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.
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| This shows the most exposed and vulnerable portion of the trip |
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.
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| Yacht "Pastime" anchored in the cove |
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| Steven shows off a couple of the crabs we got |
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| Merganser behind the boat |
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| USFS sign at the start of the logging road |
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| USFS cabin and vehicles |
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| Looks like they got a new toy |
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| Some of the crabs we got |
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| Seals on rocks at the entrance to 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.
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