Elfin Cove and Pelican

Wednesday July 11

Elfin Cove Inner Harbor

We went to Elfin Cove and were lucky to find moorage, as there is limited space for transients. Elfin Cove has a continuous boardwalk along the shore to the cozy inner harbor, which is devoted to sport and commercial fishing boats. Small homes and guest cabins lined the boardwalk on the land side. We admired the small gardens; one had a mass of columbine and blue poppies! Some of the houses were falling apart but it seemed that some people are getting into tourism. In 2009, the population of Elfin Cove was 25 year-round residents; however, with all the fisherfolk, it felt like there were 500 people there. Signs and flower pots decorated the houses. My favorite was labeled "Red Neck Chimes"; it was 6 Budweiser cans of different sized supported on a wire.  We followed the signs that pointed to a bright yellow house, where we bought smoked king [Chinook] salmon.

Outside a Sports Fishermen's Cabin		Orca Yin and Yang SECONDPICTURE
Boardwalk away from Inner Harbor		Blue Poppies
		Porch Decoration
Houses on Stilts to Accomodate High Tide		Elfin Cove Inner Harbor -- Yellow House Sells Smoked Salmon
This Year's Sports Fishermen and Their Catch		Garden Whimsey

When we got back to the boat, the dock was filled with commercial fish boats, some rafted up. There was a salmon opening and they were heading out. Elfin Cove was originally called "Gunk Hole". However, the first post mistress wanted a better name for her home; her husband's boat was called Elfin.

Sports Fisherman with their Catch

We decided to head on to Pelican, another boardwalk community. It was named after a fish packing boat. The docks were new and very solid, so it was surprising to see how rundown the town is. The cold storage facility for fish closed in 2004. The rows of bunk houses that may have housed workers looked pretty dilapidated. There was a liquor store but the grocery store has been closed for a number of years. Groceries have to be flown in from Juneau for a fee of $50. We photographed a group of sports fishermen celebrating their halibut catch with beer. One of the halibut was longer than me and about 160 pounds; I hate to see the larger halibut caught, as they are females and their habitat is different from the smaller males.

"Hippies Enter on Right" -- there is no entry on the right!		Bunk House and Cold Storage Sign on Library
Practicing the Emergency Evacuation		Boardwalk in Pelican

Raven

We moored behind a boat from Victoria and, of course, had to talk. Vivian is a physician, working as a locum for years. She single-handed all the way from Victoria, sometimes doing 14-hour days without an autopilot! Amazing. She had just done the outside of Chichagof Island, as we had wanted to do before Glacier Bay. Rose's Pub is an infamous place, so we went together with Vivian for dinner. Food was good; atmosphere was smoky and very calm. We have heard first-hand stories of the antics at the bar. Rose had the habit of suddenly pulling her blouse wide open unexpectedly in front of customers and one of our friends had her own blouse pulled open.