18 Jul 22

I changed clothes today; that outfit that I had been wearing was the one I was wearing when we went aground and when we had the faux transmission problems. I may burn them on the beach later today. After listening to the forecast during breakfast, we decided that today was the last chance for the next several days to get around to Kyuquot Sound; we determined to leave at 11:00, at the turn to flood. As it was just after 09:30, we all went ashore for a walk on the beach and the isthmus, since we are not going to be able to stay any longer. We got going just at 11:00, motored out of the anchorage and into the mouth of Esperanza Inlet, where I killed the engine and sailed across to Rolling Roadstead, where we restarted the engine and motored from there until we were inside Clear Passage. On the way, we took a good look at Peculiar Point and Yellow Bluff beach, but decided not to stop in, as it was a bit rolly and we were on a mission. It was a bit rough out in the Pacific, but we motored on through it for 6 miles until we got to McQuarrie Islet and the start of Clear Passage. There were lots of fishermen fishing the rocks in the vicinity, and we were 3 miles ahead of Massilia, so we killed the engine and sailed again slowly in the 6 knots of wind and put the fishing gear out. Right at 15:00, we were sailing along at 4.2 knots (I had unfurled the main by then), when I got a strike by a big fish. We furled the sails and pulled in a nice 8# (guess; it was 24 inches long) chinook salmon. It was nearly too big for the net, but Terri got it under the fish and then shoveled it into the cockpit, where we wrestled it down and dispatched it with a number of squirts of vodka to the gills. A beauty. After that, we put the motor on and hustled on into Rugged Point Marine Park, where we anchored at 15:45. In the meantime, Massilia caught a good sized rockfish, so we are all puffed up about our fish hunting abilities. I guess it cost me about $500 to catch that fish, but the unit cost goes down with each one after this. We all feasted on rockfish and salmon for dinner, and even had salmon roe for hor’s d’oeuvres during Captain’s hour. We have another 4 meals worth of salmon in the freezer. I guess changing clothes was a good idea.

49-58.166’N, 127-14.725’W; Log = 21.3, Sum = 440.0; Eng. hrs. = 3.4 , Sum = 2962.2