July 3-5
Chapin Bay
The clouds flew low, too low for us to see the landmark hole in the mountain when we anchored, but lifted briefly to allow a quick view of this feature after a few hours. If only the Chapin Bay cinnamon bear was still around to greet us, or we had another visit from the humpback whale that once circled the boat in this bay. Today the shoreline was empty and the water’s surface held only the splash of raindrops rather than the wake of a whale.
Without a bear or whale to enjoy, we settled for watching the eagles circle the bay, occasionally swooping to surprise a mass of herring that roiled the surface. The wind howled outside for several days, but the water inside Chapin remained unruffled.
Too rough outside in Frederick Sound to go fishing, we filled the days with projects, route planning, photo work, reading, blogging, cooking, knitting, etc. Every now and then we paused to hoist our binoculars and scan the shoreline, the treeline and the grassy estuary, looking for wildlife.
We used to put into Chapin Bay when I fished halibut on longliner--stayed the night--one morning a Dungeness crab climbed the anchor chain right into my hands as I pulled the anchor up--a giant octopus was right on his butt. Got 'em both--had crab omelets for breakfast and octopus for dinner.
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