More Struggles with Fitz Hugh

David wrote:
“Today going north up Fitz Hugh Sound was a little difficult. It has been overcast with a 10 knot wind building behind us. We were going well on 1/10 throttle, which doesn’t use up much battery. The wind might have reached 15 knots, certainly gusts that high, and higher waves. At times we had to throttle up to 25% power to maintain steerage. Looking ahead, one specific headland was usually sunnier than anywhere else. It was Namu Harbor, and we found a gusty wind on the starboard side before getting there. A theory is that Namu Ridge south of the harbor caused both the strange wind and the hole in the overcast. Being tired of 6 hours of difficult steering, we stopped in the harbor at Rock Inlet for lunch and a break.

The books say there was a long-standing community at Namu, as well as a thriving fish cannery in the 1900s. But an insufficient supply of fish caused the cannery to close around 1970. Now Namu is a ghost town and the harbor is lined with falling down buildings. Someone tried to make it a resort, but that was too expensive. Several local groups are trying to get help to clean up the large and dangerous mess.

Lunch is always a high point of the day, and our 3-hour break combined with the local break in the overcast (despite a few showers) gained us a 12% increase in the battery. It is still stormy after 3 hours, so we will move deeper into the bay for more protection and plan to set off again tomorrow morning when the wind and rain are supposed to be lighter.”