No rush to get rolling today since I want to transit Devil’s
Elbow near high water slack.
Unfortunately the rain has returned with a vengeance. No kayaking this morning.
Around 1:00 I pulled anchor and headed out. The windlass is sort of acting up…the nylon
line (1/2” 8-plait) has a tendency to either double up and then jam the gypsy
or the gypsy just can’t get a grip. The
chain portion works perfectly. My hunch
is that the problem lies in having too much rode stuffed in the locker and
there isn’t adequate free fall, but it’s not consistent.
Anyway, another cruising boat (~55’ Tolly) came in as we
were leaving. They were just waiting for
slack at Devil’s Elbow and then continuing on.
Devil’s Elbow was no problem. I did talk with a boat traveling in the
opposite direction on the radio to avoid passing in the narrowest part.
 |
| Devil's Elbow |
Rocky Pass is a gorgeous area. It’s not spectacular in the way that fjords
are, with their massive cliffs and snowcapped peaks. It’s much more intricate. The whole place seems virtually untouched,
and you can anchor almost anywhere.
Besides the hour surrounding high slack water, nobody seems to go
through. It’s definitely more
interesting than Wrangell Narrows.
After Devil’s Elbow we continued at displacement speed
through the rest of Rocky Pass. As we
exited we were hit with a two knot current right on the bow. I couldn’t tolerate 3 knots SOG so I bumped
up the throttle and we cruised over to Merrifield Bay in mostly calm
conditions. Surprisingly, there was a
(very slippery) floating dock in the harbor and we tied up.
The rain continued through most of the evening but there
were some breaks. Peter took the kayak
for a spin, but other than that the weather wasn’t too conducive to being
outside.
No other boat with us tonight, just like every other night
since Petersburg.
25.7nm today and 2,277.1 total
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