Friday, August 21, 2009

Mood Indigo ...Over




August 18
In the last few days we crossed into US waters and checked through customs at Friday Harbor. We stayed in the Marina for the night and Bill (Mike's - 1st mate earlier on the adventure) met us for a few days of rest, relaxation and lots of laughter. We anchored at Doe Harbor and went ashore and hiked on Doe Island.

August 18th we dropped Bill in Anacortes to return home and we are continuing to Bellingham.

We have had an amazing adventure. It is hard to put into words all the incredible sights, sounds, smells and experiences we have had. I know I speak for all of us that got to experience this adventure, (Jim, Brian, Bill, Evan and Mike).

After 60 days together on the boat Mike and I still even really like each other...at least I think he likes me?

Just a minute let me yell to him..."Mike did you have a great time and do you still like me?" "Yep, he is giving me a thumbs up - later when I pull the dinghy in to throw him his dinner I will ask him again." We've been getting along just great!!!

Thanks for tagging along with Mood Indigo. Until next time...this is Mood Indigo - over!

Restricted Area??

August 14
We are in the Strait of Georgia more big water and today we have 3 foot, choppy seas with winds up to about 15 knots, nothing the boat can't handle, but uncomfortable to be in for too long. Mike tried to set a course to keep things smooth as I made breakfast. We noticed out the window that some military planes were flying very low and in the middle of the strait there is a large boat anchored - that is unusual. Mike knows we are close to the Military Explosive Canadian Torpedo range which periodically is closed for military operations. Mike casually says, "They are probably going to bomb that boat." I respond, "I hope they don't make a mistake and go for us." I almost have breakfast ready when I see a zodiac boat come zooming in on our stern and guess who? Oh, just some fellas from the Canadian Navy and they aren't dropping in for breakfast. Mike steps out and they tell us we ARE in the restricted area and it is closed today - WHOOPS. We quickly change course as the breakfast dishes start crashing and things get jostled around as we take the bumpy course out of the restricted area. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the guys, they didn't appear to be very friendly. Later I notice that Mike had taped up the Canadian flag last night because it was flapping in the wind - I don't think they appreciated our lack of patriotism for their country or maybe us trespassing into their military zone.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Orca Whales





August 10
Whales - Orca Whales! Heading South on Johnstone Strait there is a bight called Robson Bight, it is a whale preserve. The Orcas frequent the bay to rub against the sand and gravel bottom to rid their bodies of parasites and because, it just feels good. The preserve is closed to motoring vessels and open to kayakers. We see kayakers all up and down the area around Robson and we see a huge pod of 15-20 Orcas's, all sizes including one huge male with a dorsal fin that curves up into the sky like a windy road. We observe them "fishing" they are lined up moving down the coastline. They stop and splash around a bit, but they are definitely on the search for food, salmon or seals are their preferred dinner, but their have also been sightings of orcas's finding a bear or moose crossing the water and attacking and eating them. Mike wants to know if I would like to get out and kayak - no thanks! We stop the engine and they glide very close to the boat and as they dive you wonder where will they come up? And then, this dorsal fin starts to surface, like a submarine's telescope and he is right in front of the boat, his back end must have been under the bow - he is magnificent.

August 11
Planning to get somewhere by boat, in these waters takes some thought. If we leave at a certain time we can catch the right current, but that would put us at the whirlpool at the wrong time, so you adjust. You have to watch the tides, sometimes at a very low tide there is not enough water to leave your anchorage and then on top of all that - you think you have it figured out. You get up at 4:30 AM, slurp down some coffee, gulp down some oatmeal, pull up the anchor and start the engine and go around the island and there is fog! Not your wispy, misty fog your thick pea soup fog - thank goodness for radar. We see a big, moving island on our radar screen, no, beg your pardon it is a huge cruise ship. You have heard of Norwegian and Carnival Cruise Ships - we have no idea what this ship is called, it slipped right by us - let's just call it the Foghorn Cruise, as the shadow moved parallel to us it let out a resounding HHHOOKKK! We have heard this sound before, but usually it is behind us telling us to get out of the way.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Move Over

August 9

  We are heading into Port McNeil Harbor for the night.  We are motoring along minding our own business when -HOOOONNNKKK!  Something right behind us honked at us and it sounded like a freight train, it's not a freight train just a HUGE cruise ship about ready to mow us over.  The radio had gotten turned to a different station, so the ship wasn't able to radio us and so we got the big honk.  We quickly moved out of their way, but we did notice as we slipped behind them that the ship was leaning to the port side.  We think it was all of the cruisers hanging over the rails watching the drama unfold in front of them! Luckily, we out maneuvered them and rode the huge wake into the harbor.  For Mike's late birthday present I am considering getting rearview mirrors for the boat.

