Day 5 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Mound Island to Blunden Harbour

We left Mound Island by 7am this morning, not because we needed to, but because we want some time to play in Blunden Harbour later today. There’s so much to explore there, and the weather is (still) amazing.

Seabear, early morning light at Mound Island.
Two’s Out leaving Mound Island anchorage.
Airship heads for White Beach Passage

The folks on Two’s Out sent us this nice photo of Airship underway in Queen Charlotte Strait this morning. So pretty!

Not long after we entered Queen Charlotte Strait, we saw some big splashes up ahead…a humpback whale was alternating fin-slapping, breaching, and tail-slapping, but mostly breaching. Here are a bunch of photos…we stopped for a while to watch before continuing on our way.

What a great treat!

As soon as we all were anchored, we set off in the dinghies to go back to Bradley Lagoon, since the timing for the tide was right.

We arrived at the narrows and there was still a very slight flood…perfect! That meant we had plenty of time to explore back in here.

We went through the lagoon and way back up…further than we’d ever been able to go previously. In fact, our GPS showed us completely on land most of the time, which we definitely were not. Eventually, the 1.8ft depth was not enough for us to continue, so we turned around and headed back to the anchorage. What a gorgeous place to explore though!

The ebb was swiftly running as we returned to the narrows to go through.

We all got together on Airship for some Cape Caution planning. The forecast for tomorrow changed, and now there are 30kt outflow winds forecast near the mainland, so we will continue evaluating and if the forecast remains the same, we’ll go around on Wednesday morning instead. No need for any unnecessary drama! If we make that call, we’ll move over to Allison Harbour…a new place, great dinghy exploring, and a bit closer to Cape Caution for Wednesday morning’s cruise. Sounds like Wednesday could bring a little drizzle and some fog, but as long as it’s calm, we’re good with that!

After planning, we lit up the grill and had a really nice dinner together! Former flotilla-goers David and Julie on Dogstar joined us for some grilled stuff, baked potatoes, salads, beans, and a lot of fun conversation.

At anchor in Blunden Harbour, sunset.