Juneau to Ketchikan

By on July 26, 2021 in M/V Alpenglow

After three nights (and three milk shake lunches from Hot Bite across parking lot from the harbor2021-06-156x office), we left Auke Bay on June 29 and headed out towards Icy Strait.  We anchored in Couverden Island Cove, which is just east of Swanson Harbor.  We took Drake to a small island in the middle of the cove for a place session on the beach.  Later, our friends Billie & Mike Henry (M/V Peachy Keen), who were already anchored when we arrived, returned from fishing in their tender and we caught up on each others travels during the cruising season. 

Our original plan was to do some halibut fishing in Icy Strait but the strong westerlies persuaded us to head south down Chatham Strait. Before heading into Pavlof Harbor, Marcia dropped the hook trying for halibut but came up bare.  

2021-07-002xThe next day we headed into Tenakee Inlet.  On the way in, we passed fellow Queen City Yacht Club members, Barbara and Tom Wilson (M/V Toba), who had just departed from the Tenakee Springs dock.  They encouraged us to take advantage of the relatively protected spot on the Tenakee Springs transient dock they had just vacated.  Having never been to Tenakee Spings or ithe nlet.we decided to grab the opportunity. Tenakee Springs is noted for its laid back life style and the community hot springs bathing house. A small lane, suitable only for ATV’s, bicycles or pedestrians runs about 1-1/2 miles along the inlet through town..

After our one night in Tenakee Springs, we continued up the inlet, dropping prawn pots in an area that was recommended by David Cohn (MV Shearwater, a “classic” Diesel Duck).  The depths were on the deeper side of the range we normally drop and, it turns out, I put them too close together.  After spending a night anchored in Long Bay, we pulled the pots and while getting a respectable haul on one pot managed to lose the other one when it got hung up on the bottom and came off the line when we tried to yank it free.

2021-07-007xThe next day, July 6, we continued down Chatham spending one night in Ell Cove before going on to Gut Bay the day after.  We had been trying to connect with Jim & Rosy from Sea Venture who had recently returned from Prince William Sound.  We had communicated our plan to go to Gut Bay to them and shortly before 8 pm, they motored into Gut Bay.  They tied to us for the night and we chatted until 11 pm before breaking for the night.  The next morning they headed out to continue their southbound journey to Puget Sound while we headed out to try to catch a salmon, preferably chinook or coho.  After fishing (but not catching) we returned to Gut Bay for another night.

We decided a change of scenery would be good so we crossed Chatham Strait to anchor in the Bay of Pillars on Kuiu Island.  It had been eight years since our previous visit and we anchored in a location on the north shore that we had noticed another boat using on that visit.  We planned to fish near Point Ellis the next day so Bay of Pillars was a good base from which to operate.

2021-07-011xOn July 8, with a forecast for a weak front and rain coming through, we headed deep inside Tebenkof Bay to Shelter Cove for two nights. Tebenkof Bay is quite large and has numerous islands and protected anchorages.  It is also slightly off the beaten track being part way down Chatham Strait about 20+ miles away from the busy Chatham Strait-Frederick Sound junction.  You have a good chance of finding solitude down here. As we worked our way into the bay, we encountered a humpback whale 2021-07-019xwith her baby.  The “baby” (probably 10-12 feet long) was very active with frequent breaching and slapping its pectoral fin on the water

While anchored, I paddled the kayak to a small nearby island (potential “dog park”), was shadowed by sea otters and watched a black bear relaxing on the shore of a back bay. After our two nights in Shelter Cove, we headed out and fished outside the Tebenkof Bay entrance without any luck.  From there we traveled the short distance back to Bay of Pillars for the night.

