Southern Portion of West Coast of Baranof Island

Wednesday July 25 - Saturday July 28

Pyramid-shaped Mountain is behind Sitka, Baranof Island

We left Sitka and headed down the outside coast of Baranof Island. We had a wonderful weather window: calm seas and light wind (usually on the nose; Urs would have liked more wind from a better angle). Calm seas was important as some stretches would be in the open waters of the Gulf of Alaska. For the first day and a half, we found protection cruising behind a maze of islets and rocks.

Sevenfathom Bay

Our first anchorage was Sevenfathom Cove. It was surrounded by a fairy-tale forest and high mountain peaks with snow patches. We particularly liked the quietness after 6 days in Sitka. We saw an unusual sight: a juvenile bald eagle on a tree with its wings spread out perhaps to dry like cormorants; maybe he had been fishing. Higher up on another tree a raven was sitting and calling loudly.

Entrance to Scow Bay

On Thursday, we had a lunch stop in Scow Cove; the entrance was particularly narrow. Then out to open seas for the first time since leaving Sitka. The seas were as good as you could imagine, hardly any swell. The scenery is very interesting and typical of an outer coast. Because of the heavy, continual pounding of surf during storms, nothing has a chance to grow on the rocks; they are bare up to about 150 feet. We anchored in Still Harbor, another beautiful anchorage surrounded by dense forest. The evening's excitement was a loon, flying with partially folded wings to descend rapidly from high above to the water; then she took off with a fish dangling from her beak.

Foggy Morning in Still Harbor

Pea Soup Fog -- There really is land out there;
see instruments below

Friday, started out pea-soup fog and drizzle; we turned on the radar. We had less than half a mile visibility. The radar showed several nearby boats but we could not see them until the fog lifted. On the outside coast, we had to weave our way through a fleet of trolling fishing boats. Packer boats often anchor in nearby harbors, buying fish from the fishermen and then taking the fish to a processing plant, while the fishing boats keep on catching fish.

The Chart Plotter on the Left Shows our Route along the Shore, the Arrow is our Boat;
The Radar on the Right Shows Land About 1.5 Nautical Miles Away

Sun Shining in Puffin Cove

Rainbow at Puffin Cove

We headed up Puffin Inlet and then made a 150-degree turn toward our intended anchorage. The passage appeared so narrow. I said: "We are not going into there, are we???!!" When Urs said, "Yes", I headed to the bow. Puffin Cove turned out to be a lovely spot, big enough for one or two boats. It is surrounded by very steep, high mountains with deep green slopes and snow patches. Eventually the sun came out and a spectacular rainbow appeared. A huge school of herring attracted wildlife. They were jumping in the air on all sides of us. A lone female sea lion spent several hours gorging herself on the fish. Then about 6 bald eagles swooped in to scoop up fish until nightfall.

Bow Digging into Wave

Saturday morning, swells were coming into Puffin Inlet. Outside, the water was very confused: swell from the west and wind-waves from the south. It was an uncomfortable chop; Raven Song dug her bow into a number of the increasingly large swells. We plowed on slowly. Then, we saw lots of birds (puffins, murres, phalaropes, skuas) and realized that the water had suddenly become flat. We don't know what caused the difference -- changing tide? currents? And another question: Apparently male phalaropes incubate the eggs and raise the young; what are the females doing? Do they head south or wait to migrate with the others?

Common Murres

Before rounding Cape Ommaney (he was the provisioner or "victualler" for Capt Cook), we avoided the lines of several commercial fishing boats. We watched some sports fishermen in an anchored skiff; Urs said they were probably fishing for halibut. Later, after we had docked in Port Alexander, a guy stopped and offered us three large pieces of halibut -- he was the skipper of the skiff that had been halibut fishing -- they had been watching us, too! and thought it only appropriate to share their catch. We gave him a Swiss chocolate bar in trade, which he gladly accepted.

		Small Troller
Cape Ommaney at Southern Tip of Baranof Island		Cape Ommaney

Coming Into Port Alexander

Entrance to Port Alexander on the Right at Low Water

Problems Anyone?  Or Maybe a Hamburger with the Works?

Fisher Depositing Two Salmon with Float for Us

We walked along Port Alexander's extensive boardwalk. Population is about 40 but many sports fishermen have summer cabins. There is a school; one boy asked if we were the new teachers. Alaska will fund a school if there are at least 10 students; Port Alexander has 14 and the new teacher will be bringing her own 5 -- good news for the school. Of course, we had to visit Laughing Raven Lodge and Problem Corner Cafe, a tiny place that sells an amazing variety of food. There is a cute general store. Then we walked along the beach collecting flowers and rocks. Quite an interesting and quaint place. The people are very friendly. We really enjoyed our stay. Port Alexander was named after Alexander Baranov, the first governor of Russian America.

As I was putting dinner on the table, a small boat, the F/V Anna Louise, was trying to raft up to the boat in front of us. The skipper's dog fell into the water. While he was busy retrieving the dog, his boat floated back with the current bending one of our stanchions. Urs was able to bend it back. He apologized and said he had no money to pay for the damage, but he promised us some fish if we called him on the radio early in the morning.

And as promised, the skipper of F/V Anna Louise responded to Urs's radio call. He was not far away and had some fish. He put two fish into a plastic bag, tied the bag to a bit of floating line with a float. Then, he put it all into the water while trolling past us with all his fishing gear in the water. We retrieved the fish, put a Swiss chocolate bar into a new bag for him. Then he swung around and retrieved his float and the chocolate. He really appreciated it and apologized again for the incident. Salmon for dinner and left-over halibut for lunch!

Laughing Raven Lodge		Float Tree!
Common Harebells		Fishing Boats Unloading onto a Packer