The Harbor Master Called me Today

[chas]

I'll add the getting up to a warm cabin part to the pictures you describe. My old Dickenson stove does not like a daily start-up routine but is more comfortable at about 1 gal/day at low setting in summertime. There aren't a lot of days so warm that we are forced to extinguish what is a core part of the cruising experience for us ..... warm oatmeal chocolate chip raisin cookies.

How well does your yawl boat tow behind Amazon, Jim? I've been imagining what type of sailing tender would be suitable for your area. / Jim

[Steve TN 15]

What a way to start your day! Forget the curtains mate, the nature is better

[jsjpd1]

Six days on the boat, about two hundred miles covered, lots of fun had by all, not a bad way to pass the time.

And we even all fit around our tiny table.

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[epoxyboy]

Nice!

[lupussonic]

^^ That Sir, must be pay back for all those cold wet days slogging away covered in goop upside down with your head stuffed in the bilge, with your bank account aground... Wonderful!

[Boatsbgood]

Just, wow. Most excellent! Made me smile, and think I better get my kids out and about again before they're all grown up...

[figo]

Enjoy the High Life! in both ways!

[Garret]

Now that's a bunch of happy campers - er - boaters. Makes it all worthwhile I bet.

Even better, the kids will think back to this 50 years from now.

[jsjpd1]

Well, everyone came back happy, so hopefully they’ll think back fondly on it. We were coming in last night and I found myself jealous of the boats going out. But we were running low on groceries so it was time to come home.

I’ll put some more pictures up later, right now I need to run down to the boat and retrieve gear.

[jsjpd1]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KASSmRC7x-0

Here a little video of otters and whales.

[jsjpd1]

So the plan was to take a week off work and head out in the boat stopping at Funter bay, Swanson harbor, and Hoonah and generally exploring that area where Lynn canal, Icy strait, and Chatham strait meet. Funter bay is about sixty water miles from the slip, which is a long day for us, so we decided to break it up and just do the thirty mile run around Douglas and stay the night in Auke Bay.

We pulled away from the dock under cloudy skies with rain showers all around.

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But the weather improved as the day progressed.

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Helping mama steer.

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[Paul Girouard]

Awesome, guess in the end it was good the Harbor Master called! Not that it’s actually the end yet, but sort of a new beginning!
Best of luck and keep the photo’s coming!

[Aquinian]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KASSmRC7x-0

Here a little video of otters and whales.

Delightful, Jim!

And whomever it is cleans your glass, make sure they get chocolate. Cleanest boat windows ever!

Regards,
John.

[tnltracy]

Fantastic update and photos.

[Powerwagon]

Great stuff...motivation for all of us still working on our boats. Thanks for posting!

[jsjpd1]

Once around Douglas Island we just kind of meandered through Fritz Cove and Auke Bay. Auke Bay is super busy with whale watching and charter boats so it was wake city. We found a relatively quiet spot to hangout on the hook for awhile, then decided to run in and find a spot on the dock for the night.

Fritz cove.

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At the dock we found the usual assortment of fancy yachts and old woodies still earning their keep.

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The tender just screamed money.

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Checkout the towing eye.

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And fighting chair.

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[jsjpd1]

Quaker Maid still earning her keep.

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And Amazon of course.

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Here’s our first day’s travel.

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[cstevens]

Ah - wonderful stuff Jim. The smiles on the faces of your family say everything.

Quaker Maid makes her home down here in Salmon Bay during the off season. What a grand old lady she is!

[Favorite]

No electric on the pier ? What do they hit you for a parking fee ?

Which one of you is the mapmaker ? Pretty nice !

p.s. One finger wheel, you didn't show us the power steering installation

[Canoeyawl]

Brings me back about 40 years

What a beautiful thing you have going on,
thank you for sharing.

[jsjpd1]

Thanks everybody.

It was $16 to tie up at Statter Harbor overnight.

[jsjpd1]

The next morning we left the dock at ten and headed out around Shelter Island and up north pass. There were orcas hanging out on the east side of Shelter but too far away for any decent photos. By the time we got up to the bell bouy off of Point Retreat the sea lions had settled in on the bouy for a snooze. From Point Retreat down to Funter Bay was a easy couple hours on a glassy sea and we headed into the dock at the old cannery. Someone bought the cannery property a few years ago and there are a bunch of private cabins there now but it’s still a public dock and available first come first served.

