Leaving Glacier Bay NP was quite an adventure. I had noted in the tracker notes we got caught in a swirl of current that literally had us going 0.0 knots at full throttle. There is a confluence of waters from Icy Strait that leads to the open Pacific farther to the west ( route on the outside for Sitka) Chatham Strait and eventually Stephens Pass to the east. It was a whitewater scene with boils and rips and confused water. We moved farther to the west shoreline to see if we could get more in a main flow of water that would take us east to our intended anchorage.
It was an effort for us and Soulstice but eventually, we were able to skirt out this incredibly large whirlpool and make some headway forward. A ferry angle technique was used successfully. Eventually, we were on a downwind sail and it was a fantastic sail all the way to Swanson Harbor. We anchored there prior to entering the park and it was a reasonable distance and protected for our forecasted winds.
This time the public dock was full so we anchored without dragging. Another sailboat, Bob, was behind us on this adventure out of the NP and they too anchored. They radioed us to say they admired our sailing and they too had a great downwind sail. Sailboats are in the minority and sailboats actually sailing are even more in the minority. This is primarily because you don’t always have conditions to sail. They are a charter boat and their recent clients took a float plane ride out the park for some additional sightseeing, so they were alone going back to Juneau to get their next set of clients.
People will often say, why don’t you guys charter, or why don’t you guys do a YouTube show? None of these are appealing to either of us. We just like to do our holiday as a holiday and not a job. It would not be as enjoyable for us changing up the intention of the holiday.
Anywho, we had a great sleep and early departure for Tenakee Harbor which was 45 nm away. We left at 6am and sailed the ENTIRE way! It was a downwind sail again and making 5-7knots and then the turn east into the harbor we still captured wind. We slowed down to 2.5-4 knots but we were not in a hurry. The sun was out all day! No clouds in the sky either. FULL SUN!
We eventually pulled up the transient dock we were assigned by the harbor master. It had no breakwater protection. When we pulled in conditions were calm but later afternoon around 430pm the wind kicked up and so did the chop, a SW wind smacking Soulstice on the dock because of the way the dock is oriented to this apparently “every evening” local restitution wind. Uggh! We were hobby horsing big time and it was painful to watch. We have large fenders and docks lines were loosened some to avoid the tight rub on the dock. Stephen was crying inside worried about the gel coat. We were both imagining the forces on our cleats and glad we had beefy lines that would not chafe.
It was a terrible night of sleep and we moved over to the other side of the dock 1st thing in the morning. It was hard to even enjoy the little sleepy town before then. We did meet Dave and Anka on a junk rig that have been locals there for years. They are fixing up their boat, as everyone always is, and have a tinier flat bottom boat with roller furls probably around 20ft. They take that little boat and circumnavigate the islands in AK with that instead. Both have wood-burning stoves in them. He has a webpage: http://www.triloboats.com/
and blog: http://triloboats.blogspot.com/. They also have links to YouTube!
Our 2nd day in Tenakee did include two nice walks, both in opposite directions that follow the shoreline. One has an area called Bear Alley because it crossed the local creek. We did see lots of bear scat and BIG bear scat but not bears. The scat here right now is more full of grasses than berries so greener than the maroon/berried filled ones I would see in MT. The creek was empty of salmon from our quick look. The other way on the trail goes through town and eventually to more homes that are outside of the tiny electric grid. We met so many lovely people. When we eventually made a turn back so Stephen would have some time left to soak on his men’s hour we met Chris and Daryl. They live in Juneau and then for the last 8 years have been doing summers in Tenakee. What I did notice was EVERYONE has a garden! Flowers, root vegetables, and lettuce/spinach. Large piles of chopped firewood, lots of jerry cans for fuel. Water is able to be captured from freshwater streams that are plentiful along the mountainside. I was thinking about mudslides/landslides but the ground is so absorbent here and has seas to drain ino, that it does not seem to be an issue.
The little town has lots of houses peppered along the main strip where there is a tiny church, one general store that basically re-sells Kirkland brand items ( we note this everywhere in tiny towns and Mexico too), a one-room museum open with a phone call request, volunteer firehouse, and one cafe called the something Moon. The mercantile store did take credit cards - phew! We did pick a few items. The bathhouse and cafe are all basically donations asked only. In the winter, Anka reports there are about 80 locals who stay but the summer is very transient and she loses track as so many people come and go.
