June 18, 2016

The sun hid its face with a high and light overcast today as we left passage cove and turned eastward to run from Naked Island to Sheep Bay. The northwestern-most cove on Naked Island shelters a large mooring ball where a massive oil spill response barge sits on call 24 hours a day, a sobering reminder of the disaster which so greatly impacted and continues to impact this incredible place. Nearing Port Gravina and Orca Inlet the first breeze in days rocked the boats gently beneath us and we watched a humpback whale feed close to shore.

Sheep Bay has a broad entrance, which funnels northeastward past thundering waterfalls and quiet stream deltas to its island-choked head, where we anchored in 25’ of water to enjoy our last evening in the wilderness. After a leisurely afternoon spent tooling around in the dinghies, watching playful otters, and even dancing a little on deck, everyone gathered on board Deception for a final potluck dinner and good company.

An exceedingly calm night fell and a gentle blue twilight suffused throughout the bay as intermittent shafts of moonlight bled through the clouds onto the forested slopes.