Captain’s Log: Sitka to Reb Bluff…brrrrr!!

April 12 – 15

Hi All,

After all the hard work the past 6 days Kathy and I celebrated Monday evening at Mangiare at the Sitka Hotel….a fun evening with good food and a funny bartender….and maybe celebrated a bit too much as it was very hard to get up @ 4:45am to be ready to leave by 5:45am….in fact we were a bit tardy leaving. But we remembered how to do it all and were off the dock by 6:05am. We had to run a little faster, moved up to 1800 rpm, in order to be at Sergius Narrows by 9am….we made it by 9:20am and had a foul 1 kt current so pretty easy!!! We made it to gorgeous Appleton Cove by 1:00pm, 51nm, anchor down, passage beers all opened by 1:30ish!!! But, it is frickin’ cold out there…..like high 30’s but with 15 kts of wind, wind chill well into the 20’s….in fact soooooo cold for the first time ever, I chose not to crab….arghhhhhh!!!!

Weather: Unfortunately, we thought we would be well protected from the forecasted high winds….15-25G35kts from the North given all the coastal mountains et al…..NOT:((( Well, we were 90% of the time, but that other 10%….gaps in the mountains, or wide openings in the channels et al…..well, all that hard work of cleaning Mystic was gone in a few wet splashes and by the end of the day, she was coated in salt top to bottom….margaritas, anyone….whaaaaaaa!

Wednesday 4/13: WTH is that noise we say to each other at 2:30am…..K: sounds like sleet, John gets up and comes back a bit later, nope, that be ICE. Yep, another FIRST…..the pleasure of listening to ice slide down the hull….very thin layer…..didn’t see that coming!! It lasted for a few hours then tapered off. Daybreak is ~5am and John checked it all out….maybe 50-75% of the cove had a thin layer of ice….Mystic was somewhat in a pool area ice free and it was close to slack so no movement. Temp outside was 27*F….Les our buddy from Wisconsin texted that saltwater freezes at 28.8*F….so now we know!!!

We wanted to wait to leave until 9:30am in order to time the ebb tide in Chatham Strait (then we would have wind with tide current) which is a good thing as it took until then for the ice to melt….yikes!!! Still blowing a bit….10-15G20kts, waves 3-4′ but some initially in the 4-6′ range in Chatham all off the stern except as we came out of Peril Strait before turning south into Chatham we took a 35*+ roll….that shook things up:(((( We made it to Baranof Warm Springs around 2:30pm, 39nm, tied up to the dock, passage beers open by 2:45pm. We then sat on the FB watching swans, Merganser ducks and of course the waterfall, which was running somewhat low….yep, not warm enough yet for the huge spring melt!!! We did make it to the hot baths as well…ODG, a nice hot 102*F soak….sweet as. Along the way we met Tim, the winter caretaker….they had 22′ of snow this year…almost double the previous 2 years!!! Also, there was some seismic activity and the springs are a bit cool
er….like in the low 90’s….still some are still hot enough but Tim was unsure what will happen this summer!! And at least one Brown bear is awake….came down near the settlement and ate all the skunk cabbage a few weeks ago!!!

Oh and whales….many whale blows in the distance in Peril but once in Chatham a happy guy….breeching 3+ times with fin slapping 200-300 yards off towards shore….unfortunately too rough to stop!!

Thursday, 4/14: A morning putzing….got dinghy ready to use, setup crab and prawn traps, K replaced light bulbs, sprayed/rinsed boat from all the salt from a few days ago….there is a public dock we tied to at Warm Springs but they had not turned on the dock water yet as too cold and it would freeze….so we used our own water!! We left ~12:15pm to time the ebb tide in Chatham….still have north winds with tide current….it was our best run yet…trawler weenie smooth…..sweet as!!! 21nm, arrived 2:45pm, anchor down, passage beers opened by 3:15pm, prawn traps set by 4:15pm, crab pots set by 5:15pm…yep, pretty slow setting, always is the first time getting everything all setup!!!

ODG….look at the mountains….that’s a lot of snow, ODG….look at all the waterfalls, maybe a dozen, there all frozen….holy waterfall, I’m not sure I have seen so many waterfalls frozen…frozen water suspended in mid air…..breathtaking sight and a FIRST!!!!

Friday, 4/15: ODG…..we have ICE again….not as bad as Appleton, but all around Mystic. My buddy Brian sent me this article about first and last experiences as we age…like maybe having your last ski run….and well, the article has stuck with me as it makes a poignant point. https://zone.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=498a3d8fa2a9bdb873f040810&id=f33176b988&e=aac6f375f0

Some people probably think we are crazy for cruising in Alaska during the “off season”….geez J&K, no one is there (which for us is the point:)))), it is too cold, weather can suck, et al. But to be here as the land/critters start to open up, as plants and animals all become active is a rarity only some people witness in these remote areas. And for us, to experience ICE is just a rare beauty!!! As long as Mr Kabola continues to perform then Mystic remains a cozy home!!!! Temp this am was 27*F!!!

The ice did not melt until after 11am when the tide came in and the winds picked up to 12kts….at that point I decided to wait to check on the prawn traps until later in the afternoon, but a quick check of the crab traps yielded dinner, 2 big ones:))) So around 4pm I head out….drum roll please…..80, EIGHTY BIG SPOTTTED PRAWNS. OK, that’s a lot for John-boy….many guys do better but that is a whopping record for us!!!! That was 5 quarts of whole prawns, our limit is a total of 6 quarts, 3 each!!!! Prawns for dinner….we will save the crab:))))

The Plan: We will leave tomorrow ~8am to cross Chatham Strait and head for Big John Bay on Kupreanof Island, just north of Rocky Pass!! Then Sunday we will time Rocky Pass for the afternoon slack and head to Totem Bay to anchor. Then Monday we will go into Wrangell for our Tuesday haulout!!

Critter Stats:
Whales (4 Humpback)
– 1 in Peril Strait and 3 in Chatham
Dungeness Crab: 2 (Red Bluff 2,
Prawns (Spotted): (80 Red Bluff,

Hope all is well!!

John
Mystic Moon
Red Bluff off Baranof Island

Position: 56 52’20.23 N,  134 47’14.71 W
Course: Stopped.
Position: 22-04-15 18:29:17 -0800
http://maps.google.com/maps?&ll=56.87229,-134.7874&q=56.87229,-134.7874&z=16