More Whales

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Tuesday July 17^th, 2012 Red Bluff Bay to Cannery Cove (in Pybus Bay)

At 6:00 AM all is quiet and the morning sun flamed red off the bluffs as we exited into Chatham Straits and drew a single line to the entrance to the entrance of Chapin Bay. Since it was only twenty one miles we looked at other interesting possibilities in the cruising book and extended the line up the coast to Cannery Cove. It’s 1 ¾ hours further today and ½ hour shorter tomorrow.

Humpbacks spout in the distance singly and in pairs and while some are on the move others lift their tails and dive, feeding on the three hundred foot ledges off Admiralty Island. We brake for bubble feeding but no longer for distant spouts. They seem to concentrate around the entrance to bays, perhaps brackish water is good for krill. Before we entered Pybus Sound we realized the whales were all around us so we just stopped, turned off the engines and watched. One in particular would rhythmically slap its tail on the water. Gwen thought it sounded like a baseball being caught in a mitt. To me it sounded like fireworks exploding in the air or the thud of distant cannon. If both flukes did not hit the water at the same time there was a resounding double thud and then echos. Slapping flukes was a higher pitched "pop". Then the whale would dive and in a few minutes rise out of the water in a spectacular breach. This set of behaviors was repeated several times while we were there. We heard it call to another whale a mile off which answered in kind. This whale continued its communicative behavior but moved off and we continued on into Pybus Bay and within that was Cannery Cove. This anchorage again ends in a meadow estuary and rises into a spectacular mountain bowl with snowfields and cloud enshrouded peaks. At the entrance to Cannery Cove sits a fishing resort with floats planes flying in and out and aluminum fishing boats finding familiar fishing holes.

Bullfrog poked further toward in toward the meadow and brown bear heads popped up out of the grass and then both mom and cubs reared up on hind legs to view a water born stranger. I let the creek sweep me back into the bay and the brown heads disappeared back into the tall grass. We see big salmon jumping but spin casting does not arouse any interest.

Wednesday Jul 18^th, 2012 Cannery Cove to Petersburg

I’m currently cruising on a long track down Frederick Sound – thirty-some miles without the need to turn. It is also calm with only a ripple on the water. In this enormous intersection of Stephens Passage, Frederick Sound and Chatham Strait there is plenty of opportunity for it to be otherwise. Another gift of a smooth passage, and a breeze at our backs engenders an overwhelming sense of gratitude. BJ makes oatmeal and an English muffin for breakfast and the coffee is still hot. As is our practice on travel days we get up and get underway by 6:00 AM. We can emerge from the stateroom, turn on the coffee maker, turn on the electronics, turn on the engines and raise the anchor before the coffee is finished perking. BJ guides us out of whatever bay, often through some narrow openings while I spray down the deck and organize before that first sip of hot java. The course in the computer has already been set and as soon as we are clear of obstructions I set the day’s course in the Garmin .

I try to imagine what the glacier that carved this frozen waterway must have looked like. The bottom of this great valley is 1,500’ below me right now. These ice flows were 5,000 feet thick and were heavy enough to lower the elevation of the earth. Lots of gouging, grinding, and sanding can be done with that much pressure and patience.

Have you walked on the wells of the sea?Have you walked on the bottom of the deep sea?…Have you understood how great the earth is? Tell Me if you know all this.…Have you gone into the storehouses of the snow?…Who gave birth to the ice?And who gave birth to the snow water of heaven?Water becomes hard like stone and the top of the sea is covered with ice. –Job 38

A procession of seiners glides by on both sides of us headed out to their Thursday fishing grounds. Clouds settled and then lifted.

Our crew is ready for some shore time and Petersburg is a good place. We walked downtown looking in and out of shops and they ran around the square where the Sons of Norway display a Viking Ship replica and honor those who have been lost at sea.

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Photos

Red Bluff Bay
Moring sun on the granite rock at the entrance to Red Bluff Bay.

Whale breaching
Entrance to Pybus Bay

Pybus Bay
Whale breaching.

Cannery Cove
Mama bear is looking at me and baby bears are looking at mama.

Cannery Cove
View upon entering Cannery Cove

Comments

[Sue & Ken]

Pictures
You are getting some awesome pictures .....we love it!