SITKA TO TAKATZ BAY

Sunday, July 5^th

We are now officially on our way back down from Alaska, as we made our way from Sitka to Takatz Bay, a 10 hour run. We didn’t really want to go that far in one day but the weather always dictates, and tomorrow is predicted to be SUPER ugly in Chatham Strait which is where we are headed this week. Very high winds are coming in late tonight into tomorrow with gusts up to 40mph, and torrential rain, so it was our goal to get somewhere we could hide out. It made for a very long day of 6AM departure and 4PM arrival. It was another whale show today as we transited the narrower parts early in Peril Strait. So many whales it was crazy! We saw a Mom teaching a baby to tail slap, we saw groups of humpbacks bubble feeding and fin slapping, it was so fun! That was when it was calm. The worst water was the last 20 miles of Peril Strait, exactly where it was nasty when we were headed the other direction on our way to Sitka. We turned south into Chatham around 2PM to some wind and 1’-2’ seas but nothing as bad as what we’d just been through. All along we were taking on the nose (bow) with wind and tide moving together (although coming at us) so it wasn’t too awful. The last 30 minutes outside Takatz Bay, a giant catamaran style yacht went barreling 20 knots+ past our three boats clearly trying to beat us to Takatz, and threw us an ENORMOUS wake to contend with that sent things flying. Such an ass. When we got in the back bay of Takatz, sure enough he was anchored in a prime location all settled in. I wanted to go say something but I am TERRIBLE at confrontation, and John decided it wouldn’t do any good anyway, but we were all furious. Huntress threw down an anchor and the other two boats rafted on either side of us as we quickly settled in, everyone a tad cranky after a long day of travel. Takatz is another stunning anchorage with high peaks surrounding us and waterfalls everywhere. I’ve also seen bears here before so convinced John to take me out on an exploration cruise. Bryans were too wiped out from the long day, but Abells joined us and it became our Happy Hour cocktail cruise. It was high tide and just very lightly sprinkling, and I knew tomorrow would be an indoor day with the rain coming our way. We were able to make it nearly all the way to the head of the bay which is out of the water at low tide, but about 4’-6’ for us – and the reward showed up! A beautiful brown bear was grazing on the shoreline, tearing through the sedge grass. The bear was completely unbothered by us so we were able to drift in pretty close without scaring it, to the point we could hear it tearing the grass and chewing, it was just so COOL! After a while we murmured our gratitude and goodbyes to this beautiful creature and headed back to the flotilla. Everyone is beat as mentioned, so dinner on our own. John and I played cards for a couple hands before calling it a night at 8PM – we’d been up since 5AM to see the kids off to the airport at 5:30AM, so it was a very long day.

Gorgeous Brown Bear, have a lot of pictures I loved

This is the jerk that swamped us

Map of Our trip today

SITKA AT THE DOCK

Saturday, July 4^th

Happy Birthday to Jenn! And Happy Fourth of July! And Happy Birthday to my other pseudo daughter, Angie (my bestie Lori’s daughter) whose birthday is also the 4th! And I hear another friend of ours, Jayne, also has a birthday today, Happy Birthday to all! The weather GODS cooperated today! Hallelujah, we deserve a reprieve! The sun is out intermittently but enough to make it a very pleasant day. Sitka has a lot of festivities planned for today, starting with an antique truck parade (which we missed), barn dance, carnival and food booths, and the grand parade through town at 1PM. We first stopped at the Sitka Totem Park and visitor center and learned a lot about the Tlingit history in Sitka, through a short film, a large collection of totem poles and art work, and a lovely trail through the woods with more totems. The tide was out so the kids enjoyed an hour of beach time finding all sorts of treasures. We made our way back downtown for some food from the booths, and eventually the grand parade which was so fun! Nearly all the entries in the parade threw candy to all the kids, so our grands had a ball with that and came home with a mittful of treats. Following the parade there was a water fight between the Coast Guard and the Sitka Fire Department, kids loved that too! Jenn and I slipped away mid afternoon because today is my last day to reprovision before we leave tomorrow morning. We are basically 2 weeks away from the next grocery store so had to stock up on a few fresh items. We could live for weeks on what’s in the pantry, but fresh produce and dairy is always running out. We had birthday dinner at Ludvig’s Restaurant which is the best restaurant in Sitka in my opinion, followed by Lemon Cake with Lemon Frosting that I made this morning to top off this stellar day. 

