Location: Sitka, Alaska
At the end of the last blog we had arrived in Ketchikan and were waiting for Patti and Al to arrive for their summer vacation cruise on Seabiscuit.
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| Approaching South Sawyer Glacier, Tracy Arm, Alaska |
August 4, Saturday, Ketchikan: We spent the morning doing laundry and the afternoon at the Blueberry festival downtown.
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The Ketchikan Blueberry Festival pie eating contest, ages 14 - 18.
Notice that all of the contestants are girls. No teenage boys were brave enough to challenge them. |
August 5, Sunday, Ketchikan: A beautiful, sunny day. We spent the day washing the exterior of the boat, filling our fresh water tank, cleaning out the ice chest, and cleaning the prawn and crab traps. In the late afternoon, we went for a walk up Creek Street, the old red light district, and up Married Man Trail (the back way to Creek Street) to the fish ladder. We saw a few fish in the pool below the fish ladder but not many. We stopped at the Bawden Street Brewery for a beer then stopped at Mike’s Elbow Room for happy hour. For supper we went to Annabelle’s for seafood and smoked salmon chowder.
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Dave Rubin's bronze monument "The Rock" on Ketchikan's waterfront.
It features 7 life-size figures from Ketchikan's past: Chief Johnson, a logger, a fisherman, a miner,
an aviator, a Native woman drumming, and an elegant lady in her 1890s finery. |
August 6, Monday, Ketchikan: Today we rode the bus around town to do some errands. We checked out the boat storage area on the north side of town and stopped at Walmart to get some new deck chairs. We did a few boat chores then had happy hour and supper on board.
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| Ketchikan's Rain Gauge, near the visitor center on the waterfront. |
August 7, Tuesday, Ketchikan: Patti and Al’s arrival day. We did a few boat chores and prepared for their arrival. They showed up at the boat just in time for happy hour on the stern. We told a few stories and caught up on the latest news then walked into town for supper at Bar Harbor Restaurant. We watched some of the locals fishing for salmon from the Creek Street Bridge then headed back to the boat and called it a day.
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| Patti and Al enjoying the afternoon sun on the patio at Bar Harbor Restaurant in Ketchikan. |
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| Salmon caught near the Creek Street Bridge, Ketchikan. |
August 8, Wednesday, Ketchikan: Patti and I started the day with a walk up Creek Street, up the stairs to the Cape Fox Lodge and then down the hill to the fish ladder. There were lots and lots of salmon in the pool below the falls, very different then when Dave and I had walked up three days ago. We stopped at the grocery store on the way back to the boat and bought some fresh fruit and veggies and a few other things.
Fish gathering at the bottom of the fish ladder/waterfall in Ketchikan Creek.
Our adventure of the day was a flight seeing tour of Revillagigedo Island and Misty Fjords NationalMonument Wilderness. The Seawind Aviation van picked us up at the marina at 10:00 for the short ride to the float plane dock. We had a quick orientation while the plane unloaded passengers from an earlier tour, then six of us, Patti and Al, Dave and I, and a couple from Italy, Fabio and Carlotta, boarded the plane. Our pilot, Eric, gave us an overview of the flight plan, we taxied into Tongass Narrows and took off. We flew over Revillagigedo Island, across the Behm Canal and over Misty Fjords. We all had headsets and Eric narrated as we flew over the various landmarks and different types of terrain. It was amazing seeing the steep granite cliffs, the evergreen forests, the muskeg flats and the waterways from above. We landed in Rudyerd Bay, tied up to a float in the south arm and got out to stretch our legs.
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| Patti and Carlotta in the back of the seaplane |
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| A view from the sea plane. |
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Patti and Al in front of our sea plane with Carlotta, Eric - the pilot and B in the background.
We are at a dock in Rudyerd Bay, Misty Fjords. |
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| Looking down at a boat and its wake in one of the Misty Fjords waterways. |
On the way back to Ketchikan, we flew over Punchbowl Cove, one of the most picturesque areas within Misty Fjords. After our flight, we asked Naomi, the van driver, to drop us at a local sporting goods store so that we could purchase Alaska fishing licenses. We walked along the water front and bought a new fishing rod and reel for salmon fishing and I got a new raincoat. The guys carried our purchases back to the boat and Patti and I stopped at the Discovery Center to ask about US Forest Service mooring buoys and to get some information on the Anan Bear Observation Center. As we were entering, she recognized a couple she knew from Massachusetts. They were cruising Alaska on one of the big cruise ships and were in Ketchikan for the day, another example of the small world we live in.
