July 17, 2010 - Salmon Opening

Jockeying for position

The Fleet

12:00 Noon Salmon Opening

We just happened to be cruising up Stevens Pass just before a 24 hour salmon window opened for the purse seiners. Purse seiners have a big net they string out in a line, orange floats on either end and little white floats holding up the net in the middle. The goal is to catch salmon as they swim to their spawing grounds. They get caught as the swim upstream by swiming into the net head first. The small fish get through but the big ones are caught in the net hole and their gills get caught so they can't swim back. It obviously makes a difference where you put your net etc and each fisherman has his favorite spot. Once the floats start bobbing up and down, the assumption is that fish are caught and the fishermen start hauling in the nets.

Well on July 17th the window was opening at 12:00 noon and we were there - along with at least 40 fishing boats. Seemed like the salmon didn't have a chance - especially when we saw a humpback whale making it's way gracefully around and under the nets. (Actually I don't think humpbacks eat salmon so I am not sure what he was doing there - maybe just enjoying the commotion.) There was a lot of staking out the best position at the entrance to one small inlet, a few harsh words over the radio and then it was 12 noon and we were right in the middle of the fleet as they fired up their engines and dropped their nets. So now it was a case of making sure we didn't get caught in one of the nets just like the salmon. We made it through with only a couple of fishing boats racing towards us to warn us off and watched the nets start being hauled in. We didn't see many fish in the nets - maybe that explains the lack of free fish on the dock this year.

July 18, 2010 - Taku Cannery

Cannery machinery - John loves this kind of stuff!

new caretaker



Steam turbine engine - obviously in need of major help



Workers quarters

Floating "garden"

"Sculpture" Garden

Relaxing and waiting for bears to appear

July 11-13, 2010 - Meyers Chuck

Happy in Meyers Chuck

Purple Sea Star at low tide



Journey at the dock



Looking out to Clarence Strait at high tide

and again

installation art in the rain forest

fox gloves (not lupins!)

typical path from house to house

a bugle made from kelp

"

"Fisherboys"

Meyers Chuck

When I think about moving to Alaska and living a self sufficient life in a remote location, Meyers Chuck, 31 miles NW of Ketchikan and accessible only by boat, float plane or helicopter, is my dream location. My third visit here has only served to enhance this fantasy. Six permanent residents in the winter that grows to 30 in the summer, maybe 20 houses, a gallery with some really good art, a post office, a pay phone and that’s about it. But boy is it beautiful. Located right off one of the roughest straits of water in SE Alaska, this little harbour is a haven of quiet. When the tide is high, the harbour actually is open to Clarence Strait - just. But then the tide drops behind the reef and all is quiet again.

Now I know the chances of me moving here are next to nothing - but John started to get the vision when we met a couple from New Mexico who spend their summers in Meyers Chuck, have their own dock for their boat, a huge work shop and views to die for. We spent two sunny days in this idle - chatting with folks and kayaking around the harbour. Bliss!

July 14-15, 2010 Wrangle to Petersburg

Off loading fish in Petersburg

Vacumming the fish out of the boat and up to the processor


Our favorite boat in Petersburg - understand it has been there 15 years. Since we last saw it in 2006, someone has cleaned off some of the moss. Probably to keep it from sinking.

And John thinks he has problems with his window wipers.

King of the bouy!

July 16-17, 2010 - Whales, bergs, glaciers and the engine

Buoy at entrance to Tracy Arm Fjord - note the current and ice bergs

Glacier

Berg bigger than a couple of cruise ships combined

Sun shinning on the glacier

"Million" year old ice Ron chipped from a berg after pushing it with my kayak

- at least that's his story

Enjoying bourbon on very old "rocks"

Whales, glaciers, ice bergs and …. engine problems

From Petersburg we spent two days traversing Fredrick Sound and then Stevens Pass watching humpback whales feed on the algae rich waters. Every so often we would see them sound which meant they were diving deep for up to 10 minutes - the result would be a beautiful display of their tails as they dove with each tail looking very different. In the distance we saw a group of humpback breaching one after another and nearby a lot of tail slapping. No one seems to know why whales breach or slap their tails - lots of theory’s abound - but it is spectacular to see. It is really hard to capture these amazing creatures in photos - you just have to put down the camera and experience being in amongst them listening to the sounds they make and watching their fluid beauty.