Starfish and Urchins




August 5
We are in Shearwater. I small little village that is busy with summer boating traffic. We can't get to the dock, so we anchor outside the harbor. We go in and take a shower and feel refreshed. We stop by the local watering hole and have dessert and a drink. We met a nice man (Bob) that is anchored near us and it is his birthday, so we invite him for a drink to celebrate his birthday. Little did we know that later we would meet him again - knock, knock, knock - who is knocking on the boat at 12:30, it is Bob and our boats are dancing a little too close together in the middle of the night. We get up Mike makes some adjustments on our anchor. It is now...August 6th - Happy Birthday Mike, what a way to start his birthday.

August 6
We decide to go outside of Price Island and down to Calvert Island. On the way we see whales near us and stop to enjoy. We decide to fish a little off the coastline and see thousands of birds. When the birds find bait fish on the surface the ruckus begins, screeching and squawking. We move a little closer and all of a sudden we are surround by fins, fish are flipping and diving all around us - they are black cod fish. We put our lines in the water, to hopefully catch salmon, but these cod fish are biting at anything. I hang my lure over the boat just touching the water and they are jumping out of the water to get it - it was a feeding frenzy. We celebrated Mike's birthday with a boatmade (toaster oven) lemon tart and a fun day on the water. Anchor in Adam's cove.


August 7
Got up early - not too early and tried our luck at fishing from the dinghy. On our way out of the cove at low tide, we noticed the incredible sea creatures clinging to the rocks. The tide change was at least 20 feet and the most beautiful creatures were peeking from the water; red sea urchins, some spotted, large and small, colorful star fish all wrestled together and white puffy sea anemones. So beautiful, we wanted to suit up and scuba dive, until we remembered we weren't in Hawaii. We fished for a few hours and caught a few rock fish, saw some seals slumbering on the rocks. Later, we went on a search for a beach that would take us to a resort. Mike promised me lunch at the resort. We found the beach - white sand, sea shells and crashing waves. The sand was like flour between our toes. Then we decided to find the trail, first idea was over the logs - no luck, next idea was the other end of the beach, no luck. Third idea follow the wolf tracks in the sand- no thanks. Last idea, look closely at where those buoys are hanging on the trees - BINGO! We walked on a rough trail through the woods, of course Mike didn't think we needed our "Bear Go Away Bag", but I snuck a fog horn along and I sang Christmas tunes the entire way. We finally came out on another beach - no resort, no lunch and thank goodness - no bears or wolves! Incredible anchorage, the rocks had varying colors of moss and seaweed, it was like gazing at an artist's canvas surrounded by water.

Eagles and Beautiful Scenery





August 3
Heading south on Whale passage and then into Campania Sound and down Laredo Channel. Sunny day with some wind - the wind is usually right on our stern, not good sailing weather. Along the way we see a group of 5-8 eagles swooping down from their perches along the shoreline and "fishing" in the sound. It might be a training session since we see about 4 eaglets that are also trying to catch fish. We stop and watch for a few minutes. We also see a few whales today. Catch a glimpse of a humback's tail taking a deep dive.

Jumping Fish Cove - That is the name I am giving it because we were surrounded by jumping, spinning, splashing Silvers. They were begging us to catch them. So, we "mooched" basically means,you fish off the boat. We would drop our hooks to the bottom and slowly reel it in. The fish were not much interested in our mooching, they were too busy jumping. At the end of the cove was a creek, we could hear the waterfall back in the forest, we think the fish were getting ready to spawn up the creek. Maybe the Silvers didn't like my fishing position. I want to sit back and relax and rest the pole and enjoy the experience. Mike would like me to stand up and hold the tip down and support the pole and "feel the fish" all I felt was my back getting tired and my arms aching. That technique is just not working for me. I like to sit on the pilot house with one leg up supporting the pole on my knee, one hand lightly holding the pole, so I don't get a arm or hand cramp, while my eyes gaze out over the sparkling water, wind blowing my hair, sun on my back and drinking a Mike's Lemonade - that works for me!