Curbside seats to the parade, Spencer behind Sycamore

Out for a Dinghy Ride

Just a cool boat in the harbor

SITKA AT THE DOCK

Friday, July 3^rd

Today is exploration day and we are packing a lot into our day. It’s pouring rain but we dressed for the weather and are doing some sightseeing regardless! First up at 9AM we visited the Raptor Center which is a rehabilitation and sanctuary for injured raptors. They take in birds from all over the US and rehabilitate them if possible, and if not then they become permanent residents of the facility or another facility. The birds they currently have as permanent residents are missing key elements necessary for survival and hunting, like a missing eye, a missing talon, or irreparable wing damage. In the case of the resident owls, their wings, while healed, now make too much noise for them to effectively hunt which I found fascinating. Apparently they are stealth hunters and rely on silent flight to catch prey, so if their wings make any minute noise they can’t go back into the wild. One of the resident eagles was found near power lines and they believe it was electrocuted, it can’t fly again. Another is brain damaged from blunt force trauma – probably hit by a car. Another lost its talon because it had been shot. They also had one non-raptor resident Raven they were taking care of who couldn’t fly so the top of his enclosure used to be open. The staff would feed the Raven fresh fish parts, but the Raven’s friends would come into the enclosure, bring him French fries from McDonalds, and the Raven would exchange fresh fish parts with the wild Ravens!  Again, those crafty Ravens, gotta love their smarts. The Raven now has the top covered on his enclosure so his diet doesn't include fries, and the staff jokes that McDonalds left Sitka because of the bad press. After a lunch break at Mean Queen restaurant, a warmup session back at the boat, a quick shopping excursion (Jenn and Den) to wander the shops downtown, we were off to the Fortress of the Bears, the bear rescue center. We had a timed entry at 3:20PM along with about 30 other people. The Fortress of the Bears (FOB) was founded by a guy who used to hunt bears for a living. Over time he fell in love with the bears and could no longer hunt them so decided to turn his attention elsewhere. The policy for Fish and Game is when a mother bear is shot or dies in the wild and has suckling cubs, they unfortunately have to also euthanize the cubs because they will not survive on their own. The FOB currently has 8 resident bears that they acquired as cubs. Unfortunately, they cannot be returned to the wild so their mission is to provide them with a safe home for their lifetime. There are currently 5 brown bears and 3 black bears at FOB. Two of the browns are sisters so they are housed together and are a hilarious pair of playful girls. Two (neutered) male bears who are brothers and another female bear are in the other enclosure. Because they’ve known each other since birth, they all get along. The black bears are in their own enclosure and are never mixed with the brown bears, they would not get along. The grandkids absolutely LOVED the bears and had a marvelous time, as we all did. The two females were very active, playing with their toys of tractor tires, a buoy on a rope that one of them loved to swing around like a tetherball, and one of the bears also kept chasing ducks around the pond. Several Eagles lined the trees surrounding the sanctuary, and typical of scavengers would swoop down during feeding time and try to grab a morsel from the bears, so that was pretty entertaining as well. Dinner back at the boat was some fresh Halibut Tacos from the halibut John caught a couple weeks ago, so delish! Movie night introduced the grandkids to Second Hand Lions, one of John’s favorite movies. They loved it! Jenn and I hit the sack early.

