June 18-24
Hi All,
We stayed in Rodman Bay off Peril Strait for 2 nights. It started raining hard when we dropped anchor and rained until about noon the next day. Then we actually saw the sun….wow!!! But, it got a bit colder as now there is a HI to the west of us and we are getting colder north winds!! Rodman Bay is another iconic DDG bay….tall mountains….well, we can see about half way up, a huge valley and several salmon streams. And, a gazillion commercial crab pots….lets say 200-250 pots…ODG…..we saw 5 crabbers come in and it looks like they are getting 10-15 crabs per pot, maybe keeping 30-50%…..in the 2 days we were there I estimate maybe 1200-1500 keeper crabs were caught….whoa!! I am still not allowed to crab:))))….but Mark did….caught a bunch over the 2 days…..many were small, but enough keepers to limit out!! I also went clamming with Roseanne…..found many Cockles and a few Mary Janes…..that was fun….hadn’t done that in a while…..Roseanne was going to make a clam chowder with them once she confirms this area is free of any PSP. Disappointingly, no bear sightings….odd!!
June 19: Up early and left around 8am…..going salmon fishing on our way to Patterson Bay near the end of South Arm Hoonah Sound. We trolled for 2.5 hours and nada….saw some fish on the fishfinder early on in Rodman Bay but then nothing for the last 2 hours…..didn’t see anyone else fishing either….hmmm. But, as consolation, on our way to Douglass Cove in Patterson Bay….almost all the way back in South Hoonah Sound we see 6-7 whales blows/bodies/tails…..then a calf starts to breech….ODG….a mama and calf….the little guy put on quite a show for 15-20 min….all the way out of the water and twisting 180-360* all the time yelling “look at me Mom”…..yes, we do speak whale now:)))) Got the money shots and video….wow, wow, wow!!!
Douglass Bay is gorgeous….pretty dismal weather when we arrived….misty, low clouds but then towards evening and the next day bright, warm sun….we actually opened up the windows!!! Mark and I both set prawn traps the fist afternoon and checked the next morning….YES, FINALLY….I scored 15 big Spotted ones…..Mark had 2 pots out and scored 90+….one pot was huge…..YES!!!!! It was sunny almost all day….wow, what a gorgeous day!!! Had M&R over for dinner….Kathy made her crab risotto with a mix of king crab (left over from the one we had in Sitka) and dungeness crab….plus a spinach salad….ODG….yummers!!!
June 21: Both Mark and I checked the prawn traps early….for the past few days I have been using Mark’s pot puller to raise the prawn trap instead of the anchor puller/hand pulling….OMG, what a delight and no back aches or pains:))) Another big score….I got another 27 big Spotted ones and Mark got 60+ of Spot & Stripes in his 2 pots….YES!!!!
We left around 9:00am for Deep Bay and fished another 2.25 hours along the way….still nothing and no one else was fishing:(((( We arrived in Deep Bay around 1:30pm and found sv Sagata anchored, our Kiwi freinds….wow, we had not seen them since Prince William Sound last Sept!!! We had Phil & Leslie and M&R over for heavy hors’douerves….Kathy made crab garlic toast plus veggies, crab dip, smokey joe little weenies, smoked salmon ….yep, trying to use up our frozen crab so John can crab again:))) Roseanne made crab cakes and had boiled many of their fresh prawns….what a fun night as Phil & Leslie caught us up on all the New Zealand news and their travels…..lots of jocularity and laughter!!!
And it was the summer solstice…..longest day of the year….unfortunately clouds had come in so no sunset…..sunrise now 4:05am and sunset: 10:06pm!!!!
June 22: up early and out by 8:15am to time slack at Sergius Narrows at 9am…..arrived at 8:45am and still had a 1.5 kt favorable current!!! And, we see maybe 4-6 fishing boats trolling Salisbury sound….ok, game on….except it was sort of misty with a 10-15 kts south wind and a 2-3′ ocean swell so not the best of conditions….in fact we had to go to the south shore for a little protection….fished for 1.5 hours….only 2 rockfish….didn’t see any fish on the fishfinder nor any other boat catching…..whaaaaaaaa!!! Made it to Kalinan Bay about 11:30am…..another DDG bay….but shallow and 4 boats already in this pretty small anchorage…..found a spot with 10′ under the keel at low tide, 16′ total water depth…whoa….hadn’t anchored in such skinny waters in quite a while. We were both a bit pooped with the fishing, getting up early and the previous 2 nights of fun/jocularity, so….yep…. a long summer nap for John-boy:))))
And, we had 3 Brown bear sightings….one lasted 3+ hours…..a light cinnamon female in good condition strolling the shoreline eating a ton of grass!!!
June 23: Woke up to low clouds and rain….ugh…..and rained all day, wind shifted to north, we got a bit chilly…..so, we had a “snow” day….good to rest up before the hectic pace in Sitka. We had M&R over for dinner….Kathy made her yummy crab chowder….perfect for this chilly, rainy day!!! She did say once we are in Sitka the galley is closed:)))) AND, a very sad day on Mystic, we are officially out of the New Zealand and Australian red wine…..we had collected/bought from 2014-2016 over….well, can’t say how many….and it has lasted until June 2019…..~5 years……YUMMERS but somewhat sad as well:))))) We will restock in Sitka….ODG….maybe not the wine capital we need but should be enough to get 3+ cases of house/decent wine!!!
June 24: Up and out by 8am…..going to Sitka….26nm away….through Neva and Olga narrows!!! Sort of feels like going to our temporary home in Alaska….albeit we get no privileges for being there…..still way down on the waitlist for a permanent berth….but have moved up to #6!! Our berth is about as far away as it gets….ugh….well, good exercise:))))
The Plan: We will be in Sitka with cell and internet….YEA!!!!…..for 5-6 nights….need to reprovision and restock wine stores, get the Yanmar serviced (running a bit rough at idle/low speeds), wash a pretty dirty boat, hopefully see the museum and raptor center and certainly visit the restaurants!!! We hope to start up again on June 29/30th for the outside/west side of Baranof and Prince of Wales Islands….yep, into the open Pacific waters again…..now how do we do this????. We hope to be in Craig on POW ~July 15 and then in Prince Rupert on July 25th where hopefully we will rendezvous/cruise with Adam and Cindi on sv Bravo:))))) And, good news, M&R will continue on with us through Baranof and most of POW until they need to start heading back due to commitments in mid-Aug.
Critter Stats:
Dungeness Crab: 73 total
Prawns: 68: 54 Spotted, 14 Coon Stripe; 1 in Red Bluff; 42 in Patterson Bay
Whales: 162 total; 144 Humpbacks; 11 Orcas; 7 Minke: 3 in Chatham Strait going to Takatz, 6 in Chatham Strait going to Red Bluff; 1 going to Rodman Bay in Chatham Strait; 8 in South Hoonah Sound, 1 in Salisbury sound
Salmon: 0
Bears: 54 Browns; 13 in Crab Cove; 2 in Red Bluff; 1 in Douglass Bay; 3 in Kalinan Bay
Wolves: 5
Otters: 795;
Mountain Goats: 42 total
Dall’s Sheep: 3
Moose: 3
Alaskan Husky sled dogs: 60
Stellar Sea Lions: 839; 50 in Chatham Strait
Just for comparison, we caught a total 47 Dungeness crab last year vs 73 so far this year….of course we have 2 licenses this year and can keep 6/day versus one license and 3/day last year. And, we saw 152 whales last year and so far this year 162….SE Alaska is being very, very good to us!!!!
Hope all is well!!
Cheers,
John
Mystic Moon
Sitka Alaska
