FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2006 – Kumealon Inlet to Lewis Island/Kelp Passage Cove
We slept in a bit this morning as the weather has not been good and we are trying to time our passage across Chatham Sound and Dixon Entrance. There has been a stationary low about 400 miles off the Queen Charlottes that has been spinning off these rain showers and southeasterlies, and we are hoping that the low will begin to weaken and allow the high to rebuild before we want to head further north. One more time…..Weather is the boss of us!
Our thinking was to head out of Grenville Channel and get as close to Chatham Sound as we could to find anchorage to scoot across. Most boats go to Prince Rupert, but we are not in need of stores and are not ready for a town. We know we have to come back through Prince Rupert because that’s where we’ll let Mom and Dad off for their flight home as we return south, so really don’t feel a need to go and fight the herd. We’ll explore there later.
Lewis Island seemed to be our best bet. We have had a heck of time getting VHF weather in Grenville Channel. Even Kumealon didn’t give us a clear enough signal to get more than sssccquuussshhhhh on the weather stations. Finally, we got good reception as we came around Gibson Island, confirming our suspicions that the low would be weakening tonight, with winds easing this evening and tomorrow morning. Looks like Kelp Passage Cove will work after all, and we’ll be out of here first thing tomorrow to go to Dundas Islands and Brundige Inlet, to attempt passage across Dixon Entrance on Sunday. The only question will be the sea state after these winds, but they are forecast as one to two meters, which Mystic Moon typically handles well. Decision is to go for it, and if it’s ugly, with seas too close together, we are not above turning around and coming back.
We set the anchor in 25’ of water in Kelp Passage Cove with the wind blowing 20 knots and the rain pelting down. Sure would be nice if that Pacific High would rebuild. If it stops raining, it certainly doesn’t ever do it when I’m on the bow setting the anchor. I’ve given up and have decided to go with hat hair for the rest of the cruise!
We ate the rest of our prawns and garlic toast loaded with crab meat and melted cheese for lunch. Bob and Cheryl called and they were in Sitka, having caught 2 king salmon totaling 60 lbs. They were leaving there and heading up to Juneau and then Glacier Bay, but it sounds like we might be able to meet up with them sometime in July. He had talked to Bob Hollister, who was already in Juneau. Our Selenes are definitely getting around!
The afternoon was spent generally relaxing and trying to get the boat ready for David to come on Tuesday. John did put out the prawn pot and fish for several hours in the driving rain (the man is a maniac!) but came home having only caught a few rockfish and was very wet and cold. Popcorn for dinner and a movie in the warm & cozy salon rounded out the day.
SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 2006 – Kelp Passage Cove to Dundas Island, Brundige Inlet
It rained hard all night, waking us up several times. The wind continued to blow, but our anchor held fast. At 0600, we were both up, as we had several things still to stow and John needed to pick up the prawn pot.
The prawn pot and John came back and did the Forrest Gump thing (again), emptying 3 large starfish out the trap. We got the dinghy stowed on the flybridge (Mark, have we told you lately how much we really, really love the lines and block system you designed for handling the boom and the dinghy??), everything secured, and were on our way by 0735.
It was raining steadily, and the winds were 16 knots, but the tide was with us and the winds at our stern, so the going was pretty smooth. The 3 to 4’ chop was not at all uncomfortable going our way. We passed several boats coming the other direction in Chatham Sound, though, and they looked to be pounding into the chop and wind pretty hard. We got a good push almost all the way to Green Island and were able to get 9.5 to 10 knots SOG (at 1600 RPM) the whole time.
By 1300 we were at anchor in Brundige Inlet, in a little nook just before the second narrows. We had tried to anchor in the lagoon behind Fitch Island, but there was a large red buoy in the very center and several crabpot buoys scattered about, so we thought better of it and moved to the nook, anchoring in 45’ of water at low tide. It was very picturesque, but the rain continued to fall and the wind to blow, so we had a “boat day” and napped and read the afternoon away.