Taking a nap

The two males (darker color) and one female (cinnamon color)

This is one of the males taking a rest, note he's sitting on a log and resting his chin on a stump

One of the resident black bears

I think this is the largest male weighing in at 900 pounds, waiting for food

One very large raptor

The playful sisters

SITKA AT THE DOCK

Thursday, July 2^nd

For John’s birthday, I organized a fishing charter out of Sitka with Greg, Bill, and Spencer. They departed at 6AM this morning, in the rain (shocker) and are hoping to find the elusive salmon that are supposed to be out there. Jenn, the kids and I had a nice lazy morning with lots of coffee, pancakes for the kids, and now catching up on the blog. Last night we had so many eagle sightings just from the boat. Many individuals perched on masts on boats in the marina over the course of the evening, then two perched together on the next boat over so we go to watch them for awhile. On the dock across the fairway from us there were two giant fish bins, supposedly empty, but surely smelling quite fishy. Two eagles landed on the rim of the bins to see what they could scavenge, one succeeding and flying off with a bit of something. We watched as the second one jumped down inside the bin disappearing from sight. We waited and waited for him to reappear and 10 minutes later he finally did, just before a couple walking their dog approached. We were hoping that there was not going to be any close encounter for them so I shouted over “there’s an eagle in the bin” just as the eagle emerged and flew off. 

The boys were supposed to be back by 11AM per the terms of their charter, but didn’t show. Then it was 12PM and still no sight of them. Finally I looked up their location and saw they were in a bay a few miles north of the docks. I texted John to see if he maybe had cell service and he did, answered back they were still fishing because they had only caught 1 fish by 11:30. Meanwhile Jenn, the kids and I were just hanging out on the boat on this beautiful day waiting and waiting! I gave up around 2:00 and we all walked up to the store to find a couple odds and ends on my list. Boys showed up around 3PM with a total catch of just three fish among the four of them, but their guide worked super hard just for that. The fish run just hasn’t started here yet as I’ve mentioned before, so they were lucky to get what they got! Spent the rest of the afternoon processing and freezing the salmon fillets along with portioned remains for crab bait, then rolled into dinner on the boat of Steaks, French fries, and Canlis Salad. 

Pair of Eagles patrolling entrance to Sitka Harbor upon arrival yesterday

Spencer's big fish!

The boys arriving back from the charter

Spence

John's fish

SUKOI INLET TO SITKA

Wednesday, July 1st

Officially we can’t check in and dock until 12 Noon, so we had a reasonable departure at 8AM today, as it’s about a 3 hour run – we are going to try to land early. It’s pouring – again – seems to be the norm for weather this year. The cruise down to Sitka was still beautiful through shallows and narrow channels, one cannot deny the beauty of Alaska. We arrived to find one boat on the linear dock we were assigned so we let the Bryan’s head in to take the remaining spot and we waited for the other one to clear. The kids arrive at 1PM today, so we don’t have a lot of time to spare. The other boat finally left at 12:05, we got ourselves docked and settled, and I left with the Abells to head up to the airport to pick up the rental car and Jenn, Spencer, Sycamore and Summer who will spend the next 4 days with us at the dock. Boating in Alaska isn’t really for young kids, there is a lot of running time, down time, and of course the rain. Just isn’t a lot to do for young ones. But since we are staying at the dock with the ability to get off and go adventuring, it works. Today blossomed into our first sunny day in a long while and it was just wonderful!! The cabin heated up with the sun streaming in the windows to the extent we had to open the doors and get some airflow! After a late lunch at the Bayview Pub, Jenn and I did a grocery run and we spent the rest of the evening on the boat catching up. Sitka is such a beautiful town, with little islets in the bay hosting beautiful homes perched on the rocks. People have to access their homes by boat, so there are a lot of elaborate docks as well. If we get more sun I will try to post pictures later. We are here for the 4^th of July celebrations which span over 5 days. There are events every day, including 2 days of a carnival, two parades, native dancers, movie screenings, all kinds of fun. We are also planning a trip to Fortress of the Bear and the Raptor Center, both of which are rescue/rehabilitation centers for the respective creatures. We think the littles will love it.

