May 22 – 27
Hi All,
Yep a sad day, our time in Glacier Bay is ending. What a display by Mother Nature, such beauty, both landscape and the critters.
Off to Dundas Bay….west side of the Glacier Bay Park and unregulated. We go to the Upper Middle Arm, another DDG anchorage, large mud flat, salmon stream all surrounded by 3-4k’ snow covered mountains. The snow in the meadow looks to be 5-10′ high and snow is still all the way to the shoreline. On our passage we saw 3 Humpback whales near Willoughby Island, 4 Brown bears as entered Dundas Bay (2 were a female/male couple doing the mating dance….we stopped to watch:))), and in all we saw 7 Black bears, 1 in Shag Cove as we got up, 1 as we entered Dundas Bay on the west side, and 5 in the anchorage. We had a wonderful showing when we first anchored only to have it spoiled by a small cruise ship….maybe 10-15 people, Sea Wolf, scared one bear away as anchored, then offloaded its people and went ashore only to scare another bear walking towards it……arghhhhhh…..thankfully when the people left maybe an hour or so later, the bears all came back….at one point we were wat
ching 3 at a time!!!
May 23: Weather has changed…..raining when we got up, gray skies but we can still see the top of the mountains!! Rained all day…sometimes pretty hard….no more salt on Mystic…yea!!! Another retired day in remote Alaska….got up, coffee, emails, read, breakfast, clean watermaker filters, watch the bear show, read, lunch, read, nap, read…popcorn and a movie for dinner….LIG:)))
Bear Show: well….Thunder Thighs from Russell Island must have a brother….TT2. She Sow began with 2 Black bears on opposite sides of the huge mudflat, munching away on green grass for hours…..Kathy notices a huge bear coming up the inlet….maybe a mile away….ODG…it is a Brown bear…..TT2….has to be 1000+lbs….Black and Brown bears do not like each other and rarely are seen together….hmmmmm….TT2 is walking with purpose….like TT did stalking Blondie and Brownie on Russell Is in Glacier Bay…ODG….we are hoping the Blacks run away quickly as for sure TT2 will kill them….TT2 gets to w/in 200 yards of Blackie #1….hidden by rocks….suddenly Blackie #1 is gone….must have heard TT2….then TT2 looks up, sniffs the air and he also runs off into the forest….5 mins later TT2 comes out and starts walking around cove to Blackie #2…maybe a mile total….again w/purpose….head down, long strides, occasionally snaps off some grass but doesn’t slow down….go
es on for 15+ min….gets to 100 yards of Blackie #2 still hidden by a gully and rocks….then TT2 emerges, sees Blackie #2 and charges….Blackie #2 says oh crapola and takes off….ever seen 2 large bear butts running….yep, never forget that sight….Blackie makes it to the forest and Brownie is close behind but slower….10 mins later Brownie emerges and continues down shoreline again with purpose…we watch for another 2 miles and never stops…..that boy needs some testosterone relief!!!
BTW, after that we saw no more bears in the anchorage after seeing 9 previously….hmmmmm!!!
May 24: Up early and out by 7am….going to Swanson Harbor, 53nm away…..straight east down Icy Strait. We do see a few whale blows and then one Humpback 1/2 mile from Mystic but it quickly gives us a large tail dive and is gone….but, we are w/in 10 miles of Hoonah and there is a large cruise ship….w/in 5 minutes there are 3 go-fast whale watching boats converging on the tail dive….arghhhhhh….we quickly leave!!!!
Swanson Harbor has historically been good crabbing. I’m looking forward to setting the pots after doing nothing the last week or so due to too many otters….but, we see maybe 5-10 otters as we enter the anchorage….cute but crab eating varmints…my spirits are dampened…but, we see a local “tinny”, a couple w/a dog…they are setting crab traps in the anchorage….my spirits are lifted so down comes the dinghy and I go set one pot…we shall see!!
Well…..the crab mystery continues…NADA….a lot of work with NO return….argggghhhhh!!! In 5 trap pulls, the bait was entirely eaten in 3 and completely ignored in the other 2…..hmmmmm!!!
May 25: After retrieving empty crab pots and raising the dinghy we were out by 8:15am. Headed to Pavlof Harbor, in Freshwater Bay off North Chatham Strait….28nm. We first stopped at a big rock island 1.5nm from the anchorage to see a large sea lion colony….yep, still there….must be 75-100….lots of activity and the Alpha was really barking at some young ones…fascinating!! We did see some whale blows in the distance and one whale ~1/2 off as well as some Dall’s porpoises, but they did not come to Mystic to play…darn!!
May 26-27: Lovely here at Pavlof….there is a waterfall here partially hidden but very scenic especially if you go up to it w/the dinghy!! Anchor down, passage beers open, crab and prawn pots all set by 2pm!!! Unfortunately, a small cruise ship came in….disgorged ~50 people…some hiked to the falls, some kayaked…all making loud noises….and the ship had no muffler on their generator so we got to listen to that all day……arghhhhhh!!! But, ~6pm it left…yea!!!! Kathy had made a pot roast the other night and today she made soup….ODG….delicious!!!
Crab count =1, Prawns = 0 yep, really pathetic….but almost every crab pull evidence of small King crabs….ugh!!!! The only solace I had was watching 2 humpback whales about 1 mile off while prawning one very calm morning. One was breeching….yep, now that’s livin’ the dream baby, although in my dreams, my pots are full of prawns:)))
Weather: Warm and sunny but a little breezy so still need a jacket. Sunrise is 4:15am and sunset is 9:41pm….17.5 hours of sunlight, ~20 hours of daylight….whoa!!!!
The Plan: Explore Tenakee Inlet for the next few days….a 30nm long fiord!!
Critter Stats:
Whales: 26 Total (23 Humpback, 2 Minke, 1 Stejneger’s)
– 3 Humpbacks near Willoughby Island as leaving Glacier Bay
– 1 Humpback Icy Strait; 1 in Swanson Harbor anchorage
– 1 Humpy N. Chatham Strait
– John saw 2 Humpies while prawning, 1 was breeching….whoa!!
Bears: 31: (18 Brown, 13 Blacks)
– 18 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
– 11 Blacks: 2 on north side Geikie Inlet as entered and 3 at Shag Cove, 1 as entered Dundas, 8 at Dundas anchorage
Dungeness Crab: 11; 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
Prawns: 130 Spotted: 80 Red Bluff, 31 Pybus Bay; 19 Gambier Bay; 5 in Port Frederick; 0 Pavlof
Otters: 325; 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
Mountain Goats: 20+
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
Position: 57 44’13.88 N, 135 25’32.78 W
Course: Stopped.
Position: 22-05-28 17:57:29 -0800
http://maps.google.com/maps?&ll=57.73719,-135.4258&q=57.73719,-135.4258&z=16
Hey Neighbors,
Well we are all fine, we miss you at the Wave! The weather is warming up in Brentwood. Haven’t met our new neighbors yet, they should be moving in soon. Tom and I went to a Martini Class this evening and it was great fun. Learned all about “shaken not stirred” James Bond Martini’s and so much more that I can not even type this email!!!! Can’t wait until your return to hear all about your awesome adventures! Be safe and take care, Melaine and Tom