May 20-25
Hi All,
HAPPY 43RD ANNIVERSARY JOHN AND KATHY!!!!!
Yep, May 20 was our 43rd anniversary….wow…..and the last 12 years have been boat years…now that is true love:)))))
We celebrated at Scenery Cove in Thomas Bay. We left Petersburg with Craig & Jeanette around 9am on Monday May 20th and went 21nm to Thomas Bay and the Baird glacier. This glacier has receded way up the valley and its tall moraine hides much of the glacier….you can just see the top of the ice. Still very impressive. From there we went into Scenery Cove….pretty narrow but DDG at the head of this mile long narrow cove. We anchored in 100-110′ and enjoyed the scenery…..some waterfalls but since it had not rained in over a week pretty calm, just water from snow melt. We did set a prawn, and 2 crab traps….picked up the next day…..2 crabs, one keeper, 6 prawns….ugh!!!
For our celebratory dinner we had steaks, with crab meat and Bearnaise sauce and Craig had brought a gorgeous bottle of red wine…..Profile from Merryvale….yummers!!!!
May 21: After getting all the traps we went 24nm to Portage on Kupreanof Island. Petersburg claims to be the “Halibut Capital of Alaska” and we had heard good halibut fishing here….NOT….we tried in a few spots outside Portage but nada…..whaaaaaaaa. Portage is an ok anchorage…..about 2.5nm long and 1/2 mile wide and about 30′ deep….there is a nice stream and meadow at the head but you are too far away for good critter viewing. But, we did set 2 crab traps and caught 9 with 5 big keepers the next morning!!
May 22: Up early, pick up the crab traps, dinghy and anchored raised by 7:30am as we needed to be out of the narrow and shallow entrance before low tide at -2’….we are having spring tides of 16-20’….yikes!!! We went 41nm to one of favorite anchorages Cannery Cove in Pybus Bay on Admiralty Island….DDG…..we did go up to Donkey Bay about 2 nm north to check it out but we all agreed the view at Cannery Cove was too spectacular to go anywhere else!!! We also stopped at the entrance to Pybus Bay for halibut fishing….another supposedly hot spot…..but no joy….ok, game on for halibut!!! For dinner we had fresh crab caught in Portage Bay…..yummers!!!! And, skunked again on whale viewing….WTH….where did they go???? But, we did see several Dall’s porpoise come up to play off Mystic’s bow and then we saw maybe 20+ otters as we entered Pybus Bay…..those “crab eating varmints” are not a welcome sight in this area even though they are darn cute…..arghhhhhhh!!!!
May 23: Woke up to rain…..arghhhhh!!!!! But, a day off to chill…..too much jocularity for the past 6 days since C&J arrived…..so, sleep in, do some chores and relax….like catch up on the blog and emails!!! Good thing C&J got to see the beautiful view yesterday in the sun, 5-9’k snow capped mountains, very green meadows, Thursday almost obscured by the clouds…..ugh!! Checked the prawn trap….4 Coon Stripes….ugh…..but 1st crab trap…..9, 8 keepers, our limit is 6 so had to throw back two….yep, that hurt. We had a 2nd pot out and will leave that one out another day…we did check it and it had 2 giants….Kathy and Jeanette spent the day cooking and picking crab….of course, there was a little wine involved:))) Crab bisque soup with grilled cheese for dinner….yummers!!!
May 24: Up early, coffee, go check crab and prawn traps, lift dinghy, raise anchor, yep, all by 9:00am….the Alaska morning routine:)))Prawns…..zippo again….whaaaaaaaa….Crabs: another 6 very large keepers, in fact caught 10, had to throw back 3 keepers…..ugh!!!! Off to Snug Cove in Gambier Bay where we witnessed the bear killing. We have since learned that the Shaw family has a bear hunting operation based in Cannery Cove. Fortunately we think bear hunting is over until next fall. We did go over and talk to Cody at Pybus Lodge and he confirmed that the King salmon season is closed (like us they were surprised, they have some guests coming next week all expecting to fish for Kings….oweee) and the other species have not come in yet:((((……and it’s still a little early for halibut but our locations and technique are good so just keep trying….ok, game on!!!
Made it the 24nm to Snug Cove by 1:30ish….stopped in Pybus and Gambier to fish for halibut….no joy again…ugh!!. Saw 2 Brown bears right away in Snug Cove!! And….we saw whales….5 Humpbacks and 3 Orcas near a huge iceberg just north of the Brother Islands….it was a huge iceberg as well with 30+ seagulls on top!!!
May 25: Up early…..do the routine…..get traps, raise dinghy and anchor…all by 8:15am….5 large crabs but only 2 prawns!!!! We are naming this WHALE day….we saw >38 whales…..to be counted as a whale sighting you have to see the body and/or tail…..really, 38….by far a record for us and what a treat for C&J. We had to stop at least 5 times as the whales were too close…..just idled and watched…..many close to 100 yards away….one came w/in 30 yards as we were moving….never saw a blow….just popped up, saw Mystic, back down and resurfaced 50 yards off our stern. We saw breaching, fin and tale slapping (got a good video of that show) and so many tail shows as the whale dove….WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!
We made it to Windfall Harbor by 2:30pmish…..1.5 hours later than planned due to all the whale watching…in fact, I was so worn out from everything, we decided not to put out any traps since we had to leave early again the next day so we just took the afternoon off…..of course, Kathy and Jeanette cooked and picked crab:)))) Three Brown bear sightings….one had personality….it would lay down to eat the grass, then took a bath in a stream, splashing and scratching to get the shedding fur off, then running on the beach singing “I Love Life”, then more laying in the meadow eating grass…..whoa….quite a show!!!
Sunlight: We now have >17 hours of sunlight…..sunrise is 4:15am and sunset is 9:30pm!!!!
The Plan: Today, Sunday, May 26 we are going ~45nm to Tracy Arm Cove to stage to see 2 glaciers…..Sawyer and Dawes on Monday and Tuesday!!
Critter Stats:
Dungeness crab: 48 total; 1 in Scenery; 5 in Portage; 12 in Cannery Cove; 5 in Snug
Prawns: 18: 8 Spotted, 14 Coon Stripe; 6 in Scenery; 4 in Pybus; 4 in Cannery cove; 2 in Gambier
Whales: 98 total; 87 Humpbacks; 11 Orcas; 5 humpbacks and 3 Orcas north of Brother Islands on way to Gambier; 38 from Gambier to Windfall
Salmon: 0
Bears: 29 Browns; 6 in Cannery Cove; 2 in Snug Cove; 3 in Windfall
Wolves: 5
Otters: 750; another 30 at same rock/kelp leaving Pybus
Mountain Goats: total 42
Dall’s Sheep: 3
Moose: 3
Alaskan Husky sled dogs: 60
Stellar Sea Lions: 458; 2 entering Pybus; 4 in Seymour Canal
Hope all is well!!
Cheers,
John
Mystic Moon
Position: 57 50’08.76 N, 134 17’41.51 W
Course: Stopped.
Position: 19-05-26 07:51:13 -0800
http://maps.google.com/maps?&ll=57.83577,-134.2949&q=57.83577,-134.2949&z=16
—
HAPPY BELATED ANNIVERSARY GUYS. Keep snuggling, stay warm.