More Struggles with Fitz Hugh

June 4

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.”

Ghost town of Namu