Glacier Bay Extravaganza

Joining us for the next leg of our 2014 cruise was Marcia's sister Cindee and her husband Steve. Steve is an accomplished nature photographer but had not yet visited Glacier Bay National Park. In order to give him the greatest opportunity to capture images in the best light, we agreed that spending the entire 2-weeks of their visit with us in Glacier Bay made the most sense. Since the NPS only issues permits for a maximum of 7-days at a time, it took some effort (mainly by Steve) to obtain two permits back-to-back (the NPS allows vessel operators to have two permits at a time).

To maximize their time, Cindee & Steve flew directly into Gustavus, a 9-mile shuttle ride to Bartlett Cove, the NPS Glacier Bay Headquarters. We agreed to meet them in Bartlett Cove at the public dock.

All of the logistics worked fine and we arrived the morning of June 22 at the dock about the same time as their ride from Gustavus dropped them off. Alaska's "finest" weather (i.e., rain) welcomed them to Glacier Bay. After we attended the boater orientation, we tanked up on water and discarded our garbage and recyclable material and took off for our first night's destination.

As it turned out, the worst weather of our 2-weeks in Glacier Bay was the first day. We had steady 15-20 knot head winds with 3-4 foot head seas pretty much all of the way until we turned into the calm waters of the entrance channel into North Sandy Cove.

Since we had the time, we worked hard at seeing as much of the park as possible from a boat. We covered over 400 miles cruising through the various bays and inlets, used 8 different anchorages (2 of which were new to us). We saw bear (brown and black), moose, mountain goat, wolf, river otter, sea otter (lots), stellar sea lion (lots), puffin, orca and humpback.

The best whale viewing was in the Bartlett Cove anchorage, arguably the most developed part of the park. Both orca and humpback whales cruised by within 50 yards of our boat.

The weather was okay but often cloudy and moist. Fortunately, the winds were generally light to moderate (i.e., less than 10 knots).

The best weather day was the day we went to the head of Tarr Inlet where the tidewater Margerie Glacier terminates. We stayed the night before in Reid Inlet about 12 miles south so our early start put us at the glacier before the cruise ships, tour boats and other pleasure craft arrived. It is a special treat to drift in the water a quarter-mile off from the face of a cracking and rumbling glacier. The occasional ice fall from the glacier to the water and subsequent wake persuaded us to move a little further out where we drifted with engine off to fully appreciate the setting.

The two permits were separated by a day in which we anchored in Bartlett Cove. We used that time to walk the trails at the park headquarters, do laundry at the Glacier Bay Lodge and take a provisioning trip into Gustavus for some fresh food.

On the morning of July 6, we tied the boat to the Bartlett Cove public dock once again and said good bye to Cindee and Steve whose return flight left later that day. We headed out for the next leg of our trip, back to Sitka.

Next stop, Glacier Bay

Our first full day in Juneau, June 16, was laundry day. It is a bit of a hike, close to 1/2 mile, from the transient docks in Auke Bay to the laundromat. Fortunately it was a pretty nice day and we made an event of it by bringing our computer with us to check e-mail as we had breakfast at the waffle house next door. Internet is a problem in Auke Bay (there isn't any). After laundry, Marcia cleaned the interior of the boat while I did the exterior. I am still cleaning pollen from Puget Sound from the nooks and crannies on the boat.

Our shopping day on June 17 was assisted by the rental car we hired for the day. This year we used a local "rent-a-wreck" and had a perfectly adequate 18 year old Ford Escort station wagon with over a quarter of a million miles on the odometer. The rental was about a quarter of the price of the rental from a nation-wide rental company we used last year.

We were glad we had a station wagon as we filled it during our visits to Fred Meyers, Petco, Costco, Safeway and Western Auto (an automotive/sporting goods store). We also got our requisite visit to the Alaskan Brewing tasting room. It took 3-1/2 cart loads to get everything from the parking lot to the boat. We timed the tide level well so that we didn't have a steep ramp to contend with. The rain showers that occurred throughout the day were harder to time.

Our original intent was to depart on June 18 but the marginal weather convinced us another day at the dock was a perfectly reasonable decision. It worked out well since we were able to meet up with our friends on Peachy Keen and Outbound that we had bumped into in Swanson Harbor. It worked out well for Peachy Keen as they ended up rafting to us for the night since Auke Bay had filled up with gill netters after their closure on 6/17 brought them to port until the next opening.

