Sunday, July 8

We left Hoonah this morning at 0600. Then, we arrived at Tenakee this afternoon at about 14:30. What to say? It was a work day. It rained all the way, we had the wind on the nose and it built up a fetch that slowed us down - not anything like in the Gulf, but enough to make the day just kind of a work day, and not much fun. As we passed the various land points along the way, the fishing fleet was hard at work. Really quite beautiful to see these big fleets of fishing boats all working together. It can be a bit of a navigational challenge too. As we turned into Tenakee Inlet, we counted at least 32 fishing boats working the entrance. These are boats pulling nets behind them that stretch out a long way. Then try and pick a path through them. We did, and no one yelled at us, so I guess we did ok, but I certainly was jinking left behind that one, jumping right to pass in front of that one.. Then we were through. Cool! We arrived at about the same time as a beautiful old boat from the 1930s arrived. It is owned and operated by a really nice man named Ben who charters it for trips into the Inside Passage. His clients were from California near where our house is. Ben helped us out with getting some fuel, as you could buy it here, but first you pay $50.00 to get the woman to come down to the pumps. (She isn't normally there.) Then, your fuel is on top of that. Well, we only needed about 7.5 gallons, so buying from her made no sense, and we were prepared to go without. Ben offered us some from his boat. We tried to pay him, but he was having none of it. Thank you Ben! After the family that was his charters had gone ashore, we heard the Hoover (vacuum cleaner) working, and saw a young boy cleaning inside the boat. This was Ben's son - a future deck hand! Very nice experience, and nice people. We have a little worry this evening. We checked oil, and it was fine. But looking at the fuel/water separator, we saw that it had some gunk in the bottom. It was easy enough to drain and get clear, but it makes us a little nervous. We will watch it very close tomorrow. Since this trip is a motoring trip, the health of the engine is paramount. Hopefully, it is just a little sediment that got in, and is now cleaned out. Keep your fingers crossed. Tomorrow, we head out for Baranof Warm Springs about 50 miles south. This is down the Chatham Strait. Will the wind be on our nose the whole way? Let's go find out! PS, There is a hot springs here. Separate hours for men and women, and naked mandatory. We passed. Be Excellent to Each Other!

Rod and Elisabeth,

"Your Rock and Roll Argonauts" "Les Pirates d'Honneur"