Punchbowl Cove to Foggy Bay

We slipped the lines from the USFS mooring ball at Punchbowl Cove, and secured our rafted sailboat neighbor lines to the ball so they could linger over breakfast. With fair weather and light winds, the run to Foggy Bay was an easy five hours. The sea was mostly flat, just gentle ripples—though close to shore the ocean swell stacked into a few playful two-foot troughs.

Our arrival coincided with a low tide entry into Foggy Bay. The approach felt tight but was well-charted, and soon the hook was down in 35 feet. OceanFlyer had the place to herself—at least until the familiar Nordhavn Feisty Lady slipped in as the tide rose.

foggy bay anchorage

the “big Water” is almost invisable when anchored behind the islets in foggy bay

Exploring Very Inlet

With high water on the way, we launched the dinghy into Very Inlet, a three-mile-long fjord filled with rocky islets and pinched narrows. The tide poured through in swirling rapids while the 30hp Yamaha kept us on track; the passage was very doable. Behind the rapids we found a hidden basin, rimmed with drying islets of green grass—something we only appreciated fully after a drone flight overhead.

unusual drying pattern at the head of very inlet

the shoals extend far from the “shore”

great dinghy exploring in very inlet

karen checks out the wildlife in very inlet

On the way out, we logged some useful numbers: 13.2 feet under the dinghy at the rapids on a 14-foot tide at Kah Shakes Cove and we made two knots of headway at half throttle. In the narrows, there was 38 feet under us and we saw 3.3 knots at the same throttle. Good data for the next trip.

An Evening Surprise

Back at anchor, we idled by Feisty Lady to say hello. Though she shares our Bellingham dock, we’d never met her crew. After introductions, they delivered unexpected news: an 8.8 magnitude quake in far eastern Russia—the sixth strongest ever recorded—had triggered a tsunami advisory for Southeast Alaska and Northern BC.

fiesty lady securly anchored in foggy bay

The mood shifted quickly. We discussed contingency plans, including running to deep water if the advisory escalated. Feisty Lady’s crew was in touch with both the Coast Guard and the Tsunami Warning Center. Meanwhile, Karen tracked multiple sites, each giving slightly different reports. Finally, word came: the advisory was lifted for SE Alaska, though still in place for Northern BC. We could stand down.

With that, tension eased. Two trawlers, a quiet cove, and the comfort of knowing the hook was holding. The evening finished just as we’d hoped—peaceful, with only the faint slap of swell against the hull.