NARROWS, RAPIDS, WHALES

The rain continued overnight and this morning was wet and miserable.  I forgot about going for a walk and had to bail out the pig who was half full of water.  My options were to stay and wait for the rain to abate or move on.  As a North Westerly gale is forecast I decided to move on otherwise I could be trapped for days.  Kent Inlet is an interesting place and it would be good to return in fine weather for a look around.

Departing through the narrow passage to Kent Inlet was exciting, the current was running at 6 knots and Mr Yanmar needed all his power to get us through.  We crept through going full speed as the water swirled and rushed past us and between the rocks at each side.  I would like to have taken a video but my hands were full of boat.

Once clear of Kent Inlet we headed up Laredo Channel under motor and rippled seas.  There was a promise of Southerly winds, it finally arrived at midday when we set all available sail.  The next 4 hours saw us ticking off the miles as we headed up Estaban Channel with the wind vane in charge.  So nice to be sailing.

The weather brightened up in the afternoon although it didn’t warm up much.  The afternoon also brought the first whales of the trip.  There were Finback whales swimming up the channel.  They didn’t get too close but it was clear to see that they were finbacks.

I saw a yacht in the distance this morning, the same one I had seen two days previously.  Apart from that there was absolutely no other shipping to be seem and no ships appeared on the AIS all day.  There are not many people around here.

The choice of anchorage for the night was limited and I chose Gillespie Channel as having a couple of options.  Going into Gillespie Channel was another exciting narrow rapidly flowing passage.  Again we needed full power to get through.  Once inside the first anchorage was too deep, we would have needed a stern moor and doing that is much easier with two people.  I moved a couple of miles further in and found a small pool with 12 meters depth.  We are anchored between Bernard Island to the south and Trutch Island to the north in a small pool tucked behind Tennant Island.  Hopefully it will be secure in the upcoming North Westerly gale.

Once we had anchored the sun finally came out at seven this evening.  That prompted a sundowner and the realisation that I am down to my last lemon for Rum and Coke.  The forecast for the next few days is looking horrible for going north with gale force winds on the nose.

  Let’s see what tomorrow brings.  Total voyage distance 514.8 miles.

Logged 18th May 2016