For this trip my crew was wife and First Mate Lisa, grandson Bryan, and First Puppy 'Bina.
Here are a couple of map snippets that show the first portion of the trip.
This first one shows us going west through Tongass Narrows, and then turning north into Clover Pass, which is in western Behm Canal.
This second map shows the northern portion of the route.
We did take a 2 night detour into Traitors Cove, which shows on this map, but the blue line doesn't run over there.
The northern most portion of this route terminated in Shrimp Bay/Klu Bay, which are connected.
We pulled out about 10 AM on Tuesday morning July 8th.
The weather was overcast, with occasional rain, and light SE winds.
Unfortunately I needed to get fuel before we could start the trip proper so we stopped at the fuel dock and took on 95 gallons of diesel, leaving the fuel dock about 11 AM.
Here's a shot of the crew looking at some whales that were too far off in the distance for decent photos. Sometimes all we see of the whales are the spouts they shoot up in the air when they come up for a quick breath. If you happen to be close enough you can smell it, and guess what it smells like? Fish!
We tried some trolling at Vallenor Point but it was too rocky and rolly so we moved inside Clover Pass where it was much calmer. We trolled there for just about an hour and got 1 nice Pink salmon, and a real nice Silver salmon. I don't carry a scale, but the Silver measured 30", which is pretty big for a Silver. They are fun to catch. They are strong and run a lot, and frequently exhibit their aeronautical skills when hooked, becoming airborne several times.
The Pinks are smaller and much less acrobatic, but still make a good meal. Many old timers in this area don't even keep the Pinks, but I usually do.
I did not want a huge load of salmon to deal with since we were planning to stay out a few more days, so we pulled the gear and headed to Marguerite Bay, in Traitors Cove, where I have gone many times previously. The USFS dock was empty and we got tied up successfully at about 5:30 PM.
Here is a shot of the 2 salmon we got earlier. Bina of course was very interested in the slime dripping off them! You can probably figure out which one is the Pink and which is the Silver.
A small work boat came in and tied up and we chatted with the worker. Ketchikan Redi-Mix is still working on the roads and he had a small camp and some equipment up on the logging road. The small portion of road that we could walk was in very good shape. He said that he found our other life jacket which we apparently dropped on the road when we were here in late April for our trout fishing experience. That was good news. He said he would drop it off on the boat later on when he was in town.
Bryan immediately went into dock fishing mode, an activity which would occupy a good percentage of his time while we were here. He caught so many fish we stopped taking pictures of them, but here are a few.
This one is a Turbot. It is a small flounder like fish that Cheechakos sometimes mistake for a halibut. They have almost no meat on them, and so we consider them a scrap fish and toss them back. We did not actually count, but a conservative estimate would be that he caught 29 1/2 of these fish. You'll see why I said 1/2 in a minute.
Here's the half Turbot. Bryan said he was pulling it in and felt a big tug on the line. At first we thought a seal might have bitten it in half, but in this next photo you'll see what we think was the real culprit.
We call these Dogfish sharks. Don't know if that is scientifically accurate or not.
He ended up catching 5 or 6 of these.
They are usually between 2 and 4 feet long.
We don't keep them.
We took a short walk up the road and then returned to the boat for a great dinner consisting of fresh Silver salmon, corn on the cob, and salad.
After dinner Bryan continued his dock fishing and Lisa and I cleaned up and did some boat chores.
Heavy rain later in the evening.
Lisa and Bryan watched a Lego movie while I sharpened the fillet knives and did some other chores. I never get bored while out on the boat. There is always something to do.
A pleasant serene place to spend the night.
I love sleeping on the boat when it is raining hard. You can lay up in that forward berth all warm and dry and comfortable and hear the rain hitting the foredeck. Just love it.
On Wednesday morning I cooked some pancakes for breakfast, and then Bryan caught some more sharks and Turbot.
Around 10 AM the sailboat "A.Herodias" came in.
They are the military grey sailboat on the right side of this picture.
I first met Bob and Norma on the A.Herodias probably 30+ years ago when I was making a trip around the island. We were back in the Misty Fiords area and they were tied to the only mooring buoy in the area. They graciously offered to let us tie alongside of them for the night. I recall that we had caught a King salmon and they had caught some crabs, so we traded them some King Salmon for some crab.
Now they are in their 80's and they still live on the boat full time.
Good for them, I say.
They said they were not going back into town until the end of summer.
An interesting life choice.
Very interesting people to talk to.
I should have gotten a picture of them - maybe next time.
We geared up and walked up the road to the bear and fish viewing platform.
At this time of the year the fish are not yet in the rivers, so I didn't expect to see any bears, but you never know.
Here's Bryan at the bear and fish viewing platform.
Those panels behind him are camouflaged on the outer side and there are drop down sections.
Later in the summer, starting real soon, they fly tourists in from the cruise ships, run them up the logging road in vans, and bring them down to this platform to see the bears.
Thankfully that activity has not started yet this summer.
Lisa had a different plan in mind for our time at the viewing platform.
Note the new addition to her wardrobe this year - the mosquito netting shroud, for lack of a better term.
Bugs rarely bother me, but they really like her, so she has to have as many remedies and protections as possible. She said this shroud sort of works, but they seem to get in through the wrist bands.
