17 July: Days-39, Total-41; Miles-39, Total-1391 – Chuck

As I looked out of the tent, after a squall with sleet had passed, I saw a little ridge of sleet along the bottom edge of the tent. Sleet had hit the tent and rolled off into a one inch high line of ice on the windward side.
Frost was on logs, gear, ect. when we started fixing breakfast.

We decided to change our daily schedule to better deal with the wind and consequent waves. The new plan is to start in the evening, paddle through the low light that passes for night, and knock out 30-40 miles before stopping in the early morning. Usually the wind dies and the water is much more calm during the evening and early morning hours.

So, by 10am we were back in our tents trying to sleep/rest before we started paddling at 6:30pm. We both got a few hours sleep but mostly rested quietly, trying not to disturb the other. By 4pm we were packing and fixing a meal before departing. Bill tossed a salmon fillet in his pressure cooker with some rice and cabbage for his 'meal-of-the-day'. I cut chunks of salmon and stirred them with some cabbage and cooked it for only a couple minutes. On top of this went some raw onion slivers and crumbled bacon. Another english muffin and wow! It was great.

It was calm when we pushed off at 6:15pm. We peacefully streamed along with the current, reminding each other how clever we were. The evening was wonderful. Watching the soft pink colors of the sun trying to set, but instead rolling around the northern horizon. About midnight it got noticeably cooler. A light quartering tailwind aided the current and our paddles as we slipped gently through the stillness of these mystic hours. There was a long twilight then little by little it got a bit lighter.

We wanted to knock out at least 33 miles, I like to see those hundreds rack-up every three days. At 3am we started looking for a campsite, the low light makes it difficult to evaluate potential sites from a distance. At 4am we pitched on a barren, dried mud/sand island. We had to carry our gear over a few hundred feet of soft mud to a dry area but it was home.

The new schedule worked well, we planned a 6pm departure and hit the sack. It was easy to sleep in the cool morning.

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