North to Alaska with Bob & Tracie

Posting 8 - Saturday, July 11, 2009 ...

I have been spelling Juneau wrong so please accept my apologies.

We left Juneau today with clear skies and calm waters. While we were in Juneau we met a couple (Tim and Jill) that live on their boat near Portland, OR. We are traveling along with them as we all head north to Hoonah. Sandy and Ken stopped to do some fishing along the way and we noticed Tim and Jill had turned a bit and seemed to be stopped. They had come across a pod of about 8 humpback whales bubble feeding but by the time we got there the whales were done feeding but were still traveling together. Humpbacks usually travel alone or in a couple so it is not often that you can catch so many together.

We all went by Point Retreat and turned south which means we are on our way home. We have been gone 7 weeks so far and are on schedule to return home (Blaine) around the first part of September after we meet up with fellows SYC members in Silva Bay.

On our way to the north bight of Neka Bay, Tim and Jill had some trouble. The four bolts holding the transmission to the prop shaft sheared due to poor alignment on the coupling. The rear motor mounts had worked loose. “Spare Parts Bob” rushed to their rescue with new bolts and after aligning the prop shaft, got them all fixed up. BUT… their other engine had developed a huge transmission oil leak, which could not be fixed. So this morning they limped back to Juneau on one engine to try to get their transmission rebuilt. Last we heard was that they made it safely and plan to have the transmission rebuilt locally within a week.

Also…when we arrived in Neka Bay we were ushered in by huge horse flies. They were driving us crazy as they continued to mount in numbers. The electric fly swatter was no match for these daemons. The deck was littered with buzzing injured flies as they recovered from the electric shock and then would regain airborne activities. It was a hot day in a beautiful setting but we had to stay in the boat with the doors and windows closed to save ourselves from being eaten alive. Thankfully, as the evening progressed the wind came up a bit and the flies subsided. But in the morning they were back with a vengeance. We all hot footed it out of there and were glad to escape with our lives.

We traveled back 9 miles to Hoonah Bay and used their docks while we walked the town and ate halibut pizza (it was really, really good). The cannery was visited for some of the past history. Today’s weather is hot again (90 degrees) and it supposed to be hotter tomorrow. The temperature tomorrow is supposed to be 85 in Glacier Bay. We actually saw someone water skiing on Icy Straits today.

July 12, 2009 – Sunday

We arrived in Sitka last Thursday afternoon. We should have been here early in the day but when we arose early to catch the slack tide thru Sergius Narrows we found ourselves socked in by thick fog. We then waited until 1:00 in the afternoon and caught the ebb tide slack (high tide in Sitka), which is the preferred time for going south. Because we got in to Sitka late in the day we had trouble finding moorage. We ended up on the transient dock with all the fishermen but it was kind of fun. The entire fishing fleet waiting for the salmon catch to re-open again was using the main transient dock. About 70% of the allotted Kings had been taken so they will now focus on Chinooks.

Sitka is a really great town. The population is 8800 and it has a Russian feeling from before the US took ownership of it. The waters around Sitka are peppered with small islands and there are mountains in the background. They get one or two cruise ships a day but the town has not been taken over by jewelry stores and nick-nack shops. The shops are all owned by Alaskans. We defiantly saved the best until last.

Tomorrow we head back towards the route to Washington. We will stop at Red Bluff and one of the hot springs before retracing our tracks thru Petersburg and Ketchikan.

Miss you all,

Bob and Tracie