1 August, 1999, Sunday - Ketchikan, AK
Another beautiful day. Apparently a rarity here. Ketchikan gets an average of
165 inches of rainfall per year. This would definitely not be my place. I
guess we are lucky to be able to see the town while the sun shines.
As I
have been updating the journal this morning, another cruise ship has pulled in. It
is the Holland America "Noordam". As the ships were pulling out yesterday,
a float plane was trying to land. One of the cruise ships pulled in his way and the
bush pilot simply went around it. He actually went between the ships at a level
where the passengers could look down on him. He landed safely.
In the morning we went for a walking tour. The first stop was a special museum that housed many of the old totems from the Alaska Indian tribes. These were real totems taken from abandon villages. It was real interesting.
The next stop was at a facility that takes care of injured wild birds. Their aim is to eventually release them back into the wild. However, they have several whose injuries prevent them from ever being released. The prominent ones being Bald Eagles. We had a young tour guide that was interesting and did a good job.
From there we went to a fish hatchery. The guide here was a young man that spoke very mechanical and fast. The result was we did not get much out of him that was understandable. Later we asked questions of a young lady and she was much more helpful. For the Salmon, they put a barrier in the stream that forces the fish to divert into tanks within the hatchery. At this point they can select certain fish to capture and take the eggs, etc. The rest are allowed to continue upstream. The eggs are then fertilized and hatched. The small fish are then later taken to other streams where the Salmon population needs help.
Most of the remainder of the afternoon was devoted to doing laundry. I am sure everyone wants hear about that. The day was very warm for Ketchikan. It set their all time record for 1 August. It reached 82 degrees and the locals were really suffering.
2 August, 1999, Monday - Ketchikan, AK to Anita Bay
On the way again. Today we are going to head towards Wrangle, AK. The first
stop was fuel and then we begin heading north. As we are pulling out, another cruise
ship is docking. It is the Jubilee. That is the ship my friend and his wife
will be getting on in Vancouver for a cruise later this week. It looks like the best
chance to connect with them will be in Juneau.
We head
up Tongass Narrows toward Clarence Strait. At Guard Island light house we decide to
try some fishing. This area is reported to have good fishing. I had no more
than put my line out and I had a strike. It was a good one and it took me a while to
bring it in. It was an 11 pound Coho Salmon. No record but for me that was an
exciting catch. Since we don't have storage to keep many fish we headed on.
The weather was beautiful and so was the water. Calm and flat with sunny skies. We went up Clarence Strait and turned north up Ernest Sound, through Seward Passage and then into Zimovia Strait. We made a short side trip to see Meyer's Chuck, a small resort where Clarence Strait and Ernest Sound join. We also made a side trip into Whaletail Cove. Eventually we arrived at Anita Bay which is on Zimovia Strait.
We anchored at the head of the bay. Fish were jumping all over the place. There must have been thousands of fish in the water. We took the dingy and sat in the middle of them trying to get some pictures. It was impossible with a still camera but Taffy got some good video. We then took the dingy up to the mouth of a couple of creeks that flow into the bay. The Salmon were just thick and getting ready to make their trip upstream. A few were already working their way up the stream. The Bald Eagles were many as I am sure this was feast time for them. After the tide went out, we watched them feed. The grass along the creeks was all trampled. We suspected this was done by the bears trying to get at the Salmon. I am sure it would be a feast for them also. I just didn't want to be part of that feast. The whole spectacle is really almost overwhelming and definitely hard to explain.
It is hard to believe how late it is when the sun goes down. The further north we go, the longer the days get. For dinner we had fresh filets of Salmon, right off the BBQ grill.
3 August, 1999, Tuesday - Anita Bay to Wrangle Narrows
It looks like we are going to have another bright sunny day. I sure
hope so. There are eight eagles over by the mouth of the creek looking for
breakfast. I am sure they will not have a problem finding it. The fish were
jumping all through the night. This is really a beautiful spot and the activity with
the Salmon make it even more interesting.
We get a pretty late start as we are enjoying this place. Before leaving we have to again take the dingy to shore to look at things. The Salmon are even thicker than yesterday. They are jumping all over the place. We go up to where the creek outlet is and find a lot of dead Salmon. We have identified them as Chum Salmon. I bet some of them would have easily weighed in at 25 pounds or more. The one in the photo at the right is not the largest we found. We watched about 15 or more Bald Eagles feasting on the Salmon remains.
