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| Purse Seiner, Frederick Sound, AK |
So, we finally left Petersburg on Wednesday, June 25, riding the outgoing tide with two purse seiners. We had gone to the fuel dock close to slack tide, and had an uneventful refueling. This was in contrast to our previous two white-knuckle experiences there when the current was running strongly. We bought 18 gallons of diesel – not bad for a week of travel. Interestingly, they mistakenly gave us the receipt for the purse seiner on the opposite side of the dock. His fuel bill was $1900 – hope he catches a lot of salmon. We had some sun and some sprinkles with a light southerly wind – not enough to sail considering how late we left. We made great progress with the tidal current behind us. This was a marked contrast to the wind and rain in our face, running against the tide when we came to Petersburg with Melissa. We returned to Read Island in Farragut Bay. We again had an east wind into the anchorage, but not nearly as strong as last week, and we felt secure. Again, the wind died down at night, and we had a peaceful sleep.
Thursday was a long day, as there were no convenient anchorages reasonably close. We call this large unit of distance one Fielden, after Richard and Ann, for reasons they will understand. It was sunny, cool and windless. We used our radar while passing through several bands of fog, but it was mostly clear with snowy mountains in all directions. It is truly remarkable how empty this country is. Not only is there absolutely no settlement or signs of civilization, there are very few boats, pleasure or commercial. It was a good day for wildlife, and we saw many eagles, sea lions, humpback whales, porpoises and sea otters. The wind came up in the afternoon, and we got in a couple hours of sailing.
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| Forest, Kuiu Island, AK |
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| Sunstar, Kuiu Island, AK |
We carefully made our way through the Keku Islands and associated rocks on the northern end of Kuiu Island, headed for a place unofficially known as Honeydew Cove. The only boats we had seen for hours were a few fishing skiffs, which we assumed were from the native village of Kake. We were stunned when we entered the cove to find a small ship anchored there. It occupied the entire cove, and was the base from which these fishing skiffs emanated. It was a floating fishing lodge, with clients flown in by float plane from Juneau. This was a special disappointment, as the cove was perhaps the most attractive anchorage we have seen. We moved a mile north and anchored in what would normally be considered a very nice spot – it just didn’t compare with the other. It’s hard to get upset at people making a living up here. I’m sure that ship brings more to the economy in a week than we do for the entire summer – still…. There is a steady flow of tourist fishermen into Petersburg, and overheard conversations on the dock often concern the stock market.
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| Humpback Whale, Kuiu Is, AK |
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| Baranof Is, Frederick Sound, AK |
There was a black bear looking for breakfast on the shore when we awoke. This was a bit disconcerting, since the island wasn’t all that big, and we have often assumed that smallish islands don’t have bears on them. Guess that’s not a good assumption. On the way out of the anchorage we encountered a humpback whale that seemed to be just playing around. It was rolling, scratching its back on rocks, and generally lolling about. Just outside the anchorage there were sea lions and a dozen sea otters hanging out in the kelp being cute. It was a bright day, and other than a few fishing boats, we were alone in this vast area once again. The glacial peaks of Baranof Island covered the horizon to the west. It’s hard to describe this scenery, and it can’t be properly photographed. Nothing in the lower 48 comes close to it.
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| Baranof Is, Frederick Sound, AK |
We had a bit of a scare as we entered Chatham Strait when an alarm beeper went off. We quickly shut down the engine and sailed in the light wind for a bit until we determined that it was our autopilot in its death throes. That’s not good, but we’re pleased that it wasn’t the engine. While sailing we encountered a family group of six Orcas who were having a pretty busy time of doing whatever they were doing. Watching whales is usually a bit of mystery, since we really don’t know what’s going on.
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| Purse Seiners, Warm Springs Bay, AK |
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| Purse Seiners, Warm Springs Bay, AK |
We arrived at Baranof Warm Springs in midafternoon to find it absolutely chock full of boats – more than we had seen total in the last two days. There were 25 purse seiners there, waiting for an opening on Sunday. These are 50 or 60-foot boats, and they take up a lot of space. They were rafted three and four deep at the small dock, and anchored all around the cove. Much to our delight, a power boater tied to the dock called out to us, inviting us to raft up to him. That made our lives much easier; as there is no place nearby shallow enough for us to anchor. The docks were a buzz of activity. Most of these seiners are family operations, often with the husband, wife and teenage kids aboard. So there were young folks kayaking, paddle boarding, playing volleyball on the dock and on the boats, with lots of visiting back and forth. It appears to be a pretty close, small community. It is somewhat reminiscent of farming, in that it is handed down to the kids. There is no way a young person could start up life as a purse seiner. For starters, a fishing permit costs $350,000, and the boats are $1-4 million.
