crabbing – Riveted

Wrangell to Thoms Place

Laura Domela — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 21:21:43 +0000

We left Wrangell and headed down Zimovia Strait to Thoms Place. We hadn’t been to Thoms Place before, but heard there was good crabbing so we figured it was about time to get some more crab! (Plus, we had a day to kill between Wrangell and Anan Creek.)

I love this photo:

We fished for a while but didn’t catch anything, so eventually went in to Thoms Place and anchored, then got the crab traps ready to put out. It was high tide, so after setting the crab traps, we explored a bit in the dinghy. We were able to go way back in through and around all these little islands that aren’t islands except at high tide…it was so cool! We saw a black bear sow and her two cubs, but I didn’t have my camera with me, so no photos, boo.

Later in the afternoon Kevin went out in the dinghy with a beer and his fishing rod and fished around for a while, while I read a book. He caught a couple (okay four) too-small something or others…he hasn’t identified what kind of fish they were yet. Here he is, heading out (note the Xtratuf coozie on the seat next to him…nice!):

UPDATE: The fish were Slimy Sculpins.

Here’s what Thoms Place looks like:

Shoreline reflection totem, turned sideways (so many faces in this one!):

We had a permit for Anan Creek Bear Observatory for Friday morning, so we got up fairly early to check the crab traps (22 crabs!!! 6 keepers…the rest too small or females, but finally…some crab!)

Next up: bears catching fish!!

Pybus Bay to Tracy Arm Cove

Laura Domela — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 02:19:20 +0000

Hey whatdy’a know? Our crab traps had crab in ‘em this morning. Cannery Cove does not disappoint. Three keeper males, and two females. One of the males was HUGE. He was so big that I thought the smallest male might not be big enough, but when we measured him, he was off the scale and definitely big enough. My calibration was totally thrown off by this guy:

Kevin cleaned the crabs while I made breakfast and then we headed out into Stephens Passage. Stephens Passage is notoriously thick with humpbacks so we figured today would be about humpbacks.

We saw two humpbacks while still in Pybus Bay, and then as we came around the corner out into Stephens Passage, we noticed a brown bear sow and two cubs on the shore, so we went in to get a closer look.

As we were passing Gambier Bay and approaching Point Hugh, the area was just THICK with whales.

Spouts everywhere, tails everywhere, and then we noticed some serious splashing a ways away, toward the point. We binoc’d it and it was a whole lot of tail slapping. Like, maybe 20 times in a row…and then all over again! Crazy!

Pretty soon we were distracted by about 10 Dall’s porpoises who came zipping over to surf our bow wake. They are SO. MUCH. FUN! They were with us for about 15 minutes, doing somersaults and corkscrew rolls…it was a blast to watch (all the while with tail slapping humpback in the background). Those porpoises peeled off, only to be replaced 10 minutes later by another group. And then repeat, several times over. It seemed like we had porpoises playing in our bow wake ALL DAY. Seriously. It was nuts.

Kevin took some video and made this very cool (and totally mesmerizing) compilation:

As we approached Tracy Arm/Endicott Arm, we decided to stop and fish for halibut for a little bit. We anchored near the opening to Endicott Arm and Kevin put two halibut lines in the water. I was uploading photos when he said (about 15 minutes after putting the lines out) “I think something’s biting on my line. Come feel.” So I went out and yeah, you could definitely feel the fish chomping on the bait and pulling on the line. We knew better than to do anything, so we just waited until the fish started to swim away with his snack all eaten, and then started reeling him in. Whoa…it was a big one. It felt like an “uh oh, how are we going to get this in the boat” big one. I was right. I took a few quick photos just as Kevin got him to the surface, and then grabbed the gaff. But when I whacked him with the gaff it just bounced off his head (oops) and then after about 30 more seconds, he got loose. We could tell that the hook was just barely in his lip, and he was able to shake it off. Well dangit. But it was super cool to see…and to get him all the way to the boat. We’re estimating it was about 48” long….and maybe 70 pounds. Hard to tell on the weight, but I’m certain of the length. It was big, and the first halibut we’ve almost caught. I think we need a longer gaff, and a harpoon. (You can’t even tell how big it is from this photo, but trust me, it was, well…too big for the boat.)