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Bell bouy.

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Point Retreat.

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The entrance to Funter Bay.

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The old cannery float.

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[jsjpd1]

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Once tied up, the first order of business was heading to shore for some exploration.

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In the woods past the cabins were a few old relics from the cannery.

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The ceiling in this old cabin was completely papered with pages out of the Saturday Evening Post from 1919.

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[jsjpd1]

From there we hit the beach, where we found a rope swing to occupy us for a bit.

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King of the mountain!

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Further down the beach was really big iron vein with marble below.

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Part of our beach combing haul.

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[L'Ankou]

Your not losing your time up there ��

Thanks for sharing !

[Phil Y]

All that hard work is paying off. Congratulations

Sent from my CPH1851 using Tapatalk

[jsjpd1]

Once back at the dock some effort was put into procuring dinner.

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Spoons and a bit of bacon ended up doing the trick.

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I think our favorite part of Funter bay was the dock. There was huge variety of critters from tube worms to anemones that call the dock home, including this tiny star fish.

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And this baby urchin.

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While we were fishing a gal and her dog came in with Pegge.

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Pegge was built in 1912 and is still going strong.

[Chris Noto]

Six days on the boat, about two hundred miles covered, lots of fun had by all, not a bad way to pass the time.

And we even all fit around our tiny table.

Wow. Just. Wow. To Look at this scene, and click back five years to the top of the thread... Wonderful. Amazing. Heart warming.
Thanks, Jim, for bringing me along on your journey. It's been, and still is, a great ride.

All the best to you and yours!

[Woxbox]

This is all absolutely fantastic, Jim. It must have been 5 years ago when I stopped by and you showed me what you were up to. And now, the dream is a reality. So glad that it all came together for you.

[jsjpd1]

The cannery in Funter bay is pretty much gone now, but one important and sad part of its history still exists. On the beach across the little cove from the dock is a white cross at the tree line. This cross marks the trail that leads back to a small cemetery that holds the graves of thirty Aleuts who died at the interment camp located on the cannery property during World War II. The Aluets were evacuated from their home villages by the the US government out of fear that a Japanese invasion was imminent. So far so good, but then things sort of fell apart. Dropped off on a lonely coast, at a decrepit cannery that had been idle for a decade and fallen into disrepair with no good water supply, they basically had to construct their own camp and predictably the young children and elderly suffered the most.

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Most of the graves were simply marked with a cross but a few had head stones, likely added later.

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It was an interesting, if somber place to visit and I’m glad we took the time to see it.

[Steve TN 15]

Always sad to see a childs grave and isn't it so like public servants to half do something. Move them so they're safe, don't bother making sure there are facilities, just abandon them

[jsjpd1]

The rest of the day was spent hanging out, exploring and just generally goofing off.

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The otter family stopped by for a visit too.

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[jsjpd1]

The broadcast antenna for the vhf weather radio is currently offline and isn’t scheduled to be repaired until mid July. Fortunately, we had cell service and I was able to pull the text forecast with my phone. On Wednesday we had planned on crossing Lynn Canal and heading up Icy Strait to find a new spot, but when I checked the forecast there was a small craft advisory for our area on Thursday with seas to four feet and lots of wind. So instead of risking getting weathered in we decided to run back in and made a nine and a half hour run to Taku Harbor, which is another old cannery site with a public use dock.

Out in Lynn Canal there was following seas to feet. But nothing that we couldn’t easily handle and then it was like hitting a switch, as soon as we rounded Point Retreat it was flat calm. This lasted until we hit middle point on the back side of Douglas. After that it wasn’t too long before we were back into the following seas to two feet pattern but we caught the tide just right because by the time we hit Taku Harbor we were touching 8.5 mph. It was very exciting.

Bugging out of Funter bay.

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The other side of Point Retreat.

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Yay! Taku Harbor.

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It’s not a bad place really.

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[Thad]

Fun. What it's all about.

[Hugh MacD]

Beautiful country, Jim. Glad you're sharing that with your kids! Also glad to see that that people are maintaining that little graveyard. Those were some desperate times! My dad was trained and equipped for the Aleutian campaign...and then sent to new Guinea...go figure.