Tuesday morning brought sunshine and blue skies, and this amazing view of the mountain bowl. It never looks as big or as grand in photos as it does in real life though.
Looking at the conditions, we definitely could have moved to a new spot Tuesday morning to wait for the storm to pass through on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday, but then we wouldn’t be somewhere as beautiful as this (Chapin Bay, Honeydew…maybe we could have gone the 40nm over to Red Bluff….), but we’re not in a super rush and still have another built-in day of cushion between now and Sitka, so why not spend it here?
Kevin put one shrimp pot to soak while he fished for halibut…didn’t get any halibut, but did come back with this bountiful haul from the shrimp pot:
The sun didn’t last, of course, and on Tuesday night and Wednesday we experienced steady 15-25kt winds with gusts up to 38kts. Anchors all held well and just sailed back and forth on them in the wind, but the scenery is beautiful.
These repeating southerly weather patterns are unusual for this time of year in our experience, and it’s certainly been a challenge, adjusting the itinerary repeatedly, not leaving out any of our favorite spots, while still getting people where they need to get on certain dates for crew changes and friends/family flying in/out. A lesson in flexibility, for sure.
However, the weather forecast updates show conditions improving, and this evening we FINALLY saw a couple bears on shore.
And then about 20 minutes later, ANOTHER bear on the other shore. Things are lookin’ up!
We’re still planning to leave in the morning and head over to Red Bluff Bay. Let’s hope the sea conditions settle down nicely overnight.