I met the only local crabbing guys, one guy Brian, and another Rudy. They both are reporting a difficult year for the Dungeness crab. They say the price is down, which sounds so backward to all the inflation we see lately and also they are just not as plentiful. This reason is felt to be due to the colder start of summer and they prefer warmer water but also more of an abundance of sea otters. This is more of a debate as well by some folks. Regardless, they are struggling to make a living just like the Dungeness crab.
The day was so lovely, the trail perfect with lots of wildflowers to admire as well. I ate some thimbleberries along the way as well as wild red raspberries. It was still a bit early for these all to be ripe I noted. Our evening was even better as Stephen got a soak in and eventually, I did too on the later night woman’s time and had it all to myself. Two ladies were in the very large change room chatting but the small tub was mine. It is a NO bathing suit rule here actually. We both don’t mind the no bathing suit rule but the tiny tub did make me anxious about sharing. I was grateful for the solitude. Stephen likes to chat a lot and I prefer to zone out in a soak. Kinda like too much talking when getting a massage defeats the purpose for me.
Our sleep the 2nd night in Tenakee was definitely more peaceful and we had plans to move on the next morning to Ell Cove. This was going to be another 45 nm. No sail and a motor ride but with the current on our side we cruised here easily. There is a HUGE waterfall on the south entrance to the cove called Kasnyku Falls. On the north entrance of the cove is a few WHITE sandy beaches. The rock coming in very white as well, we suspect quartz. It is a tiny dog leg to the right coming in and then a quaint anchorage with good holding and reasonable depths of 6 fathoms in here. We were tickled! A fortress of old-growth cedar, spruce, and hemlock rim the shoreline with contrasting white rocks at the waterline. Then a reinforcement of towering granite peaks in the background makes you feel secure and like you found a cool fort on the water.
When we arrived we chilled out a bit as we still are on the move. I realized even though we feel like this is the more relaxing part if we don’t move the boat frequently enough you could end up being in til Winter-HA! There is so much to see and do but also still A LOT of distance left to return south. I do think our time farther south will be more a crunch time but that is ok because it is more accessible from Blaine, WA. I am not sure when we will be this far north again so we do want to maximize our time up here.
As I am drinking coffee and writing this entry, 2 harbor seals just joined us in the cove. Their tiny white faces popped up and are cruising along and then duck down looking for breakfast underwater. I am glad it was on their own accord and not us gaping at them in the park. I wish them luck on their morning hunt. It is these kinds of experiences, while drinking coffee and just listening to nature in the cockpit that make this cruising life well worth it. We also enjoyed the Varied Thrush and the Hermit Thrush, two birds who are busy this morning singing. I got a new app on my phone called “Merlin” and it helps ID birds by capturing their sound. This is how I also found out the Gold Crowned Sparrow that I heard in Juneau is a new favorite songbird for me:)
We weighed anchor around 11 am after a relaxing morning and made our way south only 9nm to Warm Springs. We had a small puff of wind in the channel and put out the jib. We made 2.5 knots on a broad reach to downwind sail. During this time, a pod of about a dozen Dall porpoises joined us. They are incredibly fast and were darting back and forth under the boat with several breaches for a breath and then back under in the blink of an eye for some more acrobatics under the boat, across the bow, around the boat… They had a mismatched performance but then would be synchronized at times. It was a chaotic and energetic performance. It made me giggle out loud with pure joy to watch them.
Stephen was face timing his family in Georgia so they also got to appreciate the wild nature show. Eventually, they moved on and we lost our wind as well as our friendly guests. We rolled up the jib and continued to motor to our new anchorage. We could see other boats turning into the channel. It was like we all had tickets to the same show and you could see the traffic building. Large boats, small boats, all kinds… I was not thrilled because this meant finding a space to anchor would be more challenging. There is a 250ft public dock but we already agreed to bypass the dock, figuring it would be packed, and rafting up which is common here, is not something we wanted to do.
As we suspected, the dock was full and few raft-ups were noted. The good ol’ Grand Banks crew 0f 5 boats was noted also with their kind stern tie and raft up in one of the adjacent anchorages. We had not seen them since Grenville Channel way down south. We hunted for a good spot to anchor and after a while and some surveillance runs chose the southwest arm which is a gorgeous spot but reported to have fair holding. We did see kelp and rock on the bottom with our fish finder but luckily did have a good set.