We are now anchored in Tracy Arm Cove with several other boats. Apparently Tracy Arm hasn’t been navigable to the glacier all season, not even by the small tour boats. From the looks of all the icebergs way out here at the entrance, I can see how that might be. From what we hear the glacier is having record calving, and the icebergs in Stephens Passage are moving north, when they normally move south. So…things are wacky with the glacier this year. View from our anchorage:

Melting ice:

Sumdum Glacier:

Our plan tomorrow is to maybe fish for more halibut, and then go into Ford’s Terror for a day or two, and then to the end of Endicott Arm to check out Dawes Glacier (which we haven’t seen before). For dinner tonight, we cooked up some fresh Dungeness crab and ate it as-is, with a side salad I made from shredded brussels sprouts, crushed almonds, olive oil, and a little bit of my homemade caesar dressing. It was so good!

Here’s today’s track from Cannery Cove at Pybus Bay to Tracy Arm Cove (44.9 nautical miles, 6 hours 10 minutes):

And here’s a photo of many icebergs in the distance, quite a bit north from the entrance to Tracy Arm:

Behm Canal | Walker Cove to Fitzgibbon Cove

Laura Domela — Mon, 30 May 2016 12:14:00 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016

Reflected landscape at Walker Cove:

Also, those are bears eating grass, just below the AK flag on the bow:

We left Walker Cove yesterday morning just after 9am (and after getting 5 more Dungeness in the traps). It rained ALL night the night before. By morning the rain had mostly stopped but it was back to being extremely misty here in Misty Fjords. Foggy, even. The group of 6 boats traveling together (from the Roche Harbor Yacht Club) was also heading out this morning, and two of them were ahead of us as the rest of them untied their stern lines and peeled off from the very organized cluster. We were about half way out of the canal when we heard them on the radio….long story short, it sounded like as one of the boats was lifting their dinghy up onto their upper deck with their crane, the main crane cable snapped and the dinghy crashed down (the side of their boat?) and ended up floating upside down next to their boat. They said everyone was okay and it sounded like they were working to get the dinghy turned over. Eeeeek! How scary would that be? The crane’s main cable! Another vote for the stern davit!

The cruise up to Fitzgibbon Cove was just gray and rainy and not all that scenic. The wind was around 15kts behind us, and the current was with us so we were going a knot or two faster at our normal cruise rpm, but going the other way would have been a bit more uncomfortable. View from our anchorage:

We anchored in about 50 feet here in Fitzgibbon, and Kevin put out the crab traps (there’s supposed to be great crabbing in here) while I picked the crab we had already cooked. Pretty soon (like, maybe today) we’ll start freezing some crab to use for less crabful times. I’d imagine the crab frozen in milk would be just about perfect for my newly found crab bisque recipe.

Pulling traps this morning got us 6 keepers!

There are supposed to be tons of grizzlies here in the sedge grass meadow at the head of the bay…we saw one lone (large) male from pretty far away, but that’s it.

The wind died down overnight, luckily. This cove might be more protected in other conditions, but certainly not these conditions.

Here’s today’s map from Walker Cove to Fitzgibbon Cove (26 nautical miles, about 3 and a half hours):

And I know what you’re thinking…”Ooooh, hot springs!” but I believe it’s a private fishing resort, and not in fact, a place we’ll be stopping. Sad face.

Airship to Alaska | Day 14 | Khutze Inlet to Hartley Bay

Laura Domela — Sat, 21 May 2016 21:32:00 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016

Kevin went out to pull crab traps while I made breakfast. When he got back to Airship, I asked "Did we get anything?" and he replied "Yes?" with kind of a question mark at the end. I went out to the cockpit to see what was up. Turns out we had 5 small Red King Crabs. (We figured that out after a while of digitally leafing through the shellfish guidelines for CA and AK.)

They were obviously too small, but it was super interesting not to have ANY Dungeness.

Look at the roe this one's got with her!

