Wednesday, May 31,2006 - Today was another rainy day and one for reading and boat chores. Everyone we have met fishes and when asked what have we caught, I have to admit that we don't own a fishing pole. They look at us like we were from another planet - why would you be in Alaska if you were not here to fish. I decided to rectify the situation and to buy a fishing pole - was I amusement for the sporting goods store. First you have to decide if you are fishing for salmon or halibut as it involves different weights, lures, etc. We will see if we catch anything. Kasechuchen (Bob & Cheryl Klein) and AnnaRuth (Jake and Suzanne Maizel) came in today and we all decided to get together later this evening for wine and hors devours. Bob & Cheryl's daughter was getting married and they were going to fly to Denver for the wedding. We compared our cruising plans and determined we would cross paths again in Hoonah on the first of July. A good time was had by all and the evening ended with Cheryl making a batch of her "boat" cookies.
Thursday, June 1, - Friday, June 2, 2006 - It is time to say good by to Petersburg. Another storm was approaching this weekend and we wanted to get out ahead of it. As much as we had enjoyed our stay it was time for a change of scenery. We got somewhat of a late start leaving at 10:30am and we decided to head up Frederick Sound and Stephens Passage to Pybus Bay on Admiralty Island and Cannery Cove. We had our second whale sighting while underway. We arrived at Cannery Cove to find only a single Grand Banks anchored in the bay. We dropped anchor and settled in for the evening deciding not to try to drop the dinghy and crab pots until tomorrow. It tried out my fishing pole and "jigged" for halibut or any type of bottom fish but gave up when the rain started. Admiralty Island is known for it's large bear population and at dusk we spotted a large grizzly that had come down to the shore to graze. Our first bear sighting. It was about 200 yards off the boat and a magnificent site. We tried to take pictures but it was too dark to get a good image. It rained all day Friday and the wind was blowing and as we decided we were fair weather "crabbers". It was a good day for you guessed it reading and boat chores. (Not so many pictures on the rainy days.)
Saturday, June 3 -Sunday, June 4, 2006 - We woke up to find that three other boats had come during the night and decided it was time to move on. We pulled anchor at 7:45am and decided to head to Tracy Arm and more glaciers. We headed back up Stephens Passage towards Holkham Bay and the entrance to Tracy and Endicott Arm. The intent was to head up Tracy Arm to the Sawyer Glacier. Along the way we had our 3rd whale sighting at 9:30 am - it breached almost 50 feet aside us (we were so startled that we did not get a picture) and again behind us. We also encountered schools of porpoise that ran with the boat for about 30 minutes. The entry to Tracy Arm is somewhat of a challenge having to deal with range markers and a somewhat narrow opening with rocks. As we approached we were seeing some of the "ice sculptures" float by us as we experienced on our trip to LeConte Glacier. In the middle of the entrance was a huge iceberg lodged in the middle of the channel. Assessing the tide and the surrounding rocks we decided to visit Tracy Arm on our way back down. We then reverted to Plan B and headed to Taku Harbor which had a "state maintained small craft float". Much to our surprise there was a beautiful concrete float dock with a ramp to shore and walking paths. We tied up to the float at 3:00pm and proceeded to explore the area. We dropped the dinghy and a crab trap and when we returned to the dock we found that we had company, a group of small boats that had been out fishing and were cleaning their catch. As we were somewhat short or crab bait, we asked them if we could have their fish heads if they were going to throw them away. As it turned out, they kept the heads and other key parts for their King Crab traps but they gave us some fish "guts" along with half of a King Salmon that they had just filleted. They would not take any compensation for the fish as it would jeopardize their license status, so we gave them a dozen fresh baked double chocolate brownies and a bottle of wine in return. You have got to love the barter system. We used the fish innards the next day and caught the largest Dungeness crab we had ever seen. It had to have measured almost 8" across and was a male (a keeper). We also had 3 other crabs but they were female and we had to throw them back. As gross as the fish parts were, they seemed to work. It rained for the next couple of days but we put on our Gortex and mud boots and explored the old cannery ruins. It was amazing to see all of the sheets of tin that had been abandoned when the cannery closed and when the piers collapsed became part of the seascape, rusting with the outgoing tides.
