Discovery and Hunkydory in South East Alaska 2015

Yes Jody, we made it it to Elfin Cove. A bit choppy & into a three plus mph current the last 20 miles. They now have 3G AT&T here so can use the IPad & that now is from a wooden bench & walkway overlooking the narrow entrance to the inner cove. I took the Mokai up to the new facilities for Eagle Charters only to find Ken no longer works there. No doubt he has posted that, but somehow Brent & I missed it if he did. The weather report is calling for only 2 foot seas on the outer coast tomorrow, so hoping Brent gets some fishing in & us all a good run around Yakobi Island. The next few days are supposed to continue this unbelievably good weather & we hope to take advantage of it.

Jay
 
We left Hoonah at 7:00 am today with calm seas. We were heading to Elfin Cove via the Icy Strait and South Inian Pass. The tide and wind both hit us and it got really lumpy before we got here. We went 46 miles and used 18.4 gal. of fuel. Elfin cove is built in a protected canyon with the houses and shops constructed on the steep mountain side. There is a wooden boardwalk that connects everything together. Fishing lodges and commercial fishing are the total economy with the exception of the service industry to keep the lodges going. There are only 16 full time residents but the fishing lodges bring in 15,000 clients each year.

Tomorrow we plan to go out Cross Sound and south around Yakobi Island in the big water. Our destination is a Forest Service dock in the Lisianski Strait. Having a great time! Jay is an excellent guide and we are lucky to have someone with so much experience leading us.
 
We have been in Pelican and then two weeks in the Chichagof Wilderness. Now in Sitka and back to phone service. Dixie will write-up and post the day by day stories later tonight or tomorrow.
 
6-17-2015

22.8 Miles today with 6.2 gal. of fuel used. Left Elfin Cove at 7:00. Weather negated the trip out to the big ocean—4 ft. waves with 15 kt. winds. Came up Liziansky inlet. Critters spotted included Sitka deer, sea otters, 2 grizzly bears, gray heron, lots of eagles and sea lions. Got into Pelican at 1:00 to fuel but no fuel until tomorrow. We took a slip in the harbor and toured the town. Another boardwalk town with the economy dependent on commercial and charter fishing. Quaint and gorgeous. Today was a big day because most provisions for town come by ferry and today was the delivery for the past two weeks. People ordered everything from groceries to a walk in freezer to be assembled. Lots of building supplies, furniture, and supplies for the stores. The stuff was unloaded and put in piles for the person taking delivery and they started hauling it away with 4-wheelers and all types of wagons and boats. The supplies come from Juneau and even though this is wild, primitive Alaska with no roads, people still get their Costco and Northern Bear orders. This was a really neat town and surely one of my favorite places.

6-18

Pelican out Lizianski inlet and Lizianski strait to Porcupine Bay on the outside of the islands. 26.9 miles and 7.3 gal of fuel. Set two shrimp traps outside Porcupine. Saw 2 sow grizzlies and 3 cubs and saw a pod of seven orca’s. Weather has been overcast and rainy but not windy. Calm seas, First night on the hook.
 
6-19

Today we left Porcupine to check out our shrimp traps—total failure! Too bad you can’t eat star fish. Putted up the coast in the big water to Mirror Harbor-West bay. The trail head is here for the hike over to White Sulfur Hot Springs—going tomorrow. The seas were calm and rolling at 3 ft. swells. Correction on Elfin Cove—I reported that 15,000 clients came to fish each year but really it was only 1,500. I bet they wish it was 15,000!

6-20

The highlight for today was definitely the hike on a one mile board walk to the White Sulfur Hot Springs. The board walk was an example of your tax dollars at work as it was completed by the Forest Service. It was rustic but let you know which way to go. It was a little intimidating to me to be led by our trusty captain with his shotgun, followed by the first mate and her bear spray and Brent brought up the rear with another shotgun. We didn’t see any bears but some bear signs (digging up plants etc. No people bones) At the Springs the Forest Service had built a nice one room cabin and enclosed the springs with a very nice building. The water was hot—but not too hot. It was very enjoyable.

We went back to the boats and went 10.8 miles on 2.7 gal. of fuel to Didrikson Bay in Portlock harbor. We dropped the shrimp traps on the way in—hoping for better luck.
 
Thanks for the write-up I'll be good for a few more days now. Been following the Inreach tracks looking forward to a new WIFI signal. Have fun out there.
 
6-21-2015

Happy Father’s day! Can’t think of a better place to spend it. Today we picked up our shrimp traps on the way out of the bay and we saw 100% improvement. We went from catching no shrimp to catching ONE!!! That’s right—one freaking shrimp in two traps. At least we know the species exists here—we will get this figured out.