SUNDAY, JUNE 18, 2006 – Dundas Island to Ketchikan via Dixon Entrance
At 0700, we had the anchor up and stowed and were on our way out of Brundige Inlet and into Dixon Entrance. The morning dawned partly cloudy and calm, with a slow ocean swell. The fishing fleet were all moving out toward the western-most point on Dundas Island, and it killed John not to be able to stop and troll for a few hours!
We had a good crossing of Dixon Entrance, although the swells increased to 6 feet with an occasional 8 footer. The stabies did a good job of keeping us comfortable. By the time we were off the Pt. Winslow Beacon, we had lost all of the swell and were enjoying a scenic ride into Alaska.
John wanted to get fuel in Ketchikan on our way in before mooring, so I called the Customs office and asked them if it would be OK for us to stop at the fuel dock first. They were very nice and told us to call them after we had tied up at Petro Fuel dock and they would come to the boat to clear us in there.
The fuel dock was hopping with activity and we had to wait for a boat to leave before we could approach. It is a new dock and very kindly for cruising boats, as it is a floating dock and easy to tie up to and get the fuel hoses to the boat. I called customs again to inform them we had finally tied up and asked them if it was okay to begin fueling. He gave the okay, and John started the fueling process. John had almost finished fueling by the time the Customs and Border Protection officer arrived. He was a very serious guy, although nice enough. He allowed me to do the check in, cleared us, and then cautioned us that it was improper to have begun fueling before checking in. When I told him the office had given us permission to start, he seemed surprised, but softened his chastisement a bit. Anyway, it was all good as we got our clearance number and headed off the fuel dock toward Bar Harbor. By the way, we took on 653 gallons at $2.71 per gallon – an improvement over Friday Harbor’s prices, but still an ouch!
The Harbormaster assigned us a slip in Bar Harbor, which is just north of the town of Ketchikan. As we passed the downtown area, there were 3 huge cruise ships tied up to the big dock there. Those beasts are massive, especially when you’re looking up from a little boat like ours! We docked between a prawner and a purse seiner, and one of them was kind enough to take our lines and help us get docked into the tight space.
It was now 1500, so we signed on to the wireless network there, checked emails and got most of the log onto the website. Pictures are a problem – we’re having a heck of a time downloading them, so only got just the pics for the first logs onto the site, and then didn’t even have time to properly sequence or caption them. Very frustrating for me. I need some serious alone time with the internet and our website!!
We walked up the road to Jeremiah’s restaurant for pub food – I had a good cheeseburger and John had the fried chicken, and we toasted to our arrival in Alaska. We have traveled 812 nautical miles since the time we left Friday Harbor on May 25th, using 623 gallons of fuel. That comes to 1.3 nm/gal, but includes our Kabola diesel heater (which we have used a lot!) and our generator. John reckons that our Cummins probably got about 1.5 nm/gal. To improve on that, we’d have to reduce our RPM and lighten our load. The RPM thing is probably doable, but the load thing will be an issue for me!
MONDAY, JUNE 19, 2006 – Ketchikan – Cleaning and Provisioning Frenzy #2
I won’t bore you with the details of this day. Suffice it to say that we spent the morning giving Mystic Moon a thorough cleaning, inside and out – boy was she salty and dirty, and the afternoon reprovisioning at the Safeway down the road from Bar Harbor. The young bagger there helped me wheel the two grocery carts back to the marina (at low tide, of course!) and haul them aboard the boat. It must be a sickness, as by the time I got everything stowed, the commissary was full again and the freezer was crammed to its max. (See what I mean about the load thing??) This should be the last major reprovisioning, right? Either that or a 12 step program will be in order when I get home!
John went to the marine store and got Alaska fishing licenses for he and Dave and more lures to catch the big ones. We ate dinner at Bar Harbor Restaurant, just up the dock, and the food was quite good. The proprietor gave us some tips for our visit to downtown tomorrow. We had a nice evening, but were both exhausted after our marathon day.
TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2006 – Dave arrives! Ketchican to Clover Cove
I worked on the website some more, managing only to frustrate myself, but did finish loading the pictures for the first log. They’re still not right though, as they didn’t get reduced in size the way they should have. Definitely will take some time to figure this out.
