Downeast in Southeast Alaska

Leave Horton Bay 8:50a
Arrive E. side of De Courcy Island, 2:55p
49 06.377:-123 44.454

Sunny, but not too hot with a 5 kt headwind while we were under way. Boats, boats, everywhere. Curiously, no commercial fishing boats or cruise ships, but gazillions of sport fishers and pleasure boats, cargo ships, ferries, and charter tour boats. After all this time in the south, my space bubble remains fixed at about a quarter mile. Twice, I had to avoid a head-on collision by drastically altering course. Several times, overtaking vessels crossed our heading within a 100 yards, waving and smiling as they left us in their monstrous wakes. I guess I get it. More people, more boats, less room to maneuver those boats. We had three anchorage picked out this evening, depending on which way them wind blew tonight. But, as forecast, the wind completely died down. Lots of options, right? Not so much. Even though we got to this side of Dodd Narrows early in the day, all of the anchorages in the vicinity were jammed packed. We didn't feel like playing bumper boats or listening to bad techno, so we just pulled up to a stretch on this island where there weren't any houses, and we could bring Neka ashore. It's not at all protected here, but we set well, there's no winds, and we have only to contend with the boat wakes.

When the wind died, the temp climbed to 5 thousand degrees (give or take). I've used more sunscreen this last month than I have used in the previous 20 years. Just got some more, in fact, in Friday Harbor. Wonder if the fresh stuff works better? I'm not complaining, mind you. Our leaky rails haven't shed a drop on my blankets or sock drawer for weeks! (Hey, Neptune, a splash of a concoction of rum and coconut antioxidant beverage for you! Please don't hate me!)

Provisioning stop tomorrow in Nanaimo. Gonna be a zoo, what with everyone funneling through the Narrows at the same time, and putting into Nanaimo an hour north of them around the same time, too. But the reefer is bare, and we're out of beer, and it's really the only place to provision for the next week or so. Looking forward to getting out of the hub bub the day after tomorrow. It won't be a summer weekend for the weekend warriors anymore, for one thing. And we'll have veggies and beer! And Neka will be able to run and run and run on the beaches! And, our space bubble will begin to approach the size of other folks'!