Redoubt Bay and Lake - Kids last day.

Day 56 – July 5

Woke this morning on the rocks, well not really but it sure looked that way. Glen had found us about the only spot with water at low tide. After a quiet morning we pulled anchor and went exploring a bit.

Glen took us to Redoubt Bay where Redoubt Lake flows down falls (rapids at high tide) into the bay.

We took a little hike to view the lake; again the forest service had created a boardwalk. The forest floor is very spongy though not wet.

A little whitewater dinghying in the rapids capped off our visit. On the return to the boat we went through an area of thousands of jellyfish, all very large probably a foot in diameter and bright white, orange and red! There were salmon swimming and jumping in the area but non seemed to be headed up the waterfall yet.

We then headed back to Sitka where we were lucky to get moorage for the night. Just a few minutes after contacting the Harbor Master for our spot, we heard him turn another boat away saying the harbor was full for the next few days. Midnight brings the end of a five day King Salmon season and 150 fishing boats are expected back in port tonight.

We stopped at the fuel dock and Glen was reminded of work, and a delivery that needed to go out.

It’s now loaded and ready to go. I guess that means we can write off this trip. Okay maybe we are dreaming again.

Sitka was still celebrating July 4^th … as we climbed into bed fireworks were going off.

Hot Springs

Day 55 – July 4 Goddard Hot Springs Bay

Spent the morning doing last minute grocery shopping before leaving Sitka.

We went playing through the little islands and eventually found our bay of boulders. Goddard Hot Springs are just the ticket. Need to lose a couple layers of skin; this is the place to go.

We immediately went exploring, Glen and Liz in the dinghy and Maryann and Nicole in the kayaks. First stop, check out the hot springs for later use. There were two wooden barrels, each in their own shack, with hot sulfur water pumping in, and man oh man was it hot. Each tub also had a cold water hose to help cool it down. Farther up the trail was the old hot springs tub, an actual bathtub in the hot water stream. There was a lot of natural vegetation in the stream which made it a bit murky, but didn’t seem to bother Glen a bit.

We continued on the trail and found what used to be, or maybe still is, a cabin used by the boy scouts (according to some kayakers we met). Back to the boat for cocktails, just in time for Tom and Chris to tie up, they did some extra fishing on the way over.

After dinner we headed back to shore for hot springs part duex, and then back to the boat for a movie. Relaxation at its best.

Sitka Fireworks

Day 54 – July 3 Sitka Fireworks

We got up early and headed out, it is a very foggy morning. Tom needs to get to Sitka in time for Sherm to make his plane home, and to meet Chris who is flying in this morning. Their arrival and departure time was coordinated at about 9:30am.

We wandered around Sitka today, exploring little shops. We were quite successful, or should I say the shop keepers were. The fur store was our favorite. Yummy fur jackets and head bands, too bad the sale prices were equivalent to the cost of fuel.

Back to the boats for dinner and fireworks. The show started at midnight and was over around 12:30am, or so we thought! Periodic blasts and color crossed the sky for the next couple hours. Evidently the pyrotecs wanted a show of their own.

Appleton Cove

Day 53 – July 2 Appleton Cove

We awoke this morning with sun in our eyes and smiles on our faces. It was hot enough outside that even Liz was running around in shorts, guessing around 70 degrees. With a check of the crab pots, grins reached from ear to ear. Crab were crowding the pots, for a total of 12 keepers. We hit the jackpot.

It is a great spot for kayaking. All six kayaks attempted to go up the river, which proved to be a difficult task. Some made it further than others with the scrawny guy, Shawn, leading the pack. The water was crystal clear and icy cold. Maryann collected rocks while Sophie helped Nicole collect bones. With a couple more, Nicole can create her own creature of the North.

We left the cove and progressed through Peril Strait rapids and on to Magoun Island to anchor in the fog. ‘Hey, who planned this?’

A nice relaxing day was had by all.

