Alaska Trip Day 83

9/4/11

Boat Inlet, B.C.

Miles Travelled:  49

(Tor reporting)

Yikes, I just noticed typing this out that we are on our 83^rd day of the trip.  Jess and I are still talking to one another and the boys are just fabulous.  Lately it has been feeling like we are eager to get south.  Not necessarily to wrap up the trip, but because we are looking forward to being at our house with the boys and because the weather is degrading up here. 

We woke this morning to a light south wind and weighed the anchor by about 0745.  Motoring south down Graham Reach and Tolmie Channel we enjoyed a very favourable current in our direction that pushed us along at an easy 7 knots.  It may not sound like much but it is a whole 1.3 knots than we are used to traveling!  The skies were overcast and the wind was either non existent, or gusting strongly and for short periods of time out of the south. 

We motored right on past the native village of Klemtu deciding that we did not need fuel, groceries or ice and decided to keep on going with our current.  The original goal for the day was Rescue bay, but we were travelling at such a good clip that we kept heading south towards a special anchorage named Boat Inlet that we wanted to try out on the way north but could not fit in.

Boat Inlet is a very well protected anchorage just a few hundred feet from the Ocean.  It is accessed via a very narrow channel that only has 2-3 feet of water in it at low tide.  It is reported to be a great place to hide from bad weather. 

According to Environment Canada, the VHF weather service, we were warned of the approach of the seasons first major Storm Warning.  A Storm warning involves forecasted winds of 50 knots and is to be taken seriously.  The cause for this warning was a low pressure system that had moved into the Gulf of Alaska that was estimated at becoming 955 millibars which is quite a bit lower than the normal pressures af around 1020.  The area around Boat Inlet was not included in the Storm Warning, but winds were expected to reach 35-45 knots (a Gale) and continue from the SE for 3 days.  We figured that finding a safe place to hide was a fine idea.

Our original plan was to take the inside shortcut through Moss Channel to avoid exposure to ocean swell ( all three boys on board do occasionally succumb to seasickness).  At the last minute we looked at the chart and realized that we would exit the other side of the channel and have to get through Percival Narrows fighting the strongest part of the flood current for up to 2 miles.  We opted for the outside route to avoid trouble in the narrows.  It was rolly and although Tor felt fine, both Lars and Odin suffered.

Boat Inlet was beautiful and very calm after our rolly last few miles.  We were very happy to be stopped after a long day and ended by listening to the forecast which was still calling for gale force winds but they were delayed and not slated to begin until the afternoon of the next day.

Tired from a long day of motoring without a chance to sail, we will sleep knowing we are nearly 50 miles closer to Seattle.