Friday: We entered Ford’s Terror about 25 minutes after Juneau high tide with about 3kts of current still flooding, pushing us in a little faster through as we dodged small icebergs that had entered with the flood.
We anchored near where we usually do and started on dinner. We skewered and grilled up the spot prawns we’d caught that morning at Windham Bay and served them with a side of garlic butter for dipping, a baked potato, and salad. Super yum!
The weather was not ideal for the best visit to Ford’s Terror…foggy and rainy!
Saturday: Late morning, Kevin and Craig put out some shrimp pots. Mostly we hung out on Airship and visited, since being outside wasn’t that much fun. Luckily, Kevin’s brother has been with us to Ford’s Terror in better weather…would have been a bummer of a first visit, not even being able to see the tops of the steep surrounds. It looked like this pretty much all day:
Later in the evening the fog rolled in pretty thick:
Sunday: Kevin went to pull the shrimp pots before we left, and came back with 60 coon striped shrimp. Another shrimp dinner in our future!
By morning, the fog was very thick, especially so at the exit/entrance, which made for a strange transit. Luckily, no other traffic, but not being able to see the sides of the narrow passageway (or ice, or anything) besides with radar is a strange feeling. I took one photo as we were leaving the west arm, but nothing after that (because, gray).
As we entered Endicott Arm it cleared a bit, thankfully, because there was much more ice to dodge than when we came in on Friday.
We cruised the 41nm up a very flat Stephens Passage to Taku Harbor, where conditions had improved significantly. There was one small fishing boat on the dock when we arrived so we basically had the place to ourselves. Off to stretch our legs! This is perhaps the longest we’ve gone without going ashore or getting groceries during a trip.
A peek inside the forest service cabin:
Low tide exploring the old cannery ruins:
I used our fresh shrimp in a spicy tomato garlic sauce with some squid ink pasta, served with a caesar salad…it came out great! Tomorrow, on to Juneau for a few days!
Squid Ink Pasta with Spot Prawns
(in our case this time, Coon-striped Prawns)
Ingredients:
1 package squid ink pasta (this is what I use)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Handful of cherry tomatoes (we were out, so I used 1 14oz can of fire-roasted tomatoes)
1-2lbs spot prawns (shells removed and rinsed)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
Salt to taste
2 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
Directions:
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente.
In the meantime, heat a frying pan over high heat and add your olive oil. Add your tomatoes and fry 2-3 minutes until blistered.
Turn down to medium and add the garlic. Toss and fry for 1 minute, then add your white wine and reduce by half.
Note: I very lightly steamed the prawns first (they peel much better that way), and then added them at the end to warm up.
Add the pasta (along with 1/2 tbsp of the pasta water) and toss with the chili flakes, oregano, prawns, and salt to taste.
Divide the pasta between plates and top with parmesan, fresh ground pepper, and finishing salt if desired (I used Sitka Pure Sea Salt’s Alderwood Smoked salt).