Craig was our next destination.  First, we wanted to see Red Bluff Bay.  We had heard how beautiful it was and wanted to see it.  With the help of radar, GPS and depth finder we made it into Red Bluff Bay.  But, we didn’t see it.  Fog and rain had lowered visibility and obscured the sights.  The anchor went down. I started the generator and turned on the heater.  Penny fixed a warm lunch.  We listened to the weather in pieces – the mountains mostly blocked the signal.  From the report that we pieced together, it seemed that we could stay where we were for 3 days while the wind blew 20 knots west down Frederick Sound and across Chatam Strait or we could leave now and get into the harbor at Kake ahead of it. 

We knew that once we reached Kake our prospective course would be in mostly protected waters.  We decided to go.  Bad decision.  Half way, into the trip, the wind arrived earlier than predicted.  We got pounded.  I wrenched my back slamming into waves. In Kake I had great difficulty, in pouring rain, fueling the tanks.  A young man kindly brought us a bag with about 40 pounds of shaved salt ice-the kind fishermen pack their catch in.  I put all we couldn’t pour into the ice chest out in the splash well.  Three days later we had enough to again fill our icebox.  We limped around to the public marina, ate and went to bed. 

We expected to take several days to explore through Rocky Pass, get across Sumner Strait into Hole in the Wall and then take a few more days through El Capitan Passage to Craig.  Rocky Pass had strong currents but the wind was not a factor in its narrow waters.  We were soon through and emerged into Sumner Straits.  Conditions were moderate.  We decided to keep going, because El Capitan Passage seemed more interesting.  Conditions were not nearly as bad as the day before.  We would occasionally slam into a wave.  My back seized up and I could hardly steer.  About 5 miles short of shelter, the engine alarm sounded and the engine lost power.  A look at the temperature gauge showed over heating.  I shut off the sputtering engine and raised it to inspect the intake.  A huge kelp leaf was jammed across the intake.  Penny pushed it off with the boat hook.  We continued and continued, rejecting anchorages as too exposed or too deep or too much current.  Finally, fully spent, we dropped the hook in Sarkar Cove. 

If risk-free comfort is your idea of fun, don’t cruise in a small boat.  Soon, a warm boat, a glass of wine, a hot meal and the satisfaction of achieving a hard fought goal made it all worthwhile.  Did I mention the sights you can get to in a small boat, or, the animals you get close to, or the interesting people leading interesting lives?

We caught up with two such crews in Craig. Halcyon and Rana Verde were in berths behind us.

El and Bill, their son Brad and his son Bryce all lived aboard Halcyon for a month.  Four people living on a 22 foot boat.  That should tell you two things right away.  They are adventurous and their life is not about seeking comfort.  They had been there for three days.  We have cruised many miles with El and Bill.  We were delighted with the two new crew members.

Chris was on Rana Verde. He was having engine problems and they were waiting for a part to arrive.  Chris is one of those people you like to have along on a cruise.  He is interesting, competent in many ways - including outboard engines.  And, he's a good cook.  We had cruised with Chris before this trip.  We looked forward to spending some time with the crews.