In 2013 I spent 32 nights aboard and logged almost 1200 nautical miles of travel.
You know I always watch for the 3 day weekends and try to get out for most of 3 days and 2 nights if I can.
And this MLK weekend was no exception. I had been planning a trip up into western Behm Canal, to Shrimp Bay and Klu Bay where I went last year in March. The shrimping was excellent up there and there are many places to explore on foot and in the raft.
But the weather gods had other plans, so I ended up only being able to make it out for one overnight, and to a much closer location.
I decided to go east and then north into Carroll Inlet, to Shelter Cove. Here is a map snippet that shows the route. Those of you that read my 2013 blog know that as with most of my destinations, I have been there before. There are only so many places that are within my reach, and while it would be nice to go to new places every trip, that is just not feasible or possible in my current situation (i.e. still working full time). And so I look at each trip as an opportunity to see new things along the way, even if the destination is one I've been to many times before. As you will see later in the post, I was not disappointed on this trip.
I got a little bit of a late start because of the weather, and so did not pull out until about 9:30 AM.
The weather was rainy and overcast.
I was so eager to get on board and get underway that I did an unscheduled test of my security system. I unlocked the door and barged right in without disarming it. It works quite well!
By the time I was passing Saxman, (just a few miles southeast of town) there were pockets of blue sky peeking through the clouds, which I was very happy to see.
Carroll Inlet is a nice destination in general because it is protected enough that even when it is pretty nasty before you enter, it is usually pretty nice inside. It might be breezy, but there is rarely rough water in there. And so it was today, very calm inside, and very inviting.
A little before 1 PM I dropped my 3 shrimp pots about half way between Shoal Cove and my destination of Shelter Cove. This was "prospecting," as I had never (as far as I can remember) dropped them here before.
I also baited my 2 crab pots. They are baited in a similar fashion to the shrimp pots, except that in the bait canister I just put chopped up herring and no bait pellets. I also use hanging bait, usually a salmon or halibut head or carcass, in the pot.
I dropped them almost directly in front of the Shelter Cove USFS dock, in about 90' of water.
I tied up to the dock at about 1:45 PM - no else there, (no big surprise.) Who else goes out in January?
It's a peaceful and serene location. You can see that I arrived at almost full high tide. A dead give-away is the short stubs of the pilings sticking up. The dock itself is floating and goes up and down with the tide. The angle of the ramp changes as the dock rises and falls. The distance the tide travels up and down of course changes every day, but we can tides that move over 18' at certain times of the year.
I was very glad that someone (probably USFS) put some non-skid material on the dock along the sides. When I jumped out with my mooring lines I would have had a hard time holding the boat in if I was sliding all over the place. The docks tend to get very slippery, even when it is not icy.
In this above shot you can see Faraway sitting at the dock, and you can see the USFS vehicles parked at the top of the ramp. There is a logging road on this part of the island and the USFS uses these vehicles to perform their work in the area. This is actually the same island on which Ketchikan resides, so theoretically you could walk to town from here. But the road systems do not connect, although there has been talk of doing so. Personally I hope they don't, but that's for another blog to address.
I didn't have much daylight left, so I geared up and headed up the road for a short hike. I was debilitated to some degree, having pulled my hamstring playing basketball the day before, and so had to walk very slowly and carefully. But I was determined to at least get up the road a little ways to see what I could see.
Now here's where the fun begins. I was part way up the road, just poking along very slowly when I became aware of movement in the brush not far off to the side of the road. It was too big to be a squirrel or a bird, and so when I looked up there I expected to see a deer or perhaps a bear. But no, it was a wolf! I have been hiking and hunting in these woods for decades and have only seen wolves very rarely, and then only briefly, as they usually dart away quickly.
Now, getting back to what I said earlier, you just never know what you're going to run into on these adventures.
I was completely and utterly surprised. I did not know if I should go for my gun or my camera. I always carry a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol for protection when I go hiking, but it was buried under my jacket and my rain gear. And my camera was in my day pack.