We planned to sit on the boat for a bit and make sure our anchor was well set and then we would make a plan to check out the hot springs. It was a mile to the dock and we did discuss commissioning our dinghy but decided to paddle board into the dock. It was only 35 minutes away and the sea state in the inlet and current were mellow. There is a huge waterfall at the head of the inlet adjacent to the dock that gives a persistent strong east current but did not really affect us.
I forgot to mention we ran into Sandhaven again as well. This was a tiny red motor boat, 27 feet, Ranger Tug, that was trailered from Wisconsin to Anacortes. We met them up by Marjorie Glacier and agreed to take pictures of each other’s boat in front of the glacier and exchange photos. We paddled over to say hi before heading to the dock and they gifted us some homemade maple syrup. They make it for charity purposes called BeezNTreez.org.
When we got to the dock it was around 6pm and the 3 private tubs with a large window so you can appreciate the outside views including the grand waterfall were ALL empty!! We did think that dinner time would be a good time to go. We noted several charter boats here, they have a distinct large green sticker on their vessel, and figured these folks probably have a scheduled dinner time of sorts. We had a nice soak in a tub. The rooms are spacious with wooden dowels to hang clothes and nice wooden benches. The tubs are very clean and water is constantly filling up and draining out, so the constant exchange makes you feel better about the cleanliness of the tub. It was probably 105 degrees F in the tub. Very warm but your window gave you a reprieve as well.
After our soak, we did a little recon to see where the trail for the natural spring is and found the trail easily. We had a great paddle pack to Soulstice that evening and made a generous salad with bacon-wrapped halibut! Oh yeah!! And the finale was a dance party to Benny Goodman.
I have just finished the book, Call of the American Wild, A Tenderfoot’s Escape to Alaska by Guy Grieve. It was a book that in turn led us to read The Cruelest Miles book which I mentioned in previous blog entries. Call of the American Wild was about a man from Scotland who was disillusioned with his life. He states his plan to go to Alaska was “escaping the ruthlessly structured hierarchy of my office life… So many of our good natural instincts are smothered by society, and much of our daily lives are directed by false goals, dictated to us by others.” I think the attraction to these books for us is of course the ever-present theme in our lives to be living them with a fervor and voraciousness instead of a hamster wheel of endless groundhog days.
And certainly whatever in life brings you passion and inspires your creative side would be this journey in whatever form it materializes. For us, it is being outside in nature but having the time to read to appreciate others’ journeys is inspiring.
ELL COVE
July 13 - July 18
We left out of Warm Springs after a casual morning of coffee and reading. The anchorage was empty when at one point in time we had 3 other boats in there. The season for King Salmon had opened so many of the fishing boats and seiners had headed out and the chinook season just closed.
When attempting to weigh anchor, at 150ft she wouldn’t budge and we had 300 ft of chain out total. I did hear rocks the day we anchored and some grumblings at times thereafter. We knew the bottom had some rocks and kelp and was described as “fair” holding. The other cove we checked out when we arrived was full and so was the anchor spot outside the public dock. Other boats were in this cove and had come and gone with no reported or obvious issues.
The chain even started to go out more when we were trying to bring her in and I got nervous. It was truly one of the first times I had seen the anchor start to pay out due to being fouled. Stephen was able to maneuver the boat in a few different directions and I did notice a pop and release. Phew! This water is deep and cold and to retrieve the anchor would not be possible, it would be just to mark it with a float. We eventually were able to get the anchor up and move out of the inlet.
On our exit of the inlet entering Chatham Strait again, we noted a whale sitting in the middle of the channel. Initially, it caught our attention because of the reflection on the water. It was just hovering slightly above water and no movement really. This is uncharacteristic for a whale. They are usually on the move and if one place, they are active with pectoral fin slapping and small breaches as they are feeding. It appeared there was some kind of netting on the animal. We slowly approached but still remained 1/2 mile away from the animal. Coast Guard had been putting out alerts regarding a whale that was noted to be towing a green and yellow buoy. We did not see any floats but definitely the abnormal behavior and Stephen felt he could see a net. For me, I just noted the odd behavior but certainly something was giving a reflection off from the sun.