We went over to the bath house, where the water from the hot springs is piped down the hill into tubs. The setting was as stunning as last year, sitting in the tub looking out through the open wall at the waterfall and snowy mountains, but the water was much hotter than last year. They must have changed the plumbing. It was close to being too painful for a bath, but we managed. Jean also managed to bathe Schooner, who had found something dead to roll in the other day. At 10:30 pm, there suddenly erupted a 30 minute fireworks show, as the seiners began to shoot off rockets from boats all over the cove. That would have been fun except that Schooner was terrified and inconsolable. In the morning our boat was covered with ash. This is not entirely a wilderness experience.
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| Bunchberry in Boardwalk, Baranof Warm Springs, AK |
We spent Saturday in Baranof Warm Springs again. The day was the usual mix of clouds, sun and showers. We spent the morning disassembling the autopilot to find some small nylon gears with the teeth all chewed up. There is no way to fix it, so it looks like we’ll be hand steering from now on. We shuffled boats around as some people left and others arrived. Some friendly neighbors gave us a couple pounds of king salmon. The seiners gradually left as the day went on, headed off to get a good spot for tomorrow’s opening. We met a group of four young adults (at least young relative to us), who had just hiked here from Sitka. Sitka is 100 miles away by water, but only a sixteen mile hike across Baranof Island. Of course the sixteen miles goes up over a glacier encrusted mountain range, so it is not a trivial walk. (The total height they climbed, from sea level back down to sea level, with all the ups and downs along the ridges and glaciers, was 8000'!)They took two days to do it. The leader, who looked like he had just begun to shave, turned out to be a member of the state legislature.
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| Humpback Whale, Warm Springs Bay, AK |
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| Humpback Whale, Warm Springs Bay, AK |
We also spent some time talking with two people at the Alaska Whale Research center here. Andy has a PhD in whale ecology and Courtney is a graduate student at Oregon State. They wanted to put an app on our Android device that would allow us to record marine mammal sightings, but we don’t have an Android device. After we left and walked up the hill a bit, we walked back to report a whale sighting, as there was a humpback there in the cove next to the dock. He was doing bubble feeding – an unusual thing for a single whale. This involves diving down and blowing bubbles while swimming in a circle around a group of small fish. The bubbles cause the fish to clump together, and then the whale lunges upward through the fish ball with his mouth agape, bursting from the surface with a mouth full. It was great to watch this with a whale PhD to provide expert commentary.
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| Baranof Warm Springs, AK |
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| Baranof Lake, AK |
Eventually we left the whale and hiked up the hill to the hot springs and the lake. The hot springs are in a spectacular setting next to the lip of a huge waterfall, and the lake is a serene alpine setting. No one was at either location. We returned to the cove after an hour or so, walked over to the base of the waterfall, and then discovered that the whale was still there, and had been joined by a companion; the two of them were now doing cooperative bubble feeding. It was truly remarkable to watch this activity so close and for such a long period. Several young people paddled out to be closer (really close!) to the whales, in kayaks and a paddle board.
Notable late arrivals at the dock included two small wooden trollers that must be nearly 100 years old, and a truly massive yacht from the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. It had only two people on board – hard to imagine having that much money. It was impressive how they were able to wedge it into a spot between the two old trollers using their various sophisticated propeller systems. It was also interesting that the trollers didn’t volunteer to move a bit and make the job easier.
Sunday we went a short way to Cosmos Cove, a bit north of Warm Spring Bay. It was a cloudy day, and we sailed about half the time. There were about 30 seiners out scooping up salmon. There is a fish hatchery in a lake here, and they open the surrounding area for commercial fishing once they have enough returned salmon for the hatchery. There were three tenders in Cosmos Cove. These are boats that buy fish from the fisherman, and deliver them to a processing plant in Petersburg or wherever. This allows the fisherman to keep fishing, rather than make the long trip back to town.
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| Brown Bear, Cosmos Cove, AK |
We had a relaxing afternoon at anchor, and enjoyed watching a large brown bear search the shoreline for his dinner. We think he was young – probably his first year on his own. Every now and then he would jump around a bit, as if he wanted to play, but there was nobody to play with. At one point he lay on his back in the grass and rolled around with all four feet up in the air. When I went ashore with Schooner later, I remembered to bring the bear spray, and made a lot of noise. You don’t want to surprise one of those guys. Baranof Island is free of black bears – the brown bears have driven them out.
