It's Taco Tuesday in Frosty Bay

Today dawned like most of the others.   Fog, Overcast, & Rain... 

We decided to divide and conquer the tasks.   Karen, Kippy, & Dean walked into town to go to the store and the marine chandlery.   We were out of eggs and I needed a bilge pump float switch, both of which have been resolved.   How exciting is that!   I stayed aboard and did a couple of work meetings and drafted a few emails to people.

Boating as a lifestyle and work can truly coexist.   It takes some effort and technology, but it works.

Karen received word that her Uncle Bill had passed.   Bill was a really cool guy.   He and I bonded pretty quickly as he is a fellow woodworker, boater, and all around interesting thoughtful person.   Bill & I would tease each other from time to time about projects, and challenges.   I will miss him.    RIP Bill Link.

The aforementioned delayed our departure by a few hours this morning, so we ended up leaving at nearly 1300 (1:00pm).   So, we missed the favorable currents out of Wrangell and down the Zimovia Channel.  Rather than a 3-hour cruise it became 4.5 hours.  (No Gilligan's here).

You can see the fog, haze, rain, etc. in the picture.   It socked-in a few minutes after I took this picture

Zimovia Channel is a lot like the Wrangell Narrows Channel in that it is very shallow, narrow, and winds its way around the rocks and reefs.   Full attention is required.

We spotted a few whales, but still no bears and we are only a few miles south of the Anan Bear Reserve - but we will hit that place next week.

Speaking of next week, the new plan is to drop off Kippy & Dean in Ketchikan, then pick up our son, Ross, and head back to Wrangell for some maintenance.   We will haul the boat in Wrangell so we can get the prop looked at and straightened.   While there we will change the oil & filters on the main engine, and service a few other items.   Oil service intervals on this Cummins QSM-11 535HP engine is every 250 hours and we will be about 245 by the time we are back in Wrangell.    It's a good time/place to do this maintenance.

We arrived in Frosty Bay about 1730 (5:30 pm) to find the ranger station's mooring buoy right in the middle of the bay and where we wanted to drop our anchor.   We moved out a bit and dropped in 56' of water.   At low tide we would be in 49' of water.   At high tide, that would be 65' of water.  So, I put out 220' of chain for a 3:1 scope.  We could tie up to the mooring buoy, but we are really too big for that, I prefer to drop my own anchor - I feel more secure that way.   Picture, courtesy of Dean Smith.

It was so lovely out, that we sat outside for the first time on this trip.   Yea!!!

In the picture, Kippy is pointing to a whale out in the channel.   Still no bears though.

Guess what we had for dinner?   Yup, and it was very good!

Buenas Noches.