June 4 – 8
Hi All,
June 4: Warm Springs: Well….I spoke too soon on the inverters…..around 8am the inverters go out again and this time some bad electrical smell….ugh…..but, quickly found an operator error….evidently I had not locked down the nut sufficiently on one of the fuse holder bolts and it had burnt up pretty bad….ugh….I was able to salvage the fuse holder and this time triple checked my work…..of course that electrical smell will linger for a bit….yuck!!!
While it kept on raining, the wind was calm so we said let’s get the dinghy raised….yep, here came the winds 15-20kts….always fun to lift a dinghy in wind and rain…..NOT!!
We only had 10nm to go to Kasnyku from Warm Springs so off we went….forecast was for 15kts….we got 15-20G25kts with 3-4′ chop….had to go beam to until out of cove and could turn NW so had a few good rolls….then all behind us so not so bad. The Admiral wanted to stop short of Kasnyku and anchor in Ell Cove….about 1 mile away….she said take the dinghy and go fishing….ugh….and I would have except it literally rained solid all day…like the get soaked through and through kind of rain….so we just sat in this tiny anchorage and watched the trees and rocks…well, I read most of the time!!!
June 5: Whoa….what is that….I can go outside with no rain jacket….it’s not raining….ODG, the pleasures out of little things:))) So gear up the dinghy….still can’t talk the Admiral to fish out of the big boat…ugh….off I go, get into the Ell Cove channel and drop the downrigger ball, get my rod and release some line and yep, the darn reel spools….old line I guess….this reel has not been used in 2 years……arghhhhhh……back to Mystic, exchange reels and off again. Hmmmmm….get out near the Kasnyku Hatchery and there is absolutely no one else here fishing….that is a very ominous sign….like no fish here….but why would AF&G open the season for 2 weeks…..didn’t they send the memo to the salmon…..hmmmmm…..but John-boy keeps telling himself there has to be a fish or 2 so keep at it….of course, the winds picked up, wind against tide as I fished through slack so got bumpy….ah geez, can’t feel my hands or toes from the cold wind…ok, 4 hours, no bi
tes except 2 nice size keeper rockfish….I’m out of here….but, I did see two Humpback whales maybe 100 yards away feeding….show lasted maybe 10 minutes….yep, talked to the whales and they said no salmon here, stupid man….hmmm, whales with attitude!!!
In the meantime, Kathy has a great bear show at the anchorage…..a mom and juvenile….walked around the whole anchorage gnoshing on grass and eating stuff off rocks….Kathy was in critter heaven!!!
June 6: Just a few sprinkles this am but otherwise a gorgeous calm morning with lots of reflections in the anchorage. Out of Ell Cove by 8:00am…but wait, there’s my lure on the anchor chain….the other day I had gotten hung fishing off the cockpit and couldn’t pull free…..had to cut the line….so now I know and am reunited with my fav lure:)))
We made the 15nm run to Kelp Bay….looks like a beautiful small fiord…surrounded by 2-4k’ snow capped mountains….we looked into one spot and it looked great but decided to try the end….a huge brilliant green meadow and anchorable at 100′ but we liked the 1st spot better so back we went….hmmmm…first attempt to anchor had us going from 150′ to 20′ in like 150’…yikes, that is some wall and too steep for us…so tried a 2nd spot….much better….dropped anchor in 55′ and settled back at 30’…..but 100 yards to shore so need to keep an eye on things!!!
And we had 2 whales blowing/diving as we came into Kelp Bay…..and within 1 hour of anchoring we had 5 bear showings….one was a mom and juvenile and a pair in the afternoon was a huge male and female (we named them Grandpa and Beauty, we saw them several times)…in the initial stages of courting…you know, male sniffing, female acting indifferent…..and the dance went on for hours…finally the big male just laid down and took a nap:))) Later on we see the male loping off (I think he was an older bear so we started calling him Grandpa) and then down again for another nap….we lost track of Beauty but around 9pm we see the male by their favorite rock and we think she was there as well!!!
Then late in the afternoon we had a huge Brown bear, we think female (named Lady), on our side of the cove….she got as close as 100 yards away…..almost a 2 hour showing. All in we had 9 bear showings!!! Crab trap pull: 1, 7″ keeper
Boat Stuff: OK…why does crap happen in three’s, if that is the case this time, then we are done. First item was the inverters. My morning engine room inspection found salt water in the bilge. I thought it was coming from the PSS seal (shaft seal has leaked a little since the new prop was installed in 11/19). I did an engine check after we started to run and nope, not from the PSS, but a pin size crack in the sea water discharge hose from the pump to fuel cooler….yikes. We decided it was small enough leak to keep going and I changed the hose out later when we anchored. It only had one leak but many cracks!!!
