2017-05-19 Trout fishing on Margaret Lake

At least once a summer I like to do a trout fishing trip up on Margaret Lake.
It is about a mile up the logging road from the USFS dock in Marguerite Bay, in Traitor's Cove.
I go there a lot.

For this trip my crew was 12 year old grandson Tyler, and step-son Steven Doran and his fishing buddy Eddie.

We left from town on Friday morning.
The weather was terrific.
Sunny, warm, and calm seas.
You couldn't ask for better conditions.

We made our way out there and while we were underway the crew prepared our 2 crab pots and our 3 shrimp pots.

Once we got into Traitor's Cove we dropped the shrimp pots in about 400' of water just before the last turn into the bay.

We dropped both crab pots in front of the lagoon, just a quarter mile or so from the USFS dock.

We tied up to the dock at about noon.
The only other boat there was a small USFS skiff.
We later spoke with them and learned that they had a small crew out there working and that they had been there since Tuesday.

This is the cabin they use when they are in the area.
Pretty nice digs.
They had a small Honda generator running and we could see lights on inside.
Not sure how many of them were there, but the skiff was pretty small.

We had a quick lunch, got our gear together, and made our way up the road.
I use my collapsible rolling cart with bicycle wheels to carry all the heavy gear, like the small outboard for the skiff, spare fuel, etc.
Steven and Eddie dragged that cart up the road and I didn't have to do anything.
It's one of the few benefits of getting older - the young guys do stuff for you.

We got up to the location of the skiff and got it set up with the small outboard that we brought.

Fishing was fantastic.
Almost no one has a way to get out on the lake so the trout are hungry.

There is a gravel bar at the far end of the lake, and that is where we set up temporary home base.

Here's the skiff we use for this trip.
My former boss at First Bank put it up here, but he lets me use it a couple times a year.
Thanks to Len for lending me the little outboard we used for this trip.

Here are some pictures from the first afternoon and then next morning, before the rainy season started.

Eddie gets one of the first trout of the afternoon

Steven tries his luck from the gravel bar

Tyler fishing off the gravel bar - almost over his boots

Tyler fishes off the big log.
My balance is no longer true enough to do that.
He didn't even give it a second thought - just jumped right up there, started walking along it and fishing.

We were careful to abide by size and possession limits.

Tyler shows off the trout that we kept

We left the motor on the boat as we intended to fish the next day as well.

We made our way back down the logging road to the boat where I cooked a dinner of spaghetti.
The weather was so nice I just cooked it on the Coleman stove right out on the dock.

Boy, I sure look like an old man.  Oh, that's right, I am an old man.

If you're hungry enough, almost anything tastes good!

Steven and Tyler took the raft out to check the crab pots, but they also did a little exploring along the way.

They saw this guy on the beach

Tyler shows off a couple of crabs that were in the pots

The next day the guys were ready to head up the road before I was so they took off and I went up a little later.  They eventually brought the skiff back and picked me up.

Fishing was a little slower on the second day, but we still had a pretty good haul for the day.

Steven shows off a beautiful trout

Wet but happy

About 3:30 PM the rainy season started, and it didn't stop until well after we made it back to town.

When we got back to the dock Steven and Tyler went out in the raft to pull the crab pots.
We got a pretty decent haul of 13 keepers in the 2 pots.
You can't keep the females and those that are under sized.

We set up the propane cooker there on the dock and cleaned and cooked the whole bunch of them.

My cook pot is not huge so we had to cook them in multiple batches.

I cooked some burgers on the Foreman Grill for the hungry crew.

Being cold and wet for hours does something for your appetite!

The plan/hope was to leave fairly early on Sunday so we could pull the shrimp pots, and have enough time to do some bottom fishing on the way home.
Tyler had school on Monday, and Steven and Eddie were due back at work.

Saturday night the weather kicked up and the bumpers and lines creaked and groaned all night as the wind howled and the rain pelted down.

In the morning I listened to the marine weather and it was grim.
We made the decision to wait until at least noon before leaving, so the guys geared up in as much rain gear as they could find and went out exploring on the road system.

I just hung out on the boat until they got back.
I enjoy just being on the boat, I never get bored.
By now it was early afternoon, and I listened to the marine weather again.
It was still pretty bad, but the forecast was for it to lay down more as the day progressed.

