7/24 – 8/1
Hi All
Our summer cruise seems to be finding remote places…..calm and tranquil….then we go back to civilization….like going back to Sitka, California or having our kids on the boat….we then get over stimulated/tired and just want to find those peace and tranquil spots again….as I reread that, sounds like I’m getting old….arghhhhhh!!!
We did indeed finally get all the chores done, well John-boy did, and we left Sitka ~9am, Sunday, July 24 in just yucky weather….low gray clouds, mist, fog, rain, and S winds 5-15kts, so all behind. It was an uneventful trip to Kalinin in Salisbury Sound, 26nm, anchor down, passage beers open by 1pm.
Whoa….we had a very sporty run on Monday, 7/25, from Kalinin to Slocum Inlet on the west side of Chichagof Island, 28nm, 3.5 hours, anchor down, dinghy down, passage beers open all by 1:00pm. We had 5-8’s seas, medium period, sometimes forward of the beam, sometimes at the beam, and sometimes aft of the beam. Kathy and Mystic did great but I got a bit queasy….yikes, where did that come from!!!
We anchored in Falcon Arm all the way up at the head. Nice salmon stream with fish jumping everywhere. But, curiously no bears fishing. We saw one small female Brown just walk across the stream and kept going…..hmmmmm???? In total we saw 4 Brown bears, two actually jumped in and ran towards some fish but no joy, seems it might be too deep.
Crabbing: nada on 1st pull….unfortunately we saw 4-5 otters coming in to Falcon Arm and several in the anchorage. I reset one pot a little deeper at 50′ and then added 200′ of line on the other pot and reset at 225′. Several locals have told us the crab go deep when otters are around and the otters can only dive to 120 – 200’….next day, zero in both and we saw ~15 otters in the Bay….arghhhhhh!!!
Prawning: I was told by our neighbors at the dock that there should be prawns in Slocum Arm….you just have to find them. Well….1st pull….8 in one pot 0 in 2nd, ugh….next day, 4 in one, zero in the other, total 12…oweee!!
Weather: absolutely sucks….very grey days, low clouds, mist, fog, rain….the only good part is it’s not too cold…55-60*F!!! But the morning of the 3rd day, there was 40-80% cloud cover but we did see some blue sky and sun on the hills so it does exist….it’s been maybe a week+ since we have seen sun. And we saw the surrounding hills…maybe 1-2k’ hills, very green, some yellow cedar kill.
Day 4: We moved to Waterfall Cove….4.5nm south….still qualified for a passage beer:))) We thought the Cove would be surrounded by waterfalls but alas, there are some and one big one, but in the distance….like 1-2 miles away. And the anchorage is deep…100’….but it’s gorgeous, large meadow, large salmon stream with 100’s and 100’s of salmon jumping and gathering in front of the stream. We read that salmon gather in front of streams for a few weeks acclimating to the fresh water before going upstream to spawn.
We only saw one Brown bear but it was a great showing….a young female hunting fish….watched for ~1.5 hours…running, jumping, standing on hind legs, swimming…..she only caught 1 fish as the salmon are still staying in deeper waters….we felt her frustration to be fishing and not catching:((((
Not fishing yet as still need to make room in the freezer!!
Crabbing: Expectations are low as there are more of those cute-crab-eating-varmints (otters) in this cove. 1st pull…..zero, one pot shallow, one pot 150′, 2nd pull: 1 female with eggs, 1 undersized male in shallow pot…hmmmm
Prawning: 1st pull….not too bad, 20 large ones in deep pot (440′) and zero in shallow (325′). 2nd pull: 15 in deep set (480′), 1 in shallow (380′)
Weather Day 5: the worst yet….rained since midnight, fog, mist, visibility <1 mile, not too cold, 57*F, winds, 3-10kts, light wind chop in anchorage, just luv to get soaked working the traps in this crappy weather:)))
Day 6: Another long day:)))…..moved 4.5 nm south to Flat Cove….anchored in 107′ fell back on mudflat to 83’….DDG cove with large meadow and mudflat…..anchor down, Bloody Mary’s made, all 4 pots set by 11:30am….LIG!!!!
Crabbing: Nada 1st & 2nd pull….bait not even nibbled, later on Kathy saw a lone otter….dang, we were hoping at almost the end of Slocum Arm there would be crabs but don’t think so now…..arghhhhhh!!!
Prawning: 1 as in ONE 1st pull….yeppa, oweeeeeeee; 8 on 2nd pull
Day 8, July 31: Big move…..2nm to the head of Slocum Arm….a beautiful meadow and salmon stream….already saw 10 bears first afternoon, several in stream, 1 caught a fish and ran off….lots of fish jumping in front of the stream, so not going upstream yet….just teasing the bears:))) Weather continues to suck….low clouds, light drizzle….ugh!!! One we nicknamed Grandpa just hangs out by the stream and we found him the next morning sleeping on the shore…..hmmmmm!!!!
