We found the buoy at the head and tied to it.
In moments we spotted bears, mama and her cub. She, eating beach asparagus and the baby digging clams..... both very absorbed in their meals.
They entertained us all afternoon, and as the day wore on, they headed back into the berry bushes for the night.
A short time later, we spotted 4 more bears lumbering along that same part of the beach where we first saw the mama and baby. There was a large, very large one and three that may have been a couple years old, very large also for that matter.
I took many pics of them, but they mysteriously didn't transfer off the camera. It is not the first time we have had missing pics. Not sure what that's all about, may be time for a new camera.
These bears hung out and ate salad and clams for a few hours and then disappeared back into the woods also, not to be seen for the rest of the evening.
The following morning, float planes came in, landed, and shut off their engines. The pilots and passengers were sitting on the pontoons paddling silently along the shore, searching for bears, which weren't showing themselves..... until 60 seconds after the planes took off. We spotted the mama and cub again.
George managed to get Teal in close to the shore - in 6 feet of water at one point - and they smiled for the camera. What a treat.
When we got to the head of the bay where it actually opened up into two bays.....
more bears. There are 3 there, that we could see.
So we were rewarded for our patience. We got the BEST weather we have had all summer and the bear show to boot.
We enjoyed the rest of our trip around the Island. We tied to a buoy in Short Bay, Bell Arm on the 25th. Woke to rain that day. We enjoyed the crabs from Walker Cove that night for dinner.
July 26 we woke to fog and headed to Klu Bay where we anchored and some beautiful falls coming out of Orchard Lake.
July 27, we anchored in Yes Bay. July 28, we trolled and George caught us a really nice Coho between Brow and Chin Points on our way to Neets Bay. That fish gave us 8 steaks, two tails, and bait for the prawn trap. We arrived in the fog and mist. Then the winds came up. We anchored and were doing the spin-around all evening into the night.
We spent the afternoon playing dominoes and yatzee. George came out winners on both. I'll redeem myself here in the next bout.
The winds quieted down some around 6:30 and we snuck out and dropped our prawn trap. This would be our last Alaska prawn catch of the season.
The barometer dropped to 9.97.
When we pulled anchor the following morning (July 29) , the sky was pouring buckets. Cold nasty morning.
We retrieved our trap. Our catch: 50+ of these little crab creatures.... same color and size as prawns... but not prawns! What a disappointment.
We blew back into Ketchikan, literally. The winds were 45 to 50 mph according to some reports. When we got in mid afternoon, we were cold and tired, and it was raining lightly.
July 31 was a really cold and rainy day. This is supposed to be the height of summer, right?
It's August 1st. BBQ at the club tonight. And then we're outta here. Heading south tomorrow. We will be at Port McNeill on Vancouver Island in 13 days.... and then back to the lower 48.
Not sure when we'll be blogging again. But we should have cell service along the way, if you want to call.
luv/jo
(The captain has been blogging. Go check it out)
P.S. The "totems" I referred to in earlier posts are the ones along the shore, not the poles we see on land.
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