We decided to pull out about 3:45 PM.
We pulled the shrimp pots and got about 60 shrimp - a low to mediocre haul.

Some of the shrimp were pretty good size

A couple small Tanner crabs in the pots

We are after Dungeness crabs, so these small Tanner crabs go back in the sea.

After we pulled the pots we headed out of Traitor's Cove and into Behm Canal proper.
This is the leg of the return trip that could have been the roughest.
But the seas were calm enough to make the run towards town.

It was late in the day and while it wasn't blowing any more it was still pelting hard rain.
We had a crew meeting and made the decision to stay out one more night.
We decided to pull into the Naha dock.

Steven had not been there since his return to town, and Eddie had not ever seen it.

We got there about 5:30 PM, and had the dock to ourselves.

The guys immediately geared up and went up the trail.

Tyler and Eddie by the rapids

We had a dinner of left overs, and then watched the movie The Fifth Element, which I've seen perhaps a dozen times, but still enjoy.

We sacked out early this evening because everyone but me needed to be back in town fairly early in the morning.

On Monday I got up just before 5 AM and started the engines.
Eddie was already up and helped me get the boat away from the dock.

It was an uneventful run into town and we got there in time for everyone to be where they needed to be.

It would have been more fun without the rain, but we enjoyed the trip anyway.

2017-05-14 Naha Day Picnic

Cristina and family had been wanting to get out to the Naha for a day picnic.
This is something we've been doing in the spring as a family for some time now.
We were supposed to go last Sunday but the weather was very bad so we decided to wait a week and try again.
For this week the weather forecast was somewhat gloomy, but this was really the only day we had available so we decided to go for it.

The crew for this trip was somewhat long -

Cristina
Devin
Tyler - age 12
Luke - (Tyler's friend, age 14 I think)
Bryan - age 10
Aliyah - age 8
Scott - age 4 1/2 months
Lisa
myself
Bina - our dog
Bella - their dog

The rain held off until we were about a half hour out from the dock.
But once it started, it didn't quit.

This inhibited the photo taking, so I really didn't get any photos other than these two.

Luke, Aliyah, Bryan and Tyler

We went up to the covered picnic shelter and I set up our fire pit under the covered area.
This picnic shelter has a picnic table and a built in fire pit, but the fire pit is not under the cover, it is out in the open, so our fire pit worked better under these conditions.

I made several runs in the raft from the boat at the dock around to the picnic shelter area, which was easier than carrying all the food and supplies through the woods on the trail.

It was indeed cold and rainy, even though we were somewhat dry under the covered picnic shelter.

The women petered out earlier, making their way back to the boat where it was warm and dry.

We hardy guys stuck it out a little longer at the fire pit.

It was a good family memory, but would have been much more fun if it had been sunny and warm.

I was running from up above, but I heard some of the crew got a little bit seasick on the somewhat bumpy ride back to town.

2017-04-21 Faraway returns to Ketchikan

The maintenance session at the Wrangell Boat Shop was scheduled for one week, 4/24 - 4/28.
They said they would launch the boat on the high tide at 3 PM on Friday 4/28, and they needed me there when they launched.

My former stepson Steven Doran was to be my crew for the return trip.
He has made many trips with me on several different boats over the years, but has been out of town for the last approximately 6 years.

Steven and I flew up to Wrangell on Friday morning, arriving at about 10:30 AM.
It's only about a 26 minute flight from Ketchikan to Wrangell.

When we got to the boat yard the boat was already in the water.
They said that they had finished up everything that needed to be done out of the water so they had launched her early.

I went over all the maintenance tasks with the crew there and we were basically ready to go before noon.  The tide was still coming up back there so Steven and I walked into town and had lunch and got some groceries.  By the time we got back the tide was up enough for us to leave their dock.

We moved around the corner to the fuel dock and took on some fuel.

By now it was 2 PM, the weather was sunny, warm, and calm, and we had to make a decision whether to tie up and head out in the morning, or leave right then.
We decided to head south right away.

The route was south down through Zimovia Strait on the western side of the island.

It's an easy, mostly protected route down through the strait.

We made our way down there and made the decision to anchor for the night in Santa Anna Inlet.
Steven had not been in there before and it is a nice safe anchorage.

