Photo: the sailboat Tenacious sails up Devastation Channel

Waves are racing by Bishop Bay when we leave the next morning: a product of a strong inflow wind going up the channel. We're headed up channel too so we hope it will give us a good push all the way to Kitimat. Instead the wind alternates between flat calm and raging gales, mostly up inlet where we're going, but not always. We raise sail, drop sail, raise sail again. It's frustrating but the scenery is awesome -- miles of long deep channels with steep hills on both sides and white capped mountains in the distance. It's almost like Alaska but with sunshine and less snow, and of course no glaciers. Although there is plenty of evidence of past glaciation: cirques, u-shaped valleys and Yosemite-like domes.

At 5:00 we give up and turn into Clio Bay. We'll try for Kitimat tomorrow when the winds are down. On the chart Clio Bay is a good anchorage, water shallow enough for anchoring and good protection from inflow winds.. Unfortunately it's almost completely full of a big log boom. Several float houses and work boats are anchored in a corner and we stop and ask a worker where we can anchor to avoid their operations. He tells us they won't be moving logs tonight so we can anchor anywhere. As we motor away Steve points out he's only the second resident we've seen since leaving Shearwater. We anchor off the boom and the wind proceeds to turn 180, then 180 again, then again. Thunder and lightning follow and then rain.

The next morning when we raise the anchor the windlass bogs down as if it's really straining, then suddenly, the rest of the chain up easily. We guess the chain caught on an old log or equipment from the logging operation.