Tenakee Springs

Day 52 – July 1 Tenakee Springs

We got up in the morning and took a walk thru the community. Had breakfast at the local bakery / café / art and gift store. This is where all the locals and visitors were this morning. Great breakfast.

There are a couple dozen houses or cabins, a post office, fire station, a hot springs (now inside a building), a ‘lodge’, and maybe 1 ‘store’. Some of the cabins/houses date back to 1900. Some are log construction; some seem to be from whatever material they could find at the time. There are a few new homes/cabins being built. This for the most part appears to be a summer home/cabin type community, but there looks like a hand full or two of the homes are lived in year round. Several of the houses had very artistically interesting front doors, others very long staircases from the road up to the house. Basically there is one road (no cars, just bikes, golf carts, and four wheelers), with houses on piling on the water side and houses built on the hillside along the other side of the road. Many of the uphill houses were also built on piling or stilts way off the ground. The school is up at the top of the hill, something like 100 stairs up. Nicole thought it was pretty funny to see a sign saying ‘wheelchair accessible’ on the front door. Okay there is a trail going up the hill alongside the stairwell. It had better be a powerful 4 wheeler to get up that hill.

The locals were all out doing their morning chores; ladies – jogging, walking, and bike riding; men – painting, weed whacking, hammering on new decks, house walls etc…, and getting their 4 wheelers ready for the 4^th of July parade. We chatted with a few of the locals and found out that the population averages 100, with about 75 living here year round or almost year round. One guy is 93 and has lived here almost all of his life. They said that on the 4^th of July there will be a couple hundred people here. They will have a parade, potato salad and dessert contest, and other celebration type things.

After leaving Tenakee, we crossed the bay and stopped so the fisherpeople could get their hooks wet. Nicole was itching to try the Herring that she caught in Hoonah.

She lands a big one !!! Hal the Halibut!

To the bottom and three jigs later, Nicole has one on her line. The guys hadn’t even gotten their gear wet yet. She grins and starts playing this guy to the surface and onboard Magic. She got a better workout than an aerobics class. While we don’t have a scale on board, by Glen’s best guess it weighs about 30 lbs. Glen hung it upside down from the back rail of Magic, to make sure it was good and dead before it really came on board. With it’s tail at the rail it’s nose was on the swim platform. Nicole’s smile was almost as big as this fish. Oh by the way, she didn’t put any Herring on her jig.

Tom and Sherm were a bit behind us and Hal was not so happily aboard hanging as they got there. They got their fishing gear into the water as did Glen, and of course Nicole now being the super fisherwoman went in for one of Hal’s buddies. They fished for about an hour without any more luck. Hal’s buddies were having a ‘wake’ in another area.

Not getting any more fish we started back on course down the channel. Saw a few Humpbacks; they were just out for a swim and weren’t doing any tricks today. On to Appleton Cove, just off of Hoonah Strait, for the night.

Mmm… Hal the Halibut tastes great. Not many places you can go from the sea to the table in less than 6 hours. Good work Nicole!

Hoonah Zip Line!!!

Day 51 – June 30 Hoonah Zip Line!!!

First thing this morning (Funny - Nicole was the first one up), she went on-line and found her answer. Yes they were open and we should be there by 9:15 so that we could get zippin’ before the ships arrival. Of course she immediately made sure the rest of the boat was awake.

Yes, we got her there on time to catch the zip bus. There is a 40 minute bus ride up to the top of the hill. Maryann, Nicole and Glen went on the bus with the zip line employees. The employees zip the lines every morning to test them, and make adjustments for weather, wind, etc…. Shawn and Liz stayed at the bottom as support crew. Someone had to watch, take the photos, be ready to bring the boat back to Seattle, and of course collect on the inheritance.

--Note from the Zippers – WHOOOO HOOOOO!!!! Boy that was fun. A beautiful view across into Glacier Bay from the top and on the way down. 60 mph flying through the sky was exhilarating, let’s go again!!! Of course Big Boy Glen beat the girls to the bottom. He barely made it under the weight limit, he almost redlined the scale. They use a “Vanity scale” no numbers, you’re either in the Red Zone or the Green Zone. In case you were wondering, it’s 5,330 feet long and drops 1,300 feet.

