A front is forecast to cross over the area this evening bringing wind and rain. We’d rather not be stuck in Shearwater too many nights so we departed about 8 AM this morning.
Until the front passes though, wind and sea state are relatively benign so we took advantage of conditions and took the “express” route up Milbanke Sound rather than the more sheltered (but slower) route through Reid Passage and Percival Narrows.
The direct route is also convenient for stopping at Klemtu to add some more water to our tanks. Shearwater has water available but, as is often the case with water along the Inside Passage, it has a slight tint on account of tannin from the trees in the water shed. Klemtu has a full up water treatment plant with good clear water at its fuel dock. A one hour stop allowed us to add an estimated 150 gallons to the 200 gallons remaining in our tanks. This ought to be enough to get us to Ketchikan.
So far, we have repeated only two anchorages from our 2007 cruise, Waddington Bay and today’s stop, Bottleneck Inlet. It is a well protected stop with convenient anchoring depths (20 to 30 feet) and sufficient space for many boats swinging on safe anchoring scopes. We spent 3 nights here in 2007 with a half-dozen other boats waiting out a storm. We hope this year’s stop isn’t quite as long.
Today’s mileage – 46.2
Cumulative mileage – 571.9
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