Sunny Days around Sitka

Goddard Hot Springs and Sukoi Inlet

Departing Eliason Harbor in Sitka, we headed for the Petro Marine fuel dock to top off the tanks. Spirit took on 520 gallons, which only took about 20 minutes, the pumps are really fast. We headed out Eastern Channel into the North Pacific and turned left into a long SW swell as we set a course for Goddard Hot Springs. The swell persisted until we were in the lee of Biorka Island. Biorka Sound had a lot of trollers working, all going around in a big circuit of the sound. We dodged them and headed into Hot Springs Bay and anchored near three other boats. After launching the tender, we shuttled people ashore. The tide was nearly low and getting close to the beach with a deep-V hull tender was not working, so we waded ashore in 55 degree water, warmer than Puget Sound. The hot springs are a mess. Only the lower building was operational, the open pool was somewhat slimy and the upper building's tub was empty with no flow, just garbage in the bottom. The water was still hot! We did not stay long and after getting everyone back aboard, headed back north across Biorka Sound and up Sitka Sound, through Olga Strait, then Neva Strait and ended up in Sukoi Inlet, anchoring at 8PM, with everyone ready for dinner. Sukoi Inlet is long and protected and there was only one other boat, a commercial troller, anchored about one mile closer to the entrance.

Dinner consisted of leftover rib eye steak converted to stroganoff by Jim, and a salad prepared by Bob with his homemade dressing.

We launched the tender and set the crab pots just before 10PM, with it still light. We were going to attempt a movie, but all of a sudden, everyone had gone to bed!

It was a longer day than we expected, with the log now showing 1549 miles, making todays run just 60 nautical miles.

Kalinin Bay, Fishing and DeGroff Bay

We had intended to get up early and fish, but the message did not get to all the crew, so about 10 AM we pulled the anchor and headed out into Salisbury Sound to fish. It was rough! We trolled at 2 knots, rolling along and finally went into Kalinin Bay to get our fishing gear sorted out. There were already five boats anchored and not much room. We put down a lunch hook and got the fishing gear arranged and left again. The swell and seas were still obnoxious; the wind had increased, so we headed down Neva Strait and into Krestof Sound. Still no luck fishing, so we anchored in DeGroff Bay and set both crab and prawn pots. Entering or leaving at other than slack could be dicey. The entrance to DeGroff bay is narrow, but deep. We entered at near slack water. After dinner, we kayaked around the bay and watched a movie before calling it a night. It is still light at 11pm.

This has been only a 31 Nautical mile day, our total is now 1580 Nautical Miles.

Back to Sitka

We baked up some biscuits and made some sausage gravy and scrambled eggs for breakfast before checking the pots. The crab pots came up empty, sort of the story this trip, but we did get some prawns, but not many. It was a short 90 minute run back to Sitka for sightseeing and a great meal at the Ludvig Bistro, a few minutes of the Sitka music festival (the venue was crowded, no place to sit) and then back to the boat for a movie.

This was an 11 nautical mile day, bringing the total to 1591!