2022-07-13 Second Trip With Jennifer & Hayden

After a day and a half in town we were ready for another boat trip.  The weather forecast was not great, especially on Thursday, the 2nd day of our trip.  The forecast showed over an inch of rain and winds 20 - 25 MPH.  I really needed to find a secure, safe spot for us to hole up if it indeed blew like that.

Jennifer & Hayden wanted to attend a magic show at the library on departure day that started at 11 AM, so we did not pull out of my slip at Bar Harbor until about 12:15 PM.  There was a brisk SE breeze blowing and occasional rain, but since the Edward R was not in her slip next to me, and I had Jennifer to help, getting out of the slip was not a problem.

I really wanted Hayden to see & experience the Naha so that was our destination for this trip.  Jennifer has been there many times over the years but not recently.  I did not really have a good Plan B in case the Naha dock was full.  I can tie up at the Loring dock, but it is much more exposed to weather than the Naha dock, and you don't have the trail to walk.  I can anchor out in front of the dock, but that's not nearly as much fun as being at the dock because you have to take the raft every time you want to go ashore.

Fortunately, as we got to Loring, I could see with the binoculars that there was room at the dock.  There was 1 smaller boat there on the side float, but the rest of the dock was open.  I had a bit of trouble getting into the dock because the tide was running so strong, but we eventually got tied up.

This photo was taken a little later in the evening.  The boat out in front came in late in the day.  It was named the "Salty Pickle."

There were pretty extreme tides around this time, and when that happens the rapids up around the corner from the dock generate a fair amount of foam, which comes floating down and rushes by the dock.  It is coffee colored, and if you stay at the dock long enough it will discolor your hull.

There was a period of a few years where we did not have a ramp from the float to shore.  A severe winter storm damaged the ramp and part of the float.  The ramp has since been replaced, but there are still many downed trees in the vicinity of the float as a result of that storm.

We took a walk up the trail, but not very far.  We used to be able to do what I called "The Loop."  The trail has a branch in it and one side goes up along the rapids and to the picnic shelter, and eventually meets up again with the main trail, which continues for many miles.  Now there is a big blow-down area which has damaged the skidway which goes along the side of the rapids, and you really can't walk The Loop anymore.

I think this is the same sign that was there when I first walked this trail in July 1978.  Maybe it's time for an upgrade.

The bears are still digging up the skunk cabbage in order to eat the roots.  

The salmon berries are getting ripe.  Yummy!

More signs of bear activity on the trail.  You can tell they have been eating lots of berries.

This is the skidway that runs alongside the rapids.  The original idea was that people could drag their rafts or small skiffs up from salt water and bypass the rapids, and get access to Roosevelt Lagoon, which connects to the Naha River.  Now the skidway is in serious disrepair and really is not useable.

Hayden brought a 1-piece rain suit with him that really got a workout on this trip.

These are the rapids that the skidway goes past.  You can only get a small skiff up there when the tide is pretty high.

There are a lot of blowdowns along the trail.  This is where the wind was so strong that it blew a tree over, pulling up the entire root system.

We came across several slugs along the trail.

Back at the dock at low tide we saw a couple of deer and a bear on the beach directly across from the dock.

On the second day of the trip, Thursday, the weather wasn't nearly as bad as had been predicted.  We only got short periods of rain, and almost no wind.  We took advantage of the better weather, and a high tide, to take the raft over to the picnic shelter.  We built a fire there and Jennifer & Hayden made S'Mores.  With the tide so high we were able to pull the raft almost right up to the picnic shelter.

This is the picnic shelter.  Sometimes people come up here and camp out for a night or two.  There is a fire pit out in front of the shelter.  I had brought along some dry firewood so we would be able to make a fire easily.

Jennifer & Hayden on the point near the picnic shelter.

The water as seen from the point near the picnic shelter.  I think these photos were taken when the tide was low on our first walk up the trail, because when the tide is high the water is considerably calmer in these areas.

Hayden and I in the raft.  He learned to steer the raft on this trip and got pretty good at it.  Of course my little electric kicker doesn't go very fast.

The raft pulled up almost to the picnic shelter due to the very high tide.

Building the fire in the fire pit.  I had brought along an axe.  I also brought a gallon of diesel fuel to help get the fire going quickly.  If you can't get a fire going with dry firewood and diesel fuel you're really in trouble.

Hayden roasting marshmallows over the fire.  I tried to get him to wait until there were hot coals, but he wasn't much into waiting.

Who's that old guy?

Jennifer & Hayden.  I only brought 1 folding chair, so they had to share.

We left the Naha dock about 10:30 AM on Monday.  Jennifer wanted to try some salmon fishing, but I did not have my downriggers on board so I rigged up a couple of trolling lines using just regular weights.  We trolled for about 2 hours between Knudsen Cove Marina and Survey Point and only had 1 solid strike in that time.  Hayden was clearly bored with salmon trolling.

On the way back I stopped in at the fuel dock and filled up.  I need to run the boat up to Sitka in order to get some repairs done to my flybridge enclosure and I wanted to be full on fuel for that trip.  It's almost 300 miles up to Sitka by way of Wrangell and Petersburg.

