Today I continued south past Cape Caution, which is the area of the longest exposure to open ocean of the entire trip. The swells weren't too bad, one to two meters, with the biggest being closed to points of land, where the swells hit the shore, sending some of their energy back to meet and increase the size of additional waves on their way in. There wasn't much wind in the morning, but I used the mainsail to help steady the boat in the swells.

In the afternoon, after I'd entered Queen Charlotte Strait, a tailwind developed and I was able to sail nicely for the last couple hours before winding my way through the rocky entrance into Blunden Harbour. The harbour is roomy and has a good muddy bottom for anchoring, but the wind that pushed me along is now blowing through the anchorage, howling in Osprey's rigging. The guidebook misrepresents the anchorage as well-protected, but in fact the surrounding land is too low to provide much wind blockage.

Interestingly, there are five sailboats at anchor and only one power boat, which is by far the highest ratio of sail to power that I've encountered on the trip. Alaskan cruising folks almost exclusively use power boats. I've returned far enough to the south that I'm starting to see more sailboats.

It rained and rained last night, and I was awoken very early tby the sound of a hard-pounding torrent of rain. But it lightened in the morning and was a light drizzle as I weighed anchor. The clouds gradually broke and the afternoon was sunny. I just discovered that a light fixture in the head was full of water, which means I've got a new rain leak somewhere.