We alerted Coast Guard and they alerted a Whale rescue group that is actually based out of Warm Springs. We saw their office on the dock. They put a drone out to check out the whale. They noted the odd behavior as well and assumed an injury but netting or floats were not noted. Another boat also radioed in to report the abnormal behavior. We continued our journey down south towards our next destination as the whale seemed to be targeted for aid and assistance.
The winds were still North, Northwest so we were able to fly the jib and make a downwind sail. The sun was up and it was one of our warmest days on the water. We got cell service and made a few phone calls while sailing and caught up with some folks. We were making 4-5 knots and seemed to be quick to Red Bluff Inlet mid-afternoon.
It is a decent inlet of about 4nm and has stunning views. We both agree this part of the trip down Chatham Strait and anchor hopping along the Chichagof and Baranof Islands has afforded us incredible scenery. So many waterfalls and big reliefs, snow-covered peaked, and Sitka spruce and hemlock carpeting the rock walls. I did joke on the tracker page, “Come on Alaska.. be more original.. more waterfalls, really? ?"
There is a powerful waterfall on the south side of the inlet just before the anchorage site as well as 5 smaller ones that cascade like drizzles in the enormous wall that towers above the nook of the anchorage site. It is stunning scenery that continues to impress us. Stephen hung out and read in the cockpit as well as I for a while. I then decided I needed to paddle board to explore this inlet some and get a more active look around. I paddled for 2 hours and could have gone for another 2 but did not want to worry Stephen as I left alone but did have the VHF radio.
It is so lovely here we will stay another day so he can get out and paddle board as well. Our plans after this are to head up North into the Frederick Sound towards an anchorage site called Cannery Cove. My friend, Karen Florey, from MT will be joining us and I was able to give her a date to fly into Petersburg. Luckily, it was enough time she could get an affordable ticket but will have an open-ended leave date with a return to Ketchikan eventually.
On our 2nd morning in Red Bluff, while reading in the cockpit and enjoying our morning coffee, 2 hummingbirds made several rounds on the stern of our boat to sip some fresh water off our fishing gear. We do have large orange balls as fenders that hang off the back of the boat and we think that is their initial attraction to make a visit. It would be fun to have a hummingbird feeder out while at anchorage as well as wind chimes. I already feel like we are overcrowded with “stuff” on Soulstice but those things would be fun to have at anchorage.
Stephen also made his 1st loaf of unadulterated sourdough bread. He has been making bread but adding an additional yeast packet to the sourdough starter. He wanted to see finally what would happen if he tried just using his starter discard alone. It did not rise well initially but when he baked it, the result was a beautiful loaf of sourdough. Denser and less fluffy and he was proud! I too like to make bread but he seems to get immense pleasure from this craft right now so I have just left it to him. When it comes to food in any sense, including preparation and creation, he does seem to shine. I actually cook most of our meals but when he is interested to step in I let him. I am more laid back about it all, perfunctory perhaps, but he is attentive to detail. His gruyere cheese melted just so on his toast… Things like that:)
I would not say my meals are ersatz or insipid but certainly, he has a talent for creating culinary delights.
My only other addition regarding Red Bluff was a 3-hour and 26-minute fishing event Stephen had with a halibut. There was a constant “tug of war”. He would reel in, the fish would run, then Stephen would wait, then attempt to reel in, then the fish would run again with hearing the line go “zzzzzzzzzz”! Then wait again, then slow reel… and this went on and on. There was a truth that was spoken and communicated via monofilament vibration. Bahaha. Stephen had asked me to get my camera several times and it was like crying wolf. I started to ignore his plea to get the camera on several occasions. Eventually, we saw color again and there was NO ‘zzzzzzz’, the old guy was tired! He was brought to the surface and the hook was removed as promised. Stephen was pleased as punch with his success and I was delighted this fish was returned back to the sea!
We left Red Bluff on the morning of July 15th and headed towards Cannery Cove on the east side of Admiralty Island. As we realized still the distance to get to Tracy Arm ( our next destination) we decided to move a bit farther north to Gambier Bay another 15 nm north of Cannery Cove. This would make our traverse up to Tracy Arm less the next day. We bypassed Misty Blue, who we heard was in Cannery Cove for the night. We did share some HF traffic with them on the morning net.
Our night in Snug Cove, on Gambier Bay was uneventful. We did make some yummy fish tacos and decided that fried halibut is better than baked for right now. I sure do miss the cod we caught. Halibut is a dense fish and requires accouterments to make it more moist. It was a restful sleep and we awoke to pouring rain. Aaaahhh!! Our sunny days ended! It was pouring down rain and clouds socked in. Visibility was not terrible but not awesome either. We had an 0600 am wake up with a plan for a departure to Tracy Arm.
Tracy Arm and Endicott Bay are a highlight of this passage. There are glaciers at the end of the inlets and also stunning scenery. Sound familiar?? Yes, because that is a large portion of this trip’s description. We had no VHF range or internet and decided to place a satellite call to Karen Florey, Captain Ron, to read about the forecast discussion for Juneau as well as Frederick Sound and Stephen’s Passage. A large low pressure was circling around Haida Gaii and would be causing this weather pattern for the next several days. Additionally, winds would be increasing coming from the Southwest. That is great for the ride North to Tracy Arm but we would then be facing into it on the way back and that would be no fun.
And we did have a time constraint now. My friend, Karen would be joining us in Petersburg on July 21. The trip up to Tracy Arm would definitely be some mileage for us and with poor visibility and icebergs as hazards, so we reconsidered this trip. It was a difficult decision but we were backtracking as we missed this spot on the way up due to our starter issue. Not to dismiss another beautiful spot but we have seen glaciers this year. In Patagonia and here on this passage. Risking collision with an iceberg due to poor visibility, adding on additional mileage and burning up more fuel to go somewhere that we would be in the rain/fog and increase our hazard potential, and then having winds on the nose on our return, the decision was jointly made to forgo this part of the passage.
Sometimes you have to concede that you cannot see everything you would like. That weather and time are variables that when weighted in are not always in your favor.
July 17, 2023
Waking up in Portage Bay with Misty Blue adjacent to us. Ruth and Ken were in the anchorage when we arrived and are headed to Petersburg today. They do have a return timeline of August 20th to return for some medical appointments and a family reunion. They are out of Oakhurst. It is crazy how time flies as they joined us on our journey north and we are both now on the southbound journey. We do not have a fixed return date but thinking September is likely.
We saw them weigh anchor and motor off. We heard there are 2 Forest Service cabins here and a FS road to possibly walk. I was excited about the idea until rethinking this idea. We have inflatables… if we leave them and a bear decides to shred them? Or puncture on a rock/mussel shell etc… And then to seal the deal while we were jabbering in the salon finishing up breakfast we were INTERRUPTED by wolves!!! YES!!! A pack of wolves howling SO LOUDLY it resonated in the salon with hatches closed… I was thrilled, excited, and couldn’t believe how primal it sounded and their song made you feel instinctive to be alarmed and impressed! They did two rounds and even possibly the cries of another animal being taken down. We can only conjecture what was going on but it demanded attention whether they were asking for it or not.
Walking on a FS road after hearing that made me feel vulnerable. Ha! Stephen is like we can take 3 bears sprays and an air horn. I am still not convinced about his protection plan. We do not carry a firearm but this perhaps is an instance where you reconsider your plans for safety. Stephen suggested I take all the food and simultaneously pack my bag while putting all the bear sprays and air horn in his pack…. Hahahahaha again reassuring me this is a good idea!
We decided to make it a movie day and bake cookies! We made cranberry, toasted pecan, and chocolate chip cookies from our best cookie recipe memory. Confirmation of butter amount and sugar was given by Karen Florey via satellite and baking powder vs soda. I thought soda, Stephen felt powder and it was soda :) Lone Ranger was fun a flick to watch, kind of a spoof with Johnny Depp, and somewhat theatrical. The 2nd movie, The Abyss, is a favorite of Stephen’s, which he confessed since childhood. A movie that he refers to in his mind often when being out diving in the open water. I was quite antsy and had cabin fever. I did announce I was going blow up the paddle boards and needed to get out! Stephen agreed he felt similar and we blew up the paddle boards early evening. We had a great paddleboard around the anchorage to include a scout for the FS road.