Crabbing: still slow, 1 undersized male
Prawning: left the traps outside Island Cove/Flat Cove and will pickup on Tuesday
Fishing: I’m not sure why I felt we needed to make room in the freezer as everything has been sooooo slow. We now have some room so will be trying to catch something:))) It stopped raining a few hours this am (Monday 8/1) so I tried some salmon fishing from the dinghy….got in maybe 3 hours….then rain and by the time I got back pretty miserable….and all I did was fish….no catching…..of course, hundreds of salmon jumping close to the dinghy….all crying out….CAN’T CATCH ME, CAN’T CATCH ME…..as they wiggle and make a big splash….arghhhhhh!!!!
The Plan: Well….more of the same although Kathy is getting pretty tired of the weather and is suggesting we try inside somewhere. If we stay the course, we have another 4-5 anchorages before we get to White Sulphur hot springs at the north end of Chichagof Island. There are several protected passages through the various islands so we should not be exposed to the open Ocean waters. Tomorrow, 8/2 we will head north to Ford’s Arm the last inlet in Slocum Arm and if the weather cooperates, we will do some salmon fishing from Mystic!!
Critter Stats:
Salmon: 9 (6 Kings, 2 Coho, 1 Pink)
– 12 & 16-lb caught in Fortuna Strait on green/white hoochie
– Fishing w/Dave: 5 kings, 1 Coho, and 1 Pink and 1 which we think was a Coho got away at the swim transom
Whales: 36 Total (30 Humpback, 5 Minke, 1 Stejneger’s)
– 1 in Salisbury sound near Fortuna
Bears: 110: (96 Brown, 14 Blacks)
– 96 Brown; 2 Brown Snug Cove; 3 Coots Cove in Funter Bay; 1 in Salt Lake Bay, 2 in Bells Island/port Frederick; 3 Russell Is; 4 Browns as entered Dundas; 1 in Upper Middle Arm Dundas; 2 Browns N. Chatham before Freshwater; 1 Brown along Tenakee inlet, sitting in front of a remote house; 13 in Crab Bay, 4 along Tenakee inlet, 6 Upper inlet anchorage; 1 on the way out of Upper Inlet, 6 in Long Bay; 7 Rodman; 8 Deep Bay; 1 Kalinin; With Dave: 1 in SJTB, 4 in Ushk; 4 in Falcon Arm/Slocum Arm; 1 Waterfall Cove/Slocum; 1 Flat Cove; 20+ Head of Slocum
– 14 Blacks: 2 on north side Geikie Inlet as entered and 3 at Shag Cove, 1 as entered Dundas, 8 at Dundas anchorage
Dungeness Crab: 32
– Red Bluff 2, Cannery Cove 2, Upper basin Good Island Inlet 3; Snug Cove 1; Crab Cove/Funter 2 (given to us by locals:))), 1 in Eight Fathom Port Frederick; 0 Swanson Harbor; 1 Pavlof; 0 Crab Bay; 9 in Upper Inlet Tenakee; 0 Long Bay, 6 Rodman, 2 Deep Bay; 0 St John the Baptist, 3 Ushk Bay, 1 Deep Bay, 0 Falcon Arm, 0 Waterfall Cove; 0 Flat Cove; 0 Head of Slocum
Prawns: 205 Spotted:
– 80 Red Bluff, 31 Pybus Bay; 19 Gambier Bay; 5 in Port Frederick; 0 Pavlof; 13 Upper Tenakee Inlet, near Long Bay; 12 in Falcon Arm/Slocum; 36 Waterfall Cove/Slocum; 9 Flat Cove;
Otters: 344;
-75 in Rocky Pass, 75 outside Pybus Bay; 20 coming into Bartlett Cove; 5 South Sandy cove; 5 Russell; 75+ Geikie Inlet; 50+ as left Glacier Bay; 25+ in Dundas Bay; 10+ Icy Strait; 5+ Swanson Harbor; 3 Salisbury Sound; 15 in Flacon Arm; 5 Waterfall; 1 Flat Cove
Mountain Goats: 20+
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
Head of Slocum Arm, west side of Chichagof Island Alaska
Position: 57 26’54.05 N, 135 49’03.23 W
Course: Stopped.
Position: 22-08-01 18:37:44 -0800
http://maps.google.com/maps?&ll=57.44835,-135.8176&q=57.44835,-135.8176&z=16
