Craig to Ketchikan

Fog Formations in Clarence Strait



Patrick At El Capitan Cave

Some of the 370 steps to cave entrance

The entrance

Lots of tubes and branches, don't get lost!

Some of the flowstone formations

This formation is called "drool"

Ben and one of the USFS Guides in the "Pool Room"

July 20, 2010

The weather continues fair and warm, for SE Alaska as we depart Craig and head back up towards El Capitan Passage. We have made reservations for a tour of El Capitan Caves for tomorrow morning, so we are just looking for an anchorage close by. Along the way we see numerous shrimp pots set, so we finally settle on Devilfish Bay as our destination since there is reputed to be a good prawn location close by. Along the way we sighted numerous humpback whales feeding. The entrance to Devilfish Bay has a large rock right in the middle, but we found the water to be over 20 feet deep on the south side between the rock and shore, with a width of about 100 feet. The bay is fairly long, and the wind funnels through a cut at the end, so we were not impressed with the location, although the anchor set well. We launched the tender and ran back out the entrance to set the pot, and then back to set both crab pots. There were several sea otters present, so the crabbing may be poor.

As the sun set, the wind abated and we had a peaceful night at anchor after a grilled salmon dinner.

July 21, 2010

Today is going to be a long day, so we were up pulling the crab pots at 0600 (only a flounder in one pot) and underway shortly thereafter, towing the tender out to the shrimp pot location. We did have a few dozen spot prawns in the pot, but a lot of effort for a small haul. We anchored across El Capitan Passage from the USFS float, which is falling apart and limited to boats of less than 25 feet. Ben and Patrick went ashore for a 0900 tour of the caves. There were only 4 people on the tour, and two USFS guides. Hard hats and flashlights are provided, and we suited up for the 370 step climb to the cave entrance. The tour is fascinating and the guides were really knowledgeable about both the cave and the surrounding flora and fauna. When we exited the caves, which are at a constant 40 degrees, it was raining. The tour takes a little over 2 hours, so by 1130 we were back on board Spirit with the anchor hoisted for the trip back through Dry Pass and the rest of El Capitan Passage. The second time through was much faster and by 1200 we were back in Shakan Strait. The rain abated, the wind was relatively calm, but we encountered patchy fog as we rounded Point Baker at the northwest tip of Prince of Wales Island. We continued to spot humpback whales and finally sighted some orcas in Sumner Strait. We were making good time, so we continued down Clarence Strait and into Coffman Cove. There was plenty of space on the public float, which has been rebuilt since our copy of the cruising guides was published. The float now goes out into the channel much further, so anchoring off the public float is not an option.

July 22, 2010

The weather report calls for deteriorating conditions and winds increasing to 30 knots in Clarence Strait, so we leave at 0700, determined to go straight through to Ketchikan, rather than overnight in Meyers Chuck. We stopped at Meyers Chuck for 1 hour so Ben and Connie could visit the gallery, and we stopped again near Ship Island and fished for a while, no luck, although the charter boats were doing well on pink and chum salmon. The charter boats were sharing the area with several humpback whales. The wind continued to hold off until we docked at City Floats in Ketchikan at 1600. The weather report has gone from small craft advisories to gale warnings, and the rain began, so we were glad to find a spot where we will not be kicked out by a fishing boats also running for cover from the gale.

The log now stands at 2867.5 nautical miles on day 83.

We all went uptown to a Chinese restaurant on Creek Street, which turned out to have pretty good food. The rain increased, along with the wind.

July 23, 2010

We woke up to a windy, rainy and bouncy morning, even sheltered behind the cruise ship "Norwegian Pearl". We are really glad we pushed on to Ketchikan, since Clarence Strait is likely miserable, and moorage is really scarce as everyone runs for cover. We would likely still be stuck in Meyers Chuck until tomorrow. The purse seiners continue to stream in looking for moorage. One of them reports that the wind is now blowing 40 knots out in Tongass Narrows when they came in. The reports from Dixon Entrance have seas at 10 feet and 30 knot winds. The rain is heavy enough we have to dog the wheelhouse doors to keep the water out. Patrick also doubled up the mooring lines since we are being blown off the dock with the winds right on the beam.

Ben and Connie headed up to sightsee and geocache, while Patrick and Miriam start getting the boat ready for Sean, Margaret and Margot's arrival in the morning.