But, being the die hard fisherman that he is, Steven looked at the chart and picked out a spot on the north end of Deer Island and wanted to stop and fish there a bit before we went into the anchorage.

In less than 15 minutes he had a nice Ling Cod on, which we cooked on the Foreman Grill for a great dinner.

Our brief stop in Santa Anna Inlet for the night was quiet and uneventful, so much so that I neglected to take even one photo while we were in there.

The next challenge was to get around McHenry Ledge and make the approximately 20 mile exposed run down Clarence Strait to Camaano Point.
Once you get part way down that run there is no protection, and sometimes you can't turn around.
So it is indeed an important decision to make when you get to that point.

This shows the most exposed and vulnerable portion of the trip

As we approached the corner I continually tried getting the marine weather on the VHF radio, but could not do so.  Once we got closer to Meyer Chuck Steven got some cell signal and was able to get the marine weather for Clarence Strait that way.  It was marginal, meaning not a definite go or definite don't go.

When we turned the corner and entered Clarence Strait the water conditions looked fine.
Of course you can't see all the way down the route, and in my slow boat, it takes well over 2 hours to cover that exposed leg.

We made the decision to go for it.

About halfway down is Ship Island.
The run was fine all the way to Ship Island, and even for a couple miles after that.
I turned the helm over to Steven and went down below for a bathroom break.
When I returned we were fighting some rough water.
I gave Steven a hard time because I told him it was calm when I was driving and it only got rough when he took the helm.

It was a bit bouncy for 3 - 5 miles, but by the time we got to Camaano Point it had settled down again.

So now we had another decision to make.
It was only Saturday evening and we could easily make it into town that night.
But neither of us had any commitments for Sunday, so we decided to go a little out of the way and spend the night at Marguerite Bay in Traitors Cove, and head back to town the next day.

This chart snippet shows our general route up through Ernest Sound, around the corner into the long exposed run down Clarence Strait, and then north up into Behm Canal to Traitors Cove.
You can see Ketchikan down in the lower right, so we did go a little out of the way.

Marguerite Bay is a great place to visit and Steven had not been there in a long time.
We dropped our two crab pots on the way in and got tied up to the USFS dock there with no issues.
We had a late lunch so we decided to gear up and walk up the logging road to Margaret Lake before having dinner.
It was a great chance to stretch our legs and get some exercise.

After the hike Steven cooked up a batch of potatoes and onions, and I grilled a steak on the Foreman Grill.

So we had another great dinner.

Here are some pictures from our stay there at Marguerite Bay.

Yacht "Pastime" anchored in the cove

Steven shows off a couple of the crabs we got

Merganser behind the boat

USFS sign at the start of the logging road

USFS cabin and vehicles

Looks like they got a new toy

Some of the crabs we got

Seals on rocks at the entrance to the cove

We ended up with 11 keeper crabs in all, 3 Steven pulled the first night, and the rest we pulled on the way out of the cove.

We pulled away from the dock about 10:30 AM on Sunday morning, headed back to town.

We stopped and bottom fished in a few spots along the way, but this time to no avail.

Arrival in the stall at Bar Harbor was about 4:45 PM.

Mission accomplished.
Faraway is ready for a summer of cruising, at least I have done everything that I can think of to make her ready.

2017-04-20 Faraway goes to Wrangell

Anyone who follows this blog knows that I had the boat in a yard on Lake Union from September 2015 through April 2016.  So knowing that, one might ask what maintenance could the boat still need?

Well, I'll tell you.  Each spring there is a list of ongoing maintenance tasks that really need to be done, if you're going to keep the boat in tip top and safe running condition. 

Some of these tasks I could do myself, but since I was recovering from double hernia surgery for all of April, I decided to run the boat to Wrangell and let the Wrangell Boat Shop handle these spring tasks. 

Since I am now what some people call a senior citizen I don't feel comfortable taking the boat very far by myself.  So I needed a reliable crewman to help me run the boat up to Wrangell.

My friend Bob Hammer agreed to help me on this trip.
Bob grew up in Petersburg and has been fishing commercially and sport fishing all his life.
We've played ball together for decades, and he has gone out with me many times on my previous boat, the Forever, and also many times on my current boat, the Faraway.

