June 17, 2013 - Tenakee Inlet to Peril Strait to Sergius Narrows to Salisbury Sound to SITKA! 85 Nautical Miles

We turn to Starboard and enter Peril Strait.  Daniel has timed our entrance into Sergius Narrows. The temperature is about 78 degrees which stimulates the birth of huge black flies.  When we are near small islets we are attacked in the cockpit.  We must keep the sides of the enclosure up because of the heat.  Daniel and Louie battle the beasts with swatters and they begin to subside as we near the swift moving water.  It is an incoming current.  At one point we slow to 2 knots as we push our way through the narrow passage.

The water swirls and as we watch the land barely move past us

You can tell by the angle of the buoy that the current is pushing against us.

The passage opens up into Salisbury Sound and we catch our first view of the  Gulf of Alaska which is open ocean.

We turn to Port and continue up Neva Strait toward Sitka.

The channel is lined with snow covered mountains.

The clouds play hide and seek with the mountain tops as they appear and then disappear again.

Cocktails pulling it's tender "Chaser" hails us
on the radio.  They are concerned about their
wake on the narrow passage and reported
that they will pass us on our Port side.

I thought they just wanted our "Grey Poupon"