We went into the town of Ketchikan, and there were 4 cruise ships in town – three at the docks and one at anchor. Our cab driver told us that on Thursdays, they have seven total cruise ships come through town – some ships arrive as others leave. At any rate, there were lots of people downtown, so we didn’t do any shopping, but went to the Southeast Discovery Museum, which had been recommended to us. It was very interesting and informative and worth the time spent. We learned a lot about Southeast, its history and facts about its flora and fauna. After that, we walked down to the boardwalk area where the cruise ships dock to get fish and chips at the little stand there that was recommended to us the night before. The fish and chips were some of the best, and the clam chowder was, without a doubt, the best we’d ever had.
We next walked up to Tongass Trading Center and Marine Store to pick up a few other items that we needed before taking off and were able to find most everything on our list, in addition to a couple of things not on the list. By this time, we anxious to get back to the boat to call the water taxi and confirm Dave’s pickup at the airport later in the afternoon.
Dave finally arrived at Mystic Moon around 1630, his plane running about a half hour behind schedule. It was so great to welcome him aboard!! We quickly showed him around and took his luggage below and were on our way out of Bar Harbor by 1700. Even though it was a bit late to start, he was anxious to fish, and we wanted to get away from the seaplanes buzzing overhead. We exited the harbor right behind the cruise ship Sun Princess and followed her out through the Tongass Narrows.
We had thought to go to Naha Bay for the evening, but as we were passing Knudson Cove, we noticed a bunch of fishing boats off the point and a fairly long, unoccupied dock in Clover Passage. We decided we’d turn in and see if we could get moorage for the night there. After calling to the guys on the dock, a gentleman came down to the docks and welcomed us to tie up. Turns out it was Clover Cove Resort, a fishing resort that had just opened for the season last week. The staff was very nice and friendly and (score!) they even had a restaurant there. It was 1845 by that time, so we went up to the restaurant for dinner and had a great meal. The food was delicious, although I thought it was a little pricey, but it was a white tablecloth and napkin kind of place, and I think Dave enjoyed it, too. We had fun talking to the fishing guys and they gave us some pointers and places to try fishing for tomorrow. We also were able to buy some herring to use as bait, which they recommended. If you do ever want to stop in here, they monitor VHF 16.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2006 – Trolling and Clover Cove Resort to Meyers Chuck
This was our big day to troll with Dave, so we slipped the lines at the dock at 0830 and were trolling by 0900. It was pouring rain, probably the hardest rain we’ve had, but that didn’t daunt the capt’n and some of the crew. Dave was like a possessed man to catch a fish! Unfortunately, the fishing was really slow. There were lots of other boats trolling, too, and we didn’t see anyone catch anything, except one small skiff got one salmon. By 1130, Dave had only caught a couple of rockfish and we were all a little discouraged. We decided we’d try til noon, then be on our way.
At exactly 1200, Dave yelled “Fish ON!” and he hauled up a 13 pound king salmon, our biggest yet (sorry, Josh J ) Woo-hoo! He was very excited, and I now had a plan for dinner! At that point John took over tending the lines, as Dave was tired and John wanted so badly to catch a fish. Dave joined me in the pilothouse while I ran the boat. I had spent much of the morning at the helm so John could help Dave get set-up, etc. and this the first time I had spent so much time running the boat while we trolled. It was easier than I thought it would be, although it is tiring as we run so close to shore and you really have to pay attention to stay in the proper depth contours (and avoid the other boats!). So, at 1230 I was at the helm and Dave had gone back to the cockpit to see how John was doing, and I looked to port for other traffic and noticed some big splashes going on across the island from us. Then I saw the tall dorsal fins come out of the water. We had orca playing and feeding!! I yelled for the guys and we watched them from a distance. Finally, I couldn’t stand it any more and suggested we stop trolling and go over there. John agreed, because we’ve heard that if there are Orca in the area, the salmon all go hide and won’t bite.
By the time we had the lines in and had made it over there, the whales had moved down a bit, but were still active. We got as close as was appropriate, then cut our engine and watched. It appeared to be a small family pod, as there were two large whales and three smaller ones. The largest one had a really, really tall dorsal fin, so I’m guessing that was a male. He and the female would surface, and then the littler guys followed behind. We had just a blast (in the pouring rain) watching them surface and breach clear out of the water. It was breathtaking, and they swam quite close to the boat, at one point breaching again just a hundred yards off our bow. Roseanne, I’m sorry to say my pictures are marginal, at best, and I wasn’t able to capture any of them breaching, but the show was amazing. Wow! Salmon AND Orca for Dave! What a great day, and it was only 1300!
