16th June. Neka Bay to Hoonah. 10 miles.

I awoke in the morning to find that the cockpit had a thick layer of midges on the inside. it reminded me of the time I spent camping with a friend of mine on the isle of Skye some 30 years ago when in the middle of the night I awoke and turned the flashlight on to see that the roof of the tent, on the inside, was covered on midges. We quickly packed the tent away and slept the rest of the night in a sealed car. We were covered in bites the following morning. Neka Bay certainly wins the vote for most midge ridden anchorage so far.

Before departing I went and pulled up the crab trap. As soon as I started pulling the line up I knew I either had a lot of crabs or a large starfish in the trap. We had crab. 11 lovely Dungeness specimens. Jude put the pot on and Steve and Sandy helped prepare them for cooking. Sandy did a great job in dispatching the crab. Watch out Steve!   

It was just a short trip to Hoonah, a native Indian fishing village and our chance to get a shower and stock up on some provisions (the beer seems to be going faster than anticipated). Steve, Sandy and Jude prepared the crab meat and Ben and Amber cooked some delicious crab cakes. Ben could get a job as a singing, guitar playing chef! We wondered around the town, did some laundry and I donned my wet suit (not as brave as Amber and Ben to go in my swim shorts) and cleaned the hull of the boat which had started to grow a beard. Whilst in the water the owner of the 110ft motor yacht C Jewel asked if I would be kind enough to take a look at one of his propeller shafts as he though there maybe some line wrapped around it. As the water was not too cold, in my wet suit at least, I took a look and all was clear. They kindly rewarded us with some halibut steaks.   

Hoonah cannery

Ben and Amber's crab cakes