THOM’S PLACE TO WRANGELL

Monday, June 8^th

Today is a relatively short run up to Wrangell all on very inside waters, protected and calm. It’s a gorgeous morning even with light rain. The reflections are stunning! It is so hard to stay asleep when it gets light at 4am, it’s always a tug between having the portholes open so we have the fresh air vs. covering them to keep out the light so we can sleep later! The water was smooth today and we easily got into Heritage Harbor in Wrangell which is a first come first served moorage, no reservations. We are just ahead of most people traveling to Alaska this year, mainly because we take an aggressive approach to getting up here, long running days until we get across Cape Caution, and this year we had to outrun weather all the way past Dixon Entrance. Now we are at the point where we don’t have to do that as often and can enjoy shorter run days and a more leisurely pace as we enjoy the beauty of Alaska.

We had a super fun afternoon exploring the town of Wrangell, which is about a mile walk from the harbor, and walks are welcome when we are otherwise too sedentary. The boys had some marine and hardware items to track down, and we had some shops to investigate. Being Monday, a lot of places were closed, but we managed to find some souvenir sweatshirts and other things. Of course we found time for a stop at the local watering hole, Rayme’s Bar, where we chatted with a lot of locals quizzing us on our journey and welcoming us to their town. Everyone is so friendly here! Connie and I wandered off to the grocery store later on and bought more than intended so were each weighed down with two heavy bags of groceries. We decided to hitchhike back to the harbor and after several rejections, a nice young lady picked us up and got us to the harbor. She was born and raised locally, working as a tour guide part time and the rest of the time in her family’s fishing business, crab, salmon, etc. Again, such a sweetheart and so friendly. Tonight we don’t have to cook! Yay! We got to go out to dinner at the “Stik” or Stikine Inn for dinner and this time instead of walking we took the tender over to the city dock right below the Stik and enjoyed a wonderful meal, their menu is outstanding. Our server Krissy was just delightful and made our dinner so fun. We finished off with their signature dessert which is a family style mud pie creation that was over the top. And no, I haven’t set foot on the scale yet, scared. Going forth there will be no scale reports either.

Beautiful reflections inside Thom's Place this morning

Thom's Place

Enroute to Wrangell, UnforgetAbell on the left, Huntress ahead

This landslide on Wrangell Island killed several people a year ago, just wiped the face clean. So sad.

Greg and Bill on the dock at Wrangell

Crazy Pirates on display outside a gift shop, they look like they are from Disneyland, Pirates of the Caribbean exhibit

Cute little chapel, Wrangell

Construction and recycling Alaska Style, this stilt house on the waterfront utilizes a barge for a foundation

Couple small skiffs clearly disappearing in the bushes

On the way to dinner! It was a bit rough and I think Connie is worried I might fall in, because I almost did taking this pic

THOM’S PLACE AT ANCHOR

Sunday, June 7^th – D DAY

I recently read a really interesting book called “Family of Spies” which is a mostly factual (only because she relied on interviews and accounts of third parties) account of a woman who discovered her grandparents were actually spies for the Japanese when they lived on Oahu as a family. Apparently they helped the Japanese with recon on the number of ships in port and the routines and activities on base, which helped the Japanese execute their attack at the most vulnerable moment. For that treason her grandparents served very little time. It was a great read and I recommend checking it out. We honor those lost souls today.