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| Looking down at the cruise ships docked in Ketchikan. |
We made a trip to the grocery store and to the liquor store to stock up for our voyage. For supper, we had pizza at Fat Stan’s. After supper, Patti, Al and I walked up to the fish ladder and then along Married Man’s Trail to Creek Street. We saw lots of salmon working their way up the creek to spawn, many people fishing along the creek banks and two seals in the creek feeding on salmon.
August 9, Thursday, Ketchikan to Kina Cove, Kasaan Bay (36 nm, 4.7 hours): It was raining fairly hard this morning. We filled our water tank and took up the trash. There was a break in the rain so Patti went for one last walk around town. We left Thomas Basin at 11:00 and turned north up Tongass Narrows. It started raining again as we turned northwest out of the narrows and we had wind (20-25 knots), current and seas (3-5 feet) abeam port as we crossed Clarence Strait. As we turned north into Kasaan Bay, the seas were blocked by the peninsulas of Prince of Wales Island, the winds died down and the rain quit. We dropped off the prawn and the crab traps, anchored in the middle of Kina Cove and settled in for the evening.
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| Al untangling the prawn trap line as we launched into outside Kina Cove. |
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| Kina Cove evening sky. |
August 10, Friday, Kina Cove to Meyers Chuck via Kasaan Village (34 nm, 5.3 hours): We started off the day watching a black bear feeding along the shore line. Coffee and breakfast, then I went for a paddle around the cove on the SUP. Patti went for a paddle, then we rinsed and stowed everything and got ready to heave anchor.
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| Black bear turning over rocks along the shore of Kina Cove. |
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| Patti paddling around the cove on the SUP. |
We crossed Kasaan Bay to the
village of Kasaan and tied up at the public dock We walked along the boardwalk, through the village, past the carving shed and to the newly erected totem pole. Then we followed a path through the woods to the village long house and around the totem pole park.
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| Dave and B near the new totem pole erected in Kasaan Village. |
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| Patti doing the tree pose on a fallen log along the forest path to the village long house. |
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| The totem carvings in the Kasaan Village long house. |
We had lunch at the Totem Trail Cafe then headed back to the dock. As we exited Kasaan Bay via Grindall Passage, we stopped to drift fish. We saw salmon jumping but didn't catch anything. We continued across Clarence Strait and entered the Meyers Chuck Harbor about 4:00 p.m. The public dock was full so we anchored in the middle of the harbor along with several other boats.
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| Dave, Al and Patti having happy hour on monkey island, Meyers Chuck. |
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| The Meyers Chuck harbor and public dock. |
August 11, Saturday, Meyers Chuck to Thoms Place via Frosty Bay (34 nm, 5.5 hours): As we had our morning coffee, we noticed a lady in a skiff delivering cinnamon rolls to the boat anchored next to us. We had read in the guidebook that you had to put your order in the night before and we were jealous that we were going to miss out on the fresh rolls. As we watched her pull away from the other boat and lamented our loss, she turned and came our way. She pulled alongside and offered us fresh cinnamon rolls and home made cookies. Of course, we bought some of each.
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| Cassie delivering fresh cinnamon rolls and homemade cookies in Meyers Chuck. |
August 13, Monday, Wrangell to Petersburg (40 nm, 5.4 hours): Today we transited the
Wrangell Narrows from Wrangell to Petersburg. Known locally as "The Ditch". the narrows is a channel between Mitkof and Kupreanof Islands. The currents run fairly strong in the narrows, up to 4 - 5 knots, and they meet in the middle, i.e. the current floods in and ebbs out from both north and south. We timed our voyage to get a push from the flood going north up the narrows, to reach the middle near slack water and to get a push from the ebb current as it exited the north end. We did a few boat chores prior to departure then heaved anchor at 11:00 a.m.