We went 20.9 miles today on 4.9 gal. of fuel to Klag Bay just off the old Chichagof gold mine site. We came down Ogden Passage, thru Smooth Passage and the Gate and the Elbow, to Klag. Beautiful weather, light winds and calm seas. We saw a big brown bear. Jay says there are not as many bear visible this year. May be due to weather being so good this spring and feed is plentiful. Still we have seen cool things every day. This wilderness is just beautiful.

6-22

We went 38.1 miles on 8.3 gal. of fuel to Falcon Arm of Slocum Arm. We saw a sow with 3 cubs on the south arm of Ford Arm and a sow with two cubs in Anna’s lake. We toured Anna’s lake and the opening to Sister Lake. It was not the right tide to enter but Jay couldn’t resist a “ride the rapids” experience with Hunky Dory to go ride the max ebb. He went in the opening a hundred yards or so and turned and rode the the rapids out. Wish you could have seen it—Hunky Dory was flying. It has been said that the ebb flow is around 12 knots. Discovery was too chicken to try it—lol!

We caught some rock fish for dinner tomorrow. Hunky Dory moored by a meadow with a resident bear. We tied to a mooring ball left by some kind soul in the past.
 
6-23-2015

Hunky Dory figured their fuel consumption to this point in Falcon Bay and determined they are getting 8 mpg. Today Discovery traveled 13.1 miles and used 3 gal. of fuel. We moored in Hidden Cove at the end of Slocum Arm after exploring the Arm to the end. We had a group fish fry on Discovery—delicious and enjoyable. We were entertained by the sea otters. I am going through media withdrawal and expressed my desire to move back to civilization but we need to wait for the weather to be good for us to go. The forcast is for 8 to 11 ft. seas and we will wait until it’s safe for us to go.


6-24

22.6 miles today with 5.3 gal. of fuel. We went out through Piehle Passage to the ocean just for exposure to the route and to have a look at the rollers. Too big for my liking but after a little initiation we came back in to the sheltered water and did a little fishing on the way back in. Caught some bigger rock fish and a small ling cod that was too small to keep. Returned back to our moorage from the previous night on the mooring ball.


6-25

We stayed in Falcon Arm all day. The weather was rainy and we read and napped—generally lazy!! We did dingy to the shore where Jay had built a great camp fire. We set around and told each other lies and enjoyed the visit. During the night a big blow came up and Hunky Dory was in possible danger of loosing their anchorage. Finally a 3 a.m. they motored to near where we were moored and finally got a little rest.
 
6-26-2015

Hunky Dory went back over to tour Sister Lake. This is the favorite place in this area for Jay to see bear. Not many boaters ever go in because of the narrow entry. Discovery went out to the islands around Piehle Passage and explored the area. We watched a big boat from Sitka troll for Salmon—didn’t see any catching. We were able to hear the NOAA weather report and determined that we won’t be able to leave this area until at least monday due to weather. We traveled 18.2 miles with 4.1 gal. of fuel today.


6-27

Since we are going to be in this area a few more days, we all decided to go back to Sister Lake and spend the night. We went in on the slight flood and will spend 24 hours to go out on the ebb. These tides are important when they are such significant changes. Sister Lake was so beautiful and we saw a total of 11 bears while we were there. We had a great anchorage with calm waters and a restful night. We traveled 24.1 miles and used 5.9 gal. of fuel.

6-28

We traveled 19.8 miles on 4.8 gal. of fuel today. We left Sister Lake and traveled to Khazhead moorage in Piehle Passage. This will put us in good position to leave the area early tomorrow. Phones, internet, Facebook, C-Brats—woo-hoo! Good anchorage for the night with smooth water but rain.
 
6-29 to 7-5, 2015

We travelled 45.9 miles with 14.2 gal. of fuel. Luckily we were able to get moorage in the harbor for the next 6 days. Today was beautiful weather—sunny and warm. Was rainy and foggy with 3-5 ft waves to Klokachof Island and then smooth from Salisbury Sound to Neva Strait and on to Olga Strait, and eventually into Sitka. There are 5 harbors in the area and we are in Eliason Harbor. The harbor master told us they can moor 1600 boats in this area. We are moored near the working boats and they are all busy getting ready for Salmon fishing opening on July 1st. It is so interesting to see everything that goes on in a busy harbor. There are the trolling fishing boats, the seine boats, the gill netters—and a lot of cute 25ish young men that come to work on the boats. Oh to be young again,lol. We will spend the next few days doing laundry, shopping, sight seeing, fueling and all the other things necessary for the next leg of our excursion.
 
