In October she will go to Germany for a 3 year stint there.
She came up to Ketchikan in mid May for about a week to run the Totem To Totem run, which is a half marathon, and to visit with me and the rest of our family here.
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| The loneliness of the long distance runner - in the rain |
I took some time off work, so after the half marathon we loaded up the boat and headed out for a few days. The weather was not so great, but these were the only days we had, so off we went.
Here is a map snippet of the route for this trip. You may recognize it as I go here often. It is one of my favorite places.
We left Bar Harbor at about 9:15 AM on Monday May 13th in pretty miserable conditions. Winds were at 25 - 30 knots, coming from the SE. It was raining, and it was cold. Oh well, that's Southeast Alaska for you.
Visibility was pretty poor so I had to run on radar for a short while as we headed West, but by the time we turned North into Behm Canal it had opened up some, but was still raining heavily.
Karen was in the process of trying to sell her house in Everett before she leaves for Germany, so as we had cell service all the way through Clover Pass and almost into Traitors Cove, she was able to send and receive e-mails to/from her realtor.
As we left the relative shelter of Clover Pass and went into Behm Canal proper we hit some mild chop out in front of Naha Bay, but we were warm and dry, and we persevered. It leveled out as we headed further North. If there is any wind at all it always seems choppier out in front of the bays as we head North.
We prepared and dropped my 3 shrimp pots (on one ground line) in Traitors Cove, just before you turn into Marguerite Bay. I have done well here in the past. There was a very stiff breeze blowing through here.
We also prepared and dropped my 2 crab pots in fairly deep water over by the lagoon.
We tied to the USFS dock at about 1:15 PM, currently the only occupants.
I had a late lunch, and Karen had eaten underway.
After lunch we geared up for a walk up the logging road.
It's about 3/4 of a mile up to the bear and fish viewing platform, and another 1/4 mile beyond that is the first bridge. Margaret Lake empties out into Margaret Creek at that point.
We made our way to the bear and fish viewing platform, but saw neither (too early in the year). The water was rushing much faster than usual as a result of all the rain we'd been having for the last few days.
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| Karen at the bear and fish viewing platform |
During the peak summer months when there are actually bears and fish to be seen they mount a camouflage netting around the decking that has zippered openings for viewing. They fly tourists out from town, and bring them up the road in vans to this location.
We continued on up to the bridge, but it was raining much too hard for pictures and so we just loitered there briefly and headed back down to the boat, arriving at about 4:10 PM.
We had a rousing game of Scrabble, which I thought I had won by 2 points, but then Karen reminded me that the points in my tray not only had to be subtracted from my total, but also had to be added to her total, so apparently I lost by 2 points. Bummer!
Just before dinner we went out and pulled the crab pots. There was only 1 there, but he was a keeper (male, over 6 1/2" wide). We took him out and reset the pots in a slightly different area. Back at the dock we decided to liberate the crab since it's hardly worth the effort to clean and cook 1 crab.
Dinner this evening was hamburgers cooked on the Foreman Grill, with cheese of course.
After dinner we played another exciting game of Scrabble but this time I took the Gold and Karen took the Silver.
We sacked out about 10 PM with Karen taking the V-berth and me on the couch. It was raining hard and windy - great.
On Tuesday morning I was up about 6:30 AM with Karen arising about 7:30 AM.
I cooked us a big breakfast of bacon and eggs.
Right after breakfast we geared up to go pull and reset the pots. This picture helps describe the status of the weather at this point.
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| Karen prepares for pot pulling duty on deck |
The crab pots yielded nothing, so I rebaited them and reset them in much shallower water, closer to the lagoon.
We went back to the dock and I beheaded the shrimp. Karen said she was not quite up for that chore yet. I set up my cooker on the dock and cooked 2 of the 3 quart bags of tails that we had.
We rested a bit, and then about 2 PM I prepared the raft and we went out for a little excursion to see the sights. It was raining hard, so it was a full rain gear deal, with no opportunities for pictures.
About 5 PM I went out alone in the raft and pulled the crab pots for the last time. There were only 2 crabs in them and they were undersized.
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| Returning with the pots in the raft |
Dinner this evening was left over spaghetti with sauce that we brought from home. We also had cheesy rolls warmed up in the microwave with butter - yum.
After dinner we watched "The Expendables" on my ipad.
After the movie the rain stopped for a brief spell and I quickly ran out and snapped some pictures.
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| Farway at the Marguerite Bay USFS dock |
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| Misty clouds roll in just before dark |
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| USFS cabin just up road from the dock |
On Wednesday morning we were up about 6:45 AM. Still raining, but calm.
We had a quick breakfast of cereal and bananas.
We pulled away from the dock about 7:45 AM.
From time to time there are seals on the rocks that mark the entrance to Traitors Cove, and they were there in numbers this day, as well as a couple of eagles.
After that we just motored on to home port with no incidents, arriving in the stall at about noon.
Another adventure on Faraway complete.
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