I’m slowly motoring out through the many islands and reefs of Nuchatlitz, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many eagles. I’m surrounded by them: circling overhead, diving, sitting on the beaches. It’s low tide right now, so much of the area is exposed. It’s a spectacular place, and I’m regretting not flying the drone. I don’t think my photos will really do it justice. There are probably at least half a dozen eagles around me, maybe more, along with all kinds of other birds taking advantage of the low tide to look for — or scavenge — a meal. I guess it is breakfast.

I got up this morning and realized that if I wanted to move, and keep making progress towards the next destination, I should probably leave in the morning. In the afternoon the northwesterlies tend to pick up, and getting out of here against the northwest wind would be quite challenging. Once I’m out in the open water it’s fine, but beating against the swell and the wind would be very hard. So I realized that if I was going to go, I should go immediately. I immediately started packing up and getting ready to head out. It was very peaceful in the bay: basically glassy calm. That made me hopeful that it might be calm out on the water as well. I did acknowledge that it was low tide, which meant no chop or swell from outside could really get in, because the sandbar was creating a spectacular breakwater. At first there was only a little wind. But as I came out, the swell quickly became quite large, and the motion is extreme. We’re thrashing around, motoring into big swell. I had a peanut butter and jam sandwich for breakfast, because that was about all I could prepare without getting thrown around too much. Things are already starting to fall that I didn’t anticipate would be tossed around this violently. Jura is climbing up the swells and then crashing down the other side of them. Every once in a while a few larger ones come along. It feels like climbing a mountain and then being thrown off the edge. The engine is running quite hot, so I’m hoping that throttling back will cool it off. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to shut it down and try to sail, although there isn’t really enough wind to sail. That would mean just sitting here for a bit, very uncomfortably, with the sails flogging and the boat still thrashing around. Not ideal.

Sat for a few minutes with the engine off to let it cool down. Tried sailing but there’s just not enough wind to keep the sails filled when the boat is moving this much in the swell. I’m motoring again now at 1500 RPM, which seems to be keeping the engine at a reasonable temperature. I definitely don’t want to lose power with no wind so close to these reefs. My last resort would be to drop the anchor, but I’d be pretty close to the rocks before reaching a depth where the anchor could bite.