ABOVE— Rowing into Walker Cove on glassy seas.


popped off the rock. I retrieved the anchor. All our pieces were intact. Decisions came quickly. Conditions had subsided to the point I could handle the boat alone. “Let’s move!” I hollered to Fredrik. He agreed. It was obvious


we couldn’t stay there. Move where, wasn’t a question. With high winds headed inland, heading out of the bay wasn’t an op- tion. Our chart showed a river valley a couple miles ahead. Te area was marked as an old settlement. Tere had to be a beach there, I hypothesized. Fredrik grabbed the food bag and jumped aboard. I briefly


enjoyed the moment. Both of us, and all our gear, were safely aboard. Then we hit the narrowest pinch in the terrain. The winds intensified. Sailing under bare poles through the gap, I stayed on the tiller and Fredrik rowed enough to give us steer- ing ability. At that moment—like Mr. Bilbo Baggins of hobbit fame—I was ready to go home and live a nice quiet life. Around the corner a real valley and another sailboat, sitting


calmly at anchor, awaited us. Te shore was already claimed by several bears, but for tonight they were going to have to share. Misty Fjords continued to be both wildly beautiful and


extremely challenging. We got up at 3:30 a.m., only to have strong, erratic winds blow us off the water by 8:30. We crawled up the coast, against southerly winds, at a speed that allowed us to experience every barnacle. Fishing and living off what the land and sea provides has


always been part of our game plan. It befuddled us not to be able to catch fish on this leg of the journey. Low on supplies, we


SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR


headed back to Ketchikan to re-group. We arrived just in time to meet the first wave of racers in the Race to Alaska as they crossed the finish line with plenty of wild stories of their own to tell! •SCA•


Nancy Pfeiffer is the author of the book, “Riding Into the Heart of Patagonia,” as well as a number of articles on eating wild food. You can see more photography by Fredrik Norrsell at www.norrsell.com


About the Boat


Salish Voyager


LOA: 16'11" • Beam: 67" • Displacement: 440 lb • Sail Area: 100 sq ft www.ghboats.com


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