My brother, Paul, joined ships company on the 8th of July. Phyl & Will, Sam Floyd, Paul and I spent the remainder of the 8th re-provisioning and fixing a couple of little things. Knowing we had to be back in Juneau by 3 pm on the 10th, (To meet Al Locey, Sam’s long time friend and Alaska fishing buddy), but unwilling to simply lay about in Auke Bay, we decided to make a short overnight trip. On the 9th, we took off for Taku harbor, just South of Juneau. Since we were in Auke Bay, that meant going around Douglas Island.
At about 10:30 we noticed whale spouts in fair number and diverted our course to get a better look. There were something like a dozen humpbacks moving around in one area. For a while, we just watched them doing all the things you probably have seen on TV, most of which we didn’t get a picture of.
At one point, the whales all essentially disappeared for a while and we moved back on our original course. As it turned out, that put us in position to observe all the whales working together in a cooperative feeding effort. Apparently, they use a ring of air bubbles to concentrate plankton, then all close in together. It was truly amazing to see a dozen humpbacks all break the surface together in a tight circle to feed. The picture below, (cropped and zoomed), doesn’t really do justice to the sight.
After we left the whales, (or they left us), we put the trolling gear out. It wasn’t long before Paul brought a nice king salmon aboard.
Shortly after that, lest the wonder of the day wear off, we were entertained by a small pod of Orcas for a while. One cow and calf stayed with us for quite a while, just rolling around seemingly as interested in us as we were in them.
We ended the day, as planned, in Taku Harbor. We tied up, all alone once again, to a public float in a beautiful little cove. Paul, Will and Sam soon caught a mess of small flounder for another wonderful dinner.
On the afternoon of the 10th, Al Locey joined our little group. As that more than filled the boat, Phyl and I went ashore to a motel, leaving Will with Grandpa Paul, Sam and Al.
On the 11th, Paul and I sent everyone ashore so we could take up the floorboards in the salon for better access to the engineroom while we changed the oil in all three engines, replacing all the oil and primary fuel filters, as well. Phyl got the laundry done and Al and Sam went to see the world famous Red Dog Saloon and other wonders of Juneau only seen by about 5,000 cruise ship passengers every day in the summer.
The afternoon of the 12th, Phyl and Will caught a flight back to California and Paul, Sam, Al and I started South for Petersburg. We anchored that night in Snug Harbor inside Gambier Bay. Once again, stunningly beautiful location. There were other boats in other coves in Gambier Bay, including “Time for Us”, (a megayacht that we’d seen in Auke Bay), but we had our own cove all to ourselves without sight or sound of anyone else.
On the 13th, we motored along at a stately 7.5 knots on a gorgeous, warm and nearly still day down the rest of Stephens Passage to Frederick Sound, then into the North end of Wrangell narrows to Petersburg, (the picture of Al, Sam and I below is underway that afternoon).
At the end of a glorious day, we tied up at a guest slip in a picturesque marina in Petersburg. You know, by the sights and smells that this in a fisherman’s town. Sam and Al stayed the night at their friends’ home, George and Nancy. Paul and I shared dinner there, then returned to the boat for the night
On the 14th, (today), we went fishing on George and Nancy’s boat in Wrangell Narrows. Paul and I each caught a small, (by Alaska standards), halibut which we vacuum packed for later consumption. The new Cabela’s vacuum food saver works really well. Paul and I had dinner with George, Nancy, Sam and Al, then bid them all farewell. We’ll be off again tomorrow morning, although as I write this, I don’t know exactly where we’ll go. The next commitment is to be back in Juneau by the afternoon of the 18th. Paul will head back to California. My son, Zach, and his new wife, Stephanie, will arrive on the same plane he’ll leave on. We’ll continue the adventure from there.
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