Friday Funny 1-26/2024 (Scenic Tour Continues)

 

Oops, I missed a couple of Fridays, I actually didn't even remember that I had missed them until Sunday. 😁 I guess that's what being retired is all about. Me-"oh, did I miss Friday again?"

Last post, we ended up in Port Walter in a less scenic bay, (oh horrors), then it's onward to Deep Cove. This time, with no other boats inside the cove, we picked out the most advantageous spot, while keeping us safe from upcoming high winds, and making sure the anchor was well set.

Over the next couple of days, this cove provided shelter to several different vessels, small, and large.

This small vessel came in several times, and looked to be a fishing charter, as they cleaned salmon, and halibut every evening. They have such a shallow draft, that they were almost to the bank when they set their anchor. We set out a crab trap, thinking the fish remains in the water would attract them, but nope, never trapped one, or saw one on the pieces/parts. Conclusion: no crabs in this bay.

Gus, as usual, was keeping track of all of the goings on, making sure that no one anchors too close, or incorrectly. 

We had several heavy rain storms, and the large waterfall grew in size, and sound. According to the chart, if you hike up the hill, there is a large lake at the head of this waterfall. I thought maybe it would be a fun excursion, until we started to see bears around the the shore, and they all headed up into the woods in the direction of the lake. Um, no, I don't need to get between the food source and either black or brown bears.

The next bay on the "Baranof east coast" tour is Gut Bay. While every cruising guidebook says this is a very scenic spot, I couldn't find anywhere how this bay got it's name. Gut Bay doesn't sound like a place I would want to visit, that must be why they emphasize the panoramic views.

We needed a place to anchor that would protect from southern winds, while not placing us in the path of williwaws. (A sudden blast of wind descending from a mountainous coast to the sea.) You can hear them coming, it's as if a freight train is headed your way, and then bam, it hits you with force. We've been in them before, and I'm not a fan. The cruising guide suggests another small bay within this large one, but according to the topography, it appeared as if we'd be in the direct path of the wind, so we avoided it. Another little cruiser tucked himself up in there though. 

I loved this one lone tree, it's shape was so perfect it made me want to return in the winter, and decorate it with lights, well almost..... not.

At the head of the bay, there's a salmon spawning stream, the water was so full of fish, you could almost reach in and grab one. Not that I would, by this time, these fish are on their way to the great fish heaven, and totally inedible.

We expected to see bears here, and stayed well away from the shore line, we didn't see any, but that doesn't mean they weren't there.

The next nice day, onward to the next bay: Red Bluff.

A beautiful Chatham Strait day.

Another installment to come, stay tuned. 

As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.

Friday Funny 11-10/2023 (Fresh Water Falls in Salt Water Bays)

 

The blog has been quiet for awhile, mainly because we ventured into areas where there wasn't a cell signal for hot spot internet usage, and we haven’t jumped on the Starlink bandwagon yet. We've been exploring SE Alaska for nine years, and we still have many areas that we haven’t seen yet. This year, we cruised a few places we knew, but many that were new to us.

Though we had a fairly sunny, and warm summer, we had just enough rain to make the waterfalls spectacular.

Shrimp Bay

Two waterfalls

Enjoying a closeup kayak ride

Port Walter

A braided waterfall

Deep Cove

Before rain

After rain

Gut Bay

Many falls at once

Red Bluff Bay

Chatham Strait

Baranof Warm Springs

Seemed like it was a "Waterfall Cruise", there were usually multiples in almost every bay we were in. The scenery is usually spectacular in N. America's largest rainforest.

As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.

Immersing ourselves in new [to us...] cultures...

One of the reasons many of us have adopted this cruising lifestyle is to travel; to visit lands and cultures we either have never experienced, or wish to learn more about.

There are often some minor barriers to admission; things we don't know or are unfamiliar with, like language, dress, customs, and cultural mores...

We never want to offend anyone, nor be perceived as the 'Ugly Americans'... 