After all the excitement here at Anita Bay, it was hard to get moving again. We did get the Scottish Mist moving again about noon. We slowly made our way up to Wrangle, AK where we fueled. We thought about spending a night here and looking around but moorage was crowded and we decided to move on. The rains had moved in and we were now traveling in the rain. We finally stopped at the south end of Wrangle Narrows for the night.
For dinner we had BBQ'd Salmon. Taffy made up a terreaki marinade and then Rich BBQ'd them in a garlic oil. Oooohhhh! Were they good. We are now out of Salmon and will have to catch some more. Before going to bed, Rich put out the crab pot to sit overnight. We watched the video that Taffy had taken of the previous days activity and then a movie called "Mr. Bean." It was very British humor and quite good albeit a little silly sometimes. I enjoyed it.
4 August, 1999, Wednesday - Wrangle Narrows to Petersburg, AK
Rich headed out the
first thing to check his crab pot. He came back with 10 Dinginess Crabs. Four
were too small and had to be thrown back. That left six to take care of. Rich
proceeded to prepare them and I got the cooking pot going. After the water was hot
we boiled them for 20 minutes. Let them cool and put them in the cooler.
Wrangle Narrows is a long narrow stretch of water that can be a little hazardous. It is 21 miles long and full of twists and turns to avoid the submerged rocks. Also there are some pretty big ships that come through. It is only 300 feet wide in some spots. We estimate it will take us about 3 hours to get through as we will have to go slow. About 6 to 7 knots. Again, I am glad that Rich is a good Captain. I really have a lot of faith in his ability.
We no more than started and actually hadn't even entered the narrows when a tug comes
out pulling a big barge. I am glad we did not have to deal with him in this transit.
Fortunately, 
we made the transit without having to deal with any large vessels. I
think it is because we came through at low tide. Many ships need to have high tide
to be able to clear the obstacles.
At the north end of Wrangle Narrows is Petersburg, AK. This port is really bustling with fishing boats. There are several fish processing plants and right now they are in full swing. Fishing is allowed two days on and two days off. Right now they are in their two days off time so all the fishing boats are in port. Even so, we were able to get a nice slip for moorage.
It was about 2:00 PM so we decided to see what the town was like. Main street was just a short walk up from the marina. There I went on to the post office and Rich and Taffy went a different way. I had some letters to mail and I got that done and then went to look around. I found a sidewalk cafe and had a large Capachino Coffee. I like capachino but this one tasted especially good albeit a little on the cool side. Then it was time for a good shower.
I met Rich & Taffy back at the boat and we discussed what to do with the rest of the day and tomorrow. We discussed the possibility of a jet boat trip up the Stikine River. We called the guy but as luck would have it, he was unavailable for the next day. Oh well, maybe on the way south.
Later, I was taking some video of all the fishing boats in the marina. I bet that working boats outnumber pleasure boats by twenty to one. I get to talking to this guy from the Scandia and he invites on the boat for a little tour. It was very interesting as to how they live and work all in what seems such a small space. Running and navigating the boat is also very different. The boat doesn't even have a steering wheel. It is steered with a little lever through the autopilot. Touching the stick once gives a one degree turn. Holding the stick a little longer gives a longer turn. Also positioning is done via computer with a chart on the computer screen linked to the GPS. The computer keeps track of where the boat is and shows its location on the screen.
It had been an eventful day and we were all hungry. Off to the local pizza parlor, however, I had a burrito. Petersburg was a fun stop. Lots of activity with a lot of transient young men working the fishing boats. Also a lot of young women working the young men.
5 August, 1999, Thursday - Petersburg, AK to Gambier Bay
Off to a good start
today. We decided to not lay over a day and will stop again on the way south.
As we were leaving the marina we spotted the yacht Evviva. Rich got out a book on
yachts and it seems this is one of the 100 largest yachts in the world. It is owned
by the founder of the Bayliner Corporation, the manufacturer of the Scottish Mist.
The boat is 162 feet long and even has a helicopter sitting on the aft end. This is
how the other half lives and plays.
