North Bight, Neka Bay to Hoonah

(Karen writes) We arose to see that our “neighbors” were up and going early. The black Nordic Tug Augenblick had already departed. Some of the others (Pursuit and In Search Of) were headed out of the bay. We had breakfast and watched as the folks from Miz Giz (of the broken generator) and his friend on Xanadupulled up their crab pots before departing for Juneau and repairs. Luckily for us, they didn’t want to deal with fresh crab while headed to Juneau…so they dinghied over to us and offloaded 6 large and lovely Dungeness crab. We were really happy about that. The crabs were really fresh…we offloaded them into a bucket and one tried to make an escape before Bob could shell them. Bob won the battle, of course! Bob’s new name is “Crab Slayer”, which he earned dealing with these crab. Despite being from the East Coast, neither of us has ever caught or “slayed” a crab. It was pretty funny to watch. Nonetheless, Bob did a great job (should I say “killer job??”) and soon the crabs were boiling away as we weighed anchor and decided to snoop a bit around Neka Bay before we headed for Hoonah.

Now What?

Bob about to dispatch another crab

Chimney Rock Island is just outside North Bight. You'll see this formation a lot in this area if you look close.

We left the North Bight and saw spouting near where we had seen it the day before, so we headed over to take a look. The whale was fairly shy, so we didn’t spend too much time trying to watch. It was a bit misty as we headed for Hoonah.

The good news was that a Celebrity Cruise Lines Ship was anchored at Icy Strait Point, which meant that if we got to Hoonah in a timely fashion, we could head out on foot to “ISP” and see what the cruise ship people get to do when they disembark. As we entered Hoonah, we were assigned a slip from Harbor Master Paul and we quickly got settled and headed off to see ISP.

There is a shuttle to ISP from the inner harbor – you buy tickets ($5 one way! Ouch!) at the Misty Bay Lodge. Still, because we wanted to get to ISP before the cruise ship departed, we gladly hopped aboard for the 1.6 mile ride. When we arrived at ISP, the cruise ship mania was winding down…it was about 1:45 and the last tender back to the cruise ship was at 2:30. This meant that we could look around without encountering large masses of people which suited us just fine. ISP was fun to walk around, and we saw the zip line (the world’s longest they claim) and though about it for a few minutes before the high price tag (Over $120) turned us off. It’s nicely done, ISP, and there are lots of shops and things to entice cruise shippers to part with their hard earned cash. We helped the Hoonah economy when Bob bought a frozen yogurt. We sat outside and watched the people returning to their ship, and saw a whale quite close bubble feeding. Bob thinks this whale is hired by the cruise ships to be part of the planned entertainment. Me? I’m not so sure. Still, it was fun to watch.

We take a stroll along the ISP boardwalk

The ravens are everywhere. These guys are looking for handouts.

Tourist time

As the last of the Celebrity Cruise folks from the Millennium were leaving, we started walking around.  Another Celebrity Cruise ship, the Mercury, came in before the Millennium left, ensuring that ISP would remain open until 9pm or so. We timed it perfectly, between the crowds from either ship.

About as close to a cruise ship as we're likely to get

Only one road in town, but the bureaucrats placed a sign just in case

We walked back to town and stopped to pick up a few provisions at the Hoonah Trading Company. It was well stocked other than with protein.  Then we headed back to Arctic Star to “pick” the crab that had been boiled earlier. As the mist was pretty much done, we put two chairs on the back deck and grabbed crab “crackers” and “picks” and got to work. It took us 1 hour and 2 beers to pick all the crab.  We filled a large bowl with the succulent meat.

Time to pick the crab

Then we went back to Misty Bay Lodge to enjoy the famed Halibut Pizza, which was good but outrageously filling. We walked the docks and talked to the folks aboard the Nordic Tug Augenblick, Sherrie and Bill from Anacortes, WA. They were super nice, and we enjoyed meeting them.

Misty Bay Lodge is the home of the not to be missed Halibut Pizza

The docks at Hoonah

Fisherman are a breed to themselves and they are proud of it.

North Bight

Today was a relaxation day. The weather was low and wet. While we talked about taking the kayaks out, the wind and rain never let up enough for us to venture out. We spent the day looking for bear to no avail. Karen read another five books on her Nook and I completed a few more blog posts. We did spot a humpback feeding up at the entrance of the Bight, just northwest of Chimney Island. Perhaps the highlight of the day was more “Alaskan Reality TV”, or should I say “Alaskan Reality radio”. We would keep the VHF on channel 16 and alternate between listening to the activities on the “Hoonah Harbormaster” channel and the “North Bight Neighborhood” channel.

