We had an exciting morning today! Yesterday, one of the sailboats that came into the anchorage later anchored a little close to us but didn’t seen close enough to do anything about, so we didn’t. What I should have done was turn on the radar and chartplotter and see how close they were relative to our swinging circle and anchor mark, since sailboats and power boats swing quite differently in the wind. But there was no wind, so I didn’t. But last night around midnight, the wind picked up to about 20kts and we could hear the pull of our bridle on the cleats from then on as we stretched out with the wind. That sound is annoying, but it’s also the sound of not dragging anchor, so it’s both good and bad.
Then at 5am, we hear Dave yell over to get us up…we threw on some clothes and came up and Turnagain, rafted to us on our port side, was about 75ft from the sailboat…not much more than a boat length! We pulled in some chain to see if that did enough, but it didn’t. So we pulled our anchor, still rafted, then got the kelp off the anchor (no small job here in Mosquito Cove, ever), then moved and re-dropped the anchor, and then went back to sleep. Kinda fun to do all that without unrafting, but by that time (5am!) there was no wind and it was not an issue. Next time I’ll do the due diligence and make sure we have proper distance to begin with.
As we readied to leave, this sea lion was crunching on some breakfast fish as it watched us raise the dinghy and pull the anchor.
On our way out of the Inian Islands we passed this rock wall:
It was covered in what appeared to be boat names and dates, so I did a little Googling to see if I could find out more. (Also, boat name Halibut Princess!)
In several places in Alaska there’s a tradition of painting boat names and other messages on the rocks that dates back to the Klondike Gold Rush era, when gold miners and ship crews used paint to mark the rocks, initially copying ship registries. This evolved into a tradition where newly arrived ships, particularly during the Gold Rush, would paint their names and logos on the granite walls to commemorate their first visit.
One of the most famous markings is on the cliffs in Skagway — “Soapy Smith’s Skull,” painted in 1926, representing the infamous con man who operated in Skagway during the Gold Rush. This tradition (sometimes viewed as vandalism), has continued for over 120 years and has become a part of Alaska’s history and landscape.
The NOAA forecast for Cross Sound today: NE wind 15 kt. Seas 4 ft. Rain early in the morning. Rain in the afternoon. (So basically, rain all day.)
As we made our way from the Inian Islands toward Pelican, we had less than 5kts of wind and only a very very slight swell occasionally (not even a foot). And definitely rain. But we heard fishermen talking on the VHF about it being really rough with 8 footers out by Cape Spencer, so we missed it on the route we took (and we were mainly more inside and protected in the first place).
We turned into Lisianski Inlet and had a chill cruise the rest of the way to Pelican (spotted some more orcas, but too far for photos).
We found one space on the transient dock and Turnagain rafted to us at first, but after another boat left, they were able to get on the dock.
We walked the boardwalk, checked out the Pelican General Store, paid moorage, and watched the salmon coming up the stream.
We popped into Rose’s Bar for a beer and a burger, and to see how things have changed since the remodel and new owners. It’s definitely cleaned up a little, but still maintains much of the old charm.
We had some really good beer, and a great burger! At first we were the only ones in, but a large group of fishing lodge customers arrived shortly after we did and the place was livelier than we’ve seen it in a while!
One of the charter customers rang the big metal bell at the bar (a tradition meaning the bell-ringer was buying a round for everyone in the bar). Pretty soon our server came over and sat four more cold cans on our table. Fun! So we hung out longer and enjoyed the atmosphere. One thing to note: Rose’s has always been called Rose’s, but then people called Rose Rosie, so the menus now have “Rosie’s Bar & Grill” printed on them, but the signage still says Rose’s. I don’t think it really matters what you call it…everyone around will know the place you’re talking about.
The bell was rung again before we were finished with our second beer. This was the last night for this charter group (of what sounded like a very successful charter), and they were celebrating (and including us in the festivities). Our server brought us all chips good for one drink, but we opted to take them with us and redeem them next summer.
Dave snapped this photo of me and Kevin outside before we headed back to our boats for the evening.
Another fun visit to Pelican! In the morning we’ll head outside Chichagof…probably to Kimshan Cove!