There was an old cannery that used to be here and a floating dock was noted. We were told there are 2 FS cabins here as well. One was close to the entry of the inlet of this bay we could visually see and was occupied by some fishermen. Their skiff was noted on a mooring buoy. We did paddle over to the dock and put our paddleboards up on top and walked up the gangway. Ta Da…. And there the road was… Easily accessible and easily found. We walked it a bit. I had chacos on but Stephen just bare feet! Ouch! I never would have made it but I don’t walk barefoot anywhere due to my left foot being jacked up. Another story…
He made it down part of the gravel road and we could see that it traversed just inside of the shoreline in a NW to SE direction. We agreed we would like to walk it the next day. We got back on our paddle boards and right before heading back to Soulstice attempted to make contact with the crew on an aluminum boat in the anchorage. It looked exactly like one we saw for sale online that resides in Petersburg. No response with a call out and we agreed they were probably down below in the cabin and we would not be too aggressive with trying to get their attention. When we returned to Soulstice we would get on VHF 16 and try to hail them. We did and no answer. Plan was just to try in the morning but they had an early departure and it never happened. Perhaps we will see them in Petersburg.
The boat has a tall pilot house and is fully aluminum. Looks more like a boat made to fish but also a sloop rig. There was a big roller on deck for their rhode that was 3 stranded rhode. I imagine they have some chains. I told Stephen it was not that deep in here, so to see 3 strands only made me suspicious whatever chain they did carry was not a lot. In the online pictures, the inside looked very comfortable. It was not esthetically pleasing on the outside but very functional and capable-
looking for a NW cruising boat. The hull design did not give the appearance it was a great boat for ocean passages but that was not our future plan. So who knows…. If we see it in Petersburg, I am sure we will take an interest to see more, and if anything, just out of curiosity and to increase our knowledge base about aluminum boats.
Toad seen in Portage Bay on Forest Service Walk
July 18th
Stay or go to Petersburg?? We opted to stay and walk the road. We did not hear any more wolves, see any, nor had we seen a bear. False security?! Of course, but it sure helps to increase your confidence in not having an encounter. We made a yummy breakfast of spam and eggs. Spam is definitely underrated according to us - hahaha. We find it filling and tasty and a great partner in the pan to eggs. Paddleboards were already blown up and ready to be deployed. We packed bags with our original protection plan of 3 cans of bear spray and an air horn. Yep! We do not have any firearms. We hike in AK so why should this be any different.
Off we went and it was low tide. I was reluctant to go at this time and preferred an easier transition to the dock and not having to muck it along in the wet, sticky mud. I watched Stephen go first and decided if he sunk to his calves I was out! He was able to bear weight with little impression in the mud and so I followed.
We had a fantastic walk for 4 hours on the gravel road. There were many old Suzukis we noted and a bus that looked to be in transition to a living space for the road tucked in on the sides of this entryway. Also, a large clearing that perhaps was once the cannery. No remnants of this operation were to be found. We decided to head south on the road and figured it may go all the way to the narrows across from Petersburg.
The rain stopped and it was mildly humid but pleasurable and partly cloudy day. A few deer were appreciated including one with her fawn. They would not take off when they saw you and instead would stop and stare. I found this odd but happy they were not easily spooked and there was a moment to acknowledge each other properly. They would slowly walk back into the woods but more as a choice of their destination.
One toad stood completely frozen by a puddle. It had the look and behavior of a mime. I feel like it was trying to play the invisible game. Like we don’t see it?! As long as it stays completely still. One arm forward and planted as if in motion but now frozen solid. We took a picture, tried to reassure the creature we were harmless, and moved on. We did see some bear scat farther down the road toward where we terminated at our 2-hour mark. Their scat was darker and a few berries were noted and not as green and full of grasses as the ones we noted in Glacier Bay NP. The last scat we saw before turning around did look a bit fresh and so we decided it was a good turning-around point as well.
When we returned it was almost high tide proper and I was happy to avoid a mud walk back to the waterline and just be able to glide off the dock into the water and back to Soulstice. Some happy faces we had for the walk outside and returning back to Soulstice was more enjoyable. Sometimes the space in the boat can seem quite confining when we don’t have the opportunity to leave her for a bit. I feel like this even at home. I am not one to spend a ton of time anywhere and prefer to get out and mix up my day. That way "home" seems more like a respite.
Tomorrow we will head to Petersburg at slack tide.
Double Rainbow, Portage Bay
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