We get out of the harbor and Rich puts the Scottish Mist up on a plane again and away we go. After a couple of hours he had to make a mother nature call and gave me the helm. Rich had no more than disappeared below when Taffy & I spot something in the water. I immediately pulled the throttle down to an idle to get a better look. We are in the middle of a pod of whales! Big ones! We never did figure out what kind they were. I have seen Orcas (Killer Whales) before and these were much bigger.
They
were blowing and diving all around us. We shut the engines down and just
drifted. After a while they came closer. In fact it looked like they were
going to ram the boat on several occasions. It actually scared me when one came
right straight at me and then took a deep dive. At times these whales were 50 to 75
feet from us. We could even hear and see the bubbles they blew coming up around the
Scottish Mist. Scary, scary, SCARY!!! Especially when one cannot zoom to a
wide enough angle to get the whole critter into the picture. Really a neat
experience even though I was shaking in my boots.
After about a half hour, we decided to move on. I took lots of video and some of it pretty good. I did get some shots with my print camera. We should arrive in Juneau tomorrow and will get them developed.
The plan for tonight is to anchor in Gambier Bay. It looks sheltered and is about half way between Petersburg and Juneau. However, we need some fish for dinner. I take the helm while Rich and Taffy get out the rods. Both managed to get several hits but would loose them before getting them in. They must have been pretty good size as both lost a lure to a broken line. Finally Rich brings in a nice Silver Salmon, about 10 pounds. A little later he brings in a nice King Salmon. The problem here is that we did not buy a special stamp that is required for the King's. We had to throw it back. We kept on fishing and Rich brings in another. We now have dinner for at least the next two nights. Some real good Salmon. I think we could have caught many more but we just do not have space to keep them.
We finally pull into Gambier Bay and find a nice sheltered little cove to overnight in. We set the anchor and it is time to enjoy the rest of this sunny, adventure packed day. The adventure continues!
6 August, 1999, Friday - Gambier Bay to Juneau, AK
Another
beautiful day. We leave Gambier Bay on water that is like a sheet of glass.
Everything is so peaceful that it is a shame to start the engines and destroy that
quiet. After leaving Gambier Bay we head north up Stephens Passage. Juneau is
at the north end of Stephens Passage in Gastineau Channel. Part way up we see our
first iceberg. Not a large one but an iceberg. Actually, it is the second one
we have seen but the first one was so small it was more like an overgrown ice cube.
We stopped for another Kodak Moment. While we were watching, the berg started
to roll. It turned completely over in the water.
A week or so ago, a small cruise ship, the Spirit of 98 out of Seattle, hit an ice berg near here. It was damaged to the point that all the passengers had to be rescued by another ship. No one was hurt or even got wet but the ship is currently being towed to Seattle for repairs.
After taking lots of photos of the ice berg, we continued on our way north. Again, Rich asked me to take the helm and he went below. Again we saw some whales ahead of us. I slowed and continued to approach them when all of a sudden, a Humpback Whale breaches the water right off our bow. He came vertically, completely out of the water to the point that there was air between its tail and the water. I swear that if we had tried, we could have counted the barnacles on his underside. Humpbacks are about 50 to 60 feet long and can weigh up to 100 tons. Having something like that make a jump 50 yards in front of our bow was quite a thrill. We stopped and waited for it to show once more but it never performed again.
We pulled into Juneau in the mid afternoon. We need to stock up on a few things so we will spend a few days here and enjoy the area while we do that. Also, a friend and his wife (Gary & Pat Heisler) are supposed to arrive tomorrow on the Cruise Ship, Jubilee. I checked and its arrival time is 1:30 PM. I plan to try to meet them. After walking into town and getting a lay of the land so to speak, we decided to rent a car. I went off to do that while Rich & Taffy took care of some other things. Late in the evening we went to Costco and stocked up.
7 August, 1999, Saturday - Juneau, AK
Week one - 2 July to 11 July, 1999
Week two - 12 July to 17 July, 1999
Week three - 18 July to 24 July, 1999
Week four - 25 July to 31 July, 1999
Week five - 1 August to 7 August, 1999
Week six - 8 August to 14 August, 1999
Week seven - 15 August to 21 August
Week eight - 22 August to 28 August
Week nine - 29 August to 4 September
Week ten - 5 September to 11 September
Week eleven - 12 September to 18 September
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