We put them all back nice and gently. Who knew that Khutze Inlet was full of king crab? I guess we need a crab trap with bigger doors, so the large ones can get in!

We had some breakfast and then headed for Hartley Bay. Oh yeah, one more moon shot from last night in Khutze Bay:

Hartley Bay is a First Nations community, and home to the Gitga'at, which means "People of the Cane." The Gitga'at are members of the Tsimshian nation. About 200 band members live here in Hartley Bay, a community with all wooden boardwalks instead of roads. I don't know if you remember the sinking of the BC Ferry vessel Queen of the North in 2006 (on March 22, with 101 persons aboard, she failed to make a planned course change, ran aground and sank…word was that the captain and co-captain were involved in some, um, compromising positions and perhaps they were neglecting to drive the boat), but we learned this additional bit of information about this accident the other day: The people from Hartley Bay, with their personal watercraft, were the ones who helped rescue the passengers of Queen of the North…they arrived before the Canadian Coast Guard and the whole town and community center was turned into a rescue center, helping keep the survivors warm and fed. The town received the Governor General's Commendation for Outstanding Service on May 3, 2006, for "initiative, selflessness and an extraordinary commitment to the well-being of others" in the rescue; the honor also cites the town's "tremendous spirit and the remarkable example it has set". Pretty cool!

We got to Hartley Bay and were able to get a bit of cell service and internet, so we cranked out some work and a couple of blog posts before going to walk around town a bit.

The docks are government-owned and free, but donations are welcome (the $ goes to the elders). It's a nice system. They've got fuel and water at the fuel dock, and we had no trouble finding some room.

We had a nice night…visited a bit with the couple on the sailboat across from us, had some leftover crab bisque, and then got to bed fairly early. We'd definitely come back to Hartley Bay.

Here's today's route (39.8 nautical miles, 5 hours 32 minutes):

Airship to Alaska | Day 12 | Ocean Falls to Rescue Bay

Laura Domela — Thu, 19 May 2016 19:50:00 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016

Today was the best day of our trip so far.

Our alarm went off this morning at 6:30am (I know, but stay with me here.) Time to pull the crab traps! We left the dock and motored over toward the dam, past the sleepy seals.

We pulled the first trap and there were quite a few Dungeness in that one.

We wanted to be underway by 7am this morning to meet the slack tide at Perceval Narrows, about 5.5 hours away. Our goal today was Rescue Bay. The weather forecasts have been iffy for the past couple days. There’s a low pressure system hanging out nearby, with a great big high pressure system right behind it. So there have been gale warnings for the whole area for the past couple days. So far though, we haven’t seen any sign of anything more than about 8-10 kts of wind, but we know this could change any time. Yesterday was rainy and a little windy, so we opted to head for Ocean Falls instead of going out into Seaforth Channel to get to Rescue Bay, since that’s an area that opens up to the Pacific and can be a little gnarly sometimes (like on our way south last summer!) Anyway, that’s the weather background. And now, back to the crabs!

Here we are heading out of Cousins inlet, while Kevin unraveled crabs from the traps, measured them, and threw back the females and the too-small males. Nice and calm, and the clouds are starting to dissipate.

We had 8 large male keepers, and threw back 6. Pretty good haul for one night! This one looks like it might be the biggest.

7.5 inches! Sweet! So…Awesome Thing About Today Number 1: a bunch of crab!

So, I’m at the helm, cruising down Fisher Channel and not yet to where we turn into Gunboat Channel while Kevin is back on the deck cleaning crab, and I start seeing a bunch of white up ahead on the horizon. I’m wondering if this is where things open out into a windier channel or something and maybe the wind picks up and what I’m seeing is whitecaps, so I zoom out on the map to see, but there’s nothing that seems like it would all of a sudden be rougher. I get the binocs out to get a better view of the horizon, and sure enough, there’s a lot of white and splashing…that stretches for maybe a half a mile wide (or more). Birds? I can’t quite figure it out, but the splashing makes me think it’s something a little out of the ordinary…I have a good feeling about this. I call back to Kevin. “Hey Kev? You might want to stop what you’re doing and come up here and take a look through these binoculars. I think there’s something pretty spectacular that’s about to happen up ahead.”

