Alaskan Sea-Duction: K-Town to Portage Bay

K-Town to Portage Bay

After a few days in Ketchikan shopping and installing a check valve on the generator exhaust we were ready to get out of town. This year the absent of float planes landing and taking off was ghostly. After 2 planes had a mid-air collision the planes disappeared or shut down all together.

We first had to get fuel. We pulled out and tied up at the fuel dock north of town. CLOSED! What on a Saturday? I called the number and they told me I could use the card machine to purchase fuel but only $280 worth or 2 swipes of your credit card. Otherwise you have to come to the south of town to get fuel. Well this suck, but oh well when you are the only one in town doing marine diesel fuel.

After fueling we headed for Myers Chuck. We wanted to taste the world-famous cinnamon rolls. As we approached the dock it seemed to be full. Doug and Rob were at the dock as I attempted to squeeze in to a small opening. You will fit they all said at the dock! The wind came up and it was blowing on the stern of the boat, which means no control! After 5 tries I was about to give up, but I then turned the boat into the wind and was able to barley fit. A foot and a half to spare up front and two feet in the back. Talk about parallel parking.

The next day I was pushed out and away we went to Thoms Place and the promise of crab pots full of the tasty critters. The bay is open to the south so if you have winds from the south it can be a little rough. We be our luck we had 22mph south winds for about 2 hours, then it shifted. 300 feet of anchor chain took care of that. Rob (Overtime crew) went with me to put our traps down. About 3 hours later, yep during south winds, we looked at our pots….empty!!! So we moved them for a soak overnight. Then we noticed what appeared to be a rock behind Overdrive. We investigated. It was a rock, a very big rock. Overdrive came very close to the rock or actually over it during high tide. Needless to say is was scary. The rock was on the chart too. The next morning that rock was a mountain at a -2.6-low tide. Crap! We pulled our pots and NOTHING skunked again! What is going on here? I have always been able to get crab. Off to Wrangell through the less famous Zimovia Straits.

We love Wrangell. It is a small home town look and feeling. Two small cruise ships were in town so it was busy. ASD got a soap and freshwater bath. Cleaning chores had to be accomplished. While there snugged between two fishing boats a huge barge sided tied to the boat behind us. I told the harbor master there would be no way we could maneuver ASD around the two boats in the morning. I was told it wouldn’t be an issue. The next morning it was gone. This is a fishing town and the season is about to start and folks are getting ready. Doug and Rob of the Overdrive left the day before we did. They had family showing up in Juneau.

The next day, pulled the pot no crab. What the heck am I doing wrong. There were a lot of folks that are saying crabbing just sucks this year. Off to Portage Bay via the Wrangell Narrows and a bypass of Petersburg. We got a great push in the southern narrows. I love running the Christmas Tree (the narrows). It tests your piloting skills through tight spaces. As we got to the northern part, we slowed way way down to 4mph as the current was now in front of us. As we bypassed Petersburg, we took care of some emails and calls as this would be the last cell signal until we got to Sitka. We would be off grid for a week or two. The ride between Petersburg and Portage Bay was windy and lots of wind waves crashing over the bow. No worries it wasn’t too bad. Portage Bay was awesome. The mountain at the head of the bay is one of my favorite mountains. Kay dropped a herring down and bam she had the first halibut of the trip. A small 20lb fish, but boy oh boy did it taste soooooo good!

Next stop is our favorite spot Red Bluff Bay. This has everything! Fishing, shrimping, crabbing and lots and lots of bears. We will be spending at least 1 week here. No cell phones, no noise, completely off the grid.