The weather was much calmer as we pulled away from the dock on June 19. Peachy Keen hovered a short distance away so that they could swoop back into our spot before any of the other boats rafting to moored boat could take the spot. We have a few days to try fishing again before meeting up in Glacier Bay on June 22 with Cindee and Steve, Marcia's sister and brother-in-law.

On to Juneau

Douglas Harbor and Hoonah Sound proved to be another mixed bag. The prawn pots produced at a steady, but not extravagant pace, while the crab pots were total busts. Over our two visits to the anchorage we did 8 crab pot drops in widely varying locations and depths and not one crab showed up, legal or not.

Fortunately, as we were heading up Hoonah Sound, we had a radio conversation with someone leaving who suggested Cosmos Bay, a few miles south of Kelp Bay on Baranof Island. The anchorage in Cosmos is a little funky in that, if you use the inner site, you cross a shallow bar find the "deep" 4-fathom hole and drop the hook. Everywhere around you it is 2 fathoms or less. While it the inlet is only open to the ESE, we had a persistent 15-20 knot WNW wind from the head of the inlet the entire time we were there. The crabbing was good and we pulled our limit of 6 crabs the next morning (6/12) though.

We decided it was time to head towards Juneau and do our major provisioning before our guests would arrive for our Glacier Bay visit. From Cosmos we headed first to Pavlof Harbor on Chichagof then to Swanson Harbor where we did some more crabbing. While in Swanson we discovered the vessel "Peachy Keen" (a classic wood Ocean Alexander Mk I) owned by Billie & Mike Henry whom we know from Puget Sound. They were with a buddy boat, "Outbound". We joined them for dinner one night onboard their boat and scored a nice hunk of halibut from the 57 pounder they had landed.

After a couple of days there and a few more crabs in our freezer, we headed towards Juneau on Sunday, June 15. Normally, we have to look hard to find dock space in Juneau (transient space is unassigned in Auke Bay and it is first-come, first-serve) but when we arrived, it was as vacant as we had ever seen it and had no problem finding a spot. A busy few days are in store while here.

. . . And Back

We always enjoy our time in Sitka but eventually we get itchy feet to start moving. The morning of June 6, we head out of Sitka towards the popular fishing area on the north side of Biorka Island, about 15 miles SW of Sitka.

We are anxious to use the trolling valve on transmission which will allow us to travel slower than our normal idle forward speed of 3-1/2 knots. Also, we have a new electric downrigger installed in the cockpit. We've tested both of these pieces of equipment but not together nor gone fishing using them.

We arrive at the fishing grounds (we know its the right place because other people smarter than us are here) just before the slack current before the flood tide. After a bit of fussing, everything is working and Marcia has her gear in the water and we are idling along between 1-1/2 and 2 knots, a good trolling speed.

For someone impatient (Kurt), it seemed a long time. For someone patient and who has researched the topic (Marcia), it was just long enough and the call "fish on" occurred after about 1-1/2 hours. Marcia pulled the king salmon close to the boat and Kurt netted it. The tape measure came out to verify its legality at 30 inches.

We pull into an anchorage near the fishing area and Marcia cleans and filets the fish before we proceed to our final anchorage for the evening, Samsing Cove about 4 miles from Sitka. Salmon is on the dinner menu, of course.

The next day, June 7, we head towards the fishing area on the north side of Kruzof Island. Again, we know we've arrived as we see other boats trolling. The gear goes down and we work our way into the loop of boats trolling the area. Sad to say, after about 3 hours we conclude that there won't be a repeat of yesterday's good fortune. We head into Kalinin Bay for the night. We share the anchorage with six other boats, the most we've seen all season. We recognize two of the boats from previous visits to Alaska as serious recreational fishers.

While it had rained for much of the afternoon on June 7, the winds were light to moderate. That changed overnight and we had wind driven rain the morning of June 8. We figured the sea conditions were also going to be choppier, so Marcia whips up a batch of cinnamon rolls instead of going fishing on the morning bite. Later that morning we time the transit of Sergius Narrows and head back into Baby Bear Bay for the night.

