On June 2nd, we made the transit on the Susan Dawn from Bellingham, Washington to Ketchikan, Alaska. The ocean waters were calm and flat, allowing us to make good time. Usually, there are a lot of big log rafts, transporting timber along the coast. This time around there was light traffic, an obvious side effect of the economy.
As Buddy waited for the Charter boat to clear customs, he took the time to replace a bank of batteries for the boat. He continued to get supplies and waited for Captain Don, who was flying in from Washington. With supplies and staff in tow, we were finally ready to make our 5-day trip to Juneau.
We made a first stop at Ratz Harbor, a harbor on the Prince of Wales Island, the 4th largest island in the U.S. We tested out the new Skiff and fished for some bait for our crab pots. The skies were clear, with not a cloud in the sky. Well rested, we continued on our way to Juneau.
The good weather followed as we traveled through Wrangell Narrows, a 20 mile narrow and shallow channel on the way to Petersburg. We caught sight of Humpback Whales and some Dall Porpoises swimming under water.
We spent the night at the Petersburg Harbor, which has some of the best docks we’ve seen in Southeast Alaska. The city of Petersburg had put a lot of money into modernizing their Harbor, and we’ve enjoyed their investment. Weather continues to be in the mid-70’s. As we sailed up the eastern side of the Inner Passage, Kathleen caught a 32 pound King Salmon. We enjoyed a nice dinner of Salmon that night.
The next day we experienced very strong winds. The Susan Dawn was pushed at over 8 knots with the engines off, which shut off our fishing and trolling. The weather changed drastically the day we left Taku Harbor. There was an overcast of clouds that kept getting lower and lower and turned into rain. We crossed Stephens Passage, and on the way caught a Flounder.
Our trip ended at Harris Harbor, in Juneau. Diesel is still at $2.90 per gallon. We started to prepare for our next trip from Juneau. The company guests, who will be on this trip, are lucky. We were able to make reservations to go to Glacier Bay. They should have a good 4 days of sightseeing. Glaciers are amazing to experience. The trip is scheduled for June 15th and has already left, and will return on the 20th. Captain Buddy is leading that trip, as Captain Don has other business that needs attending to. We look forward to blogging about that trip by June 22nd.
Captains Buddy & Don
