Part
1, April 2005 Cruise News
Hi
everybody:
W= e got back from California on April 1st. We're not sure what we expected with the weather in April but this surely wasn't it.... I had visions of taking long walks every SUNNY morning to work off the pounds we acquired while in California. NOT!!!
|
|
|
The weather had started to deteriorate in California before we left and it wa= sn't the greatest on our return ferry trip from Bellingham to Sitka. But this much snow we didn't expect. It didn't last long and only stuck= to the ground for a day. This photo was taken from the inside of our b= oat looking toward shore.
We were
hoping to be back in Sitka before the annual herring run. Alas, it =
was
not to be as we missed the opening by a few days. The herring fishe=
ry
is known as "combat fishing". The opening is announced a =
day
in advance, then an opening warning is given one hour in advance.&nb=
sp;
The boats cannot set a net before the appointed hour nor have a net in the
water after an appointed hour. The opening is extremely short,
sometimes only 20 minutes. Thousands of dollars can be made in a ma=
tter
of minutes if you happen to be in the right place. Some of the boats
have spotter airplanes to help them find the herring. We missed the
opening but we did not miss the herring spawn. The females release
their eggs in the shallows and the males fertilize them, turning the wate=
rs a
milky color. Totally awesome! |
|
|
|
Almost immediately after the snowfall, the weather started to improve with sunny Spring days. This was the sunset on April 7th.
On
April 10th, we left the harbor for a short shakedown cruise through Peril
Strait to Hoonah Sound stopping at a few anch=
orages
on the way. Luckily we decided to take this little jaunt because we
found some things not working correctly like the depth sounder/fishfinder for the dinghy. Can't be without
that. We also tested out our new ice chest sized freezer. IT
WORKS! |
|
|
|
Our
first anchorage was Bear Bay. We had not been there before and we a=
re
sure glad we took it real easy on the first try getting in. We star=
ted
to enter the anchorage (see red "boat" in 14 fathom area) betwe=
en
the top of Bear Bay Island and the rock above it thinking there woul=
d be
plenty of water. Think again. We got to midway between the 7 =
and
3.1 fathom marks and had 2 (yes, two) feet under the keel. We backed
out of there real quick and went in at the top of the small island in the=
6.2
and 4.2 and 3.1 fathom areas keeping well away from the underwater rocks
(asterisks with dots around them---more on them later). We finally =
made
it in safe and sound and anchored for the night. |
|
|
|
We had
heard from a friend that we could catch king crab in Bear Bay and we sure
did. As non-residents, however, we can't keep them. This was a
first for us. We caught several king crab in the crab ring but they
were too small to be legal for resident fisherpersons. This one
measured 6.5 inches across the body. Keepers must be 7 inches. =
; We
are dying to try king crab. Neither one of us have ever eaten it.&n=
bsp;
We did catch one dungeness that we were able =
to
keep. |
|
|
|
These
are the "asterisk" rocks at low tide. They are covered at
high tide. Not anything we want to hit. |
|
|
|
The
next day, we left the Bear Bay anchorage and headed to Hoonah Sound. This chart shows Hoonah
Sound. The Sound at the longest point (North Arm) is 20 miles. We s=
pent
three nights in three different anchorages. |
|
|
|
The
next day in Hoonah Sound brought sunshine and=
clear
skies. We pulled the two prawn traps we set the afternoon before.&n=
bsp;
The prawn traps weren't full but..... |
|
|
|
we
filled a 5 gallon bucket (this is not all of them). |
|
|
|
We
found several small pods of humpback whales in Hoona=
h
Sound. We set two prawn traps for the night and headed for Fick Bay. We anchored in Fick
Bay and tried our crab ring again but no luck. |
|
|
|
The
next day, the sun was shining again and there were small pods of whales
everywhere so we decided to whale watch and troll for salmon at the same
time. |
|
|
|
We had
some great encounters with whales |
|
|
|
and saw
lots of wonderful tails. |
|
|
|
The bad
news was that we didn't catch a salmon while trolling but the good =
news
is we did catch AND LAND our first halibut. Up until now, the halib=
ut
we've hooked have been too big to eat or were too damned big to get into =
the
boat. This one was small but plenty for a few meals. This fish
was caught trolling a needlefish spoon (king salmon food fish). So,
between the whale watching, prawning and fish=
ing,
with sunshine mixed in we had a great Alaska day!!! |
|
|
|
While cocktailing in our anchorage we watched the only other boat in Hoonah Sound pull his prawn traps. We counted= well over 10 prawn traps and then gave up. Fortunately for him, Alaska residents can daisy chain up to 10 prawn traps per line and there were th= ree people on this boat. Obviously, they had a pot puller. Residents can catch as many prawns as they like. As non
residents, we are limited to 10 pounds per license. We came away fr=
om Hoonah Sound with well over our 20 pound limit (2
licenses). We're having a peel and eat prawn dinner with some frien=
ds
when we get back to Sitka. |
|
|
|
The
next morning was also beautiful. We had set two crab traps at the h=
ead
of a bay last night. This morning, Chuck is pulling the crab traps =
and
I'm admiring the scenery. Bad back for me don't ya
know? |
|
|
|
We
came away with nine huge dungeness
crabs. |
|
|
|
We
spent the rest of the day trolling at 2 knots from one end of Hoonah Sound to another. We didn't catch any =
fish
but we enjoyed the scenery (more whales today but not as many as yesterda=
y)
and the sunshine. We anchored in the north arm of Hoonah
Sound very near a beautiful waterfall. |
|
|
|
April
15th brought more sun and more crabs. We anchored last night outsid=
e of
Hoonah Sound in Peril Strait in Appleton
Cove. It turned out to be another great place to catch crab. =
This
is a bucket of 10 cleaned crab ready for the cooking pot. |
|
|
|
We
headed back Peril Strait toward Sitka on the 14th. The weather rema=
ined
great until the afternoon when high winds came in. We anchored in
another new anchorage called DeGroff. S=
mall
and protected!! |
****END PART 1