Mid morning in between squalls we ventured out to pull our pots and this time rewarded with 25 prawns! Which is not a big haul, but enough for appetizers tonight. Clearly this isn’t a prolific prawn area or I just didn’t choose the right spot! They were big though, huge I might say. The crab pots yielded 5 more nice big males, we are set for crab meat. After killing and cooking my haul and tidying up the gear, another break in the weather told me it was time for a kayak ride. We had launched the kayak yesterday then the wind came in and the rain, and I didn’t get to go. Today it is a beautiful break in the weather, calm waters and no rain. As I paddled back into the nooks and crannies of the shoreline, a mama duck and her babies were cruising right next to the shoreline as well, and she seemed alarmed by my presence. I paddled wide away from her to give her some space but she had her babies tucked up on her back – teeny tiny little heads, must have been really fresh. I kept my distance and let her escape into the inlet. That was my only wildlife sighting other than one eagle that flew over, and maybe a crow or two. No bears or deer today. Yesterday there was a deer grazing on shore among the purple lupine, making for a pretty scene. Spent the rest of the day cracking crab while watching the “Life is Short” documentary on Martin Short – very good! What a lovely man and great talent. Dinner tonight was on our boat although Connie cooked it all, yummy baked pork chops with a delicious grilled pineapple salsa, wild rice, and salad. Topped off the meal with NY TIMEs Chocolate Chip Cookies, a recipe not to be missed if you’ve never made them. They are the bomb! Afterwards we played another game of 5 Crowns and there may be some marriage counseling sessions booked real soon, it was a fierce competition and the barbs were flying among spouses! All good natured of course (I think), we laughed our way through the game. Great FUN! 

Today's Prawn Haul

Happiness is a bucket full of Crab

Now that's the way to crack crab! Overhead heaters and chilled white wine!! Bill and Lorraine 

Connie and Greg headed out to pull pots

Bill and Lorraine with their haul of crab! Limited out!

All our pictures seem gray most of the time, and that is the prevailing color up here. But believe it or not it's still beautiful and serene.

THOM’S PLACE ON ANCHOR

Saturday, June 6^th - CONTINUED (Afternoon Report)

Upon arrival we found a nice spot in Thom’s Place way back in the bay where Bill/Lorraine put their anchor down and we rafted off of them on one side and Abells on the other. With how protected this bay is, we should be fine with all three boats on one anchor. It was a massive deployment upon arrival, John wanted me to expedite dropping of prawn and crab traps so he could take the whaler and go fishing, and the other two boats launched their dinghys as well, anxious to get the crab traps down. The rain squalls come and go giving us periods of clearing here and there, but we have to remember that….we are in the Rain Forest. You just deal with it, suit up in your rain gear with lots of layers to ensure you stay warm and go enjoy the outdoors! During squalls, I spent the afternoon watching videos about the Kasaan totems, and the Haida reclamation of Queen Charlotte Islands, known as Haida Gwaii. The last Ice Age did not cover Haida Gwaii so it allowed unique species of plants and animals to evolve. And there is evidence that the Haidas have occupied those islands for perhaps 13,000 years, being one of the earliest humans on the Northwest Coast. The logging industry on Haida Gwaii was a ruthless business, clear cutting and destruction of artifacts found in the process. One logging industry guy interviewed said they would find ancient Haida dug out canoes in the process of being carved, (because they carve them in the woods where the tree is felled) and the loggers were ordered to haul them out to the burn pile. He said they did that with 100s of canoes. The Haida built massive canoes capable of holding up to 60 people. Anyway, what a tragedy to lose all that history. The Haidas took a stand in the 80’s and demanded they have a say in what happens to the land to protect the forest and salmon which resulted in part of the islands being protected by formation of a conservation. However logging continued elsewhere on the islands and the Haida kept up the protesting, finally receiving recognition by the BC Government that Haida had title to all of Haida Gwaii in 2024. Anyway, that’s how I spent the afternoon! When John returned without so much as a nibble, we set out to go check our pots. The first prawn pot pulled resulted in 2 Prawns so we threw that one back down and decided to not even check the second pot, just leave it overnight and see if we did better. The crab traps yielded two nice big males so that was a win! Tonight was dinner on our own, so everyone pretty much kept to themselves, hunkered down inside our respective vessels for the night. OH, almost forgot! Today Connie and Greg had the first bear sighting of our trip! Two black bears on the beach. None of the rest of us were so lucky.

Huge Prawn!