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Patti and Al doing their boat chore of the day as we cruise north up the Wrangell Narrows.
They installed fire hose / chafe gear to all of our dock lines. |
We pulled into Petersburg and docked in the North Harbor about 4:45 p.m It was raining. For supper we got some Mexican food to go and spent a quiet evening on the boat.
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| A view of the cannery from our slip at the Petersburg North Harbor. |
August 14, Tuesday, Petersburg: We spent the morning doing boat chores, laundry, errands and internet. For lunch, we ate at a small restaurant in town. After lunch Patti and I walked to the post office so she could mail some post cards. From there, we walked to Sandy Beach on the east side of Mitkof Island, north along the shoreline to Outlook Point, around Hunger Point on the north end of the island and back into town.
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| Patti next to a stone fire place on the Sandy Beach trail, Petersburg. |
We stopped at the grocery store for a few things and met Al and Dave coming up the street on their way to the liquor store. Free ice from the cannery was available near the harbor, so we loaded up our cooler. Al tried fishing for herring off the dock but our hooks were too big. We walked up to the hardware store and bought some smaller hooks, got a pizza to go for supper.
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| Al fishing for herring from the Petersburg North Harbor dock. He caught 12 to use for bait for halibut fishing. |
August 15, Wednesday, Petersburg to Hobart Bay Entrance Cove (55 nm, 7.1 hours): We started our day with breakfast at the
Salty Pantry We filled our water tank, took up the trash, got some last minute groceries and pulled away from the dock at 9:30. We stopped to halibut fish just south of North Rock in Stephens Passage. Al and Patti fished from the stern and Dave fished from the bow. For a while the fishing was like watching the three stooges. Dave "caught a fish" but it was Al's line. Patti hooked a small fish but it swam under the boat and wrapped around Al's line. They finally got everything untangled and got their lines back in the water. About 2 minutes after Al's line hit the bottom with the fresh herring as bait, he hooked a halibut. The lines went back in the water and Patti hooked a halibut.
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| Al catches the first halibut of the trip. |
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| Patti reeling in her halibut. |
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| Patti brings aboard the second halibut. |
After the first two, 12 - 15 pounds each, we had enough fish for several meals so we let the next one go. We headed into Hobart Bay, our anchorage for the night, dropped off the prawn and crab traps and tied up at the public dock in Entrance Island Cove.
August 16, Thursday, Hobart Bay to Tracy Arm Entrance Cove (23 nm, 4.2 hours): A short voyage today so we spent some time in Hobart Bay. I went for a paddle on the SUP then went ashore to explore the island and the US Forest Service cabin. The water in the cove was clear and shallow so Dave suited up and dove in to change the generator prop zinc and the bow thruster zincs.
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| Seabiscuit at the public dock, Hobart Bay entrance cove. |
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| Dave getting ready to dive to check the prop and bow thruster anodes, Hobart Bay. |
We left the dock at 10:45 and headed north. We picked up the traps and finally got some prawns. We stopped to fish along the way but didn't catch anything.
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| Al holding up one of the large prawns we got in the prawn trap. We caught just enough for a shrimp cocktail. |
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| Patti enjoying the view and the sunshine as we exit Hobart Bay. |
As we neared Tracy Arm, we started to see bergie bits in the water and we watched a large cruise ship and a small cruise ship turn into Tracy Arm. We crossed the bar into Tracy Arm, dropped off the crab and prawn traps and anchored in Tracy Arm Entrance Cove. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching bergie bits as they circled around the cove, watching the cruise ships exiting Tracy Arm and watching the birds along the shoreline. For supper we had a prawn cocktail for our appetizer and fresh grilled halibut as our main course.
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A view of the entrance bar to Tracy Arm. The bar is shallow and ice bergs go aground on both sides of the entrance.
You can see Sumdum glacier on the mountains in the background |
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This bergie bit got a little too close to the boat.
Dave used some prop wash to push it towards the shore. |
August 18, Saturday, Tracy Arm Entrance Cove to Taku Harbor (26 nm, 3.9 hours): A lazy morning today as we didn't have very far to go. Patti made Patti mcmuffins for breakfast and we heaved anchor at 9:45. We picked up the crab trap but there were no crabs inside. We exited the entrance cove and looked high and low for the prawn trap buoy but couldn't find it. We checked on it yesterday afternoon before we anchored up for the night, but this morning it was nowhere to be found. Either an iceberg came by or it got caught in the current and was taken out to deeper water.
