The group departed Hoonah at the leisurely hour of 9am, after a very nice breakfast at Fisherman’s Daughter. Breakfast burritos, breakfast sandwiches, waffles, and coffee…a wonderful way to start another sunny day!
Weather buoys in Icy Strait were reporting winds around 15kts gusting to 26kts, which was hard to believe when it was this calm here inside the breakwater.
As we rounded Icy Strait Point we saw there were two cruise ships here today, and the wind did increase a bit, but we never saw more than about 15kts.
We had some Dall’s porpoises on our bow momentarily, and then spotted a lone humpback out near Sisters Reef.
As we rounded Point Couverden, the wind and waves died down and we had a beautiful view up Lynn Canal.
This eagle was hanging on the rocks at low tide as we entered the cove.
We all got in and settled, with a slight breeze keeping (most of) the horse flies away. (We had a single breach right after anchoring, which just meant that I got to use the “Bug-A-Salt” gifted to Airship by our friend Jake, which is especially satisfying due to the way you rack the slide to chamber some salt in the “rifle” before firing.)
Our friend Tom (from Alaska Quest) texted me to tell me his son was in the next anchorage over (Swanson Harbor) and that he’d seen a brown bear on shore (on the land between Swanson and Couverden)…he even sent video, which was great! We haven’t seen a bear here before…cool!
The group all came over to Airship for happy hour, and we turned it into a really fun top deck/flybridge gathering. Gotta take advantage of the weather while we can! I took this shot of the top deck from the flybridge…
And Adrianne helped me out with a shot toward the flybridge, and the dinghies tied to the stern!
Tomorrow will be a longer day — 52nm down to Taku Harbor, where we plan to have Taku Tacos on Solstice Sunday! Sunrise tomorrow is 3:51am, sunset not until 10:08pm.