Monday we did a whole lot of sailing, but it was not a great day. It was cool and windy, with the clouds low down, covering the mountains. There were numerous squalls that came along. These didn’t have a lot of rain, but they brought a great deal of wind and waves – way more than we wanted. We got caught by one in Peril Strait that we will remember for some time. We eventually "hove-to" so we could put a couple of reefs in the mainsail, and it was a pretty wild experience. Fortunately, we pretty much know what we’re doing, so we weren’t in terrible danger, but it was more exciting than was strictly necessary or desirable. We had a bad weather experience in Peril Strait last year as well; we don’t have a good feeling for this bit of water. This strait was named by the Russians, not for its perilous weather, but for an event in 1799, when 150 Aleut sea otter hunters died from eating mussels contaminated by a red tide.
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| Appleton Cove, AK |
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| Rock, Appleton Cove, AK |
Eventually we got anchored in very protected and calm Appleton Cove. This is in Rodman Bay, partway up Peril Strait. We were anchored amid a plethora of crab pot buoys left there by commercial crabbers, but managed not to get ensnarled by them. This anchorage had a remarkably nice gravel beach that wrapped around the island, allowing a rare long walk. Schooner was especially pleased at the abundance of crab shells to eat – one of his favorite foods. There were no insects at the boat or the beach, but after dinner we noticed that our boat was surrounded by a cloud of no-see-ums. This observation was a bit too late, as an unsettling number had already entered the boat. There ensued a reprise of the evening with Keith, spending an hour killing insects before bed.
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| Appleton Cove, AK |
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| Appleton Cove, AK |
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| Rover, Baby Bear Bay, AK |
Tuesday, July 1, we contained to make our way west through Peril Strait. Today there was little wind, and we motored most of the time. The day was warm when the sun was out, cool when it wasn’t. This is the main channel to Sitka, and we are surprised at how little traffic it contains. The one traffic event occurred just as we were approaching the narrowest part. The Alaskan ferry Columbia came up behind us. This is a large, fast ship, so we made a U-turn and let them go into the narrows ahead of us. We have found over the years that trying to outrace ships is always a losing cause. We now always get out of their way. We also turned on the radio to tell him our intentions. We generally don’t keep the radio turned on, it makes too much annoying noise. We carefully worked our way through a circuitous, rocky entrance to an anchorage called Baby Bear Bay, a few miles before Sergius Narrows. The anchorage had a deer when arrived, and lots of bear sign when we walked around.
Wednesday we got an early start timed for the slack water at Sergius Narrows. This is one of the major tidal gates in Alaska. As it turned out it was a bit of an anticlimax. Compared to the tidal gates of British Columbia, such as the Yucultas or Dent Rapids, it was pretty much a nonevent, with a few smallish swirls and upwellings. I guess it could get exciting if the ferry was there at the same time, as it is a bit narrow. There was little wind, mostly associated with squalls passing nearby. One particularly bad one produced a truly torrential downpour for about ten minutes. I’m sure it exceeded the yearly rainfall of Death Valley in those ten minutes. We were passed by a smallish cruise ship that was a converted steam ship from early in the last century. It seemed as if the world turned black and white as it steamed past. We chatted with the captain on our handheld VHF radio. He admired our dinghy, and wanted to know where he could get one for his own sailboat (our dinghy is called a Fatty Knees, named by the grandson of the builder, after his grandmother.) Our dinghy is named Fido, an appropriate accompaniment for our boat, which is named Rover.
The route to Sitka south from Peril Strait is an intricate maze of islands and narrow passages. It would be nearly impossible to make this trip without a chart. The most exciting moment came when my peripheral vision suddenly noticed that a massive catamaran ferry was passing us at 30 knots in a modestly narrow channel. I obviously hadn’t looked behind often enough, and we had turned off the handheld radio to recharge the battery. That was a bit sobering; I then looked behind frequently, but of course there was nothing to see after that. The only event of note after getting settled in at the dock in Sitka was a big stove fire. I somehow managed to spill a lot of alcohol fuel when I was lighting it, and it turned into a large fire, with burning alcohol dripping off the stovetop. This was rather frightening, but alcohol fires are easily extinguished with water, so we escaped any major damage, and had only to air the boat out and pacify the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Later in the evening, folks began celebrating the 4th a bit early. Schooner was not a happy pooch – he and explosions are not a good combination.
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| St Michael's Cathedral, Sitka, AK |
Thursday was a warm and sunny day. After a leisurely breakfast we walked a half-mile downtown, and wandered around viewing historic sites and reading plaques. Sitka was the capitol of Alaska when it was owned by the Russians. They settled here in 1799, which is pretty old for this part of the world. After a few years the Tlingits killed them all and burned the town down, but they eventually returned with more guns, and got the place going on a permanent basis. The Americans purchased Alaska in 1867, but the Russian heritage is still visible. For example, St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral stands in the center of the main street. The afternoon was spent doing laundry, repairing the battery monitor (again), and doing internet research on autopilot repair or replacement.