Kevin came up to the pilothouse and as we got closer, we started to see dorsal fins. Hundreds of them. Just like I’d hoped, it was Pacific White-sided dolphins. Probably about a thousand of them. And we were heading straight for them. Gaaaaaaahhhh!!!!

I went up on the bow with my camera, and pretty soon they were coming right for us! As we drove through this gigantic group of dolphins, they jumped and splashed and bow-surfed with our boat in groups that traded off…I’m guessing we had no fewer than 10 at a time surfing along with us. It was extraordinary. This lasted for about 20 minutes as we made our way through Dolphin Disneyland and it was marvelous. Okay, on to the photos!

Dolphins on starboard:

Dolphins on port:

This one surfed on his side and his belly the whole time, looking right up at me as I hung over the bow and squealed. I hope he could hear me.

What an incredible experience. That’s Awesome Thing About Today Number 2.

Gunboat Passage…so serene!

We cooked the crab while underway, and then I went back and started picking the crab meat while Kevin took over the helm. SO. MUCH. CRAB. We started feeling swells increasing gradually as we got closer and closer to Seaforth, but I was able to finish all eight crabs before anything fun happened. We had maybe 6-7 foot swells just before turning into Reid Passage, but they were far apart and no big deal. (They look pretty dramatic when they wash over all the low rocky isles though!)

After we passed through Perceval Narrows at slack, things were calm enough to start with the crab stock project. We put all the shells in the big pot, and added some shallots, garlic, mushrooms, and bay leaves, and a couple hours later, we had ourselves a gallon and a half of fresh, delicious, crab stock. Tonight’s dinner will be crab bisque, with a caesar salad and some garlic bread. We’ll freeze the rest of the crab stock until we need more.

We are now anchored in Rescue Bay, and this is our view out toward Jackson Narrows:

We took a fun dinghy exploration ride around the bay (followed the whole time by a posse of seals). The water was so clear that in the narrow parts it was like tidepooling by dinghy!

Kevin took the drone up for a few quick shots of the bay from the air. Here’s one looking out toward the entrance to the bay:

Back at Airship, we strained the homemade crab stock (a gallon and a half of it!!), and then made a REALLY good crab bisque, with a caesar salad and garlic bread for dinner. (This bisque was AMAZING. I’ll share the recipe, but I have a feeling it’s all about the fresh crab stock.)

Just as dinner was almost ready, two guys from a prawn boat that had recently anchored in the bay here rowed up and asked us if we wanted some prawns. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? We’ve been dreaming about those spot prawns since the prawn feast at Pierre’s last year with the flotilla. The spot prawn season up here is 45 days, and it opened the day we were leaving Lund, but we’ve asked around and haven’t been able to get any. And here were these two guys, just rowing themselves over to us to give us some. Spot prawns are like the freshest best regular prawns times 10. They’re AMAZING. We asked if we could pay for them, and they said no…they said their captain (or maybe she’s the boat/company owner, I’m not quite sure) gave them some prawns and said they should go share with the two boats at anchor. SO! NICE! We asked if we could trade for them and they said they’d just run out of beer. (They also said the captain has some wine, but that she doesn’t share it with them.) So we gave them a large bottle of beer, and then asked if they liked bourbon. Turns out yes. So I gave them the rest of a bottle of Bulleit and they were SUPER happy. Here they are: Tyler and Dustin. We chatted with them for quite a while…they were great. Sounds like they may have a fire on the beach tonight… (They didn’t have a fire on the beach, turns out. I think they probably drank bourbon and played cribbage.)

Here’s the prawn boat, the Lasqueti Gambler.

Here are Tyler and Dustin, prawn deliverers:

They gave us 3 1kg boxes. That’s 6.6 pounds of freshly caught flash-frozen spot prawns. SCORE. So that’s Awesome Thing About Today Number 3.

Today’s route from Ocean Falls to Rescue Bay was 53.9 nautical miles, 7 hours 13 minutes.

