CRUISING ADVENTURES

August 16, 2014

I can't believe I have two months ago without posting. So here we go.

I left off in the previous post where we were tied to a dock in Prince Rupert British Columbia Canada, and weather of high wind etc headed our way. Normally tied to a dock is a good thing when the wind, in this case, blows over 40mph. Actually hit about 48 at times. Unfortunately the dock actually starting coming apart at the joints and separating from the shore. A very scary time, but we did survive. This piece in the picture was swinging wildly, at least 60 degrees from what you see here. We thought for sure it was going to break off. We were tied to the piece in the right of the photo!

Prince Rupert Dock

Finally after 5 days at this dock we crossed into Alaska. What a relief to arrive at our boat slip in Ketchikan, Alaska's "first city" since it is the first place to arrive when transiting north from Canada.

Ketchikan Waterfront

On June 1st my brother and sister and spouses arrived to help Chuck celebrate his 70th! Hard to believe I am 70!!! We had a nice dinner celebration at a local hotel. Besides the six of us we had 4 other friends attend from the local area. It was great fun!

My brother and sister stayed in a local hotel, and after a day or so of sight seeing, my brother and wife left and my sister Annette and her husband Lee moved onto our boat. We left Ketchikan heading ultimately to Sitka over a period of about two weeks or so. The next three pictures are from before we left Ketchikan and did local sight seeing.

Local Park in Ketchikan

Misty Fiords National Park

When we left Ketchikan we traveled about 5 hours to an anchorage where we were the only boat, no other civilization, and extremely remote. The following day we went to the community of Wrangell, Ak. The population is in the low 2,000 count. A very small, but nice community. We went to the library in order to find an internet connection. Sometimes we have cell phone and no internet and other times, strangely enough, no cell service but good internet. After one night here we then went to Petersburg, Ak. Again a population in the mid 2,000 range. Petersburg and Wrangell are very large commercial fishing ports. Petersburg was originally settled by Norwegian people, and it still retains this heritage. I've been told there are also more millionaires per capita then anywhere else in Alaska. The millionaires are the fisherman. It is really BIG business. The previous year I was told deckhands working on the boats, made in excess of $100,000 for basically about 4 months work. Mostly college students. The salmon canneries work round the clock and there is the smell of fish in the air! The locals say it is the "smell of money", and based on what we learned, I'd say they are correct! After replenishing groceries and getting in some walks, in the rain, we left and headed to Admiralty Island and the Pybus Bay area and a beautiful anchorage called Cannery Cove, where a salmon cannery used to be. Now there is a remote fishing lodge in this location.

Traveling across Frederick Sound to Pybus Bay

Cannery Cove in Pybus Bay

After a night we went to Red Bluff Bay on Baranoff Island about a 4 hour trip. Again we were all alone in a beautiful place. At the entrance off the main channel the bluff is a red color. Back inside, about 4 miles up a narrow channel, lies a beautiful bowl shaped bay. We had the fun of watching a large brown or grizzly bear feeding on the shore. We then headed to Warm Springs, Baranoff Island.

There is a natural bubbling hot springs about 7/10 of a mile back thru the woods. Someone piled up some rocks and this collected the sulphur smelling hot water. Someone said the temperature was 110 degrees. All I know is you could hardly stand being in the water due to it being so hot. There was also bear scat (poop) along the trail. A little concerning, as these are brown of grizzly bears on this island.

The local vacationers have piped the water down to some tubs within a private 3 stall shed for taking a bath. The one wall looks out over the bay as you sit in the tub. There is a large lake, fed by snow runoff, that then feeds a beautiful waterfall.

Waterfall from lake above at Warm Springs

Warm Springs dock

"DOCKTAIL" party, Warm Springs

Warm Springs Baths

After three nights at Warm Springs we then transited to an anchorage where Dungeness crab are known to exist. We put down our crab trap and over two days had at least 10 wonderful sized crabs! After cleaning them and breaking them apart, we boil them using a propane burner and a large bucket over the flame. Then comes the real work, 'PICKING CRAB"!