Coiling while John is using Pot Puller to pull the trap

Not sure why the gloomy face but maybe I was concentrating on docking it back up alongside the mother ship

View from the boat of neighboring peak, note low snow level, despite that temps nearly in 60s

                                      

THORNE BAY TO THOM’S PLACE

Saturday, June 6^th

An early morning departure for us, heading to Thom’s Place on Wrangell Island, and we have to cross Clarence Strait which wasn’t super pleasant a few days ago. Today however we awoke to flat calm conditions, overcast but not raining. It’s a slow putt out of Thorne Bay because of the floating homes and lodges, and today I took some photos. As we emerged from Thorne Bay into Clarence Strait we were immediately greeted by Humpbacks!  I think three total, one of which came up RIGHT next to our boat. We pulled the power and waited for it to dive deep before proceeding – luckily I had my phone handy and got a great video of the dive! The conditions in Clarence were beautiful this morning! Flat calm, smooth, no rain and pretty skies, even if overcast. Our trip today is 4 hours and we will be tucked away in inside waters once again. While crossing Clarence today the depth sounder was just flashing which means it’s too deep to find the bottom, which the chart shows to be 2000’ – yeah, a little deep. I recently learned of a super cool app where you can map your travel, whether it’s by car, plane, boat, on foot, whatever. Attached is a cute little video of today’s trip. More later with crab and maybe even shrimp report!

Little harbor opposite Thorne Bay City Docks

Goodbye Thorne Bay! Was a great visit.

This floating compound has seen better days

Nice and tidy little floating home

Another derelict building sliding into the bay

Looks well loved and in use

Humpback that surfaced right next to us!

Trip Map! So fun

THORNE BAY AT THE DOCK

Friday, June 5^th

Today is our trip to the native village of Kasaan as we have a tour scheduled for 12:30pm. It’s about an hour on a gravel road to get there, and had decided to pack a lunch to have in Kasaan before our tour. I had read about a beach just north of Thorne Bay called Sandy Beach which was described as a “great beachcombing beach” so Connie and I (the only ones that wanted to go) hit the road early to go investigate. It was another gravel road and lots of potholes enroute, during which we sighted a mama deer and fawn! Fawn was a freshie, could barely figure out how to use its legs. Sandy Beach turned out to be somewhat ho-hum, but was still beautiful. Not much in the way of shells or anything of interest, the rocks being gray and shale-like. There were a TON of mussels growing on the rocks however, even on the gravel where we were walking, they were everywhere. We scurried back to pick up our comrades at the dock at 10:45 for our trip to Kasaan. Our contact at Kasaan was a woman named Kris who was extremely welcoming and had urged us to pack a lunch and eat it in their tribal community building because “it was so pretty” which it was. Native artists had drawn murals on the walls inside the building, and there was a stunning totem commanding the center of the room. We enjoyed a leisurely picnic lunch while she told us a bit about Kasaan. Mike Jones, the president of the Kasaan tribe, eventually arrived and we embarked on an amazing 3 hour tour and educational seminar on the Haida history, and the Kasaan history. Although he lived most of his adult life in Seattle as a flooring contractor, he returned to Kasaan 6 years ago to retire in his home community. He recently assumed the position of President and takes his job very seriously, frequently traveling to Washington DC and Juneau to have a voice in the government. Mike is passionate about his heritage, preserving Kasaan, and protecting the people and the land in this community. We were completely immersed in his world for these three hours and while it was a lot to take in, I feel so fortunate to have had this intimate and thorough experience and education on the Haida. Eventually it was time to say goodbye to Mike and Kasaan, and make our way back to the boats at Thorne Bay. On the drive back we came across more deer and fawns. It’s fawning season apparently as the locals told me, and there are a lot of them. Dinner tonight was on Bryans’ boat where Bill and Lorraine treated us to smoked baby back ribs, german potato salad, fresh corn and a delish dreamsicle dessert. Following dinner we had a discussion on itinerary going forward for the next week or so, deciding to head to Thom’s Place on Wrangell Island tomorrow morning for some anchor time and crabbing! We have had a lot of dock time up here so far, and we all prefer to be on the anchor. Great day all around.