Eagle Pair perched on the boat next to us

Surfing for fish bits

Connie casting off in the morning monsoon at Sukoi

Quintessential fishing boat passing us enroute to Sitka

Sign posted at AVIS where we rented a car, good to know!

Nod to Shaboozy, one of Lorraine's favorites, swag at the Bayview Pub

Our journey today

SUKOI INLET ON ANCHOR

Tuesday, June 30^th

John left for fishing before I got up this morning, leaving me to land the incoming fleet. Far Niente and UnforgetAbell left Deep Bay at 6AM to catch the slack at Sergius Narrows and arrived here to tie off to us at 7AM. It was a smooth process. Once settled in, they all retired back to their boats for breakfast or naps or both. Sukoi Inlet has been very quiet from all perspectives – not much wildlife, and not one other boat. The only exception is an Eagle’s nest on shore nearby, which has been fun to watch. The adult eagles have been feeding in the bay near our boat, and twice now right in front of me they’ve swooped down to retrieve bait from the water. The shoreline looks like it should be teeming with bears but I have yet to see one, so that is curious. Deer were on the beach yesterday when we arrived, and when I went to set pots I apparently got too close to a group of herons on shore which I did not see, and they departed delivering a sound scolding my direction! I caught up on my blog today, finally, it seemed like I didn’t have much to say but I always find the words, apparently. I am sure many of you are bored to tears which is proven by the fact that I had 117 views of my first post and now average about 15 views per post!! Haha. I guess I won’t have a career as a blogger.

John returned around noon – finally – I was starting to get worried. His trophy for 6 hours of fishing? One medium sized ling cod that resulted in four – 10oz packages of meat for the freezer. Lings yield about half their size in meat after the bones are cut away. Once again he was skunked on salmon which has been super disappointing for him. The salmon run isn’t here either, apparently. With the whaler back, I made my way out in the wind and rain to fetch my crab pots which had now been soaking a full 24 hours. And the results are in…..absolutely nothing. Not even a rock crab, shell, starfish….nothing. The bait was fully intact, had not been touched. Honestly it worries me about the state of our ocean. There should be some sort of life below here, we are on the edge of the Gulf of Alaska! Enroute to fetching pots, I stopped to take some photos of the Eagle's Nest on shore, where an adult Eagle stood guard while its partner was out fishing. After a quiet afternoon, a little cribbage with Connie, I whipped up dinner of Jambalaya with fresh crab, prawns, and hot sausage, and it turned out so good! Add a salad from Connie and fresh sourdough from Bill, and we had a perfect dinner. I made a fresh berry crisp for dessert and added in some remaining Bing Cherries that I had purchased at our last stop, which was an extra dose of deliciousness. Tomorrow we are off to Sitka.

Eagle's Nest on Shore

Jambalaya Dinner!

Where John went fishing today

DEEP BAY TO SUKOI INLET

Monday, June 29^th

4:45 he said, that’s when we need to get up, so we can cast off by 5AM. UGH. Early. We have to be at Sergius Narrows at 5:20 for slack. You ever have one of those nights where you know you can’t miss the alarm the next morning because of a flight or some critical obligation? For some reason that’s how I slept. In increments all night, but basically from 3AM on I was awake. Terrible night’s sleep! Anyway, we cast off from the Bryan’s boat trying hard not to disturb them even though 2 giant diesel engines probably don’t qualify for relaxing white noise. We proceeded through Sergius Narrows which was a complete nothing burger, hardly even a swirl. It has the potential to cook at 7 knots and it is very narrow where that occurs, so it is always good to follow “slack” protocol. Our destination of Sukoi Inlet was only a 15 mile run, so we had the anchor down by 7AM. I immediately collapsed on the couch and took a nap for an hour before dragging myself out to set crab pots. I had no idea where to put them so guessed and will wait and see what happens. John left for fishing around 11AM and I did some chores then broke out a book, which of course put me to sleep in no time. 2 hours later, and wonderfully rested after a second nap, I dragged myself out of bed so as to not ruin my chances of sleeping tonight! John had returned from fishing with no luck, today he was fishing for bottom fish because it was a bit windy out and he didn’t want to go out in the big water. Since there was a break in the rain, I decided I’d better see if there were any crab in my pots, and it was a bust. First pot had one undersized Dungeness, and the second pot had a spider crab and those same large shells we’ve been catching. I repositioned them to new locations and decided to leave them overnight. We had a nice cozy evening just the two of us, with some rib steaks, roasted baby reds, and the rest of the corn salad from the night before. Cribbage and good music soon had me yawning and ready to retire. A very nice relaxing evening and restful night.