It's about 85 - 95 miles from Ketchikan to Wrangell, depending on which route is taken.
That can be covered in one long day at the helm, but where's the fun in that?

Here's the first leg of the trip, to Meyers Chuck.
It's about 32 miles from town so we could have easily kept going.
But Bob's mother grew up in Meyers Chuck, and he had not been there in some time, and I always enjoy stopping there, so we made that our first stop.

Bob seems to know everyone.
As soon as we tied up to the State of Alaska float there an old guy came up to us and asked us some questions.  Sure enough, he knew Bob's mother, and most of her close relatives from there in Meyers Chuck.

Other than that old guy and one woman we saw on the dock, the place looked and felt like a ghost town.  We walked the path which leads right through most people's yards, and saw no people and no smoke coming out of the chimneys.

Bob went over the hill where we heard some activity and met with some guys who were clearing a building site.  I think it was just early in the season and most of the residents weren't back there yet for the summer season.

Here are some shots from our time in Meyers Chuck.

Faraway at the dock at Meyers Chuck

They say this used to be the school

Bob and I tried to figure out what this is

The Hall Way or the Hi Way, Cute!

They open the gallery only by appointment

Bob stands by the big spider web

Slide at the playground

Could this be the door to nowhere?

Sawmill

3 boats pulled up onto the grass

Bob tried out the rope swing

We spent a pleasant afternoon and evening in Meyers Chuck, taking a couple of walks, and just enjoying the serenity found there.

After a dinner of roasted chicken (brought from town) and instant mashed potatoes, we watched the movie "Inside Man," and then hit the bunks for a restful night's sleep.

We were up early and pulled out about 7:30 AM.
Our destination for the day was Santa Anna Inlet, which is inside Deer Island, on the way towards Anan Creek.

This chart shows the route from Meyers Chuck to Anan Bay, but we actually stopped for the night just about where the green boat symbol shows.

I've anchored in Santa Anna Inlet many times, and know it to be a safe, secure, and picturesque anchorage.  This time of year I did not expect to see many, if any, boats in the area.

We anchored up in Santa Anna Inlet at about 12:30 PM.
Once again, we had a lot of daylight available, and we could have kept going all the way to Wrangell.
But the boat did not need to be there until Sunday evening, so we had plenty of time to linger along the way and enjoy the journey.

Here are some shots from Santa Anna Inlet.

I went out in the raft and set 2 crab pots

Faraway at anchor in Santa Anna Inlet

Nordhavn "Sweet T"

I took a short nap in the afternoon and when I woke up a neighbor had come in and anchored.  Bob and I went over in the raft and visited briefly with them.  They had wintered in Petersburg and were now southbound, headed for a trip around Behm Canal, in the Misty Fiords National Monument.

Dinner was spaghetti this evening.
And after that we watched a couple of episodes of "Rawhide," with Clint Eastwood as star.

Saturday morning we were up about 6:30 AM.
We pulled the crab pots - empty, unfortunately.
We pulled the anchor and left the inlet about 8:30 AM.

I wanted to make a brief stop in Anan Bay, to see if there had been any visible changes to the Anan Creek Bear Observatory.  This is a world famous bear observatory and I and my family have been there many times.

It is too early in the season for there to be fish in the river, and therefore there are no bears, but I still wanted to get a few pictures of the area.

This is where the USFS employees live during the season

The float out front is for cabin guests to use

A better shot of the USFS float house with cabin in background

From here we made our way up what we call the "back side" of Wrangell Island.
With this route we actually rounded the northern tip of the island and then went down a short way on the western side and into the Reliance Harbor.

We had some time to kill in Wrangell since we arrived Saturday afternoon and we did not need to move the boat around to the Wrangell Boat Shop dock until mid afternoon on Sunday.

Here are some pictures taken around Wrangell.

Faraway in Reliance Harbor in Wrangell

The smaller marine ways on the right is where we were headed

I took a walk around Shakes Island

Interesting sign at the harbor

A 300+ ton vessel which was just hauled

Lots of boats in Wrangell

Faraway sits at the Wrangell Boat Shop dock

Mission accomplished.

Bob and I had a quiet evening at the dock there.
We took the ferry back down to Ketchikan, a 6 hour run.
Unfortunately it left at 5:15 AM and we had to check in by 4 AM.