Forced Slowdown

For those who knew our rough plans when we left Juneau, you are likely surprised we are already as far south as we are. Currently, we're anchored in Exchange Cove on the northern end of Clarence Strait -- considerably further south than we intended to be this early. We should explain a bit.

Our little breakdown necessitated a trip to town (Petersburg in this case) for parts. We were able to quickly resolve the problem as thankfully the cables we needed were in stock at Rocky's Marine. When we arrived in Petersburg, we were also able to connect with the crew of S/V Pacific Wonder who we had hoped to buddy-boat down to Washington with. We had initially feared we would miss this connection with our more northerly planned route, but with us dropping down south earlier, we were able to reconnect -- and the trip is back on!

We rushed to get done with laundry in Petersburg and filled the water tanks and were on our way the next morning. Since then, we've been slowly picking our way south as the weather allows -- aiming for 15-25 mile days for easy travel and plenty of time to relax, go to the beach, or fish. Fishing has been moderately productive so far, with two fresh Halibut dinners on Kyrie!

But, the weather being the fickle mistress she is, we have been waylaid for the time being in a nice little storm hole here on Prince of Wales Island. It has been blowing 20-25 knots steady south in Clarence, with gusts around 30-35, making for miserable conditions to head south with the seas on our nose. As both crews are in no hurry to go anywhere, we have chosen to just stay put until roughly Wednesday until the forecast is slated to improve. We should likely make Ketchikan by this weekend, reprovision, and then head out again, either to the coast or to do the wonderful Misty Fijords with Pacific Wonder.

We still intend to leave Alaska for BC roughly the first of July--here's hoping for a little better weather.

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