August 4
Rudolf Bay is on the rugged coastline of Price Island. It is the only anchorage on the west coast of the island. It sounds easy enough to get to, just go through a maze of rocks and anchor. The book wasn't clear about what side of the island to go on a the charts aren't real complete in this area. We swerved and manuvered through the myraid of rocks, kelp and with the extreme tides we weren't sure we would have enough water under us, so we better leave now while the tide is still high enough to get out - but no, the fog is rolling in and we have to stay. We find another deeper place to anchor and we are here. It turns out to be absolutely gorgeous. The rocks are huge, jagged and tower over us. We take a dinghy ride around the area and take the GPS to check out the depths, so we can find our way out safely. Later in the evening we heard wolves howling and loons singing, every anchorage has something special to offer.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Float Plane Ride






July 31

  Mike had wanted me to see Kyutemazeen Bear Preserve, but we didn't want to go back North to go up the channel, so we went by float plane.  We waited till the early morning fog had lifted and flew over the mountains to the Bear Preserve.  We landed near a floating lodge, called Palmerville lodge.  The lodge is quite rustic, everything is made out of rough hewed logs that have been varnished.  Greg Palmer is the local expert on bears and his 9 year old son lives with him in the summer and sells cookies.  After landing Mike and I loaded into Greg's boat and proceeded up strait.  We saw two grizzly bears.  The first bear was eating grass in a field next to the beach the other bear was looking for fish in a creek.  The plane ride was exhilarating, going over the mountains that we have been looking up at was a special gift.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Mood Indigo joins the fishing fleet




July 27 Gardner Cove
Long day, we are now in the waters around Dixson Entrance and we can feel the ocean swells. We went around the south side of Prince of Wales and ducked into a beautiful serence cove called Gardener Cove. It is very rocky, but pristine. It is hot out - almost hot enough to jump in and cool off. Instead we have a cold outdoor shower on the stern.

July 28 Foggy Bay
Last stop in Alaska, tomorrow we will be in Canadian waters.

July 29
Prince Rupert here we come. Gorgeous trip down Chatham Strait - we try to sail, but not enough wind. We stop the boat and have a wonderful lunch and relax before we get back to civilization. When we get in to Prince Rupert harbor we are in for a surprise. It is so full you need to "raft" with other boats. As we pull in the wind is whipping up and we hear on the radio there are gale warnings for Prince Rupert Strait and there appears no place to dock. Finally, some nice guys tell us to tie up to an old fishing boat. By the looks of the boat it hasn't been out fishing for a long time and won't be moving any place soon. We tie up next to him and he is tied up to another boat, who is tied up to another boat. We are actually 4 boats away from the dock. We will stay in Prince Rupert for another night and then we will continue south.

Craig, Alaska





*Before we left Craig we heard about a local artist that works with Alaska Stones and creates amazing creations. We called and he (Gary) happened to be at the studio and agreed to let us come see his work. When we got there we noticed immediately how talented he was, and then we saw a book that we had bought a few days earlier. He asked me how I liked the writing in the book and I told him we had only read one story about a sailboat getting stuck in Rocky Pass and how we had just come through Rocky Pass. I was busy looking around and Gary continued to ask me questions about the book and Mike was laughing. (While I was looking, Gary showed Mike the book and pointed to the author's name.) Come to find out - the artist, Gary, is the same person, he not only wrote the book, but he also had the sailboat adventure. He was actually in Rocky Pass to look for some rare rocks. We got some beautiful things at his studio and if you ever go to Craig, Alaska you must go and see his work. We also found out that he lives part of the year near Bellingham - it really is a very small world.


