Day 424 & 425 Stuck at Foggy Bay

Here we sit, stuck in Foggy Bay for another day. We got here Thursday at 1800 and settle in as we knew a storm was coming and boy did it. We have had winds over 35 knots in this very protected anchorage.

On Friday morning, we launched Puff while the weather was good and putt putted around the bay before taking off for Very Inlet just North of us. It's a nice long and pretty inlet that would be fine for a shallow draft power boats but not to good for a deep keel sailboat like us as the depth can vary greatly through its length. The "professionals" recommend only entering on high tide when there is no current coming out of the inlet. That's why we're in Foggy Bay as it has a good bottom and plenty of room for us to swing on an anchor. We went several miles up the inlet before turning around as the weather was closing in with the look of lots of water in the clouds and we didn't feel like getting drenched.

We saw another sailboat way off shore that appeared to be heading into Foggy Bay as we headed back to Zephyr. As we watched, they got closer and closer until they finally came into the bay--under row power. They had sailed in as far as they could before taking in their sails. Their diesel engine had "flamed out" as one of the men on her said. One guy was in a dingy just rowing away trying to get them into the bay and to a safe place to drop their anchor. We didn't quite understand why he was rowing as the wind was in the perfect position for him to raise a sail and just sail to a safe spot. We yelled over and asked them if they wanted some help but they thought they had it under control. We had already put Puff and Dragon back on board or we would have gone over when we first saw them. After about an hour, they changed the rower and one of the men finally realizing that the winds were in the right place hoisted the genoa and off they went, dragging the guy in the dingy behind them instead of in front of them. They finally dropped their anchor and about two hours later, they got their diesel started. I'd guess a bad diesel filter. That is what normally causes the most problems. Two small power boats showed up later in the day and anchored together.

The forecast was for 50 knot winds from the South and a 100% chance of rain and waves to 18 feet out in the strait. We knew we were in for a fun day or two. The rains came in the afternoon yesterday and stayed through most of the night clearing out this morning. The winds in our little bay vary from 15 to 35 knots and we are surrounded by hills and trees and have come at us from anywhere from the Southeast to Southwest with big blasts of gusts pushing us over a bit until Zephyr correct her self into the wind. We can see through a small cut in the shore out in the straits and it looks miserable out there. There is no organization to the waves so they come from just about every direction and can really trash a boat fast. The rains have stopped and now it's just winds ripping through here with a bit of sunshine for fun, but just a bit every now and then. It has died down a bit but is still honking a lot out there.

We expect it to continue through tomorrow afternoon and we may be able to get out of here on Monday if we are lucky and over to Prince Rupert to check into Canadian Customs and pick up the part that got shipped in several weeks ago. I've already replaced the broken part, but I'll always take a spare just in case.

So for now, we just sit and read and do odd jobs and wait for this to all blow over. We'll get there sooner or later.