The next day, Sunday, July 11, we started back towards Frederick Sound, trying to fish off of Cornwallis Point near Halleck Bay before dropping the anchor behind the island a mile NW of Honey Dew Cove. The next day the SE winds began to pick up and we had to deal with 15-20 knot winds as we docked in Kake, a small community on Kurpeanof Island.  We were approaching 200 engine hours since our last oil change and I prefer to do the oil changes in towns where I can dispose of our waste oil (also, I hate to “break” the boat where I don’t have resources nearby to bail me out if necessary).

2021-07-024xAfter two nights in Kake and lots of walks for Drake, we returned to Frederick Sound and some of our favorite anchorages. There is one very nice beach on an island west of the West Brother at which Drake gets to chase his favorite ball around until exhaustion. We also did some halibut fishing and after some effort, found success.

During this time we communicated (with difficulty via satcom equipment) with our friends Don & Natala, who were flying their float plane into SE Alaska lakes having USFS cabins. We arranged to meet in Petersburg on July 21.  En route, we stopped at Sanborn Canal in Port Houghton and Read Island in Farrugut Bay.

After arriving in Petersburg, some cloudy weather moved in and kept Don & Natala earthbound an extra day at Swan Lake cabin (15 miles NE of Petersburg).so we didn’t meet up until July 22.  After a long evening of story telling, we departed the next day to continue our souththely journey.  We had two stops, Roosevelt Harbor and Meyers Chuck, enroute and tied up at Bar Harbor in Ketchikan on Sunday, July 25.

Road Trip to Seattle: Tucson

By on July 26, 2021 in M/V Dirona

Tucson, Arizona’s second-largest city, has interesting historical architecture, a number of diverse attractions, and a college-town vibe from the 46,000 students at the sprawling University of Arizona campus. Area attractions include the Pima Air and Space Museum, the “aircraft graveyard”, and the Arizona-Sonora desert museum. The Pima Air and Space Museum is one of the…

Green Lakes State Park

By on July 26, 2021 in The Pearl
“Put your feet up, take a break, sit back, relax…you’re at the lake.”  –Anonymous
I’ve seen pictures and read about Green Lakes State Park since we arrived in Ithaca in 2017 and I’ve always wanted to go. This past week we had a chance to experience it for ourselves. What a truly beautiful unique place it is. Most lakes in upstate New York and around the world are dimictic lakes, which means they have a complete mixing of lake water in the fall and spring. Green Lake is a meromictic lake, which means its water layers do not intermix. No turnover in water means you can see all the way down to the bottom of the lake.

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Chasing Waterfalls

By on July 25, 2021 in The Pearl
“A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power but because of its persistence.”  –Jim Watkins

The best thing about having a rainy summer…lots of water at the falls. A lot of the smaller falls around upstate New York can be dry by July and August, but this year they are amazing. We’ve visited 15 waterfalls so far this summer. Eight of those were this past week while we took a short get away to Cazenovia. All were on our way there and back to Ithaca.
 
Bucktail Falls – I think this was our favorite spot. Located right off the road and only a few locals were there. We were told there was a trail that led to at least five more falls, but we were on our way to Skaneateles for lunch and decided we would have to do the hike this time. This is one of the falls that becomes a trickle when the weather dries up. It was beautiful the day we were there.
Enchanted Hollow Falls – Some falls are spectacular, others are beautiful for where they are. These falls were small, but the hike was fun and it was a little bit of a challenge to find our way. The payoff was worth it. Everything was so green and lush.
Tinker’s Falls – These falls are easy to get to, plenty of parking and a flat gravel trail until you reach the bottom of the falls. Steep, slippery steps lead to the back of the falls and that’s were the challenge begins. These falls are a combination falls the top drops about 50 to a rocky cascade of 30 ft.  
Delphi Falls – These falls are located in a county park and very easy to get too. Swimming at our own risk is allowed and the park would be a great place to spend a day. Grills and picnic tables are available.

