Another adventure begins!

     Our 2018 vacation is off to a great start. Kyrie and her crew left Douglas Harbor about 4:00 Friday afternoon to head down to Taku Harbor for the night. Unlike Memorial Day weekend, the weather was pretty decent and there were a fair number of boats with kids at the dock when we arrived. Consequently, the kiddos stayed up way too late playing outside, but we knew they wouldn't get much time to play with other kids for a while. I think we finally made them all go to bed around 10:30.
   

Our crab pots were full of huge sun stars!

Next morning was pretty nice. Breakfast was scrambled eggs and a cutthroat trout Joe caught the evening before. Then of course the kids had to go out and play with their friends again. Joe brought back the crab pots we set on our way to the dock, but all they held were big sun stars and snails. No dinner, but a huge source of fun for the girls. Rachael and Megan, along with two other girls about their age, sat on the dock and poked at an upside-down sun star, watching its little tentacles move around as it tried to figure out where it was. They also sat around the pile of huge snails, squealing whenever one grew brave enough to venture out of its shell.

Joe is holding one of the giant
snails we caught in the crab pot.
Escargot, anyone? 

     Eventually, it was time to let the sea creatures go back home and get ready to move on. Two other boats from the sailing club were all that had signed up for the Admiralty Island Rally this year and we planned on joining for part of the trip. There wasn't much wind when Kyrie stuck her nose out of Taku Harbor and we only saw one sail, so Joe and I decided to rig up the fishing poles and troll down to Limestone Inlet for a while.
     Limestone Inlet is lovely--I wouldn't mind going back there some time when it's just the two of us. Usually we go to Taku Harbor because it's easy to get to and is just a fun place to hang out as a family. However, if we happen to get a kid-free weekend and want to get out to be by ourselves, I think Limestone might fit the bill nicely. It's a narrow inlet with hardly any wave action on the shore, and there are mooring buoys to grab in the middle. We ended up eating lunch and trying to fish, but no luck.
   
Onward down Stephens Passage! Past Port Snettisham, I noticed a whale watch boat hanging out around the Midway Islands. We decided we would slow down when we got down there to see what they were checking out. It proved to be a sea lion haulout. Sea lions covered a rock pile on the west side of the islands and you could hear them snorting and growling at each other. Rachael kept yelling, "Noisy!" at them and laughed when I said I thought they sounded like pigs. :)
     From there, it wasn't much farther to our planned anchorage for the night. We motored past Rainier, a NOAA research vessel, and anchored in about 40 feet of water in the little bay between Wood Spit and Point Astley. About an hour later, the other two boats, A Little Romance and Thalia, showed up. It was a little different being the big boat and having them both raft up to us! Quiet night, but the gnats were out in force so none of us wanted to be outside very long.
     Next morning was foggy! No wind to speak of at first, so the three skippers made the decision to cross Stephens Passage to Point Hugh, the tip of the Glass Peninsula on Admiralty Island. We started sailing about 10:00 and managed to sail for four hours before the wind died and the current picked up. Once our speed dropped below 2 knots, it stopped being fun! Sails were furled, the motor fired up and away we went. It quickly became fun again because two porpoises came along and frolicked in our bow wake for a while. Then sea lions and sea otters popped up and swam around us.



The maritime animal show really began when Joe caught sight of some big splashes around Point Pybus. We were still three miles away, but it became obvious quickly there was a whale at play. It put on quite a display for us! I can't remember the last time I got to see a whale breach that much. It would rise about 3/4 of its body length out of the water and come crashing back down. Then it might roll on its side, and wave its giant flipper up and down a few times. Suddenly, it would show us its tail flukes as it dove down deep, leaving us to watch and wait breathlessly for it to leap out of the water again. This spectacle must have gone on for a good hour as we approached and eventually passed it by! I think Joe managed to get a couple photos of our cetacean friend in action.
Not long after, Kyrie turned the corner into Pybus Bay. I haven't been in that bay in six years--not since the last AIR we went on in 2012. I forgot how breathtakingly beautiful it is in there. I remember it being pretty, but I think by the time our slow little Shiva arrived, we were so tired and ready to be done for the night that we just didn't appreciate it enough. A Little Romance and Thalia were still out trying to sail, so we figured we had time to stop in the bay and try fishing. Joe caught the tiniest little Irish Lord I've ever seen--maybe only an inch-and-a-half long. How it managed to take the hook, I have no idea, but thankfully, Joe was able to shake it. I caught a little quillback rockfish, but it spit out the hook as it came to the surface. Thank goodness--we love to eat rockfish, but we would have needed four more that size to make a meal!
Cannery Cove was our destination last night and we gleefully lowered the property values as we entered it. Our neighbors already anchored included two megayachts that were over 100 feet long--one of them even had a helicopter on its upper rear deck. After anchoring up ourselves, we braved the bugs and went out for a dinghy ride, hoping to find a beach to turn the kids loose on. No such luck, but we had a ball cruising around Cannery Cove. The ride was during high tide and it was obvious there were some areas that would be high and dry during low tide. We could see Dungeness crabs skittering around on the bottom and little fish swimming all around. At last though, the growling of our stomachs announced it was time to head back to Kyrie and make dinner. Chicken thighs in mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and cabbage crunch salad--yummy!
The other two boats arrived as we finished eating, and like before, they rafted off to us. Neither boat sailed the whole way, but I think both crews had a good day.
No one was in a huge hurry to get moving this morning, but I think we finally cast everyone off and hauled the anchor at about 10:00. At almost 1:00 now, there is still almost no wind and I haven't seen any type of sail up. But, it's sunny, about 60 degrees and Frederick Sound looks like glass. Joe rigged a hammock up between the mast and the front stay and all three kids have spent some time in it. I think we all are thoroughly enjoying this beautiful day, but the fleet has a hot bath in mind. Baranof Warm Springs, here we come!