April 28 – May 2
Hi All,
Change of plans….Mr Weather has decided to complicate things a bit. Two storms are coming and we decided to make a 3-day ~150nm fast run to Haines/Skagway. We had to skip going to Tracy Arm and seeing the Dawes glacier (Endicott Arm)….for another day perhaps!!
Thursday 4/28: We moved to Snug Cove still in Gambier Bay…..~9nm, didn’t even deserve a passage beer it was so short:))))….another DDG anchorage with a large mud flat and meadow (still brown grass). Checked crab traps before leaving…..1 keeper and several more small Kings. Snug Cove is one of our favorites and it lived up to its beauty. Set crab traps and prawn pots!!!
Friday 5/29: Another day off….boat style….means no moving but projects. First check traps….0 crab….2 small ones and no bait…good grief….someone has crabbed all the keepers out of these places…..arghhhhhh!! Prawn traps…..oh how the Prawn Gods keeps one humble…..only 3….and I had to go chase a runaway trap maybe a mile down the channel….hmmmm…I think there is a lot of current here. And, we saw 2 Brown bears…beautiful….large, healthy males but very lean….they walked the meadow but really didn’t stop or find anything to eat….the grass is still very brown!! Dinner: fresh Dungeness crab….culinary orgasm time:)))
Boat Stuff: I decided to clean the watermaker membranes with the S-3 acid solution. The ppm was now consistently ~650-700ppm…just too high for our tastes. FWIW, EPA recommends <300ppm. It’s not a hard procedure….just tedious….but, for whatever reason other than to aggravate John-boy, the service valve (3-way valve) you use to input the cleaning solution versus the seawater did not open….yep, me squatting in the lazarette, got everything ready, turn on the switch and no sucking from the inlet hose….I’m yelling at the dang hose to suck you frickin hose…then I catch myself and go good grief, you’re losing it yelling at a hose….LOL….arghhhhhh!!!! So I do the Kathy thing….I take a hammer to said valve…..felt soooooo good…say a few choice words and try it again and voila, it works….I do hear in the background Mystic and Spectra (brand of watermaker) snickering….oh, how we love to aggravate the Captain:))))) Then while you circulate the cleaning solution you have to heat it up to >100*F…..there is ~6 gallons of solution in the system and the temp starts at 60*F…..do you know how long it takes to heat up ~1.5 gals at a time (you have about 2 gals in a bucket)…..well, way too many times…..the Admiral was a bit aggravated as well:)))…we did this 3 times, took about 1 hour per session and the best we did was get to 100*F!!! We let it soak overnight and the next morning we discharged the cleaning solution and ran the watermaker….yea…helped….now we are in 450-500ppm….much better but a clean membrane will be 100-200ppm…looks like we will be buying 2 new membranes soon!!
Dinner that night: enough seafood….cheeseburgers on the grill…yummers:)))
Saturday 4/30. The parties over….time to haul butt to Skagway avoiding two approaching storms. We left after hauling pots, 19 prawns….better than before but still not so good, 1 keeper crab but again no bait left, raised the dinghy, put watermaker back together…..good grief I was worn out by the time we left….I got up at 5am and we left by 8:15am….not bad John-boy for an old guy:))) We expected flat calm seas….what we got for the first 20nm was 15-20kt North wind against a north setting tide….wind against tide…3-4′ wind chop with lots of spray….margarita time again!! We did the 48nm run to Taku and tied to the public dock. We thought there was going to be wind overnight but it stayed flat calm. Docked and passage beers open by 3pm!!!! Sat in the FB enclosure to a warm sun!!!
Sunday 5/1: Up and out by 7:15am for the 59nm run to William Henry anchorage in Lynn Canal. Oh what a dark, grey, rainy day…..Alaska style….mist on the mountains…beautiful as long as you are inside. And once again the strong winds did not develop. I think the strong winds stayed south and we beat them going north as fast as we did….tomorrow the winds most likely catch us but it will be behind us!! And as we passed Juneau and Auke Bay we briefly got internet….yea….GO WARRIORS….won their 1st round!!!
We arrived ~3pm at William Henry anchorage….holy snow….there is still 3-4′ of snow on the beach….whoa!!!! This is a very cute anchorage, exposed to the north but fortunately as we entered the winds clocked to the south and the anchorage was very calm!!! Popcorn and a movie tonight!!
Monday 5/2: Up early and out by 6:45am….the winds are still calm but the forecast is to increase to gale force by this afternoon. We have ~35nm to go to Haines….by 8am the winds up to 20kts, all behind and the ride remains smooth. We arrived ~11:00am and the winds had freshened to 20-25G30kts, still behind us but it made for a very cold docking….brrrrr. Docked, power plugged in and passage beers opened by 11:30am. We set off early afternoon to walk the town….whoa….hadn’t been off boat since Wrangell….a week+ ago…knee painfully said hello….I said got the cure….made it to the local brewery where we sampled several nice beers…knee said all better:)))
Haines took a beating in the Covid pandemic….many people moved out, many businesses closed and now many businesses are struggling to find labor to reopen. We found only one restaurant open for lunch and the lady said after 17 years she will probably close as she can’t find any labor…..either people moved away or the young people don’t want to work anymore….yikes!!!
Daylight: Yep, it’s Alaska in the spring…..sunrise at 5:00am, sunset 8:45pm….almost 16 hours of sunlight, 18 hours of daylight…whoa!!! Started to use the blackout shades in the stateroom or else I’m awake at 4am!!!
SPOT: For years we have used the SPOT tracking device to keep track of Mystic and send “OK” messages to family and friends. I was just informed via email that they have a new map protocol. I set it up and now you can see Mystic’s tracks: https://maps.findmespot.com/Track#history/assets
A bit disappointed on the critter count…..maybe too cold still….in 2019 in early to mid-May in this same area we had already seen close to 100 whales….wow.
The Plan: We will stay in Haines another day and leave on Wed, 5/4 for Skagway…16nm away. It’s still raining hard with ~20kts of wind here. But, our favorite distillery is still open so we must drop by for a tasting and their excellent Rye!! Once in Skagway we will join up with Sherry and eventually make our way to the Yukon to visit Ed & Michelle. We will leave Skagway early next week to head to Juneau (Costco run) then onto Glacier Bay et al!!
Critter Stats:
Whales: 8 total (7 Humpback, 1 Minke)
– 1 Humpback in Frederick Strait, 1 in Stephen Passage coming into Gambier Bay; 1 in Lynn Canal near Eldred Lighthouse
– 1 Minke near the islands outside Petersburg
Bears: 3 Brown; 2 Brown Snug Cove
Dungeness Crab: 8; Red Bluff 2, Cannery Cove 2, Upper basin Good Island Inlet 3; Snug Cove 1
Prawns: 130 Spotted: 80 Red Bluff, 31 Pybus Bay; 19 Gambier Bay
Otters: 150; 75 in Rocky Pass, 75 outside Pybus Bay
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
PS: Pictures on the website:
http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/hauled-out-in-wrangell-and-then-to-haines
Wow, what an adventure you guys are having. Glad you made it safe and sound from the storms! The pictures you posted were gorgeous!
No news from home, Chuck’s house is still for sale and not so many lookers this week. The weather has been very nice. We played Bocce tonight at 7:30 and it was 80 degrees. The Henry’s went to Disneyland this week, we are holding down the court again! Friday evening we are going to the Trilogy comedy night. We will tell you all about it next time.
Take care and safe boating!
Melaine and Tom