The first photo shows the view we awoke to this morning - Warm Springs Bay, Baranof Island. I bet the people on the other boat thought they'd found the perfect, isolated spot to anchor for the night. It must have been a rude shock to have us turn up in the early hours of the morning.
This morning, we kayaked around the bay for an hour and a half. The water was dead calm and there was very little wind, so it was easy work. After lunch, we took the skiff over to the island and walked up to Lake Baranoff.
After dinner, as we were cruising south along Chatham Strait, Sean suggested that we should all head out onto the decks to enjoy the scenery. We turned, passing through a narrow channel into Red Bluff Bay. It was all very quiet and peaceful as we approached a waterfall cascading down the steep slope on the port side. Captain Jim Nowlin, having spent the past couple of days manoeuvering to ensure that we got great views of the scenery and wildlife, had obviously decided it was time to enjoy himself. He turned the ship toward the waterfall and crept closer. Knowing that ships and rocks don't mix, we all expect him to stop before getting too close ...
When we were about 10 metres away it became obvious that he wasn't going to stop. Sure enough, Captain Jim crept slowly onward, until the bow was under the falling water and only inches away from the rock. I later asked him how much room we had under the bow and the answer surprised me. Although we were only a few inches from the mountainous shoreline, there was about 40 metres of water below us!
The last photo shows the waterfall as we backed away. It doesn't look like the sort of terrain you want to get that close to in a ship, does it?