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Published: August 6th 2012
Gambier Bay
Tim Kayaking in Snug Harbor.
Monday July 30, 2012 Windfall Harbor to Gambier Bay
The Garmin with its attendant sonar, radar, and chartplotter has about given up the ghost. I don’t know what’s wrong or how to fix it. I do have the Raymarine depthfinder but it gives me an alarm which I can’t turn off. And the mascerator pump on the holding tank will not work and I spent the best part of a day trying to repair it. We’ll go to Petersburg tomorrow and see what can be done.
Our particular anchorage in Gambier Bay is a bit exposed in a SE wind but after doing circles around the bay to find something suitable and resetting the Garmin every five minutes we’re glad to be here. I’ve heard Gambier is pretty but it’s not visible today.
Tuesday July 31, 2012 Good Island to Snug Cove within Gambier Bay
By the time we got part way out of Gambier Bay it was getting very choppy and the first weather report called for small craft warnings and six-foot seas. Visibility wasn’t good and the Garmin won’t stay on. I turned around and poked into a
Meyers Chuck
While the wind rages outside we are safe in Meyers Chuck bay or two before finding a fifty-foot bottom at low tide just off Snug Cove and we are indeed snug. We settled into some serious reading, writing and laptop entry. Tim worked on his pix and the women read. I got various weather reports on the VHF from mariners outside with fishermen saying that seas were over four feet and building and a sailor who was wishing for more wind. This afternoon Tim and I blew out the cobs with a kayak ride and came back wet and refreshed.
Wednesday August 1, 2012 Gambier Bay to Petersburg
Off we go into the wild gray yonder, no depth finder, no radar, one chartplotter, empty water tanks, and no mascerator pump. On the “to be thankful for” side the fog became low clouds, the backup chartplotter navigated us safely out of Gambier Bay, and the water held out until we reached Petersburg. With the anxiety of Ruth’s situation at home, boat problems needing a solution, and being a day behind schedule, passage up Frederick Sound seemed like a long, slow slog in the clouds and rain. This is our third trip through these waters and
Back Chuck
Door for the LIttle People the first two times I was awed by its beauty and majesty. It’s exactly the same place only the clouds (of various kinds) make it seem different.
Back in our usual slip in Petersburg I called the guy who fixed the head on Stellar View and he was headed out fishing but he stopped by and advised me and loaned me a snake. It seemed to have been fixed and I took a shower muttering, “Out, out black spot!” I also called Garmin support and I downloaded an update which seems to have taken care of the problem, something which added greatly to the “to be thankful for” list. BJ did another pile of laundry and Tim and Denise refilled the locker with gourmet goodies. Calls home helped lift the clouds of worry.
Supper was Smokehouse seasoned barbecued chicken, asparagus, and baked potato with a Barnwood red wine Then we pasted off the last of the “Sherlock, Second Season.”
Thursday, August 2, Petersburg to Berg Bay
Today brings us news that Ruth is back in the hospital and that Marisa will be induced on Monday (the sixth).
Back Chuck
Back Chuck is an inlet behind Meyers Chuck I picked the wrong tide to tackle Wrangell Narrows but it was time to go so we bucked a 3-4 knot current the last half of the way, and I used the full horsepower of two diesel engines to push our way south. We did not encounter any large ship traffic to make it more exciting, we made more phone calls as we drove by the town of Wrangell and made our way back into the heart of the mountains. Berg Bay tonight is a sanctuary of gloomy peace. Unseen mountains loom above and we sleep securely in the knowledge that they are there blocking out the buffeting storms.
Friday August 3, 2012 Berg Bay to Meyer Chuck via Anan Bay
Four small tour boats roared in ahead of us this morning into Anan Bay (pronounced like you would say “Aunt Ann” real fast), I’m sure with reservations, which we could not get. Denise and I fished for halibut at the mouth of the creek where the salmon carcasses would float out and waited to get in at two o’clock and at one were told there was no chance so we picked up
and headed for Meyers Chuck. The water in Clarence Strait got a little bouncy and we were glad to find that narrow opening into the bay and room on the public dock.
Tim and Denise bought some salmon in Petersburg, Coho, King, Sockeye, and tonight we had samplers. Some were cooked with a glaze and a fisherman on the dock had given advice on slow cooking the Sockeye. We had mushrooms sautéed in olive oil, butter and garlic with a pinch of truffle salt.
Saturday August 4, 2012 Meyers Chuck to Ketchikan
This morning I walked around the other side of the bay to Back Chuck where there is a narrower bay lined with cabins and private docks. A quaint little trail wound through back yards, gardens, and forests in between. Signs made of paddles and other found objects pointed the way. A small saw mill smelled of cedar. Wandering deer and roosting eagles provided fine ornamentation for the yards (no pink flamingos). Some creative resident had built a miniature doorway into a hollow tree stump along the trail. I talked to a cabin owner from New Mexico and another one from Hood Canal who gave me a piece of smoked salmon. His smoker was a steel drum with an alder fire in the bottom and a screen on top. I picked a piece right off the screen. Maybe 8 people live here year around and 30 people reside here in the summer. A man on the trail was headed towards a community pancake feed carrying a bottle of maple syrup.
Our only option for moorage in Ketchikan was the city dock nestled beneath the cruise ships and packed with fishing boats rafted three deep. Fishermen are readying their boats for departure tomorrow with an opening on Monday so the town will be lively tonight. We walked downtown to the Blueberry Arts and Crafts Festival and I talked to a wood turner and a Native artist about his painted and carved paddles. At Ketchikan Creek people were fishing off the bridge and catching nice salmon headed up the Creek. We walked up Creek Street, which was the old red light district and from there into Parnassus Bookstore. This afternoon we sat on the flybridge and watched the cruise ship Sea Princess – all 900 feet of her and watched the passengers look down on us from their decks. About dinner time they all headed South towards Vancouver.
Tim barbecued thick, juicy hamburgers with blue cheese melted on top. Six young men on the seiner behind us gave each buzz cuts, then partied on the deck while the noisiest activity comes from a bar up on main street.
We are all coming home on Monday leaving Little Liza in Ketchikan once again for a little while. The homeward leg may have long days and few stops and I will blog as I can.
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Sue & Ken
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Brings back memories...
We remember all those places, so sad about the hang ups, but hope they are all fixed. Hope Ruth does get better. And a new baby is due...may have come by now....a boy right? Hope that all goes well, Hope you have crew to get Little Liza home OK....let us hear from you soon...hugs,