Anchor Down, Neah Bay

Wind came up briefly after last night’s “No Report” report. But when it dropped with the sun, I still had 30 miles to the red buoy off Duncan Rock and another eight around the corner to Neah Bay. And I’d missed my tide, so made a whopping 3 knots over the ground the last several hours.

Never in life have navigation lights–the yellow of the separation zone, the white of Cape Flattery, the red of Duncan Rock, the white of Waadah Island–approached and sunk astern so slowly!

There is much to love about this boat, but man-handling the short tiller in a seaway with fog and shipping is not one of them.

The anchor slid off the bow at 5am local time and after ten straight hours of steering.

Slept soundly until 10am. Five hours of uninterrupted sleep may not seem much to you–purest luxury for me.

Now to breakfast (eggs and baked beans–bacon if I had it–in honor of Les and Ali on ARCTIC TERN) and to see if I can repair the autopilot.

Kodiak to Neah Bay

Miles: 1,211

Days: about 8

Avg. Miles per Day: 135 (including the motoring)

The last of the sun and wind.

The scope (Chart Plotter). I’m the white arrow surrounded by a compass rose. The promentory at bottom right is Cape Flattery. The gray and yellow triangles are shipping (as many as eight targets at one point). Note we are all converging upon the same area, a number of pink outlines defining the Strait of Juan de Fuca shipping entrance and separatoin zone just off Cape Flattery. My course, white line, runs right through this area, which is a no-no, but damned if I was going around!