20 Aug 23

We slept in a bit in the morning, but finally got going about 08:00. The harbor had cleared out (for the start of the purse seine fishery in the Gulf of Ezquibel) by the time we stuck our heads up. The sun was shining, which was a surprise. After breakfast, we made a quick run up to the grocery store. Back at the boat, I topped up the water tanks while Terri washed her hair. Then we got going about noon. It was a very pleasant motor across Bucareli Bay and into the Ulloa Channel. We anchored in Tlevak Narrows Cove, just short of the Tlevak Narrows, known locally as “the Skookum Chuck”, for reasons unknown to us. We plan to go through the narrows tomorrow at SW at 08:00. Shortly after we anchored, a 100’ fishing boat, the “Haida Chief” - bound for Seattle, went through the Skookum Chuck against the full ebb; his boat speed dropped from 8.6 kn to 2.7 kn, indicating that he had nearly 5 kn of current against him at the narrowest part. I really wanted to call him up on the VHF and ask if he had powered up or just kept moving at optimum RPMs, but I did not. I’m happy to wait until slack water. 5 kn of foul current, plus a few whirlpools and lots of turbulence is not my idea of fun; it would be “puckerish”, as described to us by a tug after we went through the reversing falls a few minutes early at St. John, NB in 2016 - once was enough. We settled in for a fine, sunny afternoon.

55-16.195’N, 133-06.809’W; Log = 19.3, Sum (2023) = 2209.7 N-m; Eng. hrs = 3.0, Sum = 3465.4