The harbor at Hoonah is fairly active, so there are lots of comings and goings to listen to. You get a feeling of the personality of the harbor and the people who come and go. We did find out that a cruise ship was in town today. That was disappointing because we thought it unlikely there would be one in town tomorrow when we wanted to go see what goes on at Icy Strait Point, the purpose-built cruise ship “destination resort” at Hoonah’s Icy Strait Point.

As for our neighbors in the North Bight, they would exchange tidbits about how the crabbing is going, or maybe do some trip planning. “Where are you going next”, or “Have you ever been to”, or “Aren’t we lucky to be out here doing this” are the topics for discussion. It’s a great way to pick up some local knowledge.

The big news came later in the day, when we found out that one of the boats had lost the generator section on his new gen-set. They took one of the tenders and go to Hoonah to get a cell phone signal so they could call the dealer to arrange for a repair. The good news was that the dealer was making arrangements to get it fixed under warranty. The bad news was that they were going to have to go to Juneau for the repairs. That’s a lot of backtracking.

Sometimes you feel a little guilty when you’re out in this wonderful wilderness and you stay inside the boat all day. Other times you realize you cannot do it all and a “day off” recharges the batteries for future adventures. Today was definitely a “recharge day” and though we were a little stir crazy, we had fun nonetheless.

Dinner on a rainy day

Pavlof Harbor to Neka Bay

Today we have a long trip planned. It’s 46 nautical miles from Pavlof Harbor to Neka Bay. One of the characteristics of Alaska is there are not a lot of anchorages. Therefore some legs, like this one, are such that the “next” suitable anchorage is 5-6 hours away. We try to keep these long days to a minimum, but sometimes you cannot avoid them.

We leave Swamp Fox in Pavlof Harbor

The waterfall on the river that feeds into Pavlof Harbor

The wind was as forecast from the south, and our heading was north, so it was a comfortable ride. We passed a couple of boats heading in the opposite direction and they were bouncing their way into the waves.

After passing Point Augusta, we found a small fleet of seiners. Not nearly are large as the last fleet we negotiated, this was a less complicated navigation challenge. We also passed a small group of pleasure boats fishing. Some trolling for salmon, the other were stopped and fishing deep for halibut.

 

I l0ve to watch play amoung the mountain tops

A few humpbacks made an appearance but they were mostly just traveling by and not feeding ,so there was no reason to stop and observe.

Karen and I traded helm duty on a two hour shift schedule. This makes the passage much easier for each person.  However, when things get busy,as when transiting the seiner fleet, we both are at the helm to maximize the number of eyes.

Our course to Neka Bay takes us right past the town of Hoonah, so we took a small detour into the harbor to get a preview. We plan to return there in a day or so to partake of the reported fabulous Halibut pizza.

The first thing you notice as you round the point into Port Frederick is “Icy Strait Point”. This was the site of an old cannery operation in Hoonah’s heyday. The cruise ship industry has created a large recreation area out of the operation. The passengers are entertained with tours, native displays, long walks to town and around the point and, I’m sure, other opportunities to part with additional cash. Normally I do not like having a cruise ship in port when I am, but as this operation is only open when the cruise ship arrives, I hope they are at Hoonah when we stop there. I would like to play tourist and see what it is all about.

Icy Strait Point

An hour after leaving Hoonah, we approached Neka Bay. There are three fingers that make up Neka Bay. The main bay is too large and open for us. The south bight looks just perfect for us, but there is not enough published information for us to try the narrow and shallow entrance narrows. That leaves the North Bight as our destination.

Six boats were already there anchored in four rafts.  The rafts were dispersed along the north shore leaving us a nice spot at the head. All these bays are lined with crab pots, so the exact location of our anchor stop was centered among the pots ringing the head of the bight.

Our neighbors in North Bight

The bight received one more boat a after we arrived. The sailboat that had been shadowing us for the half of our trip anchored in the small indent on the south shore.

To satisfy our curiosity about the South Bight as a possible anchorage, we launched the dinghy despite it being cloudy and misty, and proceeded to work our way into the bight. The South Bight is really beautiful. Protected on all sides with steep mountains all around and fed by numerous streams. There is even a waterfall on the south side. It was high tide, and we were able to work our way over the drying falls at the head and explore the mouth of the stream in the northwest corner.

As we reversed course, we spotted the dinghy from the sailboat working its way toward us. I steered a course to them and we exchanged greetings. They asked if we had seen any bears. “No” was our reply, but they had seen a couple of cubs playing in the North Bight when they entered earlier.

Just before we worked our way out of the South Bight, we noticed what was either a very large black boulder or a very large opening to a cave about 200 feet up the side on the mountain to the south. An eagle was flying in the vicinity of the cave, but didn’t enter.

