Seattle to Ketchikan Day 23

Thursday May 26

Our destination for today was about 73 nm away - so a pretty long run.

Here is a map snippet that shows the route:

After a quick shore excursion for Bina we stowed the raft and pulled anchor at about 8:30 AM.

When we pulled out into the channel we immediately encountered unfavorable currents, which was discouraging since we had such a long way to run today.  But it is what it is.  I could run at a higher RPM in order to gain some speed, but then the fuel burn goes up exponentially.

We had made the joint decision to skip Bishop Bay Hot Springs this trip.
We stopped there last year and really enjoyed it.
But it is pretty far out of the way, and in truth, we were both getting very eager to be back home.

We slogged on and on for the day, and actually had rain squalls for a good portion of the day.
Had to use my windshield wipers for the first time on this trip.

We pulled into Lowe Inlet about 6 PM and found no other boats there at that time.
A couple of boats came in later.

Here is a map snippet that shows Lowe Inlet and Nettle Basin.

We went past Pike Point and anchored in that little nook just below the anchor symbol on the chart.
The guide books say that the primo anchoring spot is directly in front on Verney Falls, where you can let the strong current keep you pointed towards the falls in any stage of the tide.
I thought about anchoring there, but I was concerned that getting in and out of the raft for our shore excursions might be difficult with that much current flowing past the boat.

Our mileage to this point was 660 nm.

We got the raft ready and took Bina to shore.
It was a nice large beach and Lisa let her run loose for quite a while.

Shortly after we got back to the boat we were sitting there in the cabin and Bina started growling.
There was a large cruising yacht anchored nearby and 4 or 5 people had run up on the fore deck with cameras and binoculars, and that's what Bina was growling at.
We looked over to the beach where were just had walked Bina and saw a lone wolf prowling the beach.

Since we were in Canadian waters I was not allowed to carry any firearms on board, so I was a little concerned about our need to take Bina to shore again in the morning before we left.
I resolved this by taking an air horn, and a flare gun, neither of which were needed since we did not see the wolf again after that initial sighting.

Here are the other 2 boats that came in while we were there.

Tomorrow - Prince Rupert!