Alaska 2021 - May 31

 

Happy Birthday Amanda!!!!!  We left Ham bay and headed to CoCo Harbor -a large Tugboat and Barge were anchored where we wanted to go so we went into Windy Cove which is on the west side heading into  CoCo Harbor.  It is pouring with rain and only 55 degrees so we all hunkered down in our boats today.

May 29 - May 30

 

Alaska 2021- May 29 – May 30

 

We left Kassa Inlet this morning and changed our destination to Ham Bay since it is blowing pretty strong today and it was more of a straight shot across past Long Island to Dall Island.  A lumpy windy ride but the anchorage is great.  We had gusts to 40 on the crossing so glad we are tucked into a bay that provides the correct anchorage for a predicted Southeast Wind 35-40 thru tomorrow night. Dave and Jane were bouncing around in front of us on the trip over.

We woke up to rainy windy weather on the 30^th but decided to bundle up in rain gear and go over to Howkan on Long Island which was once one of the largest Haida Villages. What we think we found was more evidence of missionaries who lived in the area based on the names on the many gravestones we found in the woods. There were also many metal parts to things like stoves and tools.

We looked for remnants of an old totem pole but it must have been reclaimed by the woods.

As we were leaving Long Island we saw many otters – No crabbing for us! According to some caretakers who were just North of Mission Bay the sea otters moved in about 5 -6 years ago which is why there are no crab here.  We found hundreds of them in the kelp beds.

We went back to our boats and played another round of couple’s cribbage before having spaghetti dinner made by Dave and Jane on the Nelsea. We followed up by our normal movie night on Glen and Liz’s boat. Another wonderful day exploring parts of Alaska.

Alaska 2021 - May 27 - 28

 

April 2021 - May 27 - May 28

We left Tah Island and headed for Kassa Inlet. The ride over was nice and we ended up with enough sun in the afternoon to wear shorts instead of fleece pants.  Liz even managed to get a sunburn on one side of her face.

Not the same weather when we woke up to the next day – cold, cloudy and another fleece day! The guys had put out crab pots and shrimp pots but only left the shrimp pots out since we kept seeing sea otters.  We ended up getting some Shrimp in the pots.  Good thing we had the correct licenses because we had a visit from the State of Alaska Troopers boat. They were very nice and helpful – out of Ketchikan and they saw our Shrimp pots so they knew we were there. In Alaska you have to purchase your fishing license which includes crab but there is a separate Shrimp license that is free and available online. Luckily Glen was reading the fishing guide and realized we needed an additional shrimp license so we all had them which was great! 

We went for a tour of Kassa Inlet in the Grady after lunch and spotted Bear again.  This one let us get really close before he scampered into the woods.

Beautiful Scenery around Kassa Bay even on a cloudy cold day.  There are lots of rocks to watch out for on the tour.

Alaska 2021 - May 25 - 26

 

Alaska 2021 – May 25 – May 26, 2021

We left Nichols Bay this morning expecting to go to Dall Island and Pond Bay but the weather had other plans for us.  When we got out of Nichols Bay there was a lot more wind and wave action than we thought there would be based on the weather forecast that we listened to before we left.  It was going to be a very lumpy ride so the decision was made to go to thru the Barrier Island to tuck out of the waves and we stopped at Tah Island for the night.  We woke up to very cold, wet weather so we decided to stay put and spend the day catching up on boat tasks.  Steve and Glen took Nellie out to see if there were any areas for crabbing but unfortunately as cute as they are we are sharing the bay with many Sea Otters so no crab for us!

     We had Taco Tuesday on the Nelsea and played Phase Ten on the Flybridge of Nelsea since it stays nice and toasty there.

   On the ride over from Nichols Bay we saw Seals, Eagles and some beautiful scenery again.

The pictures never show how crappy the water is but I had to go down to the front v berth during the ride and the port windows looked like watching a Wash Machine with water swirling around them.  Next time I will get a picture of them.

Wednesday was a very cold wet day so we waited until the afternoon then took a cruise up in Glen’s jet boat to several inlets including Hunter Bay. We had several Bears to photograph on the trip.

Alaska 2021- May 24

 

Alaska 2021 – May 24, 2021

We left Menehee anchorage this morning with the thought of going closer to Cape Chacon with the intention of crossing tomorrow but the water was great, the sun was out and we decided it made sense to go ahead and go around Cape Chacon today. It was a great decision as it was a beautiful ride and we are currently anchored in Nichols Bay about half way down the inlet.

 

We saw a National Geographic Ship named the Orion pass by – it is the first large ship we have seen and we are curious to look it up to see what it is doing in Alaska this year.     

   

Rounding the Cape was calm and beautiful today.

 

Here is the drive in to Nichols Bay which is beautiful. We even got to see another whale at the entrance.

 

After we parked the boats we went out in Glen’s jetboat to look around the area, explore the beach on the ocean side and also go take Selfies of our group at Cape Chacon. Jane and Dave at Cape Chacon and the group!

 

 

On the way back to our boats we had another bear sighting. They are everywhere!

Alaska 2021 - May 22-May 23

 

Alaska 2021 – May 22-23

    We decided to move to another bay south on Prince of Wales Island named Niblack.  We are now about 26 miles North of Cape Chacon which is the southeast point of Prince of Wales Island and Alaska. Cape Chacon is only about 3 miles from the Canadian border. 

    We put out crab pots and shrimp pots but it was not a good area for either. We did have a great shrimp dinner from out catch at Paul Bight and there will be more places to try when we move later today.

    We went for a walking tour of a mining camp in Niblack bay It is being mined by the Niblack mining corporation and appears to be an active large operation.

 

This appears to be used for housing for the workers but there are no people here now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are palates of core drilling samples like the one in Steve’s hand. They dated from 2008 to 2019.

 

 

 

 

    We left Niblack for Manefee Anchorage which is closer to the Cape of Chacon. We will go around either tomorrow or Tuesday as bad weather is predicted for Wednesday. This is a beautiful spot to anchor – here is the view from the front of the boat.

 

 We were able to find some cell coverage on the way here so once we got the boats anchored Steve, Glen and I went out in Nellie to get the last of the email downloads and messages as once we go around Cape Chacon we will probably not have any coverage.  We took a selfie to show everyone at home what we do to get coverage!