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| Another "rough" voyage. Al and Patti reading on the voyage to Taku Harbor. |
We turned into Taku Harbor and tied up at the public float on the south side of the harbor. We launched both kayaks, the SUP and the dinghy and prepared for an afternoon of fun in the sun. Dave went for a paddle on the SUP, I made a circuit around the harbor in my kayak, Al and Patti went for a ride in the dinghy and we all enjoyed sitting on the dock watching the activity in the harbor.
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| Dave on the SUP, Taku Harbor. |
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| Patti, Al and Dave unlaxing on the public dock, Taku Harbor. |
This bald eagle landed in the water about 10 feet in front of my kayak to catch the halibut he is standing on.
August 19, Sunday, Taku Harbor to Juneau (21 nm, 3.1 hours): Another short run today. I paddled around the cove on the SUP then Patti and I took the kayaks out and paddled around the harbor. The wind and current picked up as we made our way back to the boat and we had to work hard to get back to the dock. We rinsed all of the equipment, loaded it back onto the boat, had lunch and left the harbor early afternoon.
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| B and Patti kayaking around Taku Harbor. |
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Patti kayaking in Taku Harbor. The harbor entrance and the mountains on the
other side of Stephens Passage are in the background. |
We cruised north up Stephens Passage, entered Gastineau Channel and made our way into Juneau, Alaska's state capital. We docked at the transient dock in Harris Harbor. After settling in, we walked into town and rode the
tramway to the top of Mt. Roberts. We watched the short film "Seeing Daylight" about the Tlingit way of life. Al and Dave headed for the bar to drink the local beer and chat while Patti and I visited the bald eagle then walked the loop trail through the rain forest and the alpine meadows. We had supper in the restaurant, then took the tram back down the mountain.
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| Looking sound down Gastineau Channel from the top of the Juneau Mt. Roberts Tram Ride. |
August 20, Monday, Juneau: Today was Patti and Al's last full day in Alaska. We walked into town along the waterfront and spent some time in the area near the cruise ship docks. Patti bought a few things for her granddaughters while Al and Dave people watched. Dave noticed some mountain goats feeding high up the slopes above town. We had lunch at a local seafood restaurant then went back to the boat for a rest. Patti and Al did some packing, we made a quick trip to the grocery store, then spent the rest of the afternoon watching the world go by from monkey island. We had supper at a nearby sushi restaurant, told some more stories and called it a day.
August 21, Tuesday, Juneau to Funter Bay (48 nm, 6.5 hours): Patti and Al had an early flight this morning to San Francisco to visit their daughter Kate. They caught a taxi to the airport at 5:00 a.m. Dave and I had coffee and breakfast and got underway at 5:45 a.m. The north end of Gastineau Channel is too shallow to transit so although we wanted to go north, we had to go south down the channel, around the south end of Douglas Island and then north up Stephens passage. As we cruised south down Gastineau Channel, one cruise ship was already tied up to the dock and another was just coming in.
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The view from Stephens Passage north of Juneau looking east towards Point Retreat lighthouse
at the north end of the Mansfield Peninsula, Admiralty Island. |
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| The view from Stephens Passage north of Juneau looking west towards the Juneau Ice Fields. |
Around noon, we turned into Funter Bay on the west side of the Mansfield Peninsula and tied up to the public float. It started to rain so we spent a quiet afternoon on the boat. Two fishing boats joined us at the dock late afternoon.
August 22, Wednesday, Funter Bay to Hoonah (22 nm, 3.3 hours): It was windy and rainy with some seas and swell as we crossed Chatham Strait from Funter Bay to Hoonah. We commented on how ideal the weather was the whole time Patti and Al were on board and, just like last year, as soon as they left the rains came. As we neared Chichagof Island, we spotted a few sea otters floating on the surface of the water, then we spotted 5 humpback whales feeding close to the shore. As we approached the breakwater protecting the Hoonah Inner Harbor, we called the harbor master in the VHF to get directions on where to dock. We walked through town and checked out the travel lift and the haul-out area. We had lunch at a local bar then went back to the boat to spend the afternoon doing boat chores and voyage planning. For supper we went to the Icy Straits Lodge. On the way there, two local girls warned us to watch for grizzly bears. We had a nice meal then walked back to the boat along the waterfront.
