We woke in Pavlof Harbor to very little wind and mostly flat water. What a difference a day can make! We pulled our anchor and left around 10am for our not very long 14nm cruise down to Basket Bay. We arrived right near low tide, and anchored in the north corner of Basket Bay in about 85 feet, set out a couple crab pots, and then dinghied over to the mouth of the river to take a look.
Kevin and Craig went out to fish a bit while we waited for a higher tide.
This is looking from our anchorage out to Chatham Strait, and you can see why this is a fair-conditions-only anchorage. Not much protection at all.
Around 4pm, two hours before high tide, we returned to the head of the river with plenty of water to pass under the arch.
Inside, the walls are beautifully textured marble.
We got almost as far back as we could go (which is basically into a small dark cave where the river continues underground) but we probably could have used another foot if we wanted to go back to the END end.
We turned off the outboard and drifted for a little bit just listening to the sounds, and then let the slight current of the river take us back out toward the mouth.
After dinner, Kevin took the Mavic up for some aerials, which we haven’t done here before. Super fun to see the lake that the river flows from!
We had two crabs in our traps late in the afternoon, and in the morning we had four more, so…a great haul!
