Part XI - Warm Springs to Thoms Place

July 12,  Red Bluff Bay

We had a marvelous 2 days and 3 nights at Warm Springs and were melancholy at the thought of leaving.  Cash and I just couldn’t depart without one last hot bath early in the morning.

Fortunately the day was calm; however, steady light rain and low clouds were constantly present.  On the way into Red Bluff Bay we set 3 shrimp pots then anchored in front of a river delta at the head of the bay.  Greeting us when we arrived were 3 grizzly bears feeding on grass.  Cash and I jumped into the dinghy in an effort to get close but the bears spooked at our sight and ran into the woods.  In spite of the low clouds, we were able to see that the walls of the bay were extremely high and steep and that we were surrounded by Matterhorn like snow covered peaks.  The peaceful sound of falling water from a very high waterfall permeated the bay and lulled us to sleep at night. 

Grizzly bear at Red Bluff Bay

The Red Bluffs in front of snowcapped peaks

Red Bluff Bay waterfall

Misty mountains in Red Bluff Bay at dusk

July 13, Cannery Cove, Pybus Bay

The clouds were broken today and much higher than yesterday.  The magnificent scenery we had read about surrounded us; words can’t do it justice and catching it on film is nearly impossible.  On the way out we picked up our shrimp traps and had more than 5 gallons of prawns.  After processing and removing the heads, we still had 6 quarts of tails.

Cash and Linda empty a pot full of prawns
in Red Bluff Bay

Thankfully, Chatham Strait and Frederick Sound were glassy calm and the trip across this big water was both pleasant and beautiful.  All around us we could see snowcapped peaks surrounded by perfect clouds that served to amplify the beauty.  As we headed up Frederick Sound on the east side of Admiralty Island we started seeing whales.  Near Point Brightman we stopped to observe a whale.  While stopped, whales started surfacing all around us.  At one point there were so many whales that it was hard to decide where to point the camera.  As soon as I focused on one whale, I heard a whale exhale and shifted my attention.  Another time a whale was cruising on the surface and heading right towards us.  Cash kept telling me not to move, but I started being concerned that the whale would actually run into us.  Fortunately, the whale changed course; unfortunately it never did a deep dive while close to us.

Cash’s whale shot exemplifies SE Alaska

Deep dive

Sometimes life just isn’t fair.  Ever since Cash joined us in Ketchikan I’ve let him real in all the fish while we were trolling or halibut fishing.  Previously Cash caught three halibut weighing 78, 36, and 13 pounds so today I told him that the next one was mine.  Soon after we started fishing just outside Cannery Cove, a fish was on the line and I reeled in an 8 pound halibut – the smallest I’ve ever caught.  About 30 minutes later another fish was on the line and it was Cash’s turn.  The fish was 65 pounds. 

Cash and me with our halibut

After catching the halibut we went into Cannery Cove to anchor for the night.  This completed a full circumnavigation of Admiralty Island.  Once again it was a late night as Cash and I cleaned, filleted, and refrigerated the halibut.

July 14, Portage Bay

When last we were at Cannery Cove I found some eel grass that was unusually small for its species and thought it was an invasive species.  Not certain about the identification, I contacted a professor at the University of Washington who is studying eel grass.  Her belief was that I had found a morph (variety) of the native species but without more information she could not be sure.  My mission this morning was to examine the eel grass more closely.  I now believe she was correct and the eel grass is a small morph of the native species.

After satisfying my scientific curiosity, we traveled 35 miles on glassy calm water across Frederick Sound to Portage Bay for the night.  Portage Bay is a convenient stop-off about 25 miles from Petersburg.  It is pleasant, but lacks the spectacular scenery we have become used to.  On the way in Cash really wanted to fish so, in spite of nearly full freezers and two halibut yet to be vacuum packed, I offered him 30 minutes – he tried unsuccessfully to negotiate longer.  Linda said it was ok to fish as long as he didn’t catch anything.  Needless to say, we hardly had a hook in the water before the first salmon was on.  After landing that fish we started tolling again and promptly had a salmon on both rods.  Once again I had to catch a salmon since Cash obviously can’t handle too rods at once.  Three salmon in 15 minutes and we called it quits.

Three more salmon

The freezer on Hobbit’s bridge is now packed solid with halibut, salmon, and clams.  Not sure what we will do about the nearly full freezer in our refrigerator as we still have to freeze 6 quarts of prawns and hope to catch more salmon, prawns, and crab before getting home. 

July 15 – 16, Petersburg

Thick fog greeted us as we weighed anchor at Portage Bay.  I had to navigate our exit totally on radar and chart plotters (I had 2 running on both the bridge and lower helm).  The fog with a visibility of about 1/4 mile didn’t start lifting until just a couple of miles out of Petersburg.  There waiting to turn us into a miniature version of the Titanic was an iceberg about the size of Hobbit.  What’s an iceberg doing all the way over at Petersburg?

Iceberg in the fog

Since our visit to Petersburg in July the herring have arrived in huge numbers.  Feeding on the herring were enormous quantities of sea gulls, particularly Bonaparte’s gull, which are migrating south.  Also interested in the herring were lots of people fishing for them to use as bait.  Cash and I caught a few dozen to use in the shrimp traps.

Swarm of gulls in Petersburg

Bonaparte’s gull

July 17, Wrangell

The journey from Petersburg to Wrangell requires passage through the Wrangell Narrows which floods and ebbs from both the north and south.  The north and southbound currents meet near Green Point and, in one spot, reach 4 knots.  It is, therefore, prudent for slow boats to plan their departure so the current is flooding south from Petersburg until reaching Green Point then follow the ebb tide south out of the narrows.  Unfortunately, this necessitated a 5:30 alarm this morning.  Fortunately, the early start allowed us to make it all the way to Wrangell in one day.

One of my main objectives in Wrangell was to visit the Tsongass National Forest ranger station and try to change the date of our permit to the Anan bear observatory.  The staff was most helpful and I was able to move us forward 2 days which means we won’t have to wait around twiddling our thumbs.

July 18, Thoms Place

Today I opened up the chest freezer on Hobbit’s bridge to get some herring for prawn bait.  After removing the herring, I couldn’t fully close the lid.  It appears that I packed the freezer so full of halibut and salmon that, when it froze and expanded, it slightly lifted the lid.  There’s still a tiny slit between the freezer’s lid and body.  Hopefully the Styrofoam cover I made for the freezer will prevent any significant air exchange.

On the journey north, Cash and I set out a single shrimp trap in only 260 feet of water just outside Thoms Place.  In that trap we caught some of the largest prawns I’ve seen. Today, as we arrived at Thoms Place, we set out 3 shrimp traps in the vicinity of our previous trap.  Inside the bay we found that two commercial crabbers had littered the anchorage area with their pots which made it difficult to find a place to drop the hook.  In spite of all the commercial crab pots and the early rise tomorrow, Cash decided to set two of ours; he got two keepers.