JUNE 2, 2022 – DEEP BAY TO APPLETON COVE

The quiet sound of “nothing” except a few bars from the eagles nearby is peaceful music to my ears. Even though I had a three hour nap yesterday I slept like a rock again, awaking at 6AM to the serene setting of Deep Bay. Today we travel to Appleton Cove to reunite with Lucky Dog, who has Shannon’s friend Cathy onboard as their guest for the next week. We motored out of Deep Bay around 9AM and cruised at a very slow and relaxing 7 knots all the way to Appleton, where Shannon had reported bears everywhere! It has also been a previous spot where she has had good luck crabbing. We’d never been so were looking forward to something new. Arrived at Appleton and anchored separately from Lucky Dog since they already had their own anchor down. The sun was out and heating up quickly, my jeans suddenly feeling very heavy and binding. Oh wait that’s because we’ve been eating too much. No it was the heat, and in fact the temps got in the mid-80s making it uncomfortable in the direct sun! After setting down the crab pots I spent a few hours prepping for dinner as I was hosting. On the menu, fish and prawn tacos made with John’s ling cod, and Costco prawns, spicy coleslaw, mango salsa, pico de gallo, and finishing off with my faithful standby, Bavarian Apple Torte that’s always a crowd pleaser. OH, and passion fruit margaritas made with my sister’s passion fruit puree she produces. A perfect summer menu. We pulled the pots around 5PM to find we were practically skunked, with a few females and one giant keeper we dubbed “Andre the 2^nd” after Shannon’s mammoth "Andre the Giant" she caught earlier in this trip. After stowing the gear back in the lazarette we feasted upon our summer dinner. I discovered that I could toast my corn tortillas right on the BBQ which made them crunchy and delicious and best of all, no oil involved so not greasy. The usual dinner, cards, bed routine for us. Didn’t see one bear today so bummed about that. 

Attached are John's pictures of the whales he saw today, along with some of my favorite  pictures taken last August when we visited the iconic Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, Alaska.

Blurry photo but snapped this as bear was catching fish

This bear is named 747 for his enormous size. Note fresh battle wound

The bears first eat the skin on the salmon then the brains, and usually discard the rest

This guy was actually walking towards us on the beach not too far away, a bit intimidating but our guide managed to redirect him to the other side of the stream