Da Girlz with Mike Jones, President of Kasaan Community

Kasaan's newest Totem, just stunning

Inside the Chief Son-I-Hat's Whale House 

Entrance Totem to Whale House

Bear Totem

Super cool detailed totem at the entrance to the trail that takes you to the totems in the woods, and the Whale House

Totem inside the Kasaan Community Building

Murals inside the Kasaan Community Building

Mike Jones

Darling Mama and little fawn who didn't look to be more than a couple days old

My great white shark driftwood find, didn't keep it tho

Sandy Beach, Prince of Wales Island

Me and Connie bundled up as always

THORNE BAY AT THE DOCK

Thursday, June 4^th

The wind had already arrived this morning when we woke up, in fact it arrived even earlier with waves slapping the side of the boat in middle of the night. Picked up the rental truck this morning for our adventures to the other side of the Prince of Wales Island from a place called Adventures Alaska here in Thorne Bay. A nice double cab pickup that comfortably accommodated all 6 of us. As we were headed out, both John and Bill had been fighting with irregular electrical connections all morning and both frustrated. When we went up to pay our moorage on the way out of town, the staff got ahold of someone from the Harbormaster Office who met them back at the dock to assess the situation, which meant our trip was delayed. Meanwhile we explored the little town with a visit to the grocery store, a cruise through town, and a stopover at the shoreline to watch the many eagles feeding on carcasses on the shoreline. Not sure if someone fed them, or they caught these fish but multiple groups of eagles were devouring their catch. Eventually the electrical problem was solved and we were on our way. It was about an hour to traverse the island over to Craig and Klawock. We were STARVING by the time we arrived in Craig and went straight to the Craig Inn Bar & Grill for a delicious lunch. Afterward we cruised the town of Craig and drove by the harbor to investigate moorage for future boat trips. Stopped at the native headquarters and perused their gift shop before continuing on to Klawock. In Klawock we visited the totem parks and once again investigated the harbor. Neither town really had much going on to see or do, so we soon turned back for Thorne Bay. The scenery across Prince of Wales Island is very similar to that of Vancouver Island. Sadly no wildlife sightings except the occasional deer, we continue to be on the lookout for bears and have yet to see one on this trip! The rain moved in and everyone just hunkered down for the evening on their respective vessels, all cozied in for the night.

Totems In Klawock

Totem Park in Klawock with Cannery in the Background

DELISH Smash Burgers

And what goes well with a Smashburger? You got it! Bloody Mary

Eagles Feeding at Thorne Bay

KETCHIKAN TO THORNE BAY, PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND, AK

Wednesday, June 3^rd

We were supposed to be here in Ketchikan another night but woke up to reports of winds increasing by the end of the day and small craft warnings for tomorrow with 6’-8’ seas in Clarence Strait, which we have to cross to get to our next destination. For our boating friends, Clarence Strait is wider than Rosario Strait but smaller than Georgia…maybe….but maybe I am off on that description. But it is a very wide and exposed body of water between islands. The Boys decided we needed to move along early afternoon. This morning we drove out to the hatchery at low tide with hopes of some bear viewing but it’s a little early in the season for fish swimming up the creek. After that boondoggle, we headed to the grocery store to stock up for the next leg, returned the rental car, and sat around waiting to leave. Chores had to be done like filling our water tanks and prepping to leave the dock. The trip up the protected waters of Revillagegedo Channel was lovely, then we broke out into Clarence Strait. We had following wind and current but it was quartering on our stern, causing us to have the slow roll motion, which makes me seasick in a nano second. The waves got pretty big at times. I soon retired to my bunk to wait things out (I find lying down best for me when seasick) and nodded off. When I woke up the seas had calmed considerably and the direction we were taking it was no longer from the beam, so we had a fairly calm cruise the last hour and a half. On the way into Thorne Bay John and I saw a GIANT splash in the distance, my first thought being “Wow, that small boat just took an enormous wave!” but no, it was a Humpback that had breached, its giant body cascading into the water with a spectacular belly flop. Turns out there were three of them! Lorraine got some nice footage, see attached video. After we passed the whales, we continued on into Thorne Bay, the shores of which are dotted with floating homes, some tidy and perky and others dilapidated and seemingly abandoned. I should have taken pictures on the way in, but I will make sure to do so on the way out. We secured moorage at the City dock, hooked up to power, and settled in. Lorraine and Bill hosted us on their boat for appetizers and cocktails, which once again became dinner as we wolfed down everything in site. We must have been hungry!

Goodbye Ketchikan! Not sorry to say goodbye to all those cruise ships

UnforgetAbell right behind our whaler, and Far Niente pointed our direction on right side

Lorraine got great photos today of Eagles at our dock