I personally enjoy asking what must be mundane questions, but one has to start somewhere... 

This is akin to our being occasionally asked if we live in an igloo, have a dog team, where to exchange currency [this from fellow citizens- and yes, I can handle that for you...] or insistence that shipping to Alaska from the lower 48 US states is international... [A testament of our public education system perhaps?]

Regardless, I always enjoy being immersed in a culture- especially one that is new to me. I have found that is the best way for me to absorb some the cultural nuances and bits of language. But it rarely sticks for long- especially if we are just passing through- but I can't stay isolated just because I am embarrassed by my own ignorance...

Another example: I have lived and boated in Mexico several times, the most recent being many years ago. I was fluent in Spanish then, but languages don't stay that way [for me...] without continued use. 

Keeping with my desire for immersion, when I have an opportunity to converse in Spanish I jump right in. I try speaking without thinking it through in English first [i.e., translating; it is said you know a language when you think in the language you are speaking- or attempting to speak in...] This can lead to some funny situations...

I remember being in Mexico joining friends for dinner in very nice restaurant- after a few years of absence from the country [and the language...] I intended to order camarones a la diabla [Shrimp of the She-Devil (chipotle sauce) which was not on the menu... To die for! (Or die of...)]

At this point my tongue was well lubricated through my reacquaintance with the local beverages, and running about half a step ahead of the brain which was driving it...

What I actually ordered was a few demonic trucks [camiones.] And I knew this as soon as it escaped my lips. Hysterical laughter ensued; mine and theirs.

My second attempt would have required a waiter [camarero...] to volunteer to be diced and sautéed in the chipotle sauce...  Now they think I'm a stand-up comedian... A round from the house!

My friends are getting pretty hungry at this point, and some food in me might help ensure we receive something familiar for desert...

Of course I hit the target on my third try [as if they didn't already know...] and we [especially the wait staff] continued to chuckle our way into dinner... 

It was great fun and a marvelous learning opportunity at the cost of some humility; a small price to pay indeed.

C'est la vie! [...or should I say que será, será...]

And I can assure you boaters that- unlike unfamiliar cultures-  unknown waters do not compel in me that same desire for immersion...

Friday Funny 10-29/2021 (Lions, Tigers, and Bears... No, just Bears, oh my)

 

Pack Creek is a bear viewing area managed by both the US Forest Service, and Alaska Dept of Fish, and Game. Each organization has a ranger on duty during the viewing season. 

Most boaters anchor inside that small island during the stay of their permit period. We had arrived a day early, so we meandered around the other small islands before going over to anchor next to the creek area the day of our permit. Small story: I was at the helm while Bill was forward deploying the anchor, and he signaled to back down on the anchor. I had just revved the rpms in reverse to set the anchor, and I heard a voice behind me say, "good morning". Whaaat, and TF?!? I turned around and a small inflatable with some people in it, were RIGHT at the transom of the boat. They must have seen my startled expression at almost running them over, and they zoomed off pretty quick. Then, this is the next thing they did.

Um, no, waaaay too close to a momma brown bear with two cubs. The rangers were very unhappy with them. 

They eventually returned to their home ship, and motored off. We chalked it up to tourists who were inexperienced, I'm sure that the driver of the inflatable was not the captain of the ship, he would have known better. 

We were pretty excited though, wow, we saw three bears already. After anchoring, we put our dinghy in the water, and motored over to the mainland for our turn. The park provides a long "clothesline" into the water to tie up your conveyance, then they rotate it out, so that your dinghy isn't accessible to land. This helps to make sure that a bear doesn't tear it up while investigating new smells. The ranger gave us our bear speech, gave us a pamphlet on the area, and said we could take the trail to the overlook shed, or walk the beach to the creek.  She advised us that there was a bear sleeping on the beach, and to be aware. We choose to walk the beach.

