Thursday, June 2, 2016

Alaska 2016 | Day 15 | Windy Bay to Coghlan Anchorage

Yesterday's mostly sunny weather gave way to low clouds and rain today. No less beautiful, just different.

We had a long day: 60 nm, mostly in Princess Royal Channel. Waterfalls lined the channel, and with the misty weather, their source was often obscured.
Waterfall from the clouds!
Unfortunately there's no good anchorage for a group of boats in Princess Royal Channel. In past years we've stayed at Butedale, an abandoned cannery. It's basically a "ghost village" in an even more advanced state of decay than Ocean Falls. Despite some recent improvements, Butedale is technically closed to visitors, and it's too "rough and ready" to take the flotilla to.
Passing Butedale. Scenic but primitive.
Last year we took the fleet into Bishop Bay Hot Springs. It's a fantastic stop—beautiful scenery and natural hot springs—but it's impossible to visit with this many boats. Anchorage is in 100+ feet of water (often more like 250 feet), the dock has a 30 foot size restriction, and the two mooring buoys are unreliable. Oh well, I'll stop on the way south.

Hills and trees, a common sight on the Inside Passage.
Instead we opted for Coghlan Anchorage, near the Hartley Bay native village. Easy anchoring, plenty of space.  Fun fact: Hartley Bay residents were among the first to respond when the BC Ferry Queen of the North ran aground and sunk on nearby Gil Island in 2006.

60.06 nm today
567.23 nm total

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