23 July: Day-45, Total-47; Miles-27, Total-1611
– Chuck
It was pouring rain on our tents at 5:30 am and did not
let up for hours. Finally, about 1pm it eased then stopped. We packed,
then paddled into the wind four miles to Holy Cross. It is another small
fishing village with mostly Indians living there. This village is different
because it is not right on the river. The landing is behind an island
in a protected slough. Then the village is a quarter mile around a hill
and not even visible from the landing. It would be very easy to miss.
We saw a boat come out of the slough and knew the village was behind
an island so it seemed likely. Also, we thought that slough might give
us some protection from the strong headwind.
Holy Cross is a friendly little village. It sets on the side of a hill
and like all the villages has only gravel roads/streets. At the Community
store, we sent/received email and bought a few groceries.
We paddled another three miles to exit the slough. On the left bank
about a quarter mile in front of us, were three moose, a cow and two
calves. As we drifted closer, the mom and one of the gangly little ones
began drinking from the river while the other was nursing. The mom spotted
us and herded her two young offspring back into the thick willows.
Seeing the high wind and waves on the main channel of the river, we
stopped on a sandy spot and waited for the wind to die. I sat in my
canoe, opened the metal cooler that is my food box and made a huge salad
from some of the veggies I had just gotten. Shortly after I had everything
put away, it seemed to be calming. We decided to check it out.
Great! Wind and waves were tolerable, we were immediately in the main
current and happily on our way. It was about 8:30pm. Within a few minutes,
it started raining but with no headwind we were moving right along.
Around 11pm, the wind increased and soon we had waves and a headwind.
By 1230am it was still pouring rain and we were bucking into whitecap
waves. The black cloud cover made it almost dark. As we splashed along
bouncing on the choppy water, we hugged the shoreline. Bill spotted
a small inlet to a little bay. We ducked into it. He checked one side
for potential tent sites; I checked the other side. We both found possible
sites and decided that each would pitch on the spot. It was still raining
but not as hard as earlier. My tent was up in a flash, I tossed essential
gear inside and backed in on top of it. My muddy, sandy feet were still
outside; I poured some of my drinking water on them and dried them with
my shirt. I was all set. I inflated my (still leaking) ThermaRest mattress,
fluffed up the sleeping bag on top of it and listened to the rain, now
coming down in torrents, on my dry (inside) tent.
It is now 12 hours later and we are still waiting for the rain to stop
and the wind to ease enough to get moving again.
Q: Beth Kelso in Naples, FL wants to know about our radios.
A: We each have VHF marine, "Submersible" radios. They are
guaranteed to be waterproof. Ours are made by Standard Horizon, Model
HX460ss, and I got them at West Marine. They are a little larger than
a pack of cigarettes. They are "line-of-sight" and the range
is about 2 miles unless on the water, then maybe 4 miles. Any type of
obstacle, trees, buildings etc. will decrease the range. They were pretty
pricey, about $240 each. If you don't need the "submersible"
capability nor the small size, very good ones can be about half the
price. These have a lithium ion rechargeable battery, which is VERY
good and the radio will accept two AA alkaline batteries if you get
the adapter.
I am very pleased with their performance in our situation. My only complaint
is that Bill won't answer my calls unless he has his radio turned on.