Our first encounter was with a deer grazing, and I thought he was pretty close to us. Around the corner from the beach to the creek, is the sitting log for people, and another ranger to manage the area. They weren't kidding when they said there was a bear sleeping on the beach. 

The ranger knew this bear, and she's a cubless sow who visits this area frequently, and is very human habituated. Her fur was so thick, and luxurious that I almost wanted to reach out and pet her. She would wake up every once in a while, dig her hole a bit deeper, readjust her position and flop back down to nap.

Check out what's behind her across Pack Creek. Another sow with what looked like 3 year old cubs. 

We were making up conversations about this family. The mom got in the water to fish, and the cubs just sat down on the bank and waited for mom to throw them some food. We called those two, the lazy teenagers who expected mom to wait on them. It wasn't happening, obviously they were old enough to fish for their own food. "Mooooom, we're hungry, hurry up, and get us something to eat!" "Get off your lazy duffs, and get your own fish, it's about time you were more independent, the den is getting a bit crowded!"

Give it to me, Mom!

Eventually, everyone finally got their own fish.

Further up the creek, we watched a sow, with smaller cubs get their fish. These cubs were getting good at securing their meal.

When the seagulls started to congregate at the mouth of the creek, all the bears took the hint, and went to fish the school of salmon that were entering.

Soon, the tide was coming in, and everyone lumbered off to take naps. 

We also had deer so close, you could almost touch them. They were used to the humans hanging around, and may have felt safe around us. The bears didn't seem interested in them though, probably because they were so full of salmon.

Bill had to take his long lens off of his camera, they were too close to photograph, I just use my Lumix point and shoot. No complications.

This was a very successful excursion, bear wise anyway.

PS, our friends on Adventures have adventures, 😁, and she's a fabulous photographer, loves bears. Check out her blog in the list to the right in Boating Blogs we enjoy. 

PPS, to get you in the Halloween mood, local decorations.

As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.

Friday Funny 8-3/18 (More fun in the sun)

"HEY Dad, can I ring the ship's bell NOW?"

In the last couple of weeks, we had a great time exploring new areas south of Wrangell Island. We couldn't have asked for better weather either. We had over 2 weeks without rain, and hardly any clouds. That is an awesome accomplishment for the nation's largest rainforest. 

Bradfield Canal. That's a small unnamed glacier at the top of the mountain.

Those of you from warmer climes would probably laugh at us, but we were HOT! The temperatures during the day were 70-85F, and it cooled down at night low 70s. We tried to keep all the hatches wide open, and at least one fan on during the day, but even then, inside Denali Rose was 80s to 90F. 

Warming for the day.

I took that photo to show that it was already 81F inside at 8:26 in the morning. The cats just lazed around and napped all day. They had no interest in playing in the heat, and rotated their resting places as the sun, and boat moved. 

Can you see Gus in this photo?

There he is! Hiding behind the line duffle.

Bill took the opportunity while we were at anchor to reorganize the cockpit lazerettes, (compartments for storage on a boat), and Gus decide that was his opportunity to find a new place to nap. Elsie took whatever she could find to stay out of the sun.

In the cockpit

In the salon, notice she is cozied up to the battery powered bug paddle.

Lower dinette.

We enjoyed company every morning when the tide went out and exposed a sandbar behind us. 

The "gang".

We usually awoke to the sound of seals barking, and had our coffee watching them as they sunbathed. I counted about 20 of them every morning, and as the tide came back in, they would slip back into the water.

Forward view into Bradfield Canal.

Aft view with the afternoon breezes, and tide in.

The view was even spectacular at night

Full moon

We're back in Wrangell, with town chores, and reprovisioning to accomplish. Bonus information:

I"M WALKING without aids, well mostly. I'm carrying my cane with me just in case, it feels like my security blanket now that I've had it so long. I told my physical therapist, that I borrowed the cane from, I would have it back to her by September 1, so the separation anxiety must be overcome. 

 As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.