While we were there Bryan alerted us to a bear down in the river.
He was checking out the river to see if any fish were there - but there were not any.
We made our way back to the boat around lunch time.
The excursion vessel Modoc came in and anchored nearby.
The 200' Modoc was formerly a Canadian Coast Guard vessel but has now been converted into a pleasure excursion vessel. I have noted it in previous blog posts. You can see that some extra decks have been added aft of the living quarters to allow them to carry several water toys, such as kayaks, speed boats, tenders and other small boats. There were also two 30' charter boats accompanying them which were too large to carry on board. The Modoc has a great website if you are interested in more information about the boat or the tours that they offer.
After lunch I started prepping the crab pots, but got interrupted when a friend of mine who ties up near me on the Sea Dancer pulled in. The Sea Dancer is a 40' Mainship, while the Faraway is a 34' Mainship. They had the whole family with them and we ended up spending a little bit of dock time with them later on.
The Sea Dancer is the one with the red bottom paint.
Finally I got time to run out and set the crab pots from the raft.
Then Lisa, Bryan, Bina and I took a little raft excursion around the area. It was a calm afternoon.
Dinner this evening was hamburgers, macaroni & cheese, salad and veges.
We don't do survival trips.
After dinner we took a short walk up the road and ran into this little critter. I think it was a mink, but it may have been a marten. I need to read up on them so I can tell them apart. Cute little guy, and very photogenic.
A little later in the evening I pulled out my small barbecue and put together a little dock fire.
I put a fireplace log on the barbecue and fired it up.
Then we pulled out the marshmallows.
I had previously cut some alder sticks to use for cooking them.
There were a couple of other kids from the other boat and Bryan and they had a good time cooking marshmallows over the fire.
Bed time - about 10 PM.
Thursday morning we were up early.
We had a good breakfast of pancakes, fruit, and eggs.
I ran out and pulled my two crab pots, yielding only two crabs, one of which was a female.
It wasn't really worth the effort to set up my propane cooker for 1 crab so I gave it to Bob & Norma on the A.Herodias.
Bryan went with me to go pull the crab pots.
Here's the female, with the very rounded section underneath.
Females go back in the water.
This is a legal male.
They have to be 6 1/2" across the back.
This is the one I gave to Bob & Norma.
I prepped the boat for departure and we pulled out about 11:30 AM, headed north in Behm Canal, towards Shrimp Bay and Klu Bay.
We had smooth running and calm seas on the way north.
I prepped the shrimp pots as we approached Shrimp Bay and dropped them right in the middle, where I have dropped them on previous trips.
Here is Faraway tied to the mooring buoy in Klu Bay.
This is one of my most favorite places to be.
So peaceful and beautiful.
That blue boat just visible in the background is the "HRB - Hot Ruddered Bum."
Yep, that's right. There's no accounting for boat names.
We put the raft in the water and took a little shore excursion.
We came across this baby seal, that just didn't look quite right.
I think it may have been injured or possibly abandoned.
Lisa of course wanted to rescue it, which of course we cannot do.
Seals are a protected marine mammal and there are rules.
I don't exactly know what the rules are but I know we would not have been able to go up to it and pick it up and take it back to the boat.
Dinner was spaghetti this evening, and Bryan ate more than both Lisa and I combined.
After dinner we had showers all around.
I don't recall if I have pontificated about on board showers yet in this blog, so I will do that here.
There is a huge temptation to fill the shower stall up with all manner of gear, such as life jackets, fishing tackle, extra bedding, extra food, etc. etc. Space is everything on a small boat.
I have worked very hard to keep the shower stall open and ready for business.
The hot water tank on the boat only holds 6 gallons, which is considerably smaller than that of a home hot water tank.
Also the fresh water pump produces water pressure which is acceptable, but is certainly less than that of a home based water system.
The shower on the Farway originally did not drain properly.
I dug into the problem and discovered that the drain hose took a detour up and over a structural element and that gravity alone was not sufficient to cause it to drain. The whole area was inaccessible, so I could not reroute the drain hose.
My friend Len helped me redesign the drainage system and install a drain pump, so now the shower drains well, when you turn the pump on.
Then of course there is the issue of the amount of fresh water we carry.
We only carry 70 gallons in the tanks, and then a few more in jerry jugs.
So we can only take showers if there is enough fresh water for the rest of the trip.
But then on the other hand, at a certain point any shower is better than no shower.
So we enjoyed them.
It was a truly beautiful evening to be out on the water.
Friday morning we woke up to another beautiful sunny day.
There's HRB anchored up at the head of the bay.
We had a quick breakfast and pulled away from the mooring buoy at about 8:30 AM.
On the way out we saw these deer on the beach.
We pulled the shrimp pots and got a small haul of about a quart of tails.
Not much, but it's something.
We stopped at the halibut hole in front of Naha Bay and dropped the anchor.
The weather was nice when we anchored, but as usual it picked up as soon as I dropped the anchor.
Lisa and Bryan ended up getting a little seasick, so we pulled anchor and left after a couple of hours of not catching anything.
We got into the stall about 6 PM after traveling about 101 nautical miles on this voyage.
We had a great time and it was good getting to spend some uninterrupted time with Bryan.
