We left Scow Bay a little early this morning (7am) since we had a longer day than the past few (a whoppin’ 33nm to Redfish Bay). I wish we had just a bit more time to slow down and pop in and out of more anchorages, but I guess it leaves us more to see the next time we do this leg.
It’s interesting…the west side of Baranof Island is not as steep and dramatic as the east side is, with its granite cliffs and snow-topped peaks. On the west side, there’s more lower elevation land closest to the water, and once you get closer to the shore, it mostly obscures the taller mountains. Beautiful, still.
Conditions were ideal today…a low southwesterly swell (1-3 feet at about 11 seconds) and maybe a knot or two of wind.
We spotted whale spouts in the distance, and when we got closer we got to see mama and baby humpback breaching just off our starboard side. I didn’t manage to catch any photos of the breaches, but I did get some of the lazy fin-slapping they did the whole time we were passing them.
After the whale show, I turned back and got a nice shot of Fortunate with Mt. Edgecombe way in the distance.
It was a gorgeous entry into Redfish Bay, and there look to be several fine anchorages in here.
These trees have clearly been pushed around on windier days:
We dropped the hook in Overhang Point Cove. There was a small gill net boat in here when we arrived, and a sailboat followed us in, but there’s still plenty of room. I guess this is the preferred anchorage, since there were no other boats in any of the others!
Dan and Kevin took the skiffs out fishing for king, and they plan to come work on sockeye here in the bay after they either catch some or get bored. (The head of the bay is a sockeye stream, hence the name Redfish Bay.)
Just after were we anchored and settled we spotted a brown bear on shore munching on the sedge grass. I’m sure he’s anxious for sockeye as well!
Here’s today’s route from Scow Bay on Beauchamp Island to Redfish Bay. (It looks so far, doesn’t it?):
And here’s a more zoomed in version showing the entrance to Redfish Bay:
Another bear on shore eating grass while the sockeye jump in the distance.
Kevin and Dan returned with two kings, and then immediately headed out to try for some sockeye. The freezers are filling up fast (okay they’re full, actually) so it’ll soon be time to get rid of a few packages of cauliflower rice (because, well, duh).
Some aerials of our anchorage and the surrounding area:
