MAY 25, 2022 – TAKATZ TO ELL COVE

Woke up super early today for no good reason, and then dreamt of coffee until I couldn’t wait any longer and just got up, at 5AM. Read for a couple of hours until everyone else got up. Shannon checked her pots and confirmed there is no crab in Takatz, and we can also confirm there are no bears, although yesterday we did see one bear briefly on the beach, but none since. Since there was no endearing factor for remaining in Takatz, we pulled up stakes and motored to Ell Cove, about an hour north, just to check out yet another bay. Ell Cove is a tiny anchorage, with just enough room for a couple boats. Very charming and private anchorage, although not much to do I will admit. Shannon and I put crab pots down even though we were very skeptical, but we just like the process of seeing what we will catch. John went fishing for halibut in the afternoon, but didn’t catch anything. He also visited the fish farm in the next cove and chatted with the operators. They are raising chum salmon and coho, and also welcome a lot of charter boats that come through for tours. They also said the sea otters hadn’t invaded this area yet so that was good news! Before dinner we took both tenders out for a cruise so we could test out Shannon and David’s tender and make sure it was behaving. After confirming that Ell Cove also does not have anything to offer to our traps, except for a cute starfish, a baby halibut, and a spider crab that were in my traps, we motored south to the next bay over where there is a dramatic waterfall. A giant National Geographic Charter boat was already there positioned in front of the falls while the tourists snapped their pictures, but we were able to get some great shots! Dinner was steak with chimichurri sauce, roasted yukon golds, and wedge salad, with a nice bottle of red that John opened. Sheer cliffs on all sides and white/gray rock walls surrounding us made for an early sunset, and all of us went to bed early.