July 1 - July 16, 2016

July 1 – July 15^th, 2016   Sitka to Elfin Cove

 

We have had a very busy two weeks that started off going to Sitka where we spent a night anchored off an island by a house the Colliers rented after they left us last week – we joined them for cocktails and appetizers one evening.  We were glad we anchored there as Tom was about 20 miles Northwest in a bay that was rocked all night by major winds.  We had a quiet anchorage just south of Sitka! Sea Life had guests join them and we had the first accident of the trip with Val breaking her arm – they patched her up at the ER in Sitka after Steve and Glen drove her back to the hospital late one evening. We call these boat bites but they usually don’t involve hospitals! We went back to Sitka, picked up fuel, supplies and had a dinner in town at a hotel with everyone. We stayed in Sitka for a night with Jeff and Tamara who joined us for the Fireworks display in Sitka Harbor and a week of fishing around the  area where we caught our first Salmon, Ling Cod and Yellow Eye of the trip- several days of fishing and boating for all – fun, fun, fun.

After a week of fishing it was back to Sitka to say goodbye to Jeff and Tamara and pick up John, Elise, Robin and Jayne for more fishing and travelling from Sitka up the outside on the Gulf of Alaska.  We spent a couple nights with the group then left with Chris and Tom ( Miners Deb) so  we could get to Hoonah by the 17^th for our flight back to Juneau and Seattle.  We spent several days travelling up the coast to Warm Springs Hot springs, Pelican and Elfin Cove. Lots of fishing - Gary caught a 60” halibut that he shared with the group so more great eating.  Jayne, Robyn and John caught their first  Salmon and we did some sightseeing at Pelican. Steve and I celebrated our 32^nd Anniversary on the 14^th and headed for Elfin cove on the 15^th where my part of the trip ended early with a flight from Elfin Cove to Juneau Hospital ER.  I got my ring finger crushed between the rail on the Grady and the rail on the Nelsea - Ouch to say the least.  Elise flew with me to the ER for what we thought would be some stitches and then a return to Elfin Cove but unfortunately my finger was crushed at the tip and the Orthopedic Surgeon in Juneau told me I should fly home and get in to Seattle Hand Specialists.  Elise took a flight back to the boat and I headed out to Seattle at 8pm on Friday the 15^th.  Josh picked me up at SeaTac and took me to Swedish  ER so I could get a referral to Seattle Hand for Monday morning – we got to home in Gig Harbor at 5:15 am – a long day but definitely a good idea for me to fly home.  I ended up seeing the Doctor at Seattle Hand first thing Monday morning and got the ok to travel to Ken Griffey Jr. induction in the Hall of Fame next weekend which is the reason we were flying home on the 18^th from Juneau anyhow so it worked out well for me to come back a few days ahead of Steve.

June 12 - June 30, 2016

June 12 – June 30, 2016

We left Port Refugio and headed into Craig where it was very wet and windy as we all tied up at the city dock – we had the entire old dock to ourselves except for 2 fishing boats as we filled up the space by side tying.  We stayed here two nights then headed over to Fish Egg Island across from Craig for the night of the 14^th since the Colliers are arriving at 5:30.  We went to Klawock Fireweed Lodge to celebrate anniversaries and birthdays and had a wonderful Salmon Dinner.

Once we left Craig we went to several beautiful anchorage spots – Nagasay Cove on Esquibel Island where the guys went out fishing off of Noyes Island where they caught Halibut, Black Bass and King Salmon. Glen, Gary, Tom and Nat went and I heard Nat made a great boat boy!  I went touring with Glen and Pete – a 3 hour dinghy cruise over to Noyes Island and all around the area! From there we moved to Edna Bay, then into El Capitan to stay at the forest service dock where we had a Fish and Chips fry on land!  We also were able to go thru the caves in the morning before we left which was a great treat again – amazing to see the Caves above El Capitan.

From El Capitan we went went to Hole in the Wall which is somewhere we stayed in 2013 also – a beautiful, narrow entrance into a calm bay with beautiful view of the mountains. We left Hole in the Wall and made a couple hour stop in Port Protection so people could see it and stock up on a few groceries – not much there but better than nothing!  We also refueled the Grady since we have been doing quite a bit of fishing. We spent the night in Monte Carlo Island then headed thru Rocky Pass to a place by Payne Island called Lords Pocket where Steve caught another Halibut.  This was a beautiful anchorage and we spent a day in Kake which is a Tlingit community which used to have the tallest totem pole (132.5 feet) in Alaska.   Kake did have a store called the SOS Market so we were able to stock up on a few items again.  We spent two nights in Lords Pocket then it was off to Cannery Cove in Pybus Bay – What an incredible anchorage – right at the base of an incredible snow topped range.  Another boat had a drone and took pictures of our boats in the anchorage which show the beauty of the bay!  From Cannery Cove we left with the intended destination of Red Bluff but the weather had other plans for us so we ended up at Baranof Warm Springs for two nights as the weather changed to rainy, windy and foggy but the Hot Springs were a welcome treat and we walked to Lake Baranof.  There is a beautiful Waterfall at the head of the bay which comes down about 100 feet and a small community on the hillside below the hot springs. The Colliers were supposed to leave from here on a float plane but there was no way the plane could land due to the fog so we headed out to a spot called Ell Cove hoping the fog would lift which it did and they headed on to Sitka via float plane from a place called Hidden Falls which is the site of a Fish Hatchery.  After they flew out we arranged a tour for the group at the fish hatchery and what a treat!  Kyle who runs the hatchery took us thru the facility – showed us the incubation and holding tanks and explained the process working with Fish and Hatcheries and the fishermen of Alaska to develop a sustainable cycle.  We also got to see 5 Grizzly bear that they call Hatchery bears as they live on the other side of the lake and feast on the returning salmon.  Kyle told us that there are as many as 60 bears many of which they have named as they are regulars in the area.  Today we saw the Mama bear and her 2 surviving cubs (she had 3 last year) and two adolescent bears about 3 years old.

After Ell Cove we went to a place called Appleton Cove where we caught more crab.  We also fished and I got the prize for the most unique catch – Two Sea Anenomes that had attached themselves to a rock on the bottom that I managed to pull up.  Quite an entertaining catch to go along with the Rock fish I caught that will be fish taco’s tonight!

Today is June 28^th and we are going to Moser Island for the next two nights – Jim and Cheryl Matheson on Sea Jay have rented a beach cabin and we will have a Hotdog roast there tomorrow night and spend some more time fishing before we head to Sitka where I hope to be able to update the blog!

June 14, 2016

June 12 - June 14, 2016

We are leaving Craig today once we pick up the Nat and Linda Collier at the float plane dock.  Our plan is to play around in the Craig/Sitka area for the next two weeks for fishing, crabbing, exploring old mines, etc so no posts for awhile.  We have had a great time in town - Eating a celebration dinner at the Fireweed Lodge in Klawock for Gary's 75th - celebrating anniversaries and tomorrow is Glen's birthday but it is time to go Fishing! Next post will probably be around the end of June in Sitka unless we stumble across internet connection along the way - remember back to a time when you had to access internet by dialup not 3G/4G - we have 1x connection here in Craig so it is very very slow and hard to post!