Again - have no photos from today because it rained most of the day. Here's more favorites from the 2018 trip.

Our son-in-law Spencer, diving off the boat in Glacier Bay. Ah...youth.

Lucky Dog and Esperanca at Margerie Glacier, our first trip to AK

PAVLOF HARBOR TO DEEP BAY

Sunday, June 28th

John is anxious to get to the fishing grounds, which for King Salmon is only on the outside – meaning the Gulf of Alaska, there is no King Salmon retention allowed in the interior. This meant he was chomping at the bit to get going. First though, Connie and I had to go retrieve our pots (at 6:30AM). Luckily no rain! Crabbing was a near bust with everything from a giant starfish, a rock crab, a spider crab, and a bullhead, and lots of seaweed in and on our pots. The last pot pulled had 2 nice keepers in it however! So not totally skunked. Speaking of which, we were completely skunked on prawns. It was really strange because normally we get at least one creature from below, one prawn, or spider crab, something…..but both traps had absolutely zero life inside. It was quite disappointing. Such is life on Huntress. Huntress needs to up her game.

Anyway, back at the boat, we soon left Pavlof Harbor headed to Deep Bay for one night with the Bryans, while the Abells headed for Appleton Cove which was on their bucket list for this trip. Whales again everywhere along the journey, especially on the opposite shore across Chatham Strait, spouts every few minutes in the distance. Chatham Strait is known to be notoriously nasty but today it was a millpond as we traveled down to Peril Strait which is the interior route to Sitka, making it super easy to spot the whale spouts. After a nice 4 hour cruise in beautiful Chatham, we turned the corner into Peril Strait and found ourselves in the wind and chop. You might think Peril Strait is named for the weather conditions or high seas, but it’s not. It is named as such because in 1799 a group of Aleut sea otter hunters (hired by the Russian explorers), perished due to toxic shellfish poisoning, over 150 died. Nearby landmarks in Peril Strait are named Deadman’s Reach, and Poison Cove, also in reference to this event. PSP or paralytic shellfish poisoning is something that we have to watch out for in current times as well – Red Tide is another expression. They say only eat the bivalves (mussels, clams, oysters) in months with R's which obviously doesn’t include May through August, which is when we travel. We do consume shellfish from one trusted spot up in Desolation Sound, and have done so for years, but it’s always a concern. As we approached our destination of Deep Bay through a shallow channel, a very large humpback surfaced right in our path. John cut the engines and coasted until it surfaced again so we could see where it was heading, but each time it surfaced it was headed a different direction and basically criss-crossing our route! So we had to pop the boat in and out of gear as we slowly made our way into Deep Bay where Far Niente threw down and anchor and we tied alongside. We ventured out later in the whaler in the wind (brrr) to explore the bays across the channel named Baby Bear Bay and Bear Bay, thinking maybe we’d see a bear, but no such luck. We did get another humpback show though! This humpback was feeding in water as shallow as 20’ at times! Our Garmin showed thick layers of bait in the water so not surprising. A sea lion was also feeding in the bay. We came together for dinner with our respective meals on Far Niente and had a lively discussion on all the transgressions we had as teenagers. Fun night.

I never tire of a good tail shot, a bit blurry as the water was choppy, but still...

Sea Lion feeding near us

This guy feeding so close to shore, it's only 20' where he is at

Showing off his pecs

Chatham Strait, so smooth!

Our journey today