I opted to go for my camera, and he was kind enough to allow me to get these few shots. He did do some howling before we parted company and I sure wish I could have recorded it for you. I was a bit concerned that he was calling for reinforcements, so I hot footed it (as fast as my bum leg would allow) back to the boat.
After that the trip was somewhat anticlimactic. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on the boat doing boat chores, playing guitar, reading, etc. I had an excellent dinner of hot dogs and baked beans, using one of the new nested cook pots that I was given for Christmas.
The stars were out and it was a spectacular evening to be out on the Faraway.
At one point I came on the back deck and shone (shined?) my strong flashlight along the rocky shoreline behind the boat. It was pitch black out but my flashlight beam reflected in a pair of eyes darting up and down the rocks. I could only see eyes, not body, but from their size, location, and movement pattern I am certain it was a mink or a martin which are common around here.
On Sunday morning I was up early and did not waste any time in getting underway. The weather forecast was saying it was going to blow up to around 30 knots "in the afternoon," and so I wanted to get back before that happened. (It turns out it never blew up at all - I hate it when that happens.)
I pulled my crab pots and got 10 crabs in all, but only 4 were males that were large enough to keep. I apologize that I totally neglected to take any pictures of them. I filled up my big white cooler on the back deck with sea water and put them in there for the trip home. From what I have read toxins build up in them shortly after they die and so the protocol is to keep them alive right up to the time you cook them. I know it sounds barbaric, but they are great source of sea food, and none is wasted.
My shrimp prospecting was a total waste of time, yielding no shrimp at all. There were a couple of small boats in the area when I pulled my pots so I suppose it is possible that someone pulled them ahead of me, but I saw no signs of that. Very disappointing.
Since this is a pretty Blah trip, except for the wolf of course, I'll take this opportunity to give a short geography lesson of the area. Here is another map snippet that shows Pennock Island, and it's proximity to Ketchikan. The map shows Revillagigedo Island, which is the island on which Ketchikan resides, and Pennock Island, which is a very small island very near to Ketchikan. I wanted to point it out and show you some of the residences that are on the Ketchikan side of Pennock Island.
The people who live on Pennock Island must travel to and from Ketchikan by boat, as there is no bridge. On good weather days it is a short and probably fairly pleasant ride. On bad weather days it is a real challenge just to make it that short distance. On some days I'm sure they don't even try.
The island on the SW side of Pennock Island is Gravina Island, but I will hold that geography lesson for later.
Pennock Island has electricity provided by an under water cable, but they don't have city water, garbage collection, streets, etc. etc. As you can see from this shot, firewood is used as a primary heat source in many residences on Pennock Island, as it is in Ketchikan too.
This residence has its own private dock, which is very nice.
Some of the residences look more like boat yards!
And here is our US Coast Guard base, with a buoy tender moored in front. This is on the Ketchikan side.
The USCG is a very real and very much needed presence in SE Alaska. They provide search and rescue services, regulation enforcement, maintenance of navigational aids, and much, much more. I have been boarded many times over the years and have been fortunate not to have had any violations, at least none that were severe enough to warrant a fine. I have been towed in only once, when the starter on my engine died. I had a small "kicker" motor and 2 tanks of fuel, but was just too far from home to make it on the kicker.
And I'll wrap up with a shot of one of our Alaska Marine Highway ferries tied up at one of the cruise ship docks for the winter (or so I thought). During the winter there are no cruise ships, and there is far less demand for ferry service, so they typically tie up one of the ferries for the winter.
A few days after I took this picture I saw them moving the ferry from this berth to the shipyard for some maintenance. Apparently the ship had no engine power, so they had a tug on each end, facing out. It looked weird, but the one in front was pulling harder than the one in back, so eventually forward progress was made.
That's it for this first trip of the year. Sighting the wolf really made the trip for me.
51.8 nm logged on this trip.
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