Airship to Alaska | Day 5 | Squirrel Cove to Shoal Bay BC

Laura Domela — Thu, 12 May 2016 19:39:57 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016

We got up early (5:30am!) to make the 3 hour cruise up to Dent Rapids. Looks like it’s going to be another gorgeous day.

After we’d woken up a bit, I cooked some breakfast for us (bacon and eggs underway, woohoo!) and we made it to Yuculta Rapids about an hour and 15 minutes before slack. Transiting this direction, the three rapids in order are Yuculta, Gillard, and then Dent. Dent is the one that matters most, so you want to get to Dent at slack. We were aiming for about 45 minutes before slack at Yuculta, but it looked (and was) just fine when we got there. Approaching Gillard we binoc’d the shores and it all seemed fine as well. By the time we got to Dent it was…well, kind of calm! Anyway, no big deal.

A tiny bit of churn here at Gillard:

We decided to stay at Shoal Bay for the night. We arrived just after 10am due to our early start, so we get a whole day to work and hang out here. Except the Wi-Fi doesn’t seem to be on or working, so we’re pretty much just hanging out. Kevin’s doing some work (texting back and forth with our employees using the InReach app on the DeLorme, 160 characters at time…hey, whatever works!). I’m writing this blog post in TextEdit on my Mac and I’ll post it when we next get connected. This place is one of our favorites. It’s super chill, and extremely beautiful with the view up Phillips Arm. We stopped here last year on our way south and we’re pretty happy to be back.

We put out a couple of crab traps and then went up and walked around the grounds.

It’s SO picturesque that it’s hard to believe the landscape just looks like this, colors and all. At the hummingbird water cooler/crack delivery system up at the pub things were SUPER peppy!

You can't believe how MANY hummingbirds are flocking to this feeder. I think the owners filled the feeder three times today…and it's empty. Again. The hummingbirds are total bitches to each other too. They slam the others away…you can HEAR it. Blam! And they're constantly chirping. I wish you could hear the fluttering/buzzing sound that their wings make. All together it's like a swarm of wasps, Hitchcockian-style. Kevin took some video (that includes a hummingbird body slam and then the two lock (one hummingbird's feet around the other's head as they plummeted to the ground). NOT what you think of when you think of these cute little buggers, is it?

Here's a video. Not for the faint of heart:

Back at Airship, Kevin took the drone up and I used the other controller and my iPhone to manage the drone’s camera. I’ve got left, right, up, down, and shutter…so I took the photos while Kevin flew. (He refers to himself here as the aerial tripod, but it’s much more than that!) Here are some of the shots we got today:

Back on Airship, the hummingbirds were trying VERY hard to get some nectar out of the Canadian flag, poor things.

In the morning we’ll leave here around 8am to get through Greene Point Rapids and Whirlpool Rapids at agreeable times, and then head to Port Harvey by way of Johnstone Strait and Havana Channel.

Oh yeah!! First whale sighting of the trip! In Calm Channel today, we saw a few spouts and then the tail of a humpback as it dove…but we never did see it surface again.

We checked crab traps a bit ago and had two keeper male Dungeness and one LARGE red rock. So…guess what's for dinner?

Today's route (30.7 nautical miles, 4 hours 28 minutes):

Berg Bay, Santa Anna Inlet, Meyers Chuck

Laura Domela — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 20:50:03 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska

We left Wrangell on Friday morning and headed around the back of Wrangell island toward Berg Bay.

It was pretty windy (okay, very windy). Berg Bay was about 22 miles from Wrangell and we figured we could stay there for a night or two before moving on toward Clarence Strait and to Ketchikan (though, no rush since Clarence was not looking good until about Tuesday).

Wonder what happened here:

Wrangell to Berg Bay (about 20 nautical miles):

Berg Bay:

Berg Bay was pretty and we caught a bunch of Dungeness crabs (6 the first day, 5 the second day). Here’s our tiniest catch (of course we released him…so cute!):

Also, Kevin caught a shark!

