Sept 15-19
Hi All,
Weather: Andy and Sue on sv Spruce reported a “local” told them this was the best summer weather in 18 years. Indeed these Indian Summer conditions continue. We have friends reporting in Seward/PWS that it has been sunny for the past 16 days. The Gulf of Alaska has remained pretty much in trawler like conditions since we left…..going on 2+ weeks now. There have been a few LO’s in those 2+ weeks but all relatively minor and seas have stayed in the 2-6′ range….wow, unheard of for this time of year and in this area!! But who are we to complain…..we have thoroughly benefited by sitting out in the cockpit/FB in the warm daytime sun!!! But winter is coming….it is now getting in the high 30’s at night, heavy frost on the ground…..brrrrr!! Now Mystic on the other hand, is still salty from all the spray we took a week ago in the bigger winds, so we have gradually used some of our fresh water to rinse her off some…..better, but we can tell she is itching from all the salt and not happy!!! This area definitely needs rain….everything is very dry….and we don’t see any rain in the forecast until this coming w/e….almost 3 weeks since any significant rain…..not good for these temperate rain forests!!
Days off at North Sandy Cove….the 15&16th: We indeed took 2+ days off and rested in this lovely, calm anhcorage….well, Kathy did vacuum the entire boat….I guess she was itching too:)))) We have enjoyed just sitting in the cockpit/FB/PH reading and watching the wildlife…..4 black bears, 5 mountain goats way up near the top of a 4k’ mountain, blue herons, a few otters, large stellar sea lion, lots of various birds et al.
We did BBQ chicken one night….had a Romeo & Julieta Churchill and listened to Bocelli….perfect stogie and music for this idyllic setting…..oh, and the 2002 Roche Napa Valley Zinfandel capped the dinner/evening:)))
I did set up the prawn trap….took me a while to get it sorted and remember how to use the anchor puller since we don’t have a pot puller yet…..will refit in Seattle next year or so. After a 24+ hour soak on both the crab and prawn pot…..drum roll please…..ZILCH, NADA, ZIP…..whaaaaaaaa:(((( But, while I was pulling up the prawn trap (260′, anchor puller did ok, but still hand pulled a lot of line) there was whale blow…..1/2 mile out and coming my way…..so close….maybe 200-400 yards….OMG….huge….lots of blow, but no tail when it dived…..we think it might have been a Fin whale as it did not show a tail when it dove and it seemed quite large!!!!
Monday, 9/17: We were up early and out to go 18nm to Berg Bay….our last anchorage in GB….ODG…another DDG Bay/anchorage….thick Spruce forests with smaller mountains in the background with golden meadows by several streams!!! Once again, many otters, a few harbor porpoises, seals and bird central!!!
On the way over we saw another whale….this one a Minke….our first one of that type this season…..on the smaller size. And we went by S. Marble Island again and the stellar sea lions were all out basking on the rocks barking and sleeping!!!
Tuesday the 18th: Heavy frost on all the meadows…..and the dinghy….like 1/4″ of ice…it’s a new experience to break/wipe away ice on the dinghy…..brrrrr!! Since we were skunked on the crab/prawn pots…yes, again….but we did get ~15 very small prawns….Pink Shrimp….too small to keep….and a wolf eel which Kathy likes so we let go:)))) And we had not seen any bears or wolves so we decided to leave this lovely anchorage for Excursion Bay where a local had told us of lots of wildlife. We left around 9:30am as we had to time crossing the entrance at Berg Bay and Sitakaday Narrows. Excursion Bay is just East of Glacier Bay and in fact the West Arm is still in Glacier Bay….that is where we were headed. And along the way we saw whale blows, but 2-3 miles away!!! We get to the anchorage and it is a bust….hmmm….the Bay was all steep to and very close to shore….like 150′ deep, then up to 20′ deep, 30 yards from shore…yikes….you would need to stern tie to shore in order to anchor which we did not want to do. We were very disappointed and the only backup was the East Arm 4nm away or another 20nm to Hoonah. Fortunately the East Arm was a jewel….we liked it much, much better that the East Arm and w/in 30 min we had seen 2 Black Bears, 30-40 seals laid out on the beach, a gazillion Eagles, lots of gulls, geese, ducks, et al and a gang of sea lions…..what do you call 3-4 large adults and 3-4 small pups of sea lions….they were very curious about us and would come w/in 20-30 yards of Mystic, blow huge amounts of air, play and just watch.
Anchor down, fishing pole in water, dinghy down, passage beers open all w/in 30 min….all by 4:00pm….it was 43nm all in trawler conditions. I caught some baby halibut….set the crab trap and then the prawn trap…..while I was doing the prawn trap the gang of sea lions came over…got quite close….so, after the pot was set I sat down and well WTH….we started talking….hi Mr/Mrs Sea Lion….how are you today….we smell fish, well yes I just set the prawn trap….we smell fish….hmmm, I see, well please leave the prawn trap alone….we smell fish…ok, I get that…..how about coming over to Mystic and I’ll drag up a few for you….and then they dive:)))))…gotta luv Alaska:))))
And….we are not in remote parts any more….on the way into Excursion Bay we got internet….Verizon….was able to download emails and pictures….signal must have been from Hoonah….and in this Bay there are 7 homes….we are only 30nm as the crow flies from Juneau….maybe 50nm by boat…..several look lived in and several look like summer homes….wow…..we are across the Bay but still…..who knew!!!
Skunked again on crab and prawns…..WTH…..very tiresome….new traps, could something be wrong?? I went out in the dinghy to catch some bait fish to reset the traps and after many small sculpin which we don’t like and one baby halibut….bam, pole bent, line spooling…..game on:)))) I get the halibut up near the dinghy after a very good fight….even had to use low gear on the reel….it’s too big to put in the dinghy so I start the motor and drag the fish to Mystic…..1/4 mile…..Kathy gets the net and voila…we have a 24-lb halibut….now that was FUN!!!! I reset the crab and prawn traps, fillet the halibut, clean up and sit outside a bit with a beer watching the show…..LIG!!!!
9/20: Well, skunked AGAIN on the prawns….we might be learning that rock is better than mud….BUT, not skunked on crab, albeit nothing in the pot yet. We caught 2 king crabs….wow, that is a first…but alas they were both female and only 5.5″….legal is 7″…..darn:(((((
It was very sad to leave Glacier Bay….9 days in the Park and 2 days in Excursion Bay…..it was everything we expected and then some….a great combination of awesome scenery, mountains, glaciers and wildlife….we will most definitely be back!!!! We will now spend some time in Hoonah, then go to the Baranoff Warm Springs, then spend a few days going through the Peril Strait on our way back to Sitka. Probably arrive there late Sept and the end of our 2018 cruising season…..fingers and toes still crossed for the berth!!!
Boat Stuff:
Cummins: We developed a salt water leak coming from the forward coolant HE end cap….the end cap holding bolt had come loose….WTH. This is a new HE that we installed in the Philippines….it comes as one unit so the manufacturer tightened the end cap bolts…..even the aft end cap bolt was slightly loose, although not leaking….hmmm…..glad it was an easy fix but still…..something to keep an eye on!!!!
Whale count on passage: 3 total
Total Whale Count since Japan: 108; 47 Humpbacks, 34 Orcas, 3 Sperms, 3 Blue, 12 Fin, 1 Minke, 6 Unknown
Total Bear Count: 218: 142 Alaska Brown; 57 Kodiak Brown; 19 Black
Bear Count: 5 East Arm Excursion Bay, 4 North Sandy Cove (Black), 2 Shag Cove (Black), 2 Geikie Inlet (Browns), 1 Skag Bay (black), 1 Reid Inlet, 4 Russell Island, 1 Shag cove, 2 Jade Harbor, 5 Humpback Cove, 1 Otter Cove, 1 Hoggs Head, 10 Silver Salmon Creek; 40+ by seaplane; 17 Kukak Bay, 43 Geographic Harbor, 44 Kitoi, 12 Alpine Cove, 1 Three Saints, 22 Volcano Bay
Crab Count: 0
Total Dungeness Crab Count: 35
Prawn Count: 0
Mountain Goat Count: 32 total; 5 N. Sandy Cove, 20 Mt Wright, East Arm; 7 at Gloomy Knob, Glacier Bay
Wolves: 2; 1 Geikie Inlet, 1 Kukak Bay
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
GO MYSTIC GO!!
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