More from Early July

"Thar she blows!" We spotted two humpback whales near Pt. Thatcher at the intersection of Peril Strait and Chatham Strait. This pair puffed, surfaced and dove repeatedly while chasing feed close to shore in relatively shallow water, 40 to 120 feet deep. 

So many of my photos show only tails, flukes, puffs in the air or rings on the water’s surface marking “where the whale used to be”. The collection of whales tail photos is growing quite large. No matter, it’s a thrill anytime I can watch these amazing creatures in the wild.

The recent stretch of hot weather made berry picking an easy task near the Warm Springs dock. Plump, multicolored salmon berries were so ripe they fell into my container as soon as I bumped them. The blueberries and huckleberries were already past their prime and the bushes near the boardwalk had been well picked over. Agile friends scrambled up and down the hillside gathering berries to share. Thanks y’all.

Can you top this for dramatic background, Seahawks fans? The waterfall at Baranof Warm Springs makes an impressive backdrop for Laci’s Twelfth Man Flag. 

Laci flew out of Warm Springs on a wet, warm 60ish day, overcast with scenic swirls of ground fog and low clouds, to head back to 90-100 degree stifling heat in Seattle. I’ll take the recent cool, gray days in SE Alaska, thank you very much. That’s easy to say since we have enjoyed so many weeks of sunshine and dry weather this year!

  

Mini cruise boats often schedule stops in Warm Springs so their guests can frequent the mineral pools next to the top of the waterfall or hike to the lake. Most of these charter boats anchor in the bay and use large inflatables or skiffs to ferry clients to and from the dock. One such vessel took a different approach, very different.

Hmmmmm, no comment but my giggles might hint at my thoughts.

Patterson Bay

June 7             Day 33

36.2nm          Security Bay to Patterson Bay

Security Bay, Kuiu Island, seemed "just one more fine anchorage", nothing special but perfectly adequate. Can you tell how much sushine or lack thereof impacts my attitude?! Sunshine makes everywhere seem special. 1 sea otter circled the boat early in the morning, warily keeping his distance as he went round and round. 6 more otters paddled around the entrance to Security as we departed after a comfortable evening at anchor in a protected passage between two small islands.

More low clouds and thin fog accompanied us across South Chatham Strait on the way to Patterson. Trollers worked both sides of the channel, some answered my waves of greeting and others ignored us as we passed. We paused inside the bay to watch a lone whale repeatedly blow, surface and disappear. No acrobatics, hardly even a tail display as it disappeared underwater.

Locating a good anchorage in this deep, narrow fjordlike bay was somewhat of a challenge, especially with predictions of changeable-direction 20 knot winds in the next several days. Should we anchor in deep water with a 5:1 scope on the chain and risk swinging too close to a shoreline reef in this narrow fjord? Anchor farther inside in shallower water near an island at the head of the bay and risk dragging if/when the wind switched direction? We took our time and made it work, but there were moments when I was ready to give up and move on to another less challenging anchorage! 

Patterson turned out to be a lovely, comfortable spot to spend several days. One black bear with cub popped in and out of the brush, just beyond good camera range. We settled for binoculars and some long-distance wildlife viewing.

A Whale of a Visit at Meyers Chuck

32.3nm          Meyers Chuck

The fog cleared midway through Tongass Narrows as we departed Ketchikan and we enjoyed a sunny albeit somewhat lumpy run up Clarence Strait to Meyers Chuck. There was plenty of room to moor on the inside of the dock, a welcome surprise at the beginning of a three-day holiday weekend. We love The Chuck and make it a point to stop and visit at least once each year. (Check the archives for previous posts and photos in and around Meyers Chuck.) A salmon barbecue potluck with two other boats, a community crab feed on the dock, a big community potluck in The Back Chuck and a final three-boat hamburger dinner meant we ate a lot, laughed a lot and swapped a ton of stories during our stay. Just the memory of those meals makes me hungry all over again. One example: that amazing community potluck included grilled scallops, venison tidbits, oyster stew, just-caught Dungeness crab, BIG local prawns prepared two ways, barbecued pork ribs, grilled marinated beef strips, baked beans, a corn casserole, salads galore and several tempting, ooey-gooey desserts.

We did more than eat, really. All of those dining events encouraged multiple walks ashore and along the dock. Not power walks I’ll admit, but we kept moving. Native plants added color to the path along the water’s edge, and towering old lilacs perfumed the air at a nearby homestead. Aromatic cedar sawdust gathered from the small sawmill now sits in a plastic bag waiting to be transformed into sachets. The local gallery held some tempting artwork, craft items and jewelry. I couldn’t resist buying a stunning, multi-toned, turned wooden bowl. It’s an eye-catching decorative item as well as a functional serving piece.

Just outside The Chuck a lone humpback whale surfaced and slapped the water with its enormous flukes to drive its feed tight up against the steep, rocky shore of nearby Misery Island. The whale opened its huge mouth and scooped up the small, silvery fish by the hundreds. As its mouth closed the baleen retained most of the fish while letting the water stream out. Then he did it again, and again. What a sight!

Orca, Almost Close Enough to Touch

Day 43

Do you wake up bright-eyed and alert, organized and ready for action? I wish I had been all of that this morning. I slid out of bed and meandered slowly, without my contact lenses, up to the galley for the day’s first cup of coffee. A blur in my peripheral vision, motion close by, caught my attention. A small fin glided past, just outside the window, and disappeared underwater. Hmmm, a fin… wait, a fin?!  Then more fins sliced through the surface, followed by the sleek, rounded bodies of killer whales quietly blowing and cruising by out of the bay.

I hold a vivid picture in my memory of those few moments, but have no great photo image to share. The first click of my camera brought up a reminder that there was no card available to capture the image. Drat! I knew better than to leave the camera empty overnight with its card still inserted into the computer. I shouted for RL who leapt out of bed and, without stopping to put his contacts in, grabbed his big camera, raced on deck and shot blindly at the rippled surface ahead of the boat. What luck! his image shows the four departing orca. Ah, but you should see the closeup in my mind’s eye, an image of orca almost close enough to touch.