Bay of Pillars, AK

Bay of Pillars, AK

June 3, 2013

08:00

There is no Internet here so this will all get posted when I get a connection.

It is a lovely, calm and sunny morning. We are hanging out, cooking oatmeal and waiting for the tide to come in. The plan is to leave around 10. First we will try to find Walt to see if he has any fish then we will cross Chatham Strait and go to Port Alexander on the Southern tip of Baranof Island. After that the plan is to explore the outside part of Baranof. The forecast is for South winds to 20k and 7 ft seas. That's about as good as it gets on the outside and Bob has never been to the South end. He fishes down to Whale Bay from Sitka but never went south of there.

This morning when we got up there were Eagles on the beach including a few immature ones that still had downy feathers. The view is good and the oatmeal is about done...

More later.

Bay of Pillars, AK

June 2, 2013

Latitude: N56.64517°

Longitude: W134.09151°

We left Halleck Harbor at 07:00 and headed south. We were going to fish but I don't have a license and everyone on board needs one or there can be big fines. Bob decided not to risk it and we decided to go exploring instead. We headed to Bay of Pillars. The inner bay is accessed by a narrow channel which we approached with caution but in the end was not as bad as Rocky Pass yesterday.

The inner bay is secluded and we were the only boat there the wind was totally calm and we decided to go kayaking. The Bay is full of Sea Otters and many seem to swimming around with baby otters on their bellies.  On one occasion to seemed like there was a baby otter floating alone and as we got closer the mom (I assume it was a mom) swam over and towed the baby away from us. Maybe baby otters don't know how to swim when they are little.. After launching the kayak we paddled back to look at the entrance channel at low tide and it looked fine, no obstructions and not much current. There were otters all around us. This is an area that has old growth forest and much wild life. There are several areas where trees are blown down, maybe from williwas. One guide book talked about howling wolves.....that would be cool..

When we got back Bob cooked up stuffed peppers and now we are hanging out waiting for bears to appear on the beach. The sun came out and there are snow capped peaks all around and the evidence of a good sized avalanche on one of the snow fields. There is a trail from here that is a mile long portage trail to the head of Port Camden on Kiku strait.

The plan for tomorrow is to find Walt and see if he has caught any fish so we can have salmon for dinner and head around the outside of Baranoff Island and explore some areas that Bob has visited before.

Ok bears where are you?     Sunset is 9:35ADT..it's 8:20 and I am still waiting for bears or wolf howls. There are, at least a couple of loons to make nice sounds.

Halleck Harbor

June 1, 2013

Latitude: N56.91000°

Longitude: W134.20599°

We left Coffman Cove at 06:30 and arrived here at 17:30. It was an easy passage with light winds and calm skies.

Just before we got to Pt. Barrie we saw a big pod of Orcas. There were large ones and small ones and they seemed to be playing around and enjoying the morning.

After that we headed north and entered Rocky Pass. This is a very shallow passage between Kupreanof and Kuiu Islands. We went through at low tide ( the tide was +2 feet) and we barely had enough clearance. At one point the depth was down to 6 feet and we need 5. A lower or minus tide would have made it impossible to get through. Once past that it was easy going and we felt much better.

Arrived at Halleck Harbor and rafted up with Walt and Lee for dinner. They had been cooking Spaghetti sauce for an hour before we arrived. We we got anchored, Bob took Inga to shore for her dog duties and we cooked the noodles and had dinner. Right as we finished dinner a medium sized Black Bear was strolling on the beach.   

Tomorrow we will head for the fishing grounds at Tebenkof Bay which will be open for 3 days. It would be nice to get a few fresh Salmon to have for dinner.

It's 21:00 and sunset is 21:40 so I think I'll read for a bit and head to bed.