The old cannery has been rebuilt into a museum, with several touristy stores, three restaurants, and THE zip rider. It is owned and operated by the Huna Tlingit Natives. One cruise ship per day comes into Hoonah, which probably is a huge boost to this small harbors economy. Hoonah has a population of 880 of which 70% are Huna Tlingit Natives. While talking to one of the managers he indicated that on really good days they can make $100,000. Last year they had 75 cruise ships stop here, this year only about 60, but next year they have over 90 scheduled and booked for arrival.

Lunch at the Office Tavern … Crab should be the only option on their menu, but it’s not. Guess what we didn’t have LOL. We asked what kind of local beer they had on tap, “Pabst Blue Ribbon and Pyramid Hefewisen” evidently are now brewed in Alaska. So we ordered bottled Alaskan Amber. It was a pretty quiet place, so evidently it’s only when the rowdy sailors are in town that it’s noisy.

Another fuel stop on the way out of the harbor. Nicole caught some herring so hopefully now with bait, we’ll have fish for dinner soon.

Two WHOOOO HOOOOO’s in one day!!!! Whales by the dozen bubble-netting ½ mile NW of Point Augusta. Of course we stopped again and got the camera’s clicking as fast as we could. The only thing they didn’t do was breach for us.

It will be a whale of zippy slide show tonight!!!!

Headed to Tenakee Springs for the night. Tom and his buddy Sherm will be meeting us there. Chris will be rejoining the adventure in Sitka, we look forward to seeing her.

We arrived at Tenakee Springs and found Tom and Sherm on the docks. This is a very very small place. Tom and Sherm told us that the locals were not very friendly, and could care less if any outsider was there. They claimed that the locals only made grunting noises in reply to their saying hello or good evening. The hot springs has set times for men, and women. Women 9am – 2pm, Men 2pm – 6pm , Women 6pm – 10pm, Men 10pm – 9am. It is very different than the Bishop Hotsprings. This one is inside a building, with little ventilation, so the hot moist sulfur smell is strong.

After our late dinner the girls went for a walk to check out the hot springs, not to go in as it was already 9:30 when we left the boats and the hot springs is about ½-way through ‘town’. What the guys hadn’t seen was the sign on the door ‘Absolutely Nude Bathing Only.’ We found that the people we met were friendly and willing to say hello, or good evening.

Breaching Whales!

Day 50 – June 29 Breaching Whales

Last night anchored in Bartlett Cove, left this morning. Changed plans and headed for Hoonah rather than Elfin Cove. It’s a bright sunny day, with much calmer water than yesterday morning. Not as much wind either. Spotted whale; off Point Adolphus. There were lots of humpbacks; little ones, big ones, and a couple huge ones. Glen shut down the engines and we enjoyed whales all around us for a couple hours. We had three cameras going so got lots of photos and videos. Many will likely be deleted for lack of whale, or only ½ a whale. J Hey, it’s tough when you don’t know where they are going to surface or in what fashion, a simple breath, a fin flip, or a full breach. There must have been a dozen or more. Surprisingly they were quite vocal, some talking and some just heavy breathing. Sophie barked at them a bit so we put her inside. Quite an amazing way to spend the afternoon!

Entered Hoonah harbor going past the Cannery Museum, Zip Line etc… Nicole looked sad when she saw the zip line. Remember she had contacted them last week to try to go for a zip and they said they were only open on Wednesday and Saturday.

After getting secured to the dock, we chatted with the harbor master. He said that the zip line should be open tomorrow as a ship was due in at 10am. We didn’t tell Nicole until later in the evening as we did not want her to be running around the boat and up and down the dock all night. When she did find out, she went on-line again and emailed the zip dude to find out for sure if it was going to be open and if so, what time could our group get there. Not sure that she will get any sleep tonight.