Sailing at Last. McMicking Inlet, Campania Island to Captains Cove. May 31, 2013
06 June 2013 | posted at Ketchilkan
Elsie Hulsizer
Photo: The rock face of Campania Island dominates McMicking Inlet
A cold breeze blew rain right into my face as we motored out McMicking Inlet. Above us the knobby face of Campania Island disappeared into the mist. What were we doing out here in this remote place? I wondered. We were sailing what I call the "outside inside" passage, one passage west of Princess Royal and Grenville Channels, commonly known as the Inside Passage or "the ditch." We were the only boat in the inlet , apparently, the only people for miles around.
We raised the mainsail as we exited the inlet, the wind rattling the sail as it went up. As I steered Osprey out the inlet, I checked the chart plotter frequently, wiping the rain off my glasses to make sure I could see. The rocks at the entrance looked ominous.
We turned the corner and the wind came from behind. We rolled out the jib and the sun came out.
"A good wind behind us and the sun shining. What more do you want?" asked Steve as he trimmed the jib.
What more indeed? We had left Shearwater two days before in search of wind, motored out Seaforth Channel, motorsailed in a light breeze across Millbank Sound and through Catala Passage (behind McGinnis Light) and then up Laredo Sound to anchor in pretty little Quigley Creek. We'd shared the anchorage with two other boats that night but saw only two motor boats, a cruise ship and a tug and barge the next day as we motored north up Laredo Channel with a light southerly behind us.
But today we had the wind. For the next eight hours we sailed wing and wing, north up Principe Channel, then northeast up Petrel Channel, finally starting the engine in a dying wind 15 minutes away from Captains Cove. We anchored behind a small island. Once again we were the only boat in the anchorage. We had seen only one coast guard ship, two fishing boats, a powerboat and another sailboat all day. But tomorrow we would be at Prince Rupert.