Disk Cove to Brave Harbor via Lake Bay Hatchery
/We couldn't leave until the tide rose, so we started our day with a great breakfast of pancakes and sausage. It was overcast today, after such a sunny day yesterday…and then it started to rain. It was no issue departing Disk Cove (we never saw below 19’), and we saw a humpback as we passed Passage Point.
Can't go out there at low tide
We’re crossing one of the deepest parts of Print William Sound. I saw 2532 feet as our deepest sounding today. It was a long day for us, about 30 miles, and it continued to be rainy with low visibility. We had planned to go to Perry Island for the day, but the weather was a bit too icky for much exploring. We saw the Klondike Express both on AIS and as a hazy visual target, and the ever-present ferry Chenega.
Getting very deep
It was lightly raining when we entered Esther Cove to visit Lake Bay Fish Hatchery. Karen read in one of the guidebooks that they gave tours and that there was some great walking, and we were looking for something to do.
The problem with Esther Cove it that is very deep. We could handle the depth with our 400ft of chain, but there are many large moorings in the cove for the fishing fleet to sue. The boats on the moorings drastically restricted the amount of swing room we could have, such that we never found a place to drop the hook after 45 minutes of exploring every opportunity.
As we were only going to be there a short while to take the tour, I would have gladly tied to one of the moorings ourselves, but every one was in use by the fleet. The next opening was not for another two days, so they were going nowhere.
The cove was full of salmon jumping about. As a result, the trees were full of eagles looking for some easy picking. If only we could have found a place to drop the hook and the rain had stopped, I could have spent hours taking photos of the eagles as they fished the cove.
Skunked at the Hatchery, we changed our destination for Brave Harbor in Squaw Bay. There were 2 bowpickers at anchor (Guinness and Nemo) when we arrived. It was a pretty cove, and very calm. There was a heavy downpour as Karen stood at the bow to drop the anchor.
We spent a quiet afternoon reading. The coolest thing we saw was an eagle that caught a salmon, and because the salmon was so heavy, it actually swam to shore using an Olympic-style breast stroke.
The rain never let up, and we had a peaceful night.