After days of not seeing whales, I was escorted for awhile by three humpbacks gently swimming along. I suddenly realized I had promised to make video for my Dad and this is the result. I tend to get lost in the moments with them and forget to make sure I'm actually filming them.
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Thursday, May 16, 2019
A Partner for Part of the Passage
Day 1 - Auke Bay to Juneau 23km
Started off at 9am in 1ft waves , paddled to Entrance Point and waited for the tide to come up on a sand bar for about an hour. Made it through Mendenhall wetlands only getting stuck in the mud once; not my favorite place to paddle. Once in the Gastineau Channel the winds really picked up out of the south at 30knots. We crossed to Juneau and paddled hard into the headwind, went past our harbor and had to turn around after the bridge (messy waters under the bridge!) and finally found Harris Harbor. Found a room at the Baranof Hotel for the nignt.
Day 2 - Juneau to Taku Harbor 44km
Rain most of the day. Great colorful starfish colony under and abandoned wharf south of Juneau. First crossing went well. Pushed our distance to see how long the weather will hold. Saw 9 whales today!
Day 3 - Taku Harbor - Stockdale Point 2.2km
Big winds and stormy day put us onto a beach as we left our sheltered bay. We had a terrrible time moving our boats up the beach here as we were forced to land at low tide. Left Taku Harbor as the tide was going out and had to really fight muddy bottom to load the boats in the draining bay. This was the worst experience I have ever had loading my kayak! I learned to check my chart and tide table and never leave a drying bay at low tide again.
Day 4 - Stockade Pt. to Holkham Bay My 41st Birthday
Sunshine Finally. Icebergs and a seal colony were highlights today. My partner telling me to "stop talking" when I tried to explain the importance of channel 16 on a VHF and the ensuing silent treatment for the remainder of the day was not enjoyable. I did attempt to communicate that her behavior wasn't ok and she simply paddled away and ignored me. A VHF radio is not a glorified weather radio and our shared VHF wouldn't work. She refused to allow me to look at the radio.
I celebrated my birthday in the sun with a glass of wine and my book. I dried out all of my things. I refused to let someone else's bad attitude ruin my day. I even sang myself a song. It was a good day after all. As I was brushing my teeth, I saw two beautiful brown bears come down onto the bay across from our camp. Yelling at them only scared them into the bushes for a few minutes. After observing them and seeing that they simply wanted their dinner, I chose to make a fire out of driftwood. My paddling partner chose this mini crisis to begin speaking to me again and offered assistance. A decent fire was built on our part of the beach, below the high tide line and we went to sleep.
Day 5 - Holkham Bay to Unnamed Bay South of Windham Bay 37km
Long Day of headwinds and against the tide. Almost no wildlife until the bay and then so many porpoises. We saw them zooming everywhere. maybe feeding on fish caught in the nets?
Day 6 - Unnamed Bay to Cape Fanshaw 44km
Sunny and clear. What a Day! We made good time down the coast and across Hobart Bay and Port Houghton. Calm seas allowed us to stay far out and cross quickly. Not much for wildlife. The winds picked up after noon so we chose to slide down Cleveland Passage on our way to Cape Fanshaw to give ourselves a break out of the wind. Once out in the bay we could foretell that the Cape would have some fair size waves due to the winds. We rounded the Cape at approximately 5:30pm into 4foot waves and surfed our way down Frederick Sound into a cobbled beach.
Day 7 Cape Fanshaw to Read Island
Paddled 12km in building seas where we landed because the ebb current had created 3-4foot seas and my paddling partner thought it may blow bigger. We landed in a very shallow bay and pulled our kayaks out of the water.
While waiting out the wind we sat against an old beach log and ended up falling asleep in the sun. Some sixth sense woke me up and I immediately spotted a black bear 200 feet to the left of us, peacefully snacking on seaweed. I woke up my partner and pointed out the bear which she could not see until it moved. I stood up and put my hands over my head to make myself larger and spoke to the bear to announce that we were there. The wind had hidden our smell, and he hadn't heard us talking. He ran into the woods, but came back in a few minutes to check us out. We both got up and yelled at him this time and again he ran into the woods. Then back he came so now we moved out onto the gravel beach to get the bear bangers. (Spray was always at hand.) As I was loading a banger that bear popped out of the trees right beside the log where we had been sleeping in the grass. He was way tto curious! I fired the banger over his head and off he went. He was gone for a very long time.
When we see the bear again, he is halfway across the bay. We stayed out on the gravel at our kayaks for safety as I did not like the behaviour of this bear. The bear came out of the trees to some seaweed and sat on his haunches and chewed and watched us for awhile. He learned to stay away from people.
Many hours later the seas are calm enough to paddle so we go again. We paddle to Read Island and find a sandy beach to put up our tent for the night.
Day 8 - Read Island - Petersburg
Beauty Day for paddling in Frederick Sound. Saw millions of herring roe in the shallows everywhere. The bad was my paddling partner. She was snippy with me right from the start of the day and then gave me the silent treatment all day again.