The next morning, June 9, we retrace our steps from a week earlier and travel from Baby Bear Bay back to Douglass Bay. The prawn and crab pots are now soaking, and we are hopeful.

To Sitka . . .

On Saturday, May 31 we traveled the 49 miles from Ell Cove to Douglass Bay in Hoonah Sound. Last year we did pretty well with crabs and prawns so anxious to try again. The prawn pots went down before we got to the anchorage.

We've started dropping the prawn pots from Alpenglow because those pots are generally in fairly deep water (250-300 feet) and usually far enough from shore that we don't worry about blowing onto shore before the pots are down. Once at the anchorage, we launched the dinghy and set two crab pots.

The next morning (June 1), Kurt goes and checks the crab pots and both are pots are totally empty. Hopes for crab at dinner vanish. Rebait and move them to a slightly different location.

Kurt takes the dinghy out to check the prawn pot with some trepidation. Fortunately, the first pot brings in a nice haul of prawns (mostly the larger spot prawns) and the second pot somewhat fewer. Rebait and reset.

Our greed gets the best of us in the afternoon and Kurt goes to check the prawn pots again. The wind had come up and it was a bumpy, wet ride in the dinghy to where the pots were set (about 3 miles from the anchorage). The haul was a disappointment. We've used this strategy, a 7 or 8 hour soak, in British Columbia and done well with it. Not here though and we probably won't do it again.

On June 2, we retrieve the crab pots and each contained only a large starfish. The prawn pots, though did produce a dinner's worth of prawns from the overnight soak.

Rather than heading straight to Sitka, we decide to check out a new to us anchorage, Baby Bear Bay, about 3 miles east of Sergius Narrows. The entering the anchorage requires avoiding some rocks, the "Shark's Teeth", which only show themselves at tide levels below 6 feet. Since we were above that level as we entered, the key is to stay about 75' off a small islet opposite the rocks. After you pass the unseen rocks, a 90 degree turn is executed and you transit a narrow channel between a different small islet and Baranof Island. It was an intricate entry but the hazards are known and charted.

Our anchorage in Douglass Bay was unpleasant not just on account of the poor crabbing but also the weather and conditions. A NW wind was producing a chop in Paterson Inlet just outside the anchorage that wrapped around a corner and buffeted the boat. It became very annoying so the quiet waters in Baby Bear Bay were a wonderful relief.

The next day, June 3, we time the currents through Sergius for slack and head into Sitka. The commercial fishing seasons are only just beginning so the docks are pretty full with commercial fisherman getting ready. In Alaskan marinas, transient boaters like us "hot berth" slips vacated by their permanent tenants who are away for a period of time. Since the seasons are just starting, the number of available slips are small. Fortunately, we did get a slip rather than having to go on the outer breakwater dock without any electricity and a long walk to shore.

Our three days in Sitka are spent doing the usual boat chores (laundry, provisioning) and taking advantage of Internet and cell coverage to catch up on things.

Craig and Beyond

While in Craig, we rented a car for the day and visited some of the sites accessible from paved roads. I knew Prince of Wales (PoW) Island had many roads, but didn't realize the quality of the main paved roads. In our one day car rental, we drove nearly 200 miles going from Craig to Hydaburg, then to Coffman Cove then back to Craig. Klawock is at a junction so we passed through it several times.

Both Klawock and Hydaburg have strong NW native indian heritages (Tlingit and Haida, respectively) and strive to preserve their cultures. Carving totems is part of it and each has a totem park with many recently carved totems.

PoW Island reminded me a little bit of the Olympic Peninsula on account of the evidence of past logging. There isn't as much active logging as the Olympic Peninsula (we only saw one or two logging trucks) but there are many logging roads and many clear cuts of varying ages. Regardless, PoW is very scenic and offers many opportunities for hiking and exploring.

For Memorial Day weekend, we headed out for a couple of nights (we needed to be back on Monday to be prepared for our guided fishing trip on Tuesday). We tried to visit two new anchorages but ended up at a familiar one, Kaguk Cove, and one new one, Salt Lake Bay (both on Prince of Wales Island). Salt Lake Bay, despite a narrow entrance with submerged rocks guarding it, was very lovely and worth repeat visits.

The guided fishing trip was good. We hoped to pick up fishing tips we could use in general and local knowledge for our future trips to the Craig area. We also hoped to catch a king salmon (the only kind running currently). Unfortunately, no salmon chose to take our bait.

