After four days in the Punchbowl totally by ourselves, it is time to head south. The plan is to meet up with Platypus in Prince Rupert and venture down the inland passage together. But first, we have a long day ahead - 92 miles and 10.5 hours of run time. The trip was fairly smooth and uneventful. Except our DSC emergency alert went off and both Coast Guards spent the afternoon trying to figure out where the subject boat Winter Solstice was. We reported our position and that our VHF picked up the alarm but we had no other information.
Along the way, AIS picked up a KY flagged boat. Almost all super and mega yachts are registered in the Cayman Islands due to tax advantages so Dave always checks out the KY flagged boats. You know, browsing the net while underway is totally normal these days with Starlink. Sure enough, it is Planet Nine, a 243 foot, ice rated explorer yacht. The owner's stateroom is on its own deck with over 3000 square feet of space. Charter rates begin at $650,000 a week - helicopter extra. It has room for 12 guests with 20 crew. Yikes. It anchored here in Prince Rupert for the night doubtless on its way back to Central America where it spends most of its time.
We had a nice evening with the Platypus crew talking about the boat projects in store for Saturday.
And shortly before we got to Prince Rupert, there was a really strange mirage on the horizon.