Sunday, July 26 - We are back on the boat and it must be at least 70 degrees. The sky is blue and we are heading south. We have a short stretch of water to go through called the Tlevak Narrows. We are getting pretty good at this type of navigation and Mike has figured out the best time to go through...well we thought. Come to find out the current that was supposed to run through at about 2.5 knots was actually running 6.5 plus. The Mood Indigo usually travels around 6.5-7.0 knots. We were only traveling about .2 knots - that is almost standing still as the water rushes past and the whirlpools whirl. I was down below when Mike called to me and ask me to put on my life vest. Not a good sign! I joined Mike outside and we were not going anywhere fast, but he kept with it and slowly we came out of the narrows. Yikes! I think we will head for big open water tomorrow!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Fish Stories



July 23 


It is evening and  we had an early dinner.  Fish are jumping everywhere.  I ask Mike about going fishing and he agrees, we should gie it a try.  Mike has a "technical gadget" for most things and for fishing he has the "fish finder" ...unfortunately - Julie unplugged it before it was charged.  I told him I didn't need it - we were going to catch a fish.  After about 10 minutes I felt a nibble on my pole.  I pulled on the rod and started reeling.  The fish was giving me a good fight, jumping all over the place,  but I kept the tip up and kept going.  I finally got the fish to the dingy and we realized - we forgot the net.  Oh well, Mike will just grab it with his hands and he does, so we have a fish flipping all over the boat and we notice the fish isn't on the hook - it is tangled in the line and I still have another fish on the line.  I keep reeling and Mike was pulling the line and in comes fish number two!  Mike grabs the second Silver and we pull in 25 pounds worth of fish from one line and one hook - what a fish story to tell.  Of course, we have the pictures to prove it!




July 24-26 Craig Alaska

  We find moorage at the North Harbor in Craig.  We have lots of laundry to do and also some shopping.  We stumble onto a lovely B&B and stay for 2 nights.  Right now I am typing on the the bed looking out over the Bay, watching Eagles carrying fish, the sun setting in the pink sky with the crescent moon above and whales blowing their spouts in the distance.  Tomorrow we head down the coastline and get ready to cross Dixon Entrance.  We will update you when we can.  


Thanks for following our adventure with us.  We wish we could share more with all of you.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Keku Strait




July 22
We left Kake and after much deliberation decide to try a very tricky pass, Keku Strait. Many of our books said it was "dooable" and others said we should get some local knowledge. Kake's harbor didn't seem too full of local knowledge, so we decided to try it and we did it! Mike was busy at the wheel going in and out of shallow areas and kelp beds. We heard a new sound come from the boat - the sound of kelp being pulverized by the propeller. We were happy to come out the other side! I was able to work on my radio skills and call in a Securite call. Before transiting through a narrow channel boats call and let other boaters know of your whereabouts. As always, give a microphone, telephone or a radio and I become a wanta be karaoke character! **Just today, I read a story about a sailboat that tried Rocky Pass and got stuck high and dry on a rock for 12 hours - thank you, Mike for getting us through safely!!



Another big decision...do we go outside and down the west side of Prince of Wales Island or go down the east side which would lead us back to the "traditional" Inside Passage? We both wanted to go outside and see something different, but what about the weather? We could get stuck somewhere and not make progress south...oh, well - who wants to go home anyway? We took a left (outside) and found calm, beautiful water and some whales - all signs that we chose the right route. We then entered a narrow strait - Shakan strait, to Dry Strait to El Capitan, We are now tucked in to Devilfish Cove and the rain is trickling down the boat and we are relaxing and enjoying the daily life of traveling and living on a boat. It is peaceful, relaxing and a wonderful place to be spending our summer.


We find moorage at the tip of Prince of Wales Island in Wooden Wheel Cove. A sweet little settlement that has no roads that go to the town. Everything is built on a boardwalk and the best way to get around is in your dingy. We meet the "colorful" Alaskan fishermen on the dock and have a quiet evening.

Red Bluff





July 19th
Red Bluff - We are ready to check our shrimp pot, but before we can a couple of men dingy over and ask if we hit their pot yesterday on our way in to anchor. Of course we didn't, but they had thought we had hit theirs, and put ours there to repay them. Mmmm, interesting idea - but NO! They gave us our shrimp pot and informed us it had no shrimp in it - but theirs had 135!. I was practically salivating thinking about the shrimp, I even asked if we could buy some from them. No, they weren't for sale. Now we have no shrimp and our pot isn't even reset. Well, you can imagine the story I concocted about those ....guys. Well, a few hours later we heard the putt-putt of a dingy and there is one of the men with cleaned shrimp and an offer to reset our pot. Mmmm, what will we have for dinner tonight - Humble pie and Shrimp. From now on we will call this cove - Humble Shrimp Cove.