We did end up with two halibut, one ling cod and seven black bass. Many fisherman going out with a guide might pass on the last two kind of fish since they lack the name appeal of salmon or halibut. We kept them as we are not "catch and release" anglers but rather "catch and eat."
On Wednesday, 5/28, after picking up our cleaned, fileted, frozen and vacuum sealed catch (Marcia especially liked that part of a guided fishing trip), we headed out again.

The plan was to position ourselves on Warren Island for a trip around Cape Decision and up Chatham Strait. As we were crossing the Gulf of Esquibel, the wind kept picking up and the chop became more unpleasant. We weren't exposed to the ocean swell yet but we could imagine the unpleasant conditions that awaited us. While Alpenglow is certainly capable of handling those imagined conditions, we weren't as sure of our feline passengers could (at least without getting seasick). A quick course change had us heading up the more protected waters of El Capitan Passage. The stop for the night was Sarheen Cove, a little south of the El Capitan Caves.

The next day, 5/29, we set the ambitious goal of taking the somewhat long but more protected route to Chatham via El Capitan Passage to Sumner Strait, then Rocky Pass between Kuiu Island and Kupreanof Island to Fredrick Sound and connecting back with Chatham Strait. It was engine on at 0400 (sunrise is 0415 so it is plenty light) and the anchor didn't drop for the day until 1830. We did take an 1-1/2 hour break for lunch at the south end of Rocky Pass waiting to enter Devil's Elbow at the right time. The anchorage that night was Honey Dew Cove on Kuiu Island, an anchorage we used when starting our southbound Rocky Pass transit in 2011.

After that long day, we traveled a shorter day on 5/30 to Ell Cove on Baranof Island, one of our favorite anchorages. From here we'll head up to Hoonah Sound for some seafood foraging (hopefully crab and prawns). Sitka is a day's journey from there even for a slow boat like ours.

Poking Around Prince of Wales Island

We arrived in Craig on Wednesday, 5/21.  We had good weather going around Cape Chacon but it started going downhill that afternoon as we headed up Cordova Bay. 

Since we weren’t in a big hurry, we traveled only 30 – 40 miles a day and checked out three new (to us) anchorages along the way.  We anchored in Max Cove (Klakas Inlet), Dunbar Inlet (Sukkwan Island) and Port San Antonio (Baker Island) before finally arriving at Craig.  All three of the anchorages were very secure with good holding bottoms.  We appreciated the holding because 15-20 knot winds were common in our anchorages.  Fortunately, none had long fetches that built up big waves and the wind generally dropped at night anyway.

Since the neither the commercial nor the sport fishing seasons are really underway, we had our pick of spots on the transient docks at Craig.  We chose to go into the north harbor since in our previous two visits, we were in the south harbor.

Similar to Ketchikan, we’ll be here a few days, go cruising in the local area, then return for a few more days.  While here we intend to rent a car for a day and drive around Prince of Wales (PoW) Island.  As it turns out, on account of past logging, PoW Island has more roads than the rest of the islands in SE Alaska combined.  We’re also going to go out with a fishing guide for day of instruction and fishing. 

On to Craig

After spending 3 days in Ketchikan, we headed out around Revillagigedo Island (where Ketchikan is located) for a 5 days. We visited our favorites at Yes Bay and Fitzgibbon Cove and also spent a night in Walker Cove in Misty Fjord National Monument. We were successful crabbing and prawning along the way but the catching was slower than our previous visits which were in June and July.

Nevertheless, Marcia made some tasty meals and put away some crab in the freezer for later.

We returned on May 14 to Ketchikan where we had our outboard serviced and picked up a piece of metal work we had fabricated to improve the mounting system for the downrigger we purchased to fish from Alpenglow.

On Saturday morning, shortly before we departed, Dave & Dorothy Nagle on DavidEllis came into Bar Harbor where they'll meet their daughter and her family for a brief cruise. We had a whirlwind visit and set up a tentative rendezvous for later in the summer.

We are now anchored in Gardner Bay on Prince of Wales Island. From here we'll head around Cape Chacon and explore our way through Cordova Bay towards Craig. In Craig, we'd like to go out with a fishing guide to pick up fishing techniques and local knowledge about the Craig area.