Alaska 2016 | Day 87 | Rocky Pass to Thorne Bay

We left Rocky Pass this morning with no firm destination in mind. The weather was bad—low visibility and heavy rain—so we figured we’d make some miles.

Despite the rain and fog, the first eight hours of the day were easy, if a bit boring. Besides winding our way through a gill net opening, we didn’t see much. The northern part of Clarence Strait was a bit choppy, but not bad…spray on the windows, not much boat motion.

We contemplated anchoring for the night in Ratz Bay. The guidebooks weren’t too keen on it, though, and it was packed with seiners and tenders. So we continued on…

Seiners near Ratz Bay. Recognize the boat Jordan?

Within a few miles the wind was blowing consistently at 20 knots, gusting to 30. Seas were three feet, then four, occasionally bigger and right on the bow. The mist we’d gotten on the windows earlier was replaced by sheets of spray. The anchor got an excellent washdown…

Starting to get bumpy 

Thorne Bay was the next reasonable protection and we took it. We didn’t arrive until 8:00 p.m., so rather than head several miles to the town docks we just anchored in the northwestern corner of the outer bay. Rocky bottom and 100 feet deep, but the anchor set and conditions were calm.

78.48 nm today
2442.53 nm total