July 20th
Eagles, eagles and more eagles. At the end of our cove, where the stream meets the water of the cove the eagles are meeting. We aren't sure what they are meeting about, but something is going on. We count at least 40, huge adults and some younger eaglets. They are all just standing around or perched on stumps - we keep waiting for something exciting to happen, but there doesn't seem to be much excitement - except us on the boat, going crazy over seeing them everywhere. Later in the day we pulled up our shrimp pot and...no shrimp. Maybe we can "borrow" some from another pot and reset it with new bait. We pulled up the boat that had obviously been there for a long time. We found a stone fish in the pot with his mouth full of shrimp - Stone fish are very poisoness, so we carefully sent him back to the sea and "borrowed" a few shrimp for us....Ssshhh don't tell. We think the trap may have been lost or abandoned, so really we helped that poor fish and those shrimp, they were either going to be eaten by the fish or by us...might as well have been us! I even cleaned the little buggers later. Pulling their heads off was the worst part. There bulgy eyes kept looking at me, until we put them in the freezer for awhile to "cool off".

July 21
We moored in Kake last night. We had to carefully choose what dock to tie up to, because most of the docks were leaning to one side or the other. Kake's dock needs some repair - like most of the boats on the dock. We walked to the SOS store and arrived 10 minutes before closing. We grabbed supplies quickly and walked back to the boat.

Warm Springs





July 15th
Anchored again near Piper Island and got a quick peek of the grizzly cubs that we had seen about a week ago. We tied to a moorage buoy - that is the easy way to go. The next morning we got up and dingyed around the island and saw the cubs again - no mama bear! It was a beautiful morning on the water.

July 16
Headed towards Peril Strait, past Sergius Narrows, Poison Cove and Deadman's Reach. Sounded ominous to us...but come to find out the reason it is named such frightening names was back in 1799 during the Russian occupation some Aleut hunters were on their way from Sitka to Kodiak, when they found and ate quantities of mussels and later over 100 of them died from paralytic shellfish poisoning. No seafood for us for dinner tonight! Actually, we did try a new halibut recipe given to us by a lady in Sitka. She told us to boil the halibut in Sprite and it would taste like lobster - and it kinda did!!

July 17

We came to the aid of a sailing vessel today. A couple from San Francisco radioed that they were having difficulties with their engine. We were following them to a secure anchorage - just in case their engine quit. We had to retrace our direction, but they were so thankful not to be left alone out here. The search and rescue boat finally met us and escorted them to a safe harbor. We turned around and headed for Baranoff Warm Springs. We arrived about 7:00 pm to a beautiful little village set right next to a thunderous waterfall. We anchored near the entrance to the salt lagoon and near the falls. A very popular place with lots of fishing boats at the dock. Lovely evening and lots of activity to watch. I am beginning to get quite good at using my binoculars and concocting stories about our fellow boaters. My idea of a "boaters soap opera", Mike is thrilled.

July 18
Got up and decided to hike up to the Warm Springs. We pulled on our rubber boots and walked up the board walk through the beautiful, lush forests to a small, rooty path that led out to some rock pools. There was a fisherman from Lopez already enjoying a soak, but we quickly joined him and it was ...hot. There were a few different pools that led closer and closer to the waterfall. The last pool was about as big as a tire and deep and if you laid with your rear end in the pool you could reach your arms out over the cliff and feel the power of the waterfall cascading past you, with the spray misting the air and cooling off your face - what a feeling. There are some things you just put in your "happy" memory bank and they will always be there - I will always remember what joy I felt experiencing the waterfall at Baranoff. Before we left we dingyed through a shallow passage into the salt lagoon. Through the narrow passage we saw the most beautiful sea anemonies on the bottom. We left later in the day and motored down the coastline to Red Bluff Bay. We arrived late and set our shrimp pot. We anchored in a cove full of waterfalls. The waterfalls came off every mountain in our sight - I do love waterfalls.