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| Low tide south of Hoonah Harbor. |
August 23, Thursday, Hoonah: We had hoped the weather would be good so that we could take the outside route from Hoonah to Sitka. Dave checked the weather this morning; it didn't look good on the outside for the next week so we made a decision to take the inside route. We decided to spend the day in Hoonah to do laundry and to do some boat chores and maintenance. As we took the laundry up the dock, this young bald eagle landed on the walkway railing. He just sat there as we approached and let us pass within 5 feet of him. One of the harbor workers told us that the eagle had just fledged from the nest about three days ago and was still learning how to fly.
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| Young bald eagle on the walkway to the Hoonah Harbor docks. |
Our major boat chore of the day was to adjust some of the programming parameters on the engine alternator regulators. We had two additional high voltage battery shutdowns while Patti and Al were on board. Dave sent the information to the engineering manager at Lithionics and he advised us the change the bulk charge voltage on the regulators to 28.8 volts instead of the 29 volts it was set to. The theory is that because the alternators aren't a clean, well regulated charge, the batteries have a higher potential of over-charging if the bulk voltage is set too close to the over voltage. By dialing it back, it gives more room for error while the batteries are being charged by the alternators, without reaching the high voltage shut down limit. We successfully changed the parameters and recorded all of the settings for our files.
August 24, Friday, Hoonah to Tenakee Springs (44 nm, 6.1 hours): We pulled away from the dock this morning at 7:15 for our voyage to
Tenakee Springs. We slow down to watch some whales feeding in Spasski Bay. We pulled in to the Tenakee Springs harbor and tied up to the transient dock about 1:30 p.m. Two guys who were on the dock working on their boat helped us tie up and let us know that it was pizza night at
the bakery in town. We spent the afternoon reading, had our showers than at 5:00 p.m. we walked to town. We checked out the
public bath house but didn't go in. We walked to the west side of town then turned around and went to the bakery for pizza. It was almost full but we found a table near the door and ordered pizza and salads. An Australian came in looking for a table for three people. When he didn't find one, he asked in they could join us and the couple at the table next to us. We joined the two tables together, introduced ourselves and had a lovely meal and a lively conversation. The three Australians, Buck, Beth and their granddaughter Grace keep a small boat in Juneau and cruise SE Alaska every summer. They have done a lot of interesting travel including crossing Russia from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg, traveling thru Europe and traveling in Iceland, all in a four wheel drive Mitsubishi Pajero. The other couple, Kirk and Tammy, are from Salem, Oregon. She grew-up in Anchorage but came to Tenakee Springs every summer to visit her grandparents. Kirk owns a small pub in Salem,
f/Stop Fitzgerald's. After supper, Beth and Grace went to the bath house for a soak and Dave and I went back to the boat. I gathered up a couple of books to drop off on Buck and Beth's boat and as I headed up the dock, I met Buck coming down to our boat. He came aboard for a glass of wine and a chat. Next thing we knew, Tammy and Kirk stopped by for a visit. They hopped aboard and we continued our lively conversation.
Humpback whales feeding in Spasski Bay
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| Leaving the Tenakee Springs harbor. |
August 25, Saturday, Tenakee Springs to Ell Cove (45 nm, 6.3 hours): We started off our day with fresh baked cinnamon rolls and coffee at the bakery. We left the harbor about 10:00 for our cruise south down Chatham Strait. As we passed the reef near the east entrance of Peril Strait, we spotted a group of whales bubble feeding and stopped to watch them in action. They would come to the surface, pushing the fish up, feed then sound back down under water. The birds nearby would rest on the surface of the water until just before the whales surfaced again. As the whales surfaced, the birds would fly in a frenzy and feed on the fish that had been pushed up to the top of the water.
