August 20 - Helm Bay to Neet Bay

Aug 20  Helm Bay to Neet Bay

 

The tide ran strong last night with a constant slapping of water against the boat, and bouncy night in Helm Bay.  The water was hitting from our stern which made for a loud night.  

By morning the tide was headed back out and things were calm again.  If we stay here again I think we should rethink the positioning.  But then what do I know, it appears that I was the only one who could not sleep at all due to the noise and bouncing. 

Breakfast was on Sea Life this morning with Eggs Benedict with Ham and Crab, and fruit on the side.  Yummy.

Crab and prawn pots were pulled and we got another batch of prawn but no crab.

We started out for Shrimp Bay but part way the Captains decided yet again to change plans on our destination; now it is Neet Bay. 

 

Neet Bay – Willard was in the lead and found a nice place to drop anchor, but as we got there Glen said …. Hey Willard, we only have 10 feet of water under us now and we have a 19 foot drop tonight.  Do you think we should rethink this spot?  Willard replied something like … I wondered about that.  So another spot in the bay was selected and Willard dropped his anchor and Glen tied the shore tie.   All set, a quick snack and Glen shuttled us all off for a dinghy adventure.  There apparently is a fish hatchery in the bay so we headed that way.  There were a large number of float planes coming and going to what appeared to the be the hatchery dock.   In route we spotted a Seiner with its nets out and ready to pull them back in so we stopped to watch the process.  They got a good number of fish.   The fish buyer boat was standing by and ended up coming in to actually get the fish directly from the net which was tied close to the boat.  The Magic dinghy moved on to give them more room.  The Sea Life dinghy stayed in the area to watch.   Willard and Diane ended up being invited onto the ‘Seven Seas’ fish buying boat so that they could see the entire operation and chat with the guys on board.  They found it very interesting.  They also found out that there is a bear watching blind nearby where people can go on guided bear watching tours.  That explains the number of planes coming and going.   It looks like the plan drops people off, picks up their earlier group and leaves, coming back soon with another group to drop off.   We are not far by air from Ketchikan.

While they were doing the that the Magic dinghy was checking out the shoreline at the end of the bay by one of the hatchery buildings.  I (Liz) spotted a bear walking the shoreline so we went closer to watch.  This was a mid-sized male black bear.  He had an injury on his left rear foot and was walking very gingerly and with a slight limp.  He was eating the dead salmon on the beach, and occasionally caught a live one to eat.  Another black bear who was a bit smaller and looked much healthier came along to do some fishing.  The hair on the back of the apparent older bear stood on end and he ‘said’ something to the other bear, who turned and walked to a different part of the beach about 25 feet away.  Apparently the ‘younger’ one didn’t see anything he liked so he wondered back around the corner and back to the other creek.  Shortly thereafter the other bear also left.

We met back up and headed for more adventures.  There was a lagoon on the other side of the bay and of course we had to go investigate it.  It had a narrow rocky entrance and widened out into a very protected and deep lagoon.  The water was flat calm and reflective.  We stopped for snacks once out of the lagoon.  Hey, we’ve learned when Glen says we are going on a cruise ….. take a coat, and as I call it ‘nuts and berries, and a beverage’ as you never know when you will be back.   We’ve have 1 hr. adventures turn into 3-4 hrs. so you get my drift here.  LOL

While we were snacking on our ‘nuts and berries’ we saw a can in the water and decided to do our part to and clean up the water.  It was a full sealed can of Coors Light.  Not our style but it was funny that it materialized during snack time.

Once refortified, we headed out again this time stopping at what looked to be a logging or mining dock.  The guys went ashore and looked around.  Lots of pipes, but nothing that told them what the operation was all about.  Back to the big boats for the rest of the evening.   

Decktails on the Lido of Sea Life then Dinner on Magic.  Darn more Halibut.  J