July 20-23 – Cazenovia, NY

By on July 24, 2021 in The Pearl
“We thought the best would be behind us, but the best keeps getting better all the time.” -Allan Jackson 

We spent our anniversary with Kyle and his family last week in Aurora, but we thought we should have a little get away of our own, so to celebrate our 40th anniversary we traveled to the quaint little town of Cazenovia. The town was founded in 1798 and sits on the southeast shore of Cazenovia Lake. It’s a charming, picturesque, Norman Rockwell style village full of cute little shops, restaurants, wineries and breweries, a lake, beautiful homes and lots of waterfalls…a great spot for us to relax and explore. Cazenovia was named one of America’s Coolest Small Towns in 2020.

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Glacier Bay Part One

By on July 23, 2021 in Idyll Time

We have an exciting week ahead of us.  Our nephew, Storm, is joining us for a week of exploration in Glacier Bay.   This will be our third trip into the National Park.  Only 25 private vessels  and two cruise ships are allowed in the bay each day. You can apply for permits 60 days in advance.  We applied at […]

The King Quest Continues

By on July 18, 2021 in Idyll Time

We are heading north today on Chatham Strait to Hood Bay.  Last year we caught our one and only King Salmon here.  We have struggled over the past few years with salmon fishing.  Jeff says we are like a one year old bear in a salmon stream just flopping around without catching anything.  To fish for salmon, you need to use […]

Finger Lake Breweries (Part IX)

By on July 15, 2021 in The Pearl

CBC started as a grassroots effort to create a brewery in Historic Downtown Cortland. When they first opened in 2010 all beers were sold on a to-go basis and samples were available directly out of their brewing facility. In 2012 CBC made the commitment to become a farm brewery and use local ingredients to craft our products. As a farm brewery, they are now allowed to serve draughts and flights as well as kegs, growlers, and cans to go. All beers are brewed on-site.  

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East Baronof Island

By on July 14, 2021 in Spirit

 Monday, July 5, 2021

 

After a leisurely morning, saying goodbye to friends, doing last minute shopping and paying the moorage bill, we slipped the mooring lines at 1050 for the last time in Sitka this season. Our departure time was set to hit slack water at Sergius Narrows in Peril Strait.  The weather was initially overcast with occasional rain, but as soon as we entered Peril Strait the clouds cleared and we transited Sergius Narrows under sunny skies.

 

Since the day was still young, we passed by Baby Bear Cove (our initial destination) and headed for False Island public dock.  The dock was full, so we headed across Peril Strait to Appleton Cove, where we were invited to raft alongside the Selene 62 “Saltheart” at 1800.  We shared cocktails with Dean and Theresa Klein and caught up on our cruising stories and then retired for the evening under sunny skies.

 

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

 

Spirit cast off from Saltheart at 0900, after finding our main battery charger was inoperative, an apparent internal failure since all fuses were good, but the unit will not power on.  Heading out of Peril Strait we motored south to Takatz Bay, anchoring at 1345 under sunny skies.  Johnson’s went fishing outside of Takatz, picking up 7 nice sized black rockfish, but no salmon.

 

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

 

Raising the anchor at 0850 we motored out of Takatz Bay and trolled for salmon.  We were rewarded with 1 coho, 2 rockfish and a pink salmon which was released.  Continuing down 4 miles towards Warm Springs Bay we anchored Spirit in 225 feet of water and began fishing for halibut.  Harry and Teri took their boat so we would have room for 4 rods.  Patrick and Miriam caught a 43 and 50 inch halibut in less than 45 minutes.  Harry and Teri caught a 41 inch and a 9# halibut in the same amount of time.  We returned to Takatz Bay for the evening, anchoring at 1530, and then beginning the lengthy process of filleting and freezing our catch.

 

Thursday, July 8, 2021

 

Our target today was both halibut and Coho Salmon.  Departing Takatz Bay at 1005, with windy conditions, fishing was difficult and we only landed pink salmon, which was released.  We decided to see if the weather would improve and anchored in the south arm of Warm Springs Bay at 1235, at first for a lunch hook.  Since the anchor was well set, Patrick and Harry then decided to go out in the Johnson’s boat and fish for halibut.  Patrick hooked a small 6 pound halibut and Harry and Patrick wrestled a 97 pound halibut on Harry’s rod into the boat, no easy task.  After dinner both halibut’s were filleted and frozen.

