Week 12 - 4th of July in Sitka

On Monday July 1, we got an early start. Just outside of our anchorage, Samsing Cove, we looked out and two gillnetters had essentially blocked our route, so we had to do a lot of end running to stay clear of their gear. There was an fishery opening on July 1 and we saw lots of other fishing boats headed out. We went in to Sitka and had no problem getting a slip and we were tied up by 10 a.m. and off doing errands. Some folks from our yacht club stopped by and said hello and invited us to appetizers on there boat, m/v "Shot Eight" that evening. I thawed some crab and made crab dip. As is often the case, appetizers become dinner.

Our friends on m/v Passages came in, their children and grandkids were leaving before the 4th. I invited them for dinner on the 3rd and we had a lovely evening. It turns out the fireworks are actually started around 11:30 p.m. on the 3rd. And so we watched the fireworks.

On the 4th we went to the parade, which was fun.  Children really look forward to the parade because the tradition is for those in the parade to throw candy to the spectators.  The kids all come prepared with bags into which they put their bounty.  After the parade, I did final provisioning of freshies. 

We were headed out Friday July 5th after we paid our moorage at the harbor office opened at 8 AM.  We headed first to Kalinin Bay to try mooching for salmon, while waiting to do a 4 p.m. transit of Sergius Narrows. We had considered going outer coast to get to Kuiu Island to the east of Baranof Island, but the forecast was for higher seas. So it was the inside for us. Just a few minutes before we had to quit fishing and head to Sergius, I got a bite. No doubt a good size fish. And it didn't feel like a rockfish. I yelled fish-on and reeled it in. As it came into view, I thought I had caught a halibut, because of a white belly, but as I reeled it all the way up I then thought, huge rockfish?? Then it flipped around and I saw the huge head with huge teeth. I had caught a ling cod. So Kurt secured the boat and put us in neutral and came back and we netted the fish, put the net on the swim step and I raced in to check the regulations for Ling Cod. I could keep a 30-35 inch or > 68 inch fish. I thought it was between 30-35" and I got the measure tape and concluded it was between 30 and 35 inches in length. So I was going to keep it.

We passaged through Kakul Narrows, 3 miles before Serguis, and Kurt found a cove just beyond that was calm so we could sit there while I dealt with the fish. I bled it, secured it with cord through the gills and mouth and also the tail and washed it down. Once it was dead, I did a more careful measurement, 34 inches! I covered it with a white towel and keep it wet as we made our way through Sergius Narrows just before slack and to our evening anchorage, a few hours away. We ate dinner underway and got to our anchorage ~ 8:30 p.m. As soon as we were secure, I got out my knives and filleted the Ling Cod. Then a shower and to bed, a tiring day! But I got a good fish!

We pulled anchor bright and early on Saturday and left about 4:30 a.m. so we could take advantage of a favorable current, and we got to our next anchorage, Takatz Inlet around 8:30 a.m. It was our first time here and it is yet another beautiful anchorage with plenty of room and nice kayaking. So we did a nice trip around this inlet. When we arrived there was another boat already at anchor and late afternoon two pocket cruise ships, which are common in SE Alaska during the summer, came in and spent the night. Probably each had 4-10 passangers.

Bright and early Sunday we pulled anchor and headed south down Chatham Straight – again to take advantage of the current being in our direction. Just past the junction of Fredrick Sound with Chatham Strait we saw lots of whale activity. They were really slapping the water. We stopped to watch two different groups on two occasions before heading off to Tebenkof Bay about half way down the west coast of Kuiu Island. This is a huge bay, rather remote and with many nice spots to anchor. A good place to wait for several days for better conditions for rounding Cape Decision and heading to Prince of Wales Island. We anchored in Shelter Cove to wait out some rain and wind.