Fishing, Just for the Halibut

We spent 6 nights at the Sitka docks.  4th of July fireworks was on Saturday the 2nd.  They began at 11:30, not quite dark but close.  We were already in bed, but got up to watch them near by.  Too much noise to sleep anyway.  Merlin our buddy boat got great news when their son & daughter-in-law came for a mini cruise.  Rod & Susan are going to be grandparents.  There is a "Dean Bean" in the oven!  Hooray for being grandparents!!!!  We did all the touristy stuff in Sitka and resupplied the boat.  Mostly cool and rainy.  Must be sunny back in Olympia! 

Sitka National Historic Park

One of the many totem in Sitka National Historic Park

The people of Sitka get ready for the 4th of July Parade.

The class of 2029 has its own float in the parade.

Heading North from Sitka we spent the night tied to a forest service buoy in Schultz Bay.  Then on to Appleton Cove where we saw our large brown bear munching grass again but this time he was on the south shore.  Baked a yummy rhubarb pie on the way.

Roxie trolls for salmon from her kayak in Schulz Bay in Peril Strait.

Turned south down the East side of Baranof Island.  Smooth waters on Chatham Strait.  A blessing, that body of water can get nasty!  More humpbacks, porpoises, and a pod of Killer whales just outside of Waterfall Cove.  The falls was spectacular.  A 400' drop down a granite face right into the saltwater.  On to Takatz Bay, our anchorage for the night.  It was also spectacular.  We anchored next to a waterfall.  There were steep granite peaks with snow fields above with trickle waterfalls from the upper melting snow and a large river flowing in at the head of the bay.  We kayaked around a bunch.  Quintessential Alaska!

Merlin passes through Waterfall Cove.

An immature eagle rests on a rock in Takatz Bay.

The stillness of the morning is a perfect time to kayak in Takatz Bay.

On to Warm Springs Bay, a delightful boardwalk community with free docks & bath houses filled by the natural hot springs close by.  The dock looked full as we approached but the boats squeezed together and there was room for both Xanadu & Merlin.  The wooden docks and floatplane float were bustling with fishermen pulling in Coho salmon (Silvers).  The fishermen said you could catch them on almost anything.  They were practically jumping onto the dock. We saw them catch a dozen or more so I went right to work.  An hour later I had landed two nice fish, each caught with a dozen fresh peanut butter cookies!  In the late afternoon we hiked up to the natural hot springs next to Baranof Falls.  Soooo amazing to sit in hot water next to a raging cold waterfall.  The next morning at high water slack I caught two more Coho.  This time I used a pole and fish hooks.  We hiked up to Baranof Lake and had lunch on a high precipice overlooking both the lake and the bay.  Back to the baths for a long tubbie.  All of the homes here are piped into the hot springs.

Roxie displays the fish she caught with peanut butter cookies.

In the galley to fillet the fish for dinner.

Rod, Roxie and Susan sit on the rocks to cool down.  What a spectacular site for a hot spring!

The waterfall in Warm Springs Bay.

Roxie fishes for salmon from the float plane dock in Warm Springs Bay.

This one was caught with hook and line.

John takes care of cleaning Roxie's fish.

Baranof Lake supplies the water for the falls.

Our hike to the lake lead us to a view of Warms Springs Bay and Chatham Strait beyond.

The public bath house has three tubs available for soaking in hot spring water.

Next stop Red Bluff Bay where we experienced culture shock.  Our first month we saw practically no other boats. Our second month we sometimes shared our anchorages with one other boat.  Imagine the shock to anchor with one other boat in a beautiful secluded bay and then have 8 other boats drop their anchors where you are!  And ALL of them larger (one over 100' long). The dingies were zinging around and the passengers were molesting the bears on shore.  Ruined my previously fond memories of Red Bluff.  The next morning the harassed bear made a unnoticed (except for Rod with Katie Dog on the same beach) passage behind our boat back to the bear grass meadows.  Picked up a nice mess of shrimp on the way out.  

The approach to Red Bluff Bay shows why it was so named.

The snowcapped peaks of Baranof Island.

We enter our anchorage under the peaks in Red Bluff Bay.

The meadows behind Roxie are where brown bear are often seen.

A grizzly pauses his grass munching to look at the yellow kayak behind him.

I moved in slowly and quietly in my kayak to get this closeup of a grizzly bear feeding on grass by the water.

The spectacular falls in Red Bluff Bay.

The wind is from the northwest and we need to cross Chatham Strait abeam the 4'+ swells. Kitty got seasick. We diverted to Chapin Bay on the south side of Admiralty Island. Beautiful, sunny & warm tucked just inside Chapin. Walked the beaches looking for drift treasures.

Chapin Bay on a warm Alaska day.

Beach coaming on the shores of Chapin Bay.

Roxie cools her heels.

Early the next morning we took Xanadu out for Halibut Fishin'.  Up about 5am so we could be ready to pull in fish at the tide change.  We anchored in the perfect location (flat shell & sand bottom) but realized that low water slack was not slack current.  Halibut are lazy and only look for snacks when the water is easy to navigate.  More calculations and we realized we were an hour early.  Lashed the baited pole to the rails and went to brew a cup of tea.  Right at the appointed time the first halibut took the bait.  We pulled in a nice 14lb. fish.  We rebaited and less than one minute passed before the pole was bent 180 degrees & trying to exit the rail.  This was no light weight halibut. It took us 30 minutes of hard work to bring it to the swim step.  For a while John thought it had wrapped the line around a rock because we were making no headway on reeling it in.  When we finally had it hanging in the cockpit we measured the length and it was 56".  That put our halibut at 87lbs.  Not the 95lb weight of the halibut we got 3 years ago, but this one was definitely younger and more energetic.  We diverted to Lord's Pocket where it took 4 hours to fillet and process the meat.  Sunny & warm.  John got sunburned working outside on the fish. Fresh halibut for dinner and the rest in the freezer.  We will be eating fish for a while.  Definitely paid for our Alaska fishing license!

John fights the big one.

56 inches of halibut.  The challenge is getting it in the boat.

The block and tackle on the end of the boom is used to hoist the 87 pound fish into the boat.

Roxie had the brains and talent to catch these fish.  John supplied the muscle.

Cleaned and packaged for the freezer.  It took only 4 hours, but it was well worth it!

Drizzly & misty for our run down Rocky Pass.  Out into Sumner Strait where the wind and waves were nukin'! We diverted to No Name Bay where we crept in through uncharted waters. 

The next morning we said good-by to Merlin.  Our courses are diverging.  Xanadu is headed for the protected passages on the west side of Prince of Wales Island.  Merlin is heading for Clarence Strait and the east side of Prince of Wales.  We will meet up again at Prince Rupert.