 

Friday, July 9, 2021

 

We anchored for the night in the south arm of Warm Springs Bay, after catching more halibut in our favorite spot.    The next morning we headed back out at 0735 and within minutes of putting our lures down had another 37 pound halibut landed on Spirit.  We decided we had enough halibut for the year and headed down to Gut Bay for the evening, anchoring in a new location at 1235.

 

 

Saturday, July 10, 2021

 

Our target today was Coho Salmon.  Heading out of Gut Bay at 0900 to our favorite spot, we trolled and picked up Pink Salmon, King Salmon, rockfish, but not Coho.  Heading down to Mist Cove, we trolled again and only got Chum and small shaker King Salmon.  We noticed the water was cold, only 48 degrees, and suspected the Coho were still offshore.  We headed back to Gut Bay and anchored for the evening in the same location at 1745.

 

Sunday, July 11, 2021

 

Today, after a relaxed morning at anchor in Gut Bay, at 0950 we headed out across Chatham Strait for Kingsmill Point in search of Coho Salmon.  The weather gods did not cooperate, and the seas and winds did not allow fishing.  There were no other boats there anyway, a good sign the fish were also not there.  Continuing up Frederick Sound, we headed to Pybus Bay and Henrys Arm, occupied by one other boat, a Krogen 48 named Spirit Journey.  Harry and Teri set out two crab pots.

 

We anchored at 1555, and at 1800 the Selene 55 “Rendezvous” arrived and rafted to us.  We shared a spaghetti dinner together as the rain began to fall.

 

Monday, July 12, 2021

 

The rain continued all night and the weather report was predicting high winds gusting to 35 knots and 4 foot seas in the morning.  Reading the actual weather conditions at Five Finger Islands Light, we decided to leave at noon.  The morning check of the crab pots yielded no crab.  We did notice a lot more sea otters in Pybus Bay.  Sea otters are good at decimating the crab population.  At 1200 Rendezvous cast off the lines and at 1215 Spirit departed Henrys Arm in moderate to heavy rain.  The anchor was set very well but came up after using Spirit’s forward motion to break it free from the bottom.

 

Heading out for Portage Bay across Frederick Sound, the winds were only 10-15 knots, with 2-3 foot seas.  The rain continued and visibility was down to 1/2 mile at times.  We spotted several Humpback Whales, but none close enough to photograph.

 

Rendezvous was well anchored in Portage Bay when we arrived and rafted alongside them for the evening at 1710.  We shared appetizers on Spirit and dinner on Rendezvous cooked by both Montgomery’s and Johnson’s.   Miriam did well stepping across the gap from one boat to the next.

 

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

 

Waking up at 0730, Patrick checked the current tables for Wrangell Narrows and realized why most of the other boats anchored in Portage Bay had departed.  In a rush, we started the engine and were underway at 0800 to minimize the currents while docking at Petersburg.   We missed slack water by one hour and had to make two approaches, casting the Johnsons’s boat free with Harry driving their boat for the second approach, which was successful.  We finally docked in rain at 1120, having now covered 1800 NM this trip.

 

Patrick modified the wiring to enable the inverter charger on the L1 leg, solving the charger failure until we get back to Anacortes.

 

 

 

July 8-11 Aurora Family Vacation

By on July 13, 2021 in The Pearl
“Family: where life begins and love never ends.” –Unknown

Our July family vacation was at a house in Aurora, NY. Aurora is a cute little town on the east side of Cayuga Lake. We didn’t have lake access with this house, but we had plenty of things to do and plenty of places to get into the water. The kids really liked the house since there was a park right behind the house and kids their age next door. Here are a few highlights of our weekend.

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