This morning the plan was to transit Jackson Narrows about an hour before low slack…giving us a little more water under the keel and maybe only a slight bit of current against us, but we actually had a little current with us, so apparently it had already turned. We all made it through just fine and it was a fun piloting challenge!
The rest of our cruise today through Jackson Passage and up Finlayson Channel was calm, gray, and beautiful.
We arrived at Khutze Inlet and there was only one other boat in the anchorage.
Our boats look so tiny compared to the majestic land that surrounds us.
The sun was intermittent today, but when it was out it made for some stunning scenery.
We took dinghies up the estuary/river at high tide and got pretty far but did not spot any bears. Maybe tomorrow! We’re staying another day here to wait for some weather a little further north.
The group met on Airship for an enchilada dinner, and then called it an early night. Everyone seems to be glad to have a day of down time and no travel, and hopefully this will make for a chill trip up Grenville Channel and on to Dixon Entrance.
In the meantime, we’ll keep an eye out for bears on shore and enjoy some relaxing time aboard!
Day 2 in Khutze Inlet: Woohoo we got to sleep in! We had a nice leisurely morning — took our coffee on the top deck to watch for bears (none), then worked on our plan for tomorrow.
After a while (and some persistent binoc’ing of the beach) we finally spotted a brown bear back in the grass. Finally!
Later in the afternoon we delivered plans and updated itineraries to each boat, then took the dinghy (followed by several others) up the other side of the estuary.
We saw another (the same?) single brown bear after getting up the river a ways:
Further still, we spotted another bear, then realized there were two! A sow and a cub!
I didn’t bring my camera or the binoculars with us because the estuary trip was an add-on to our plan delivery outing, and all I had was my iPhone, which did remarkably well, considering!
Conditions inside are so calm right now.
We’ll call it an early night, because tomorrow we’re off early and headed for Lowe Inlet.