We would love to come back here, but without a sounder on our dinghy, we did not have a chance to take depth readings. However, my assessment is that with a high tide of 6 feet or more, I would make an attempt to enter. There is a 5 fathom hole plotted on the charts that would make a great anchorage. Something to look forward to on our next visit. If any of our readers have more information on the South Bight of Neka, let us know and we’ll share it on this site.

We continued our exploration by circumnavigating the North Bight. This area is also fed by multiple streams and is flanked all-around by what appear to be perfect “bear beaches”. Karen has worn out her eyes today searching for the elusive critters. I think we’re a little too early for the salmon runs and the bears are just not out and about on the beaches.

The sun tries to make a comback in North Bight

I multitasked during dinner preparation. I made orange-glazed salmon with rosemary potatoes and prepared curried chicken salad so we had lunch for tomorrow ready to go. A little extra work makes for a more leisurely day to follow. We hoped that the other boats might set off fireworks, but we didn’t see any preparations, so we headed off to bed.

The clouds fight back and strat to dominate to heavens again

Tenakee Springs to Pavlof Harbor

We were back at the Party Time Bakery precisely at 8 am when the doors opened. They promised me pancakes today and that was what I had on my mind. Our timing was mostly driven by the fact that the fuel docks open at 10 and we wanted to be there when they turned on the pumps, because the tide would be going down and we wanted all the extra “tide” we could get to avoid the aforementioned bolts and stuff. Karen had the same egg, ham and cheddar breakfast sandwich and my pancakes were just what the doctored ordered for a rainy morning. I ordered a bowl of the corn chowder to go and Karen took a piece of chocolate torte back to the boat. We also made a quick 2^nd stop at the Mercantile to grab a few more items.

Arctic Star getting ready to cast of from Tenakee Springs

Tenakee Springs docks sits behind a floating breakwater, but the fetch can still get in.

The fuel docks at Tenakee are not floating. The fuel hose is dropped over the side of the pier. Depending on the tide, that can be a long drop. Opening time, 10am, was only two hours from low tide so not only was the distance from the pier to our decks on the order of 20 feet, but the pilings that are revealed at low tide are barnacle-encrusted with a few protruding metal bits exposed.

In anticipation of the hazards on the pilings, we lined the port side of Arctic Star with every fender (9) on board. As it turned, out the wind was such that we were held off the pilings for most of the 45 minutes it took to take on 400 gallons of #2 diesel.

 

Bob fuels Arctic Star in the rain

Eve, the fuel mistress at Tenakee, is a doll and helped us through the process, calling out target fuel quantities as we approached our limit. Luckily, we got to the fuel docks just at 10am, and I felt sorry for the boats that were hovering just off the docks as we took on our large load of fuel. However, the $1400 sale probably made the day for the economics of this small town.

I had been admiring the hoodie sweatshirts worn by the staff of Alaskan Seaplanes during our stay at Tenakee. At the Bakery, one of the staff came in for coffee, so I asked if they sold the hoodies. They did and both Karen and I came away with a practical reminder of our pleasant stay at Tenakee.

As you walk the “path/road/main street” on Tenakee, you’ll pass a number of resident dogs lying along the path, each in front of their masters’ doors. Most of they are grey haired older dogs, and most are friendly and are happy if you reach down and pet them because getting up is almost too much for these senior citizens. On our stroll back to the docks, I noticed a large fellow I had seen a couple of times. He looked just like the others I have petted, large, old, part wolf and a bit forlorn. I bent down and as I started to let him give me a smell, he tried to take a bite out of my hand. I was quicker than he was as he bared his teeth and growled, but he was not able to muster the energy to stand and pursue the attack.

We were cold and wet from being out in the rain, as we left the boat for breakfast and then spent the whole time on deck for the fueling process. Once the fenders were stowed and we were underway to Pavlof, we turned up the boat’s heat in an attempt to feel warm and dry.

Pavlof Harbor is a short (15 mile) trip to the northwest of Tenekee, in  Freshwater Bay. We did spot a humpback making his way SE as we rounded the point into Freshwater Bay. Pavlof is known for bear, so that influenced our decision to make it an overnight stop. We arrived at low tide, perfect bear viewing time. However, we never did see any of these elusive critters. There is also an interesting waterfall at the head of the stream that runs into the bay. Normally we would launch the dinghy and go exploring, but the previous time we spent out in the rain earlier today dampened our desire to brave the wet and cold yet again.

As I was preparing dinner, I spotted Northern Songapproaching the Harbor. I made a call to the bridge and we exchanged greetings with Mike and a few updates on travels and bear sightings. We had not talked with them since we visited the boat in Port McNeill last September.

