Hoonah

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Tuesday July 3^rd, 2012 Juneau

Last night I helped a big old wooden sailboat into the slip behind us. The captain said he had brought it around from Auke Bay and it was going on the grid tonight (at midnight). This morning he was high and dry and had a crew scraping and painting the hull and greasing his feathered prop.

Our way out of the marina was very shallow, kicking up a little mud but we were over at the fuel dock by 7:00 AM when it opened. The attendant, an incoming high school senior was anxious to leave Alaska after graduation for Florida where the weather was warm and the women were “fine”. I said he couldn’t find any nicer people than in Alaska and he wasn’t as sure about that.

Once out of Gastineau Channel and back into Stephens Passage the landscape shed many of the marks of man. “The forests become as trackless as the sky, while mountains wrapped in their snow, ice and cloud blankets seem as they were when man first saw them… The day is calm, and bright, fleecy, clouds hang about the mountain-brows while far above the clouds the peaks are seen stretching grandly away to the northward with their ice and snow shining in as calm a light as that which was falling on the glassy waters.” Naturalist John Muir wrote these words in 1880, an apt description of what I see out the windows of our warm pilothouse. Then he added: “For those who really care to get into hearty contact with the coast region, travel by canoe is by far the better way. The larger canoes carry from one to three tons, rise lightly over any waves likely to be met on the inland channels, go well under sail, and are easily paddled alongshore in calm weather or against moderate winds, while snug harbors where they may ride at anchor or be pulled up on a smooth beach are to be found most anywhere. With plenty of provisions packed in boxes, and blankets and warm clothing in rubber or canvas bags, you may be truly independent and enter into partnership with nature; to be carried with the winds and currents, accept the noble invitations offered all along your way to enter the mountain fiords, the homes of the waterfalls and glaciers, and encamp almost every night beneath hospitable trees.” While we do not pull our craft up on smooth beaches and I prefer encamping under a comforter to “hospitable trees” Little Liza is doing very well at getting us into “hearty contact” with this beautiful country (Travels in Alaska by John Muir).

We rounded Point Retreat and made a diagonal crossing of Chatham Channel, a right turn at Point Couverden, and into Icy Straits. These waterways go on and on. Fortunately the path was pretty smooth and Little Liza “rose lightly over the waves.” A few fishing boats and ships made the Staits a little less vast and the kids find many ways of amusing themselves on this nine-hour cruise. When we at last turned into Port Frederick we saw two cruise ships anchored in front of the Icy Straits Cannery, a place now set up for these ships while waiting to enter Glacier Bay. Lifeboats ferry passengers to and fro. The town of Hoonah lies back in the distance. Our anchorage for the night night lies another hour back into Neka Bay where we have a sanctuary of our very own. Ahead are shallow tidelands, lined with cedar forests and snowy peaks above. Crab pots are our only obstruction and we anchor in a fairly stiff current or outflow from unseen rivers. Thus there is very little swing.

Down came the Bullfrog while Kira set up the crab pots and then when we rigged a couple of poles for mooching the kids caught little halibut as soon as they hit bottom. Salmon are jumping all around.

Wednesday July 4^th, 2012 Neka Bay

We fished, crabbed, and shrimped today preceded by much preparation, baiting and rigging. Crabbing brought the most success including a really big one that fed us all. Downriggers went on the Bullfrog and Keith, Cole and I trolled across a glassy bay trying different combinations of bait, depth and speed. We watched salmon jumping and sea lions feasting and birds flocking to bait fish but nothing flocked to our bait. We were having some difficulty reeling in because of jellyfish guts on the line and a loose drag so I asked Keith to back up ( ie “give me some slack”). He said, “I think you have a fish on,” and sure enough I had been dragging around a nice little halibut. So tonight we feasted on one of Anthony’s best recipes for halibut and Keith spiced up the leftover sauce for the crab dip.

Realizing that today was the fourth of July the kids asked about fireworks and having none aboard they festooned the boat with flags and streamers they found. Gwen put red, white, and blue sprinkles in frosting between layers of graham crackers and festooned them with little flags which she made. These we had for dessert and celebrated the fourth in fine style.

Ruth looked out and remarked that the only difference between day and night was the height of the clouds. They come down like a lace curtain and go up in the morning. Not light and dark but shades of dim. She has not yet seen Alaska basked in the glory of a sunny day.

Wednesday July 5^th, 2012 Neka Bay to Hoonah

With new shrimp traps, 800’ of weighted line, an electric puller, and accessories, I’m wondering about the cost per pound of a single one-ounce shrimp, which is what we hauled in this morning. I like the new puller. It makes pulling in 400’ of line lots easier on the back. So many salmon were jumping around our anchorage that we put jigs over the side and called to them. Later in Hoonah the guy at the marine store said he thought they were chums jumping to loosen their eggs in preparation for spawning. He also sold us some terminal gear for halibut and told us where to fish tomorrow.

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Photos

Juneau
Sailboat on the grid for maintenance

The lookouts
Looking for Humpbacks

Frederick Sound near Hoonah
Lighthouse Island built by glaciers

Neka Bay Anchorage
Back in Frederick Sound near Hoonah we had an anchorage all to ourselves.

Neka Bay
Celebrating the Fourth in Neka Bay

Comments

[Shelly]

What a coincidence! Just this morning I was scraping and painting the Hull and greasing my feathered prop too!! :)

[kim hull]

Hoonah
And I imagine the name of that pilar rock... "the Big Kahoonah".