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| Totem Square, Sitka, AK |
We had a big surprise when we found an old friend in his boat on the neighboring dock. André is an 82-year old Frenchman whom we met when he lived on his boat in Coos Bay one winter. He sailed from San Francisco by himself, after his crew quit along the way, and later continued north. He has had a number of adventures since then, and is now living in Sitka. The Independence Day fireworks show took place at 11:30. It was nothing to write home about, so I won’t. Schooner definitely did not enjoy them.
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| 4th of July Parade, Sitka, AK |
The sunny morning of the 4th was spent on boat chores, and then we walked downtown to watch the parade. It was a pretty typical small town parade, with the addition of a lot of Coast Guard personnel. In contrast to the F-15s in Ashland, the parade route was buzzed by a couple of Coast Guard helicopters. The major energy in the parade (and the town), came from the high school students attending the Sitka Arts Camp for a few weeks. The major event for Schooner, unfortunately, was when a dozen guys in 19th century military outfits let go a volley of musket fire over our heads. He never really recovered from that. We walked over to the elementary school to check out the rather sorry array of booths. Most were selling food with long lines, and there were a few game booths for smaller children. Compared with the celebrations in Ashland and Wrangell, Sitka’s 4th of July doesn’t measure up. It began to rain lightly, so we hoofed it back to the boat, forgoing the Fire Department vs Coast Guard water fight. André came over for dinner, and we talked long into the evening (it actually got dark.)
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| Totem Pole, Sitka Nat'l Historic Park, AK |
Saturday was another warm sunny day. We walked across town to the Sitka National Historic Park. This is the site of the battle where the Russians finally forced a presence in Sitka. In addition to a museum, there are pleasant trails through the forest, along the coast and the river. There are about 18 totem poles along the trail – mostly reproductions of poles that are now in museums. We borrowed a detailed guide to the totems and learned quite a bit about them. It is notable that when I asked if there was a guide to the totems, the ranger handed me a pile of detailed pages, without any request for my identification or anything – just asked that I return them when we were through.
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| Totem Pole Detail, Sitka Nat'l Historic Park, AK |
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| Bald Eagle, Sitka, AK |
We stopped for some excellent clam chowder in a small shed on the way back to town, and then met André. He had borrowed his girlfriend’s car, and drove us north 7 miles to the end of the road, and then drove us south 7 miles to the other end of the road. There is only one road, and it is pretty well developed with residential properties. Sitka has a variety of neighborhoods, ranging from very nice to dreadful. The dreadful area was originally settled as a Tlingit village built up against the blockhouse walls of the Russian fort, and is still occupied by Tlingits. We went to see André’s new boat. He bought a much larger boat after he met his girlfriend, at her suggestion, and it is pretty nice. We had some wine, and that gradually evolved into dinner, while we heard stories of André’s life going back to Nazi-occupied Paris, his career in the high fashion world of Paris and New York, and the path he followed to be living on a small sailboat in Alaska. The night was windy, and we regretted all of the flags that we had raised to decorate the boat for Independence Day, as they were rattling on the rigging and echoing down the mast. Eventually we crawled out on deck and removed them at 3:30.
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| Household Gate, Sitka, AK |
Sunday we slept late, made pancakes, and did boat chores – the most notable being a dismantling of the starboard settee so we could attack the mold invasion behind it with bleach. One problem with living aboard in a cool wet climate is condensation on the hull. Cooking and breathing produce a lot of water vapor that keeps the hull continually wet. This is not an obvious problem, since the hull is buried behind cabinetry of various sorts, but the mold enjoys it, and occasionally needs to be beaten back. In the afternoon we walked in the warm sunshine to the Sheldon Jackson Museum. He was a Presbyterian missionary in the late 19th century. While carefully dismantling and destroying the native culture, he realized that a record of it should be preserved. The museum is primarily the items that he collected from the various Alaskan native cultures: Northwest Coast, Eskimo, Aleut, Alutiiq and Athabascan. It is a stunning collection that exceeds anything we have seen in larger museums. The building was built in the 1920’s, and is a classic old museum, with the items on shelves in glass cases, and in drawers that you can open as you wish.
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| St Michael's Cathedral, Sitka, AK |
First thing Monday morning, we ordered a replacement autopilot. It’s not an essential piece of equipment, but it does make things easier. It does the steering during long stretches of motoring, leaving us free to concentrate on other things. It also is a useful third crew member when we both need to help with some pressing task. Since this is Southeast Alaska, there is no such thing as one day delivery, but it should be here on Wednesday. The day we leave Sitka will then be determined by the weather. We are headed north, and need to do some sailing in the open ocean. As the open ocean up here is often nasty, we need to be careful about the weather. The forecast for later in the week is not hopeful at this point.
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