The first half of Thankful's Clarence Strait crossing yesterday was glorious. A gentle southerly breeze, flat seas, sunshine; just like the brochures. Matt and I were commenting on how lucky we were. It didn't last. At mid channel the wind suddenly shifted to the west, and in ten minutes picked up to twenty knots. We knew that it wouldn't take long for an uncomfortable sea to build with that much wind and fetch, so we turned right thirty degrees and headed for the closest shelter on Prince of Wales Island. The wind continued to build, peaking at more than twenty five knots and bringing a nasty slop with it.
Out came the cruising guides and coast pilot to look for a hidey hole close by. Kendrick Bay was dead ahead of us and the cruising guide identified some good anchorages there. As we approached the island the seas flattened out, and Matt saw some jumping salmon, so we stopped and did some fishing. Matt caught a rock fish and I caught didily.
We headed in and found an empty totally protected anchorage at the head of Kendrick Bay. The weather continued to deteriorate. It was probably twenty degrees colder than it had been earlier in the day, and became completely overcast. I tried fishing at our anchorage, as I usually do, but I needed a wool hat to keep warm.
It rained and blew most of the night, but things are looking better this morning. The weather radio said that a front had passed over us and that a large high pressure area is approaching from the west. The weather should improve over the next couple of days.
We are resuming our trek west this morning. Thankful has to poke out into Dixon Entrance to get to Cordova Bay though, and we aren't sure the weather has calmed down enough yet to let us get there comfortably. We are giving it a try though. If it turns out to be too rough, then we'll turn the boat around, head north, and explore more of the eastern side of Prince of Wales Island instead.
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