The group departed Hoonah at the leisurely hour of 9am, after a very nice breakfast at Fisherman’s Daughter. Breakfast burritos, breakfast sandwiches, waffles, and coffee…a wonderful way to start another sunny day! Weather buoys in Icy Strait were reporting winds around 15kts gusting to 26kts, which was hard to believe when it was this calm here inside the breakwater. As we rounded Icy Strait Point we saw there were two … Read more
Some of the group departed Pavlof Harbor around 6am, and the rest trickled out and were underway by 7am. This morning the clouds had disappeared and the sky was bright blue! No bears (still) but that’s okay. We’ll be back when the fish are running and there will be bears. Right as we were rounding North Passage Point from Freshwater Bay into Chatham Strait, we spotted a humpback near shore, … Read more
Our group left early for the six hour cruise from Appleton to Pavlof Harbor, one of our favorite stops in this part of SE Alaska. We left Appleton and cruised the short distance out Peril Strait, turning into an uncharacteristically calm Chatham Strait for the long run up to Pavlof. Alicia and Gregg aboard Evenstar spotted a sow and an older cub strolling along the beach in Chatham Strait. Pavlof … Read more
Normally we would not stop at the same place on the way back through Peril Strait, but the timing of Sergius Narrows on the way in caused us to change our plan and we’ll be visiting Appleton twice. (Maybe that will convert to more crab! ) We arrived at Sergius Narrows an hour early and had about 4kts of current helping us through. The commercial crab season opened two days … Read more
It’s been a rainy couple of days in Sitka, but that hasn’t stopped this group from getting out and about and seeing town! Everyone is making the most of it…people went to the Raptor Center, Fortress of the Bear, the Sitka National Historic Park, walked all around town, and ate a lot of meals out! On Monday we walked into town for some dumplings at Sitka Pel’meni. There were over … Read more
Wind and rain buffeted our boats overnight in Appleton Cove, but this morning the wind had died down somewhat, and the rain had mainly stopped as we pulled anchors and headed for Sitka. We spotted another bear on shore this morning from Airship…it wandered out for a few minutes to eat some grass and then back into the trees it went. Layers of silver and gray looking west in Peril … Read more
What a difference a day makes! Today was rainy and gray…which is to say, much more what we’re accustomed to for weather in SE Alaska! No bear sighting at Takatz Bay this time, but we enjoyed our time dinghying around regardless. As we entered Chatham Strait and headed north for Peril Strait, Dog Star put up a sail!! We’re all anchored now in Appleton Cove. A few crab pots have … Read more
Red Bluff Bay was stunning to wake up to this morning. No more bears, just blue skies and warm sun. Kevin and David took the dinghies out to pull the shrimp pots (dropped near the entrance) while Julie and I cruised Dog Star and Airship slowly out to pick them up. David: zero shrimp. Kevin: one shrimp (to add to the three he brought in last night). A ridiculously bad … Read more