Bristol Boat Delivery : Early start & many miles

June 7

We have learned to make tracks when the weather gods and goddesses smile upon us. For the first time in 3 days the wind forecast was less than 15 knots so we got up at 0400 and headed north by 0430. We were assisted off the dock (as has been the case every time we have been in and out of Kecthikan) by Joy, the unofficial mayor of dock 11 Bar #3. She and her husband Vern adopted us and helped show us the local ropes. Can't wait to see them again.
Our goal was Petersburg, however, to get there we had to pass through Wrangell Narrows. There are lots of stories and warnings about the narrows, tricky currents, tides and many markers to pay attention to. I guess these Alaskans have never spent any time on the ICW on the east coast. We passed through without any issues. By 1130 we were approaching Petersburg and we were feeling good so we decided to fuel up and press on.

-A quick side note about fuel: It may seem that we get fuel an awful lot, but the fact is I try not to let the tanks get to far below 1/2 full. Occasionally we have been misled by old guide books or other sources about fuel availability so I try to fuel up when fuel is available-
-back to our regularly scheduled story-

Leaving Petersburg we head Northwest into Fredrick Sound with the weather holding and get our first glimpse of a glacier, a few small icebergs and whales spouting far off in the distance.

Patterson Glacier

We headed North into Stephens Passage and our weather luck had run out. There had been high winds from the north for 2 or 3 days and had set up 4 and 5 foot swells about 8 seconds apart. Not comfortable. We pulled into Hobart Bay and took a spot at the Forest Service float with 2 other boats, also there to wait out the swells.