Both straits were so calm that the water looked like mercury gently undulating around our boat and the whales which was lovely to see but also meant there was no wind. We missed one of our only chances to get the sails up and actually sail Journey due to lack of wind. So we motor on….

Our destination was Tracy Arm where we intended to travel the 20 miles up the fjord to the Sawyer Glacier and back. We entered the fjord at low tide with a knot of current behind us and anchored with about 10 other boats waiting for the morning to make the journey. (Forget what I said about their being few pleasure cruisers in Alaska - we have found them!) However, when John checked the engine oil that night he was shocked to find we had used about a gallon that day - and the engine only takes 3 gallons. We had been using oil the entire trip and some had been dripping out the exhaust, but nothing like this. We just thought that since the engine is 25 years old, it was using oil. Obviously something had changed and we had major problems.

Fortunately John had a "Eureka" moment and the problem became apparent to him. The engine oil cooler was leaking and oil was mixing with the sea water used to cool the oil so oil was coming out in the exhaust. (Probably not the way John would have explained it but I think that is the essence of the problem.) So our third trip up Tracy Arm to Sawyer Glacier was cancelled - probably a good idea as I would have hated to spill oil all the way up this pristine fjord - and we hurried directly to Juneau. We tied up at the dock as quick as we could so we could turn off the engine and call the first diesel mechanic in the phone book. Low and behold, Travis, the mechanic, came within a few hours, confirmed John’s diagnosis, tested the faulty part the next morning, ordered a replacement from Seattle that arrived at 3:00 PM the following day and we had it in our hands by 6:00 PM. John fitted it this morning and fingers crossed, all is well. This is another good reason to be married to a man who not only can pilot and navigate a boat but can fix it as well.

July 14, 2010

Grizzly or brown bear looking for salmon


Note that paw - and his claws!

Grizzly taking the plunge

Black bear fishing

One salmon got away

He ate the roe - the eagles got the rest

Black bear posing and taking a rest in a tree

Black bear running up a 90 degree wall of rock!

Looking for salmon

Think he needs a manicure

Anan Creek Bear Observatory

Finally we got a permit to visit this wildlife observatory. It only cost $10 a person but getting the permit was a quite a process that I won’t go into here. John and I visited Anan Creek 18 years ago and I really wanted to go back again this year. What a treat it was for me. We anchored the boat and went ashore with our dinghy. Then slogged up the beach to meet with a petite young ranger who took our money and told us how to act if we saw a bear on the ½ mile path up to the viewing platform. Talk or sing loudly, don’t act scared, don’t run away if they approach you, etc. Well easier said than done! And telling people to talk or sing makes it really difficult to do just that. (Since it was raining, we ended up singing “Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head” and other rainy day songs.)

As we walked up the path alongside the creek and got close to the observation platform we saw lots of bear scat (poo) and obvious places where they either bedded down or used a convenient log to scratch their backs or bums. We thought we had made it to the platform without seeing a bear but surprise was just down the bank as two grizzly's came into view. Not full grown but big enough. And they saw us too and decided to come up the bank to the path to check us out. All the singing, standing firm, looking big and not moving away from the bears too quickly went out the door as we in unison decided it was time to hightail it to the safety of the observation platform. Fortunately they didn’t follow - but a black bear almost slipped onto the platform behind us as one of us, forgot to close the gate.

It was well worth the close encounter with the two grizzly’s to be able to watch both black bears and grizzly’s fish to their hearts content, eat only the roe and then leave the eagles to clean up their mess.

July 10, 2010

If you are interested in this part of the world and reading about what we are doing written by someone, a Brit, who is a much better and more descriptive writer, this is a good book to read. Thank you Celia! I just read if for the first time and John for the second. Despite the ending, his detail about this trip north to Juneau and comparing it to what Vancouver did when he charted this area is very interesting. I found his observations put into words reflects a lot of what I feel and see in this part of the world

http://www.jonathanraban.com/book.php?id=2 or on Amazon

Klemtu - First Nations Village

Journey in foreground with Klemtu Longhouse in the background

Raven landing on boat

Longhouse totem poles

Totem poles in Klemtu village