Finally, the whales seemed to calm down (although they were still around) so we decided we should probably get underway for Meyers Chuck. The weather had really turned sour, with rain and 22 knots of wind, and we could see whitecaps building in Clarence Strait. We had been so intent on getting a fish for Dave and then playing with the whales, that we neglected to note that the tide in the Strait had turned to the ebb. (Helllooooo!! Tides, tides, tides!!!) And, that wind just happened to be out of the Southeast, in opposition to the ebb. Things turned very nasty quickly as we went from the Behm Canal into Clarence Strait. We were encountering a 3 to 5 foot chop, with white caps being blown off the tops. The wind gusted as high as 30 knots at one point (Yes, Brian, this is “our kind of weather” – haha). The stabies were working hard, but the seas were on our port quarter, with just enough wind to keep us doing a good roll. Dave did remarkably well and didn’t get seasick at all, although he did opt to put on the wristbands for motion sickness. And because he wasn’t sick, he was still hungry, so I managed to get the crab chowder made in spite of the motion (love those potholders on my stove!). By 1550, we had gained enough protection that the seas had calmed, although the winds remained at 20 knots, and we pulled into Meyers Chuck a bit after 1600.
Meyers Chuck is a small community on the mainland of Alaska. It is actually the southern-most community on the mainland. There is a float there for boats to tie up to, but it was already full, so we anchored out in front of the float and took the dinghy down to go ashore. At last, the sun had come out, and in time for me to anchor, too J.
The community is really interesting. There is a phone booth at the top of the ramp where you can call anyone in the community for free, or place a call to distant places in the conventional manner. There’s also a mailbox that reads “pickup: Tuesday at 1000”. The mailplane comes once a week, and the post office is open on Tuesday from 1100 until 1400 and on Wednesday for an hour after the mailplane arrives.
Anyway, we had stopped and talked to a guy on a boat tied up at the dock, and he suggested we take the hike around the homes which leads to the beach on the other side, so we set out to explore. We passed a small shop which was closed, but you could call the shopkeeper from the phone and she would come and open up for you. We looked in the window, and she had some very interesting things, mostly PNW art and the like. Would loved to have browsed, but the guys were with me, so I let it go and we continued on our walk. A little further down the trail, we came upon a woman planting nastursiums around a tree in the back of her house, and we stopped and talked with her for quite a while. Turns out she was born in Friday Harbor, her father being the lighthouse keeper there back in the 30’s. She and her husband had lived several places, the latest of which was Homer, Alaska, but had finally settled here in Meyer’s Chuck. She had run the store and post office here in Meyers Chuck for many years, but had retired some years ago and now spends summers here and winters in Arizona. She said there are “seven hardy families” who live year round in Meyers Chuck now and there is no longer a store since she gave it up, only the post office. What fun it was chatting with her – she was quite the character!
The walk to the beach wound through the rainforest and was quite nice. The beach was a rocky beach, with no sand at all, but a great view out over Clarence Strait. The wind was still howling through there, so we didn’t spend much time on the beach before we headed back via the trail.
We made David’s salmon for dinner – boy! Was it good! It was a fitting and proper end to what had been a remarkable and full day.
THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 2006 – Meyers Chuck to Blashke Islands
When we looked out the porthole windows at 0700, the day was sunny and you could see calm water in Clarence Strait. By the time we were raising the anchor at 0800, the wind had already risen to 9.3 knots and there were visible whitecaps out in the strait. This time, though, we were smart and traveled on the flood tide, and the SE wind was to our backs and the tide with us. It was smooth going, and after Dave helped John pull up an empty crabtrap, he went back to bed while we headed out of Meyers Chuck. Most everyone else had already left, presumably to get ahead of the wind and ride the favorable tide.
Our ride up to the Blashke Islands was very pleasant, and Dave managed to sleep the whole way in the forward cabin.
