The outside of Chichagof Island is supposed to be great
cruising. Getting to-and-from the outside requires short jaunts in the Gulf of
Alaska, but between these open ocean sections are many miles of protected
cruising.
We didn’t leave Pelican until late morning…breakfast out at
the Lisianski Café, then some boat chores. By the time we got underway it was
raining steadily. Clouds hung low and the wind was light.
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| Looking south into Stag Bay |
The water was calm for the first several hours until we
poked out of Lisianski Strait into the Gulf of Alaska. Conditions weren’t
rough, but the boats were moving…maybe a three-foot ground swell with a foot or
two of chop on top. Definitely not what you see on the Deadliest Catch!
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| Airship rolling in the swells |
We only had about nine miles in open water. I really wanted
to visit White Sulphur Hot Springs, but the stars didn’t align this trip. We’d
have to enter and exit on a high tide, and we’d need two days of good weather—the
day we arrive (today) and the day we depart (tomorrow). We could get in easily
enough this afternoon, but getting out tomorrow afternoon looks marginal. That,
and a basically uncharted and very technical looking entrance, made the
decision to continue easy.
We re-entered protected water through Imperial Pass. The
entire coastline here reminds me of the west side of Vancouver Island. Storm
lashed trees, surf-pounded rocks, low-lying vegetation. Pretty, and very
different than the more mountainous areas I’ve been cruising all summer.
We anchored for the night in Baker Cove. Anna, Laura,
Tiffani, and I took the dinghy exploring in Dry Pass. We were midway through
the tide cycle and had to carefully pick through the uncharted rock piles in
the dinghy. No way I’d take a bigger boat through.
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| Aerial from Baker Cove looking south |
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| Airship rafted to Safe Harbour |
Tomorrow we’ll head south to Klag Bay.
30.01 nm today
2171.58 nm total
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