It is raining here today. It rained all night and was windy enough that I had to get up at 2 AM and re-tie the dock lines to keep us from bumping the finger dock. Looking out through the gap in the breakwater I can see large rollers and surf on the beach. The forecast from NOAA was for 11' seas today. That's why Discovery and HunkyDory are in Sitka.

It's the second day of the Chinook Salmon opener and I'll bet it's not fun for the fishermen out in the rough seas, but you've got to make money when the fish are available for harvest. Sitka Harbor is the fifth largest by value of annual seafood harvest, in the United States.

We walked the town yesterday and did some shopping for the grandkids surprises. We had a beer and sandwich at a place called "the pub". It's a 5 mile walk to the shopping district. There is a cruise ship pier near the shopping, and you can browse the shops with hundreds of other cruisers. Not our favorite kind of shopping. We were chatting with some cruise ship passengers and they seemed surprised that you can get here in a small boat. One of the shop owners told me that it would not be safe to come in a boat less that 40 feet. She didn't know C-Dorys.

We are having a great time!!!
 
We are leaving Sitka this morning 7/5, and going north through Sergius Narrows. We expect to overnight on the hook in Baby Bear cove. Tomorrow traverse Peril Strait. Over the next week or more we will be on the north and then east side of Baranof Island, and probably out of internet contact.

It's been a good break to be on the dock in Sitka. It's interesting to be docked with the working boats and watching and talking to the fishermen. The 4th of July in Sitka was fun and a lot like the small town celebrations we are accustom to. They had at least a two hour fireworks display along the waterfront on the evening of the 3rd, vending booths and food then a parade on the 4th. I think half of the town plus the Coast Guard, including a helicopter flyover, was in the parade, while the other half of the town plus the boaters, tourists and fishermen watched.
 
It's been 11 days since we had internet in Sitka. 300 miles later we are in Petersburg, and online again. Updates to follow shortly. The speed is still not fast enough to post pictures. We have more than 500 photos to review and post a few of the best, probably when we get home in September.
 
The easiest way to do a virtual cruise with us is to look at the Delorme tracks of our path. Zoom in on the spots. You can see the topography, even the buildings and harbors. The Delorme url is in my signature.

Thanks for the comments. Dixie will resume a day to day list of the trip. She's at the laundry with Jolee and Jay. I have been cleaning up the boat and putting away the shrimp and crab gear for a few days. We all will go to Le Conte Glacier in Discovery tomorrow.

Dixie ask if we can go fast tomorrow? We have been running at displacement speed most of the trip. Our most efficient speed is at 1900 rpm on one motor at a time. That translates to 6.3 MPH on calm water. 1900 RPM burns about 1.2 GPH on the port motor and 1.5 GPH on the starboard motor. If we can go with the current, we can often get to 9 or 10 MPH. Not bad for 1.2 GPH. On the other hand if we get against the current we sometimes go 4 MPH. Still not bad for 1.2 GPH.

Tomorrow we will go 20 to 25 MPH and to hell with the fuel consumption. It'll probably go up to 9 GPH for the 50 mile round trip.
 
7-5-2015

We left Sitka this morning and backtracked up through the route we had already taken. We went up through Olga Straight and Neva Strait into the WhiteStone rapids. There we were caught by the high speed Alaska Ferry. This is a narrow waterway and the Ferry travels at about 30 knots. We moved as far to the side as possible and oriented the boats to hit the wake as best we could. The rules for controlling your wake apply to all boats—including the Ferry— and they slowed a little to cut us some slack. We crossed fine and appreciated the friendly nature of the captain. We haven’t always received that courtesy from some of the larger boats. We had rough water across Salsbury Sound and all the way to Sergis Narrows. We choose to go through Canoe Pass and even with the strong current of 5.5 knots ebbing, we powered through and made it just fine to Baby Bear Cove on Peril Strait. Traveled 34.2 miles and had a good night with no wind.

7-6

56.1 miles today from Baby Bear Cove to Ell Cove on the Chatham Strait. Brent caught a 10 lb. Coho just as we got to Ell Cove. Nothing like having fresh salmon on the barbecue. Today we saw Orcas, and hump back whales and lots of dall porpoises. We had smooth water and favorable winds all day today. This scenery is just spectacular. This bay was not too favorable to taking the dog to shore. It was a case of picking a spot, climbing up the boulders, and telling Rusty to do his thing on the top of the rock. Good thing Rusty is adaptable.
 
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