During the crossing at the Sukoi Islets we diverge. I insist that there is a busy shipping channel and as kayaks we should cross directly to shore and handrail into Petersburg for safety. My partner wants to paddle the most direct route, straight down the shipping lane. A large fishing vessel come out of harbor and up to full speed before seeing the kayak in the channel and putting his engines in full reverse. My paddling partner did not make a course change to paddle directly towards shore at that point either. I cannot continue to paddle with a person who is a liability to others' safety any further. I choose to stay ahead and inform her by way of messaging that I will not continue with her after town.
Day 9 - Petersburg - Crab Pot Beach 27.7km
Against the tide! Today started off with coffee and chatting on the phone. I needed to wait for the drugstore as I have been quite sick and needed a few items. Once my boat was loaded and away the shoreline disappeared quickly. The moment I was at zen three humpback whales spouted 200 feet away from me. I hadn't seen a whale in days. They spouted and dove and swam with me for about a half hour.
Day 10 Crab Pot Beach to Wrangell
I forgot to turn on tracking, oops. Had to make it across the Stikine mudflats at high tide so iwas anxious. I wa up and moving on time. Once I made it to Dry Strait it was difficult to figure out which island was which and I headed for the southern tip of what I thought was Rynda Island. I t turned out to be Kadin Island so I corrected course and continued paddling hard. The crossing seemed to take forever. The rainstorms were constant and so thick I couldm't see through them. I was so worried about getting stuck on the mud and having to wait out the tide.
My other big concern was visibility. I couldn't see Wrangell through the rain and that meant boats wouldn't see me. I prayed for it to clear and it did. I took a compass reaading just in case and headed out. I was so pleased to hit the harbor at two in the afternoon.
The Kah Shakes Tribal House is right next to the harbor and I was drawn to the sound of drums. Inside I found Tlingit and Tsimshian dancers and singers performing songs and dances about paddling. I felt as though they were singing to my soul.
The hostel at the Presbyterian Church is not yet open, however the kind operator made and exception for me and picked me up a the harbor. I had and amazing shower and sleep last night, watched over by a glowing red cross.
Day 11 - Wrangell Rest Day and Chores
I have been eating pizza all day. Breakfast and lunch and most likely dinner. I found a beautiful lady named Jenice at the Busy Bee to repair the tear in my spray skirt. I purchased a few items at the a few other stores and now I'm at the Public Library. Kim from the Presbyterian Church Hostel came to check on me and brought me some homemade canned salmon. I'm waiting for low tide to walk out and see the petroglyphs. I needed a day off.
Started off at 9am in 1ft waves , paddled to Entrance Point and waited for the tide to come up on a sand bar for about an hour. Made it through Mendenhall wetlands only getting stuck in the mud once; not my favorite place to paddle. Once in the Gastineau Channel the winds really picked up out of the south at 30knots. We crossed to Juneau and paddled hard into the headwind, went past our harbor and had to turn around after the bridge (messy waters under the bridge!) and finally found Harris Harbor. Found a room at the Baranof Hotel for the nignt.
Day 2 - Juneau to Taku Harbor 44km
Rain most of the day. Great colorful starfish colony under and abandoned wharf south of Juneau. First crossing went well. Pushed our distance to see how long the weather will hold. Saw 9 whales today!
Day 3 - Taku Harbor - Stockdale Point 2.2km
Big winds and stormy day put us onto a beach as we left our sheltered bay. We had a terrrible time moving our boats up the beach here as we were forced to land at low tide. Left Taku Harbor as the tide was going out and had to really fight muddy bottom to load the boats in the draining bay. This was the worst experience I have ever had loading my kayak! I learned to check my chart and tide table and never leave a drying bay at low tide again.
Day 4 - Stockade Pt. to Holkham Bay My 41st Birthday
Sunshine Finally. Icebergs and a seal colony were highlights today. My partner telling me to "stop talking" when I tried to explain the importance of channel 16 on a VHF and the ensuing silent treatment for the remainder of the day was not enjoyable. I did attempt to communicate that her behavior wasn't ok and she simply paddled away and ignored me. A VHF radio is not a glorified weather radio and our shared VHF wouldn't work. She refused to allow me to look at the radio.
I celebrated my birthday in the sun with a glass of wine and my book. I dried out all of my things. I refused to let someone else's bad attitude ruin my day. I even sang myself a song. It was a good day after all. As I was brushing my teeth, I saw two beautiful brown bears come down onto the bay across from our camp. Yelling at them only scared them into the bushes for a few minutes. After observing them and seeing that they simply wanted their dinner, I chose to make a fire out of driftwood. My paddling partner chose this mini crisis to begin speaking to me again and offered assistance. A decent fire was built on our part of the beach, below the high tide line and we went to sleep.
