2024 Flotilla to Alaska Day 5 - Shoal Bay to Mound Island
by Laura Domela 16 May 16:29 PDT
Leaving Shoal Bay this morning © Laura Domela
Environment Canada's forecast for Johnstone Strait today was a gale warning, with expected winds 20-30kts this afternoon.
But Windy showed conditions that looked much more friendly. Johnstone is not an area where we typically can rely on Windy conditions, due to the variety of terrain and other mysterious things — this is when actual reported conditions are best when you can get them.
Fanny Island showed 15-18kts for our whole time in Johnstone, and the reporting weather stations we could see further west were all in the single digits (Port McNeill, Port Hardy, Sointula, even Herbert Island). So we opted to change the plan last minute and see how Johnstone Strait was, with a couple of bailout points. The goal was to get to Mound Island (59nm) today, to give us a chance to get around Cape Caution on Saturday (which looks like it could be a pretty good day for it).
We passed out Plan B and got off the dock at Shoal Bay around 8:30am.
Turns out we didn't need any of our bailout plans because conditions on Johnstone were fine. Choppy for an hour or so (1-2ft) with some whitecaps, but the further west we went, the more conditions mellowed out.
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