Northern Song sits in Pavlof Harbor

The rain finally stopped as we went to bed and the harbor was flat. About 2:30am, I was awaked by the sound of the wind blowing. I made my way to the helm and checked the wind direction and speed. It was south at 10 to 12 knots. We were holding well and the winds were as forecast, so it was back to bed.

Tenakee Springs

(Karen writes) We awoke to no rain, which is always a good thing. It’s certainly not sunny, but it’s clear enough and that makes for a great day in Alaska. We were ready to head off to breakfast when Sally on The Spirit of Baltonext to us came out on her aft cockpit and we chatted briefly. She invited us over to see the boat that she and Dan personally built…and we’re never ones to turn down an opportunity to see the inside of these custom boats. Boy, it was lovely. Obviously built with care and attention to detail, she was fitted with, granite counter tops and arched doorways and wonderful décor. I really liked their boat a lot.

We decided to walk up together (including Dan) to town…they wanted to explore and we wanted breakfast. The Party Time Bakery did NOT disappoint. What a great place! Bob’s biscuits and gravy and sausage were good, and my fried egg sandwich on homemade bread with ham and cheddar cheese was amazing. Bottomless cups of coffee, great artwork to peruse…what a find. Sally and Dan came back chatted a while before they headed back to the docks, wanting to take their boat across the inlet to fish for halibut. Really nice people.

 

The Party Time Bakery has something for everyone.

We headed for Snyder Mercantile, the general store. It was decently stocked and we bought some eggs, mayonnaise, and some celery and scallions. Then we headed to the fuel dock, because we desperately need fuel and Tenakee’s fuel dock is open on Saturday when we plan to depart for destinations further north. Eve runs the fuel dock, and we got to see the dock in action. Unlike the fuel docks we’re used to, this one isn’t floating…you tie up to the pilings and they lower down the fuel hose and a bucket for you to put your credit card in. The pilings are full of bolts and mess, and they do a good job of dinging your gelcoat if you are unlucky or if you fuel at low tide. Apparently, in a blow, it’s best to delay fueling to when the wind dies down. Here’s hoping that tomorrow will be calm…even if it’s forecasted to rain all day.

It's a long way down at the fuel dock

Eve is the queen of the fuel dock. She works hard and does a great job.

We learned that the ferry (the Alaskan Marine Highway) was coming today about 2:30, and we decided to walk to town to watch the ferry load and unload. We had heard that somewhere between 35 and 70 people were headed to Tenakee. We couldn’t imagine where they all would go, so we wanted to see the spectacle for ourselves.

(Bob writes)What a spectacle it was. The large hatch opens on the port bow of the ferry and people pour in to get their “Stuff” as the passengers depart with their “stuff”. The pictures tell the story, but there is all manner of supplies. Pets, ATV vehicles, fishing rods, jet skis and guitars; whatever will make the summer more enjoyable. People have to make multiple trips back into the hold to get even more “stuff”, so the traffic is two way and chaotic. How the kids and pets survive with ATVs pulling three months worth of beer and snacks up the steep incline of the loading ramp, I’ll never know. The pandemonium lasted for 30 minutes. Right on time at 3pm, the ferry pulled away with only six new passengers onboard.

Everyones line ups to unload the ferry

The parade begins.

Everything you need for Summer in one convenient package.

Proud of his brand new John Deer.

Everything and anything comes out of the hold of the LeConte Ferry

Tenakee looks downright crowed after the ferry's arrival

Perferred method of trnsportation in Tenakee Springs

After our entertaining sojourn into the reality of life in remote Tenakee Springs, we strolled back to Arctic Star. We spent the afternoon planning the next few days. Our schedule has become very fluid and we needed to firm up at lest the next two days so I would know where to plot our course.

The helicopter pad (for emergencies) and the seaplane dock at the end at water level.

Tenakee's Chapel

Tenakee Springs Post Office

The "Bus Stop" where you can exchange things you don't want for things you do.

The rules of the "Bus Stop"

After walking a couple of miles to and from Tenakee and the docks over the last two days, I'm jealous!

Our friend's house in Tenakee; it's one the uphill side of the street.

Tenakee is a dog's town, but Karen can always find a cat no matter where we go.

The docks at Tenakee viwewd from the "road" to town.

The view from the deck of a Tenakee home looking out across the channel.

Tenakee Springs viwed from the docks

I made Karen’s favorite maple-glazed curried sweet potatoes accompanied by mustard-orange glazed pork tenderloin. It satisfied cravings and we spent a quiet evening onboard, checking out the comings and goings on the docks of Tenakee Springs.