Misty Fjords with Mijonet | Part 2

On Friday morning Kevin and Mij went out to check crab traps (and Mij got another lesson in dinghy driving…she’s doing great!)

We had one keeper Dungeness, so I think I’ll make that recipe I made last week that was so good: crab spaghetti with lemon gremolata.

After breakfast, we left the mooring ball in Walker Cove and headed into the inner anchorage at the very head of the bay. We’d surveyed the area by dinghy (and depth sounder) on another visit and it looked anchorable, so we thought we’d give it a shot. The spot referenced in Active Captain says to anchor in front of the landslide in 40 feet of water. We found this to be a total no-go for us (40 feet would have you RIGHT next to the shore with almost no swinging room), and we instead anchored in about 80 feet on the other side, across from the waterfall and clear of the charted rocks.

The weather was pretty crappy for most of the day. We hung out and visited, played a little XBox, and did a little fishing in the rain.

The next morning we pulled anchor and headed down to Punchbowl Cove. The weather was gorgeous and we had a nice short cruise so once we arrived there was still lots of daylight to play with. We set the crap traps out again and then did some exploring by kayak. There was a fish boat on the (one) mooring ball, so we anchored over near the mouth of the river.

We got out on this beach and walked/waded/goofed around a bit:

On Sunday we headed back to Ketchikan (with one more crab, woohoo!). We trolled for salmon a bit on the way back (had a few pretty serious bites but didn’t catch anything) and then once in Ketchikan, went walking around town a bit. We grabbed a bite at the New York Hotel for dinner (meh, not that great). Back at Airship we played some cards and made some brownies while the wind and the rain both picked up considerably.

We’re staying at Thomas Basin this time (never stayed here before) because it’s convenient to town, groceries, and laundry. I like it! Cool native canoe on the dock across from us:

Piling topper:

It was such a blast having Mijonet with us for the past five days. She came up last summer with her mom for 10 days and it was super fun, but there was a lot of time she was bored and her mood was a bit more volatile. She had a harder time just “being on the boat” … but boy what a difference a year can make at her age. She was fantastic. It was fun having her solo too…getting to spend the time with just her was fun and not something we get to do for that long normally. She has such a great attitude about things, is always helpful, eats (and tries) pretty much everything, and wakes up every morning SO DANG HAPPY. It’s lovely. (Plus, she told me she thought I looked prettier without makeup, which was super endearing. Also, I put on a scarf this morning to take her to the airport and she said “You look like a fashion model with that scarf on.” I mean, who could not love this kid??)

Mijonet requested Crab Cake Benedict for breakfast this morning, so…guess what she got? 🙂 I think we’ve had crab every single day. Yesterday we had crab for breakfast, lunch, and dinner…the kid loves crab, that’s for sure!

Just before noon today we took a taxi to the airport ferry and got Mij to her gate with plenty of time to spare. We said our goodbyes and waited for her plane to take off. (That’s the runway, behind the plane…up on the hill.)

Riding the ferry back across Tongass Narrows:

We walked back to town and grabbed lunch at Bar Harbor, then returned to the (awww, so quiet) Airship to get some work done. We’re waffling a little bit about whether to head south and across Dixon Entrance in the next day or so (forecast looks pretty good) or to go over to Kasaan (across Clarence Strait on Prince of Wales Island) for the re-dedication of the Chief Son-i-Hat Whale House this weekend, but we’re pretty sure we’re going to choose Kasaan. The Son-i-Hat Whale House is the only Haida clan house in Alaska. (If you were with us last year, you might remember we visited during restoration). The restoration is complete now, and the celebration will be large (they expect around 1,000 people, and I think Kasaan is a village of just over 50 residents) . The canoe landing happens on Friday, and the celebration is from noon to 6pm on Saturday. There will be dancing and food (potluck, we’re to bring a dish to share) and it should be a very cool thing to be a part of. We’ll arrive before Friday and if we don’t get a spot on the float we’ll anchor out. Might be more fun to watch the canoes come in from anchor. (I’m told I can photograph anything I want, too….so there’s THAT!!)