29 Aug 23

We both woke up at 07:00 and got up. After breakfast, we decided to get going, as it was totally calm in the anchorage and we figured it could not be doing much out in the channel. We got to Principe Channel at 08:50 and it was flat calm, sea like glass. The forecast for today and Wednesday is OK, but Thursday thru Saturday is looking a bit grim in Hecate Strait - NW 20-30. So, we were in a dither as to whether to continue on our “outside Inside Passage” or head up Lewis Channel to get into the (hopefully more sheltered) “inside Inside Passage”, even though that means covering some of the same ground - in the opposite direction - between here and Shearwater. Having made that decision, we thought we might go on to Bishop Bay to have a nice soak in the hot springs, with a planned arrival at 16:00. However, as we progressed up Lewis Channel, I got concerned about arriving so late and the possibility of finding the anchorage crowded. So, we turned off at Fin Island and pulled into Curlew Bay, where we anchored at 12:32 in 10m WD. I think we will head to Bishop Bay early tomorrow morning, so we have a better chance of picking up a mooring ball or getting a good anchorage. After a late lunch, Terri defrosted the freezer, which has not been cooling off to the set temp, and I did a bit of maintenance on the aft head toilet, which needs a bit of lubrication and, more importantly, the joker valve needs a bit of work, since it has been back-flowing a bit and allowing the effluent to back up into the toilet bowl. We were finished with both these chores before 16:00, in time to watch the Astros @ Boston; Astros won 6-2. On the way to Curlew, we passed a big pod, 10-12, of Orcas, a rare sighting this year. Later, we passed numerous humpbacks feeding, including several just outside Curlew Bay. We could hear these latter whales blowing and slapping their tails all afternoon. We could also see a couple of cruise ships working up and down the main Inside Passage, although their wakes, mercifully, did not find their way into our little bay. After dinner, another boat came to anchor about 800 ft from us. We thought it looked familiar; turned out to be “Surfbird”, with whom we had shared a couple of anchorages back in early June. I went over and had a short chat with them; nice, mature couple who live aboard their 60 ft custom-built power boat. It has beautiful lines. Turns out it was built in Scotland (wood hull and frames, with an aluminum deck) in 1961.

53-16.687’N, 129-19.430’W; Log = 28.4, Sum (2023) = 2489.0 N-m; Eng. hrs = 4.5, Sum = 3507.8