Here's a link to a slide show containing our second wave of photos .... again down from hundreds .... taking us from Prince Rupert to just before Petersburg. Enjoy!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Alaska Slide Show - Part 2
Here's a link to a slide show containing our second wave of photos .... again down from hundreds .... taking us from Prince Rupert to just before Petersburg. Enjoy!
Roland Learns the A,B,Cs of Fishing in Kindergarten Bay
Wednesday, June 2
Well that changed today. Jim, an expert fisherman, was out back fishing for an hour or two after we set anchor in Kindergarten Bay, a small, secluded anchorage surrounded by steep pine slopes on the southwest side of Etolin Island in Stikine Strait.
Unfortunately for Jim, the fish just weren’t biting. So when Roland stepped out back to watch, Jim offered to show him how to fish. Minutes after dropping his line, Roland caught his first fish!!! We think it was a sculpin. Jim took it off the line for him, he dropped his pole back in the water and minutes later … another fish! All in all, he caught 5 fish in less than an hour, 4 sculpin and one black rock fish.
No one was more surprised than Roland.
Later, after waiting for another storm to blow through, Jim and Roland launched the tender, used our new caught fish as bait, and took the tender out to set two crab traps.
The next morning before leaving our lovely anchorage, Jim and Roland jumped in the tender and pulled the crabs hoping we’d find dinner. No such luck. Just one huge, ugly starfish engorging on our bait. Can’t believe we haven’t caught any crab!!!!
Rain and “Da Plane, Da Plane” in Meyers Chuck
Monday, May 31-Tuesday, June 1
There’s a scattering of homes around the shore in various phases of construction, all connected by dirt pathways that are lush with ferns, moss, ground dogwood, wild flowers and rhododendrons in full bloom. Back east, someone would have paid a fortune to have a professional landscaper achieve such a perfect composition of greenery! Nature is amazing.
The mail is delivered once a week by seaplane … needless to say, living in Meyers Chuck IS the simple life.
We heard a plane overhead the first afternoon at anchor. Sharon, Jim and I were playing cards while Roland was napping, and as we looked out the window, a plane was coming right at us … our quiet anchorage quickly became a runway as he expertly landed next to us in the water, cutting the space between our boat and the shore … no doubt laughing at the terrified look on our three faces as we ran out to the back deck to watch. The pilot gave us a little wave 20 minutes later as he was leaving with someone he’d picked up at shore, again buzzing right at us in the water before veering off and up out of the channel.
Kayaking in “Lovie Bay”
Sunday, May 30
No sooner did we drop anchor, everyone started to play. Jim and I dropped the “2-beer crab trap,” a new crab trap that we purchased in Ketchikan at the advise of a neighboring boater. He explained that you can hang it off the side of your boat and “after drinking about 2 beers” you pull it up and you should have a crab. Yeah, right!
Roland put his new kayak in the water and gingerly climbed in while keeping a good hold on the swim platform. And Jim pulled out his new fishing rod and gave it a try.
Ultimately … no fish … no crabs … and the next morning Roland fell into the water trying to get out of the kayak onto the boat. Unfortunately … I didn’t catch THAT one on camera! In the meantime, if anyone reading this blog knows the proper way to exit a kayak without tipping it over … please leave a comment!!!!
We are having SO MUCH FUN!
The Ghost of Alyeska Haunts Us in Ketchikan
Friday, May 28 – Saturday, May 29
Prior to purchasing our boat and renaming it Engelenbak, a boat name that has been in Roland’s family for close to 50 years (see our website for the history of the Engelenbak), this boat was named Alyeska and it was docked in Ketchikan. We thought little about this as we called in to the harbormaster in Ketchikan and, based on the size of our boat, he directed us to dock in one of the three marinas available for transient boats -- Bar Harbor Marina, a little over a mile north of town, in Dock 10, Slip 10. But Alyeska definitely came back to haunt us as we pulled into the slip … we lost ALL electrical power. Not good.
Here’s where it gets really eerie. As we disembarked the boat, there was a nameplate at the head of our slip that said … you guessed it ... ALYESKA!!! Out of all the marinas and slips in Ketchikan (and there are MANY), somehow we had been assigned to the same slip where our boat used to dock with its previous owner.
Our one night stay in Ketchikan turned into 2 nights, as we had to hire an electrician to help Roland figure out what happened to our power. Luckily, it was just a blown 300 amp fuse … and by Sunday morning we were on our way.
In the meantime, there are worse places to be stranded. Ketchikan is a small town of about 8,000 (actually large by Alaskan standards), on Revillagigedo Island along Tongass Narrows. It exists primarily for the cruise ship industry, which dumps about 800,000 tourists into the town annually. There were 3 cruise ships docked at the downtown docks when we arrived … under sunny skies and weather warm enough for shorts. Seaplanes were buzzing over our bow as we cruised along the Narrows toward the harbor, providing tourists an opportunity to see the town from air. They even have land/sea Duckie tours.
On Saturday, while Roland spent the day on the boat with the electrician, Sharon, Jim and I walked into town to buy some fishing supplies, find an Internet connection and see the downtown area. What a difference a day makes. It was downright cold and threatening rain (Ketchikan gets 160 inches of “liquid sunshine” a year). We could tell we were near the cruise ships when t-shirt shops, gift shops, jewelry stores and a whole shopping district that catered to tourists surrounded us. Sharon and I continued on to Creek Street, an historic district that used to house the town’s brothels but is now filled with cute gift shops and bookstores. I wanted to visit Parnussus, a bookstore reportedly with the largest collection of books about Alaska in Alaska. It was worth the visit!
That evening, to celebrate the boat being fixed, we all had a delightful dinner of salmon at Bar Harbor Restaurant next to the marina. If you’re ever in Ketchikan this is the place to eat! We had drinks and appetizers out on the deck over the water, with eagles perched around us on rooftops and masts like the seagulls in Lake Erie …. Amazing. Great food, wonderful ambiance, and the owner/chef Martin and his wife, were delightful hosts. She even dug up some mint from her herb garden out on the deck for me to transplant to my planters on the boat … so a little bit of Bar Harbor Restaurant will be continuing on with us, spicing up the rest of our journeys in Alaska.
ALASKA … Pop the Champagne!!!
Thursday, May 27 …
This morning, we left the docks around 10:30 after phoning Ketchikan to get permission to anchor in Foggy Bay, our first stop in Alaska, prior to going on to Ketchikan Friday to clear customs.
We enjoyed our time in Prince Rupert. It’s a quaint little town that has fun with the fact it is located in Cow Bay. All of the garbage bins are painted like black and white heifers. And for breakfast this morning, Roland went to “Cowpuccinos” and bought us blueberry muffins.
We all cheered as we crossed into Alaskan waters around 3:15 p.m., and after finding a beautiful spot to anchor in Outer Cove at Foggy Bay around 4:30 p.m., we popped a bottle of champagne to toast our arrival to Alaska! The water was like glass, and despite turning our clocks back an hour (now a four-hour time difference with back east), it stayed light until at last 9:30.
After a hearty dinner of Cincinnati Chili, we all enjoyed the tranquility of our first anchorage in Alaska. We saw a brown bear meandering along the shore opposite of us, hunting for food along the beach. Bald eagles and nests surround us … and as Jim remarked after we saw the fourth cruise ship go by in the far distance … this is a view those passengers will never enjoy.
Tom Hepburn was here???
Wednesday, May 26 …
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