Sitka





July 10-15 Sitka

We arrived in Sitka and could not get into the harbor, so we anchored outside the harbor waiting for a slip to open up. We stayed at the Westmark Hotel - to have a night off the boat and stretch out a little in a "real" bed. Mike's back has been bothering him since Glacier Bay, we hope a few days on solid ground will help him feel better. Sitka is a beautiful city. It is very historical and has museums and cultural centers throughout the town. Also, it has a beautiful Totem Pole Park that we visited. Evan got a chance to go out on a chart boat to catch "the big one". We are all staying in a sweet little bed and breakfast called Alaska's Ocean View. We had dinner last night on our deck with a beautiful view. We have enjoyed Sitka! Evan flies home tomorrow and we will head home...it will just take us a little longer to get there!! As we go back to the wilderness - it might be a bit before you hear from us on the blog again - at some point I will catch up our adventures. (Finally, getting a chance to update - it is now July 25th). Hope everyone is enjoying summer - we are!

Monday, July 13, 2009





July 5th
Sandy Cove Anchorage - biting flies- ouch! Looked for Brown Bears, but no bears.

July 6th
Early kayak ride in Sandy Cove with Evan.

Moored on the dock at Glacier Bay. Mike and I stayed at the lodge for the evening. We all had a nice dinner at the lodge. Evan and I each had a whole crab - delicious.

July 7th Whales, whales and more whales! We were on Adolpho Point and we saw humpbac k whales in the distance and I got lots of good pictures of black specks and water. We were just leaving when they started to come right towards our boat. Evan had the camera and started to shoot. Wow! They came right at our boat and then started to play. Flapping tails and fins back and forth at each other. Vocalizing and spouting it was so amazing and then the breaching - and Evan caught the breaching! It was spectacular. Evan also caught a few more halibut - they are tough fish. Even after being hooked, gafted and beat over the head they keep squirming around in the cooler. We moored at the quaintest little cove. Elfin Cove, the town is completely made up of boardwalks. We walked to the little store and got a few supplies. Amazing sunset and a nice hot shower in the morning.

July 9th
We spent the night in a beautiful little cove with a waterfall at the end. Things sure look different in the morning when we woke up to a very low tide. There was a huge mound of kelp on top of a rock - just 10 feet from us. The tides can change up to 30 feet up here. Watched the eagles soar over the cove looking or fish.



July 2nd
We arrive in Glacier Bay at 11:00. Mike has to go to an orientation and Evan and I check out the lodge and take a short hike through the forest. I am chatting with the manager in the restaurant to see if I can buy some milk from them and we start talking about halibut and they tell me their chef will cook our halibut for us, anyway we would like it. About 30 minutes later we were sitting down to..."The best halibut I have ever eaten," says Evan. It was delicious blackend halibut and he also made us some halibut saviche. What a treat for us. it is about 8:00 pm and we are all in short sleeved shirts the weather is unbelievably beautiful. We can see the tops of the mountains, glaciers and an occasional whale. Evan has already caught one halibut and lost a 50 pounder right at the boat.


July 4th
Happy Independence Day! We don't have any fireworks, but we did hear thunder today. The glaciers were magnificent and we sat and "glacier gazed" for hours and listened to the the massive chunks of ice falling into the sea. Evan and I took a ride in the dingy to get as close as possible to the glacier. It looks like a sea of ice and it was! A wonderful 4th of July and another hammockable day ...in front of glaciers

We anchored last night in front of Reid's Glacier. It is 130 feet tall and 9.5 miles long. We all dingyed over to take a hike in front of the glacier. Mike "futzed" with the dingy, as Evan and I walked up to the face of the glacier. It is amazing to get so close and see the colors and watch the water forming into waterfalls and cascading down the crevices and caves. We also saw big bear tracks in the stream bed - we were prepared with our bear spray and flare gun!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Evan joins the crew





July 2nd
Evan is here! We are excited to have him aboard and he is ready to fish and he wants to see glaciers. He is hoping to catch a halibut like the one in the picture. A couple caught a 380 pounder, it took 4 hours to bring it in. We are off to Glacier Bay tomorrow.

We have been in Glacier Bay for 4 glorious days. (Today it is July 7th). The pictures are amazing...but you will have to check our blog out later in the week to see the splendor. The boys are on the boat and if I don't get to the dock I might be spending more time here in Glacier Bay without them! We are headed in the direction of Sitka and plan to go the outside way - because the weather is supposed to be beautiful!