After 5 days of updating the Blog, getting squared away, contacting friends of friends as well as Klamath River neighbor Jim Purvis who has "Rustic Resort” on Prince of Whales Island, and arranging to meet with him next Wednesday at Hollis; we left the Yacht Club for a few days of cruising and exploring the east side of Prince of Whales Island.
On our way north out Tongass Narrows we stopped at the South entrance to Bar Harbor and tied Teal to the service dock to provision at nearby Safeway. With the sun shining we headed up the ramp, bought our groceries, and walked out with our overflowing shopping cart – into the RAIN. What a shocker. Of course we were not prepared for such a downpour – our cockpit hadn’t been covered, so we proceeded to unload and store our “wet” supplies. By the time we were squared away the shower passed and the sun reappeared. This taught us that in Ketchickan, one must always expect rain no matter how the sky looks at any given moment.
After turning into Clover Passage we stopped at Knudson Cove (52° 28.338’ N / 131° 47.767’ W) to check out the sparsely provisioned store, and to get hamburgers at the local lunch stand.
We went into Naha Bay Tied to the public dock (55° 35.374’ N / 131° 37. 185’ W) near Loring and took a nice hike up to Roosevelt Lagoon. Over the years, many have taken their skiffs through the tidal rapid at high water and into the lagoon and left them along the shore for more convenient access, some were left with motors. We didn’t see anyone on the lake that day, but we enjoyed our walk along the boardwalk on the west end of the Lagoon. It was a nice quiet afternoon.
August 27
We awoke to turquoise-colored jet-drive tour boats bringing tourists into the entrance to the tidal rapid to check out the spawning salmon no doubt… maybe looking for bears…
We left Loring mid morning and headed for prawning/crabbing spots in Traitors Cove our Klamath River neighbor and long time resident of Ketchikan, Pete Haynes had marked on our charts.
George bought a 2-week Alaska fishing license that becomes effective today at noon. On our way into Traitors Cove, we set the prawn trap (actually called “shrimp” in Alaska as opposed to the Canadians being very specific that it’s “prawn”, as they are also very specific about calling the King Salmon of Alaska "Chinook" Salmon in Canada.
We docked along side the tourist floatplanes at the public dock at Marguerite Bay (52°42.231’ N / 131° 38.304’ W). They bring folks in to view bears on the trails going back into Marguerite Lake. George baited the crab trap with rock fish he had caught from the dock and set the trap out in the bay. Later that afternoon there was a chop coming into the dock so we moved to the mooring out by the island for the night. It was a full moon and eclipse, which we could not see because it was cloudy – no surprise!
After a tranquil night on the mooring we went out and pulled our traps: The shrimp trap had an octopus, 6 mini sand crabs, and only 4 prawns. The crab trap revealed 8 crabs, we kept the 5 largest over 7”.
We are very disappointed that the shrimp were not more abundant as we haven’t had many prawns/shrimp since we left Vancouver Island.
It was raining hard as we motor-sailed on a reach in a four-foot sea across Behm Channel and Clearance Strait. By the time we reached Prince of Whales Island the weather had settled some and the going was smooth.
We went into a little unnamed cove (55° 23.683’ N / 132° 15.063’W) and after carefully sounding the picturesque pocket behind the island in the entrance we set the anchor and settled in for the night.
The little babbling brook trickling into the cove became a full sized stream with each successive down-pour, and by bedtime it was a roaring rapid
August 29
We awoke to a 20-foot tide drop and our picturesque anchorage turned into a wall of rock with a puddle left for Teal. We worked our way out of the cove in between towering rocks that were not visible when we went in.
We had about 20 miles to reach Hollis and our meeting with Jim Pervis.
We no more tied Teal to the public dock at Hollis (55° 28.923’N / 132° 38.740’ W) when Jim walked up, He took us to his lodge and after we got settled we headed for a tour of his part of Prince of Wales Island (which the locals refer to as POW).
We stopped at Klawock to shop and check out the community. Our niece and nephew taught school there many years ago, so it was nice to see the area and connect it with the stories we had heard.
The Klawock Totem park is on the hill behind the school.
Jim was involved with the erection of these totems
August 30
We met Zeke Ziegler, a long time friend of Jim’s who joined us for diner, a fresh Coho Zeke had caught that day. He has built a cabin nearby. We were later to learn that most folks on POW and in Ketchikan seem to know Zeke. He’s a die hard fisherman, friendly with a great sense of humor and just happens to live in Medford, Oregon when not at Hollis.
More to Come,
George & JoAnne