Douglass writes about the Blashkes: “The entrance to the Blashke Islands is intricate and somewhat difficult, and you must make a very slow approach, posting alert lookouts on your bow. Do not attempt to enter them in foul weather, limited visibility, or by radar. [His italics] The first narrows is about 100 feet wide….There are many rocks and shoals outside the islets, as well as along the narrow inside route….Pick your way carefully through the narrows, using the diagram as a general guide only. Beware: There may be some surprises!” And the U.S. paper charts – sheesh! I needed my magnifier just to find the Blashke Islands, much less make out any detail. Could they possibly make a smaller scale chart??
Ha! Can you just imagine the KSP Factor on this puppy??! Yeah, well, the JPI, I have discovered, is directly proportional to the KSP – inversely, that is. (Mark, you REALLY must do something with this! Can you please email us your Obi thoughts and ratios?) So, on our approach to the islands, John was looking for whales, whilst I was looking for rocks. Most fortunately, he was rewarded with a huge splash and blow in the distance, while I was not beset by mammoth rocks in our path. Actually, the whale was across the channel from us, too far away to hope he’d come our way, but easily seen because the splashes and blows were so huge. It appeared through the binocs that he was slapping his flipper on the surface of the water. It had to be humpback.
We made it into the first cove without issue, although we had only 15 feet of water under us at one point, and it was close to high tide. I stayed on the bow until we were in and set our anchor at 1200. Blashke Islands are beautiful. We were the only boat there, and in spite of the rain it was a great place to be. After lunch, the guys took the dinghy to set traps and go fishing. It was raining like a son-of-a-gun. Me, I stayed in the warm pilothouse and enjoyed being cozy and dry. When they came back they were frozen! After they got warmed back up, Dave checked the crab traps and we had a couple of keepers, so it made the effort worthwhile.
This was Dave’s last night at anchor as we were headed into Petersburg tomorrow to pick up Darrell and Sandy, so we had a special dinner of fresh crab and lobster (bought at the seafood extravaganza in Friday Harbor and frozen) and steak. It was delicious and we really enjoyed being with D.
FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2006 – Blashke Islands to Petersburg
The anchor was up and we were underway at 0810. Low tide had been around 0600, and it was a -1.5 foot low, so it made getting out of the Blashkes a little interesting. We saw 3.2 feet on the depth sounder as we came through the narrows, so we could not have made it out on the low tide slack. By the way, when we entered yesterday, Nobeltec and C Map both showed us going across land while we were in the middle of the channel. Don’t think I’d want to try this one in poor visibility. At any rate, we came through safely and entered Kashevarof Passage and made our way toward Wrangell Narrows.
At 1000, we spotted a humpback whale off our starboard side. He came within 100 yards of the boat before disappearing. Dolphins were also with us, but didn’t come to ride the bow wake.
We entered Wrangell Narrows at 1155, dodging several crab pots and in the company of several other boats. There are some 60 navigational aides in the narrows and it is used by many boats, including the Alaska ferries. Since the outflow changes in the middle of the narrows, the goal is to enter on the last half of the flood tide, hit Rock Point at slack and pick up the first of the ebb tide on the other half. Anyway, it went as planned, and we had a good current with us the entire way. I was surprised to see the number of small skiffs and boats within the narrows who were salmon fishing. Dodging them kept us on our toes, as they were not about to move. Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any big ferries en route.
The harbormaster in Petersburg was very helpful, and he assigned us a slip on D dock that had 50 amp power. There were lots of fishing boats – this is definitely a working harbor. The rain was still pouring down, so we hung out on the boat, got it tidied up for Darrell and Sandy and tried to get in contact with them to let them know where we were.
Cell phones have been a real issue. The only one that is currently working is John’s, because he has the tri-mode and it will work in analog mode. All the rest of ours (and Darrell’s) are digital and have no service, so we weren’t able to contact them. All of a sudden Darrell was hailing us from the dock – he had gone to the harbormaster’s office and he had directed them to us. They came bearing many gifts J and we had a great evening catching up and eating salmon chowder and crab in the salon while the rain continued to come down outside.