The weather at Berg Bay was super rainy and windy and we spent the first night at the unoccupied Forest Service float (intended for cabin occupants only, but there were none) and the second night at anchor. Promptly at 5am this morning the wind came up dramatically and we got our weather forecast early (right about 5am our time, when we woke to the wind) from our NY connection (Hi Larra! Thanks again SO MUCH) since we couldn't get any of the VHF weather channels in Berg Bay. (XM weather is on the list to have for next summer.) Forecast was for 50kt winds and 11ft seas in Clarence Strait. Yikes!

We decided to go back to sleep and stay in Berg Bay one more day (since we had a few to kill, it appeared). We got up and around later in the morning and made coffee and breakfast, showered and then decided we might try heading down Blake Channel and out to Santa Anna Inlet (25 miles or so…and that much closer to Ketchikan). Worst case we’d get out of Blake Channel and it would suck and we’d just turn around and come back. We looked at the current though and it was 3.4kts against us until about 2:30pm, so we read for a bit to kill some time and then pulled anchor and headed out at around 1:30pm.

The weather was gray and windy and rainy (and a little foggy at times) but not bad at all.

Many waterfalls were visible, flowing rapidly down the hillsides and through the forests…it’s been pretty wet the last week or so in SE AK!

We pulled into Santa Anna Inlet and there was one other boat there. This anchorage is beautiful…there are several waterfalls nearby and we hear there's good crabbin' in here. We anchored in 35 feet (give or take 20 feet with the tide change).

Berg Bay to Santa Anna Inlet (about 25 nautical miles):

We put the crab traps out and made dinner to the sound of the rushing waterfall out the galley window.

Dinner last night: Alaskan sockeye salmon tacos with homemade corn relish (corn, jalapeno, lime juice, tomato, garlic), avocado, salsa, sour cream, with half of a baked sweet potato topped with lime juice, sea salt, and cilantro. Super yummy (and colorful!)

This morning we retrieved the crab traps (5 more Dungeness!) and left our anchorage. Our plan was to go over to Vixen Inlet and see how conditions were in Ernest Sound along the way. We checked out Vixen Inlet and it seemed like an okay anchorage, but the weather was looking fine so we decided to try our luck getting to Meyers Chuck. Seas for Clarence Strait were forecast to be 6ft, but the tiny bit of it we saw as we got to Meyers Chuck was only about 2ft.

Aside from several (maybe six??) giant LOGS blocking most of the narrow entrance to Meyers Chuck (Kevin did a fancy avoidance maneuver and didn't even graze one), it was an easy cruise.

Today's track from Santa Anna Inlet to Vixen Inlet and on to Meyers Chuck (about 28 nautical miles total):

The public dock at Meyers Chuck (with room for us…bonus)!

We cooked our crab while under way and then finished picking the crab meat after we got to the dock. Freezer = restocked!

Tomorrow we plan to head across Clarence Strait (Tuesday: N wind 15 kt. seas 3 ft.) to Prince of Wales Island to visit the Haida village of Kasaan, and then we'll probably head to Ketchikan on Wednesday (Wednesday: NW wind 10 kt. seas 2 ft. or less). Info about Kasaan here and here.

We are seeing fewer and fewer pleasure boats in SE Alaska these days. It kinda feels like we're still in the amusement park after it's closed.

Another Night in Taku Harbor

Laura Domela — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 16:43:47 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska

We left Juneau yesterday at around noon, after saying goodbye to Steve at Nordic Tug Charters (with a loaf of homemade beer bread) and also to Dean at the boat yard (with another loaf of homemade beer bread). They both were so helpful and Steve’s hospitality was just….beyond any expectation, ever. It’s nice to be getting back on our way, but bittersweet saying goodbye to new friends.

The weather on Tuesday sucked, but by yesterday it had lightened up quite a bit and the conditions in Stephens Passage were fine — SE wind 15 kt seas 3 ft — and it was just about that.

We saw a handful (well, maybe two handfuls) of humpbacks on our way over to Taku Harbor.

We figured we’d go to Taku last night because it was close (20 miles from Juneau) and also because we’ve almost run out of crab.

When we pulled in there were no other boats at the dock, as we were getting ready to put out the crab pots a sailboat came in. It’s quiet, and we have no internet…but…crab!

After about an hour, there were probably 6 more boats in Taku.

