Raining Bears

We hopped through a couple of anchorages on Dall and Long Islands, just looking for some shelter from the wind and rain. We've only seen 1 other cruising boat in the last four days. First night at South Kaigani Bay, we couldn't tuck in far enough. With the wind blowing up the channel, our rear end hung out of the small cove in the waves. We rolled around all night, and no one slept because Jay couldn't sleep. That and the noise. I really should record the rolly anchorage sounds sometime. The next day we moved around the north end of Long Island. It was protected, calm water with small islands everywhere. We had to watch out for the humpbacks and sea otters. 

The otters let us inside Elbow Bay and there was hardly a ripple on the water. POURED rain for 24 hours, and the wind at the top of mast whistled. We were perfectly protected but there was no shore access for Jay. During another break in the rain we moved another 14 miles to Eek Inlet. Sockeye salmon were everywhere, and we counted 3 black bears. Inside the inlet the fish were done feeding and not much interested in my attempts to catch one. Their throats swell up after they enter the fresh/brackish waters near their spawning grounds. Did hook a big one though, and my reel buzzed out line until he shook off the hook. Rained hard for another 12 hours. We built a fire in the stove and did some boat maintenance inside. A wood fire really dries out the air and, as a result, all our wet things finally dried. Took Jay to the rock beach, chased off the bear, and played a bit in the rain. It has been a wet couple of days. Didn't see a soul for the 48 hours in Eek. With the weather breaking and some sun on the way, we came up the channel to Hydaburg. 

Hailey greeted us at the dock, but she realized we were not the folks she was expecting.  She did tell us how to get to the little store "where the have food you can microwave."  More importantly, she showed us where to pick fresh thimble berries. Time for some walking around on land....and the sun finally came back out.