We got into the stall at about 4:30 PM, with 44.7 nm logged for this trip.

Jennifer and Hayden leave tomorrow afternoon, but I think they both enjoyed our boating adventures while they were here.

2022-07-09 First Trip With Jennifer & Hayden

My daughter Jennifer and my grandson Hayden came into town for about a week for a visit.

Unfortunately, the weather was not so great while they were here, but we made it work.

They came in pretty late on Friday night, so we spent most of Saturday morning getting provisions and making preparations for the trip.  We stopped by the library and picked up several DVD videos for Hayden to watch while we were out.  We pulled out of my slip at Bar Harbor at about noon on Saturday.

I do want to show Hayden the Naha but thought it best not to try to go there late in the day on a weekend, so I set my destination as Shoal Cove in Carroll Inlet.  There is a nice dock there and a road system so we could get out and stretch our legs.  It was expected to blow a bit on Sunday and the dock there at Shoal Cove has pretty good protection so it would be a good place to sit out the worst of the weather.

Jennifer & Hayden kept themselves occupied on the run out there.

The ride out was uneventful, and we pulled into the USFS dock at Shoal Cove at about 2:45 PM.  No one else was there.  The rain had slacked off a bit, so we took the opportunity to take a short walk up the road.

Faraway at the Shoal Cove dock.

The rain was pretty heavy most of the time, but when it stopped for a brief time, we jumped out there and got a timed group photo.  Hayden had a great 1-piece rain suit and rain boots that served him well on this trip.

We were there for 2 nights so we had to come up with activities to keep Hayden occupied.  I had gotten him some things to help with that. I got him a sling shot (which was a big hit), a BB gun (it's too early for that, he can't pump it up himself), a Swiss Army knife, and a couple of kites.

We also set up a bottom fishing rod for him with a couple of hooks baited with herring.  We started out fishing from the dock but then decided to just let the rod sit in a rod holder off the back deck and let him reel it up from time to time to check it.  That ended up working the best because he didn't have to sit there and hold the rod.

Hayden got acquainted with the herring we used for bait.  At least he wasn't squeamish about touching it like some kids are.

When we first started fishing from the dock it was pretty rainy.

It wasn't long before he started catching fish.  I call them Bullheads, but not sure that is the correct scientific name for them.  He was pretty excited about catching them.  And then of course we had to put them in a bucket so he could see them and play with them for a bit before releasing them.

We also set up 1 crab pot and just dropped it off the dock and tied it off.  We caught several very small crabs, too small to keep.  But of course, they also had to go into a bucket for a while so he could inspect them closely before we released them.

When we were in Gig Harbor and Hayden was much younger, we lived on a lake.  I had gotten him a rod with one of those push button reels because they are usually much easier for young kids to learn to cast.  On this trip I taught him how to use an open-faced spin casting reel.  I was surprised at how fast he picked it up and before long he was flinging the lure way out there.

Jennifer took a short walk up the road and got some photos on her phone of a doe with 2 fawns.  The fawns were very small but no longer had the spots they have when they are very young.  Hayden and I had seen the doe with the fawns earlier but due to the heavy rain were unable to get photos.

Later on, a different doe came out on the beach across from the dock and I put my telephoto zoom lens on my new camera and got some photos of her.

I had brought firewood in hopes of having an evening fire, but it was just too rainy to do that.  Maybe next trip.

On Monday morning the winds had died down quite a bit.  We left the Shoal Cove dock about 9:15 AM and headed north up into Carroll Inlet.  We pulled into the Shelter Cove dock about 10 AM.  No one else was there.

Jennifer and Hayden explored the beach a little bit.  There is a ramp of sorts nearby where the logging companies can load and unload their big trucks and other equipment.  No one was around this day but in the past, there has been lots of logging activity in this area.

We took a short walk up the road and then returned to the boat.  We set the fishing rod out again and in short order had another Bullhead.

After a quick lunch we pulled out about 12:30 PM to head back to town.

I had bought Hayden a couple of kites and on the way back Jennifer put them together and attempted to launch them (one at a time of course) off the flybridge extension.  The first kite would not launch despite many attempts.  The second kite did launch, and Hayden flew it for some time.  When he was attempting to reel it back in it got away from him and was lost.

The ride back was uneventful except for 1 mistake that I made.  I was running from the flybridge helm and had the boat on autopilot, which I use probably 90% of the time when we are underway.  I wanted to go down below and pump out the sewage tank before we got close to town, so I put the engines in neutral and went down below to do that.  However, I neglected to put the autopilot in Standby mode when I put the engines in neutral.  This is a mistake I have made before.  Once the boat starts drifting with the wind and current the autopilot tries valiantly to maintain the heading that it was on.  It keeps turning the wheel over further and further until it can go no further and then it throws an error on the autopilot.  I had a very hard time getting the rudders back under control as they were hard over to the starboard side.  For a bit I thought I might have to limp back to town and somehow get into my slip with no rudder control.

We got back into town and into the slip with no issues at about 4 PM.

51 nm for this trip.