Humpback whales bubble feeding near Catherine Island, Chatham Strait
We continued south down Chatham to Ell Cove on the east side of Baranof Island. Ell Cove is "L" shaped and is surrounded by tall trees and granite rocks. It was very calm and protected inside the cove. We dropped our anchor in the middle and settled in for the night.
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| Ell Cove, Baranof Island |
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| Kasnyku Falls, Waterfall Cove, Baranof Island |
August 26, Sunday, Ell Cove to Baranof Warm Springs (10 nm, 1.7 hours): A nice sunny morning today with a short run planned. We heaved anchor at 8:30, did a circuit around Waterfall Cove to look at Kasnyku Falls and then headed south to Warm Springs Bay. We tied up on the outside of the public dock and did a few minor boat chores. Homer's Odyssey, a boat we had seen in Tracy Arm Entrance Cove and several other places, tied up behind us and we chatted with them for a while. They headed up the boardwalk to the hot springs while we finished our chores and had lunch. On our way up the boardwalk, we passed them coming back down the trail. They gave us a few pointers about the hot springs pools near the waterfall. We walked the boardwalk up to the lake above the waterfall then back down to the hot springs pools. After a nice hot soak we headed back down the trail to the boat.
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| The only thing visible as Dave soaks in the lower hot tub near the waterfall are his feet. |
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| The "sign" that tells you where to turn off the boardwalk to get to the hot pools near the waterfall. |
We watched a few more boats come and go, had supper then went up to soak in the man made tubs at the public bath house. After a nice relaxing soak we called it a day.
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| B soaking in the man made tubs at the Baranof Warm Springs public bath house. |
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| The view of Baranof Warm Springs from the public bath house. |
August 27, Monday, Baranof Warm Springs to Appleton Cove (40 nm, 5.5 hours): We left the dock at 8:30 this morning to catch the current going north up Chatham Strait. A small pod of Dall's porpoises came to ride our bow wake. They are very fast and nimble and a lot of fun to watch.
Dall's porpoises riding the bow wake as we voyage north up Chatham Strait toward Peril Strait.
As we turned into Peril Strait the wind picked up and we had gusts up to 30 knots. We turned into Appleton Cove and anchored at the head hoping that the wind would die down later in the afternoon. After being there for an hour with no break in the wind, we decided to heave anchor and move behind a small island closer to the cove entrance. The island blocked most of the wind and we spent a peaceful afternoon on board.
August 28, Tuesday, Appleton Cove to Sitka (48 nm, 6.4 hours): Since it was raining again today, we decided to make the run into Sitka. To time for slack water at Sergius Narrows in Peril Strait, we heaved anchor at 10:00. Light fog and rain so Dave turned on the radar. As we traveled north and then west up Peril Strait, we saw quite a few fishing boats traveling west to east. The Alaska Marine Highway ferry "Columbia" was traveling behind us in the same direction and slowly caught up to us as we neared the narrows. Since Sergius Narrows is in the main channel and is the only suitable passage for deep draft vessels, we decided to transit via Canoe Pass, a small boat passage south of Sergius Narrows. That put us out of the path of the Columbia so she could transit the narrows and overtake us without us being in their way. Two trollers waited on the other side of the narrows for the Columbia to come through before they continued their voyage east. We turned south down Neva Strait, crossed Krestof Sound, then continued south down Olga Strait to Sitka Sound. As we approached the breakwater protecting Sitka Harbor, we radioed the harbormaster for a slip assignment. We tied up to the dock amongst the fishing fleet. For supper, we walked toward town and ate at
Ludvig's Wine and Tapas Bar.
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| Our neighbors, Eliason Harbor, Sitka. |
August 29, Wednesday, Sitka: A beautiful sunny day today. We rode the bus up to the marine haul-out yard to inquire about hauling out the boat for the winter. It sounded promising but the owner was out of town so we will call him next week to confirm and to schedule a haul-out time. We spent the rest of the day wandering around town and planning for my mother's arrival on Friday. After catching a lot of weird stuff in the crab trap this summer,
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| A starfish in the crab trap. |
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| Two huge starfish in the crab trap along with a fish carcass. |
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| A sea flower (?), not sure what this is called, caught in the crab trap. |
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| The crab trap filled with sea urchins. |
we finally had a good crab feed in Sitka.
Until next time...
