Airship Goes to Alaska – Day 9
We left Port McNeill this morning at 5am (that means the alarm went off at 4am!)
We had a 60 mile day and our first exposure to open ocean as we exited Queen Charlotte Strait and crossed Cape Caution (about a mile offshore). The prediction originally was for 1.4 metre waves with an 11 second period, but during our first hour or so that changed to 1.6 metre waves (5.2 feet) with a period of 6 seconds (then 5). The general “rule” is that you don’t want the period to be smaller than the waves are tall…and this was, um, THAT. It certainly was not as comfortable as an 11 second period would have been, but we didn't think it was too terrible. The boat handled it well, and we were never nervous. We knew we could duck into Port Hardy for the night, or anchor out at the Walker Group if it was too rough.
Mark led us through the Walker Group so he could show us the (beautiful) anchorage there (in case we need it on our return trip).
We rounded Cape Caution and now we’ve had our first open ocean experience in our boat. Not bad, not bad.
Fury Cove — our anchorage for the night:
Our new view:
A couple sailboats were anchored in Fury Cove when we arrived. They’d been here for two days, and told us they’d seen a mama grizzly bear and two cubs on the beach both days, so we’ve been keeping an eye out for them.
Some of us met on the beach at 4pm to do a little exploring. (Don't worry, we made lots of noise and carried bear spray.)
The beach is called Clam Beach and is covered with white clam shell:
There’s a shack built just up some stairs from the beach (which is odd, because I think this is marine park property).
Hey look…an eco roof!
Kevin and I had taken our kayak and paddled over to the beach, so after our wanderings we kayaked around the cove a bit more. Here’s Margaret saddling up her dinghy. I love Margaret! (She said that Mark, even with his back to camera, is still pretending not to know her.) 🙂
Airship anchored (Thelonius in the background):
Opposite direction back out into Fitz Hugh Sound:
Fury Cove, kayak, and Xtratufs:
Next stop: Ocean Falls!
