The 2010 Hunkydory adventures of Jay & Jo-Lee

[dotnmarty]

Jay-I enjoyed every word and every picture. Thank you so very much for sharing your adventure. It's greatly appreciated.

[Hunkydory]

Thanks Marty, sure glad you did and appreciate your comment.

This a photo of map showing where the Laughing Raven Lodge is located and our route circling Baranof Island.


Jay

[rogerbum]

Jay,

I too enjoyed every word and every picture. Thanks again.

[Hunkydory]

Roger

On a previous post you made on this thread you mentioned along with several others that you too would like to make it up there someday. Getting to and cruising the area in the Inland Passage we did is a big undertaking by most any one's standards, but the rewards are well worth it, so hope you do. Think it would make for a fantastic cruise in that new "Cat" coming your way.

We have now made four cruises there and to me this years accomplishments other then another wonderful long remote cruise in a 22' C-Dory was making 405 miles on one fill up of fuel and the voyage along the outside of Chichagof and Baranof Islands with rounding Cape Ommaney the highest point of all.

Thanks again for showing your appreciation.

Jay

[Hunkydory]

"The Catch-22 went to Alaska part 8

From Sitka we maneuvered through a cluster of small islands and west past Long Island, turning south near Vasilief Bank. About 15:00 hours we anchored in a large bay on the north end of Biorka Island for the night. As Kathy would say the sunset here was gorgeous. The next morning we picked our way through the Necker Islands heading south running from three to five miles out depending on the shore line. The wind gods lets us know finding protected anchorage would be a good thing. We pulled into Whale Bay for the night and used an area inside what is called Rakovoi Bay, great place to hang out when the wind is blowing. The next day we pulled anchor when the fog cleared enough to see. We needed to get going while the wind is calm. We know Cape Ommaney can be rough and don’t need the afternoon wind kicking in making it worse.
You have good days and days like the one we were about to have. The starboard engine high temperature alarm comes on and so I shut it down. Now the wind picks up, were about ten miles north of Cape Ommaney and two miles outside of Redfish Cape. On our way into Redfish Cape I tried to make a radio check, with no return check. Seems in some areas your radio might as well be a paper weight, we already knew our cell phone was useless.
Redfish Cape is looking very good to us at this time. We set anchor and from what I can tell the starboard engine has a lose wire in the alarm system and will be alright. With the wind calm and the cape only ten miles out we go for it. Just around the cape would be Port Alexander our next overnight anchorage. I wanted to swing wide around the cape expecting to find calmer water wrong. The wind kicked up bad from the north and now were on top of waves from twelve to eighteen feet. To make things more exciting through the waves you can see these logs shooting past every so often like a torpedo. Next the starboard engine high temperature alarm comes on again. My comment to my wife was “sit down and read your book” (like that‘s going to happen.) -- things are not going good
Just to add a little entertainment to the entire situation screaming between the waves were these puffin birds. I set the starboard engine at one speed and adjust speed only with the port engine. We got a little side ways once when a larger wave grabbed us for a while, that one really got my attention.
We got around Cape Ommaney and turned north looking for Port Alexander which is five or six miles up. With a little luck, a trusting wife, and answered prayers we made Port Alexander mid afternoon."

The quote above came from the Grand Adventure Forum and is part 8 of Rooster 27509's thread "The Catch-22 went to Alaska". A story along with Casey's "Naknek in Alaska, 2004" that became the focal point for us having the Grand Adventure Forum to share our adventures now.

Recently while going back through this forum I reread Rooster's account of his 2003 Alaska adventure part 8 and was shocked when I read the above quote. Did remember the part about 12 to 18 foot waves, but not the area He and his wife found them. Like many others who read these stories when I read it several years ago I didn't bother to check the map and see where he encounters these waves, but do remember thinking it an exaggeration, because without checking the map I thought Cape Ommanney to be a cape located like Fenshaw, Baker and many others somewhere in the actual protected inland waters not a Cape exposed directly to the Gulf of Alaska with rip tides said to be the worst in Southeast Alaska. Well Rooster, where ever you are "I sincerely apologize". Not only do I think the conditions to be just as described, you were also the first to adventure down and around the outside of Baranof Island in a C-Dory 22, so to you and your 1st Mate a belated congratulations .

Any who haven't already read this adventure or its been some time since you did, think its worth a read and reread. thttp://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=429hink

Jay

[Knotty C]

Jay and Jolee,

What a trip! The map with your route tells quite the story. I am looking at the same map of our first trip in my office here at work except it doesn't have nearly the "route doodles" on it. Very inspiring. Dee and I have been planning our next trip and are thinking of trailering to Skagway and at least going from Elfin cove to Sitka on the outside. Just concentrating on a smaller area to explore around Baranof I. Thanks for sharing.

Don and Dee

[Hunkydory]

Don and Dee,

As also communicated in exchange of PM's your very welcome. Would be great to meet up in the ABC Islands area sometime. Wouldn't be surprised to see more brats take the road trip to Skagway and explore south. Wonderful drive and sure makes for a shorter cruise to Juneau, Hoonah, Elfin Cove, Pelican and Sitka, which encompass the area in Southeast Alaska we prefer to cruise.

Jay