Item #2: When we decided not to anchor at the end of the fiord and to go back to the 1st spot, the engine did not sound right, kept changing rpms….I asked Kathy if she heard it and she said yes, maybe for the last week or so….hmmm, first time I had heard it. Another ER check and this time found the Racor fuel filter pegged at -15″ vacuum…as in a plugged, dirty filter. Switched to the new 2nd filter (we have redundant filters for this exact occasion) and Mystic started purring again. Now, the big mystery is what caused the dirty filter??? Something has grown in the tanks….ugh….and probably all got stirred up when we had that rough passage from Cannery Cove to Warm Springs. I did fuel polish both tanks after the incident but the waters were calm and nothing was found in the ESI Racor filter…..hmmmm
June 7: Woke up to very calm, dry but cloudy….and by 8am we had Beauty and Grandpa on their side and Lady on our side!!! While I was pulling the traps Kathy saw two whales go by the cove, but didn’t come in for a visit…darn!!
Morning Trap pulls: Crab: One trap out (Kathy says the freezer is full of crab meat:))): 3 keepers, one @ 9″ our biggest yet, (and 3 females, 2 w/eggs), Prawn: 2 traps out, 11…ugh!!
Sightings for the day….a mom and 2 young Brown bears hiking up this huge snow bank…maybe 1000′ tall to these long 2000′ waterfalls….what a sight…..then a whale in the anchorage….like 100 yards from Mystic….Kathy asks is that a whale blow (we were on the Flybridge watching the nature show….and Kathy was picking crab:))), then I look and it is just right there….stayed on the surface for 1-2 mins….got a few pics but then it was gone….I heard the blow a few more times in the distance….small blow mist and no tail when it dove….we think another Sei whale!!!
All in 10 Brown bear sightings today….a new daily record for us!!
June 8: Up early to get the traps and make our run across Chatham Strait to Hood Bay. And there are no clouds in the sky….brilliant sunshine…ODG!!! And, Grandpa and Beauty are out again….he is so slow…she lets him gets close, then takes off running and gets away about 100 yards, then he tries to run, then trots,, then lopes….he gets close and the dance starts again….this went on until we left around 8am!
And….John-boy talks to the whale again….I’m speeding along in the new AB dinghy/25-hp Tohatsu outboard at ~15kts on calm, mirror like waters soaking in this incredible scenery with the sun out, going to the 1st prawn trap and a huge whale comes out of the water, a little off my port bow, 100 yards away….I just about fly out of the dinghy when I throttle back into neutral asap….whoa, Mr Whale, that is pretty close, you kinda spooked me; oh sorry for that, I heard you the whole time, those things are really loud;….oh, sorry, but I’m glad you avoided me…so how is it going;….just great, smell my breath, I’ve been eating tons of herring all night;….ah, you need some Scope buddy;….how about you; just pulling my prawn pot; yep, just checked it out…nothing buddy;….thanks for spoiling my anticipation;….LOL, there are no more prawns here you silly man;…ok, thanks for the pep talk, stick around and you can show off to my wife with some breeches/tail flapping;..
..in your dreams….the show isn’t until noon…LOL;…and with that he dives showing off perfect form and gorgeous tail!!!!
Trap Pulls: 1 crab trap, 6 (limit) keepers, 1 @ 10″, a new record for us; Prawns: 3…ugh
Totals for Kelp Bay: 10 Crabs, 24 prawns (4/trap/pull…really pathetic:(((
Critter Stats:
Whales: 39, (12 Orcas, 24 Humpback, 3 Sei)
– 2 in Kasnyku Bay eating near the shoreline
– 6 in Kelp Bay; 2 coming in, 2 along far shore, 1 in anchorage, 1 in Bay w/John
Bears: 65 (53 Brown, 12 Black)
– 2 in Ell Cove, a mom and juvenile, walked all the way around anchorage, went into the forest, then reversed path
– 9 Browns on day 1 in Kelp Bay; 10 Browns 2nd day; 2 Browns as leaving Kelp Bay
Wolves: 1 (big male Grey on the mud flat in Klu Bay)
Dungeness Crabs: 53 (5 in Manzanita, 0 Punchbowl, 8 Fitzgibbon, 11 in Yes Bay, limited 1st day, 2 in Klu, 3 in Marguerite, 0 Santa Anna; 0 Farragut, 8 West Gambier; 0 Snug, 6 Cannery Cove, 10 Kelp Bay ( trap), limited 2nd day)
Prawns: 237, (209 Spotted: 7 Punchbowl, 36 Fitzgibbon, 50 Shrimp Bay, 56 Marguerite, 48 Santa Anna; 12 Snug; 24 Kelp Bay), 4 Coon Stripes, small size (Fitzgibbon)
Marten: 1 (1 Punchbowl)
Stellar Sea Lions: ~30, (20 in Sucia Bay, 10 on buoys out of Wrangell)
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
Position: 57 20’28.06 N, 134 19’49.02 W
Course: Stopped.
Position: 21-06-08 16:25:25 -0800
http://maps.google.com/maps?&ll=57.34113,-134.3303&q=57.34113,-134.3303&z=16
