into the U.S. to visit Hyder, which is called America’s Friendliest Ghost Town. It’s a funny mix — quiet, a bit rough around the edges, but full of character and good people. There’s even a pub, The Glacier Inn, where we got Hyderized.
For anyone who doesn’t know, being Hyderized means taking a shot of Everclear (95% alcohol). You don’t sip it — you toss it back in one go. If you keep it down, you get a certificate. If you don’t… well, the locals will never let you forget it.
There’s also a gift shop there that sells the best fudge ever. But once you head back across the border into Canada, things change fast. Stewart was basically shut down for the season — no restaurants, no shops, everyone packing up for winter. It unofficially closed September 30, and the townfolk were either heading south or settling in to hibernate.
The weirdest part?
When you cross back into Canada, you have to go through customs and show your passports — even though the pub and the gift shop are literally right there in sight of the agents. They ask where you’ve been, and the answer’s always the same: “The bar and the fudge shop.” There’s nowhere else to go.
We couldn’t resist one more adventure before leaving — so we took Ruby and Roxy up the Salmon Glacier Road. What a ride. Narrow, steep, and absolutely spectacular. Totally worth the white knuckles.
After an amazing time up the canals, we made our way back down and stopped to find the last two U.S. storehouses, built in 1867 during the border dispute. We found both — still standing after more than 150 years.
Now we’re docked in Ketchikan — Bar Harbor, Dock 9, right at the end — if you’re nearby, come say hi! Or drop us a note at crew@onboardtangaroa.com.
See you crew members on Wednesday for Wheelhouse Weekly, and to all our Canadian crew — Happy Thanksgiving!
Everyone else, we’ll see you this weekend for the next adventure.
Blaine and Janis
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.
