Woke up at 4:45 hoping for a calm exit out of Prince Rupert but the fog was pea soup thick so we sat tight until it finally started to clear around 8:00. It was a good thing we waited as the Venn passage is a tricky windy route that requires some attention and it was lower tide so the water seemed pretty skinny at times, I noted 9 feet at one point. As we worked our way out to Chatham Sound the fog was thicker and the wind started to pick up as we worked our way to Green Island light house. Wandrian noted that the wind went up to 35kts and I repeatedly had waves over the bow as I was quartering the seas to make it as comfortable as possible. The seas were not too large and once we were behind Melville island we had a pretty pleasant run to Green Island where I chatted on the radio with the caretaker, took some photos and then ran into Brundige inlet where we are now at anchor. At a distance the light house looked like a mirage that reflected across the seas, it almost looked like a ship at sea. I asked the caretaker what he thought about this anchorage and he said, “don’t know, I don’t have a boat”. The wind is still pretty high in here but our anchor seems to be holding well with Wandrian tied along side. I have done a lot of anchoring over the years but mentally the idea of anchoring enough to hold 60,000 plus pounds of boat makes me a bit nervous.
We are about a stone throw away from Alaska now and I am looking forward tomorrow to making the crossing into Ketchikan. It is about a 55 mile run and we are going to leave early even if we have fog and we are hoping for calm seas.
We have decided to fly the family home out of Sitka on the 19th and we are starting to gather up a group of guys to assist with the Gulf crossing back home to Whittier. I am really praying that we get a good weather window and that the boat is in good running order.
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