Looking across Berners Bay from my campsite at Point Bridget.
Today I was going to try to paddle roughly 26 miles, which would put me about halfway to Haines and only 2 days from Skagway.
Heading out across Berners Bay from Point Bridget
I headed out across Berners Bay at 5:50am in light winds and calm seas with the point on the far side in my sights. About half way across, an Alaska state trooper in a powerboat pulled alongside to see if everything was OK. After assuring him, I was fine, he asked me a few questions then wished me luck as he pulled away.
Approaching the northern tip of Berners Bay on Lynn Canal.
At 7:40am, I was passing the north point on Berners Bay, happy to have made my last big open water crossing and now safely paddling along the shoreline.
Rough water on Lynn Canal.
As I paddled up the coast, the wind became progressively stronger out of the southeast. Although it was pushing me along, it was becoming increasingly more difficult to maintain control of the boat.
My campsite on Lynn Canal south of Sherman Point.
By 10:20am, after paddling just 16 miles, conditions were getting too dangerous so I decided to stop. I found a high spot on a gravel beach about three miles south of Sherman Point that made a good campsite.
The weather forecast for the following day was for more strong winds in the 15 to 20 mph range with gusts to 30 mph. with continued strong winds until Thursday. It now looked like I was not going to be able to make the ferry leaving Skagway this Thursday and would have to wait a week for the next one.