Day 5 - Holkham Bay to Unnamed Bay South of Windham Bay 37km
Long Day of headwinds and against the tide. Almost no wildlife until the bay and then so many porpoises. We saw them zooming everywhere. maybe feeding on fish caught in the nets?
Day 6 - Unnamed Bay to Cape Fanshaw 44km
Sunny and clear. What a Day! We made good time down the coast and across Hobart Bay and Port Houghton. Calm seas allowed us to stay far out and cross quickly. Not much for wildlife. The winds picked up after noon so we chose to slide down Cleveland Passage on our way to Cape Fanshaw to give ourselves a break out of the wind. Once out in the bay we could foretell that the Cape would have some fair size waves due to the winds. We rounded the Cape at approximately 5:30pm into 4foot waves and surfed our way down Frederick Sound into a cobbled beach.
Day 7 Cape Fanshaw to Read Island
Paddled 12km in building seas where we landed because the ebb current had created 3-4foot seas and my paddling partner thought it may blow bigger. We landed in a very shallow bay and pulled our kayaks out of the water.
While waiting out the wind we sat against an old beach log and ended up falling asleep in the sun. Some sixth sense woke me up and I immediately spotted a black bear 200 feet to the left of us, peacefully snacking on seaweed. I woke up my partner and pointed out the bear which she could not see until it moved. I stood up and put my hands over my head to make myself larger and spoke to the bear to announce that we were there. The wind had hidden our smell, and he hadn't heard us talking. He ran into the woods, but came back in a few minutes to check us out. We both got up and yelled at him this time and again he ran into the woods. Then back he came so now we moved out onto the gravel beach to get the bear bangers. (Spray was always at hand.) As I was loading a banger that bear popped out of the trees right beside the log where we had been sleeping in the grass. He was way tto curious! I fired the banger over his head and off he went. He was gone for a very long time.
When we see the bear again, he is halfway across the bay. We stayed out on the gravel at our kayaks for safety as I did not like the behaviour of this bear. The bear came out of the trees to some seaweed and sat on his haunches and chewed and watched us for awhile. He learned to stay away from people.
Many hours later the seas are calm enough to paddle so we go again. We paddle to Read Island and find a sandy beach to put up our tent for the night.
Day 8 - Read Island - Petersburg
Beauty Day for paddling in Frederick Sound. Saw millions of herring roe in the shallows everywhere. The bad was my paddling partner. She was snippy with me right from the start of the day and then gave me the silent treatment all day again.
During the crossing at the Sukoi Islets we diverge. I insist that there is a busy shipping channel and as kayaks we should cross directly to shore and handrail into Petersburg for safety. My partner wants to paddle the most direct route, straight down the shipping lane. A large fishing vessel come out of harbor and up to full speed before seeing the kayak in the channel and putting his engines in full reverse. My paddling partner did not make a course change to paddle directly towards shore at that point either. I cannot continue to paddle with a person who is a liability to others' safety any further. I choose to stay ahead and inform her by way of messaging that I will not continue with her after town.
Day 9 - Petersburg - Crab Pot Beach 27.7km
Against the tide! Today started off with coffee and chatting on the phone. I needed to wait for the drugstore as I have been quite sick and needed a few items. Once my boat was loaded and away the shoreline disappeared quickly. The moment I was at zen three humpback whales spouted 200 feet away from me. I hadn't seen a whale in days. They spouted and dove and swam with me for about a half hour.
Day 10 Crab Pot Beach to Wrangell
I forgot to turn on tracking, oops. Had to make it across the Stikine mudflats at high tide so iwas anxious. I wa up and moving on time. Once I made it to Dry Strait it was difficult to figure out which island was which and I headed for the southern tip of what I thought was Rynda Island. I t turned out to be Kadin Island so I corrected course and continued paddling hard. The crossing seemed to take forever. The rainstorms were constant and so thick I couldm't see through them. I was so worried about getting stuck on the mud and having to wait out the tide.
My other big concern was visibility. I couldn't see Wrangell through the rain and that meant boats wouldn't see me. I prayed for it to clear and it did. I took a compass reaading just in case and headed out. I was so pleased to hit the harbor at two in the afternoon.
The Kah Shakes Tribal House is right next to the harbor and I was drawn to the sound of drums. Inside I found Tlingit and Tsimshian dancers and singers performing songs and dances about paddling. I felt as though they were singing to my soul.
The hostel at the Presbyterian Church is not yet open, however the kind operator made and exception for me and picked me up a the harbor. I had and amazing shower and sleep last night, watched over by a glowing red cross.
Day 11 - Wrangell Rest Day and Chores
I have been eating pizza all day. Breakfast and lunch and most likely dinner. I found a beautiful lady named Jenice at the Busy Bee to repair the tear in my spray skirt. I purchased a few items at the a few other stores and now I'm at the Public Library. Kim from the Presbyterian Church Hostel came to check on me and brought me some homemade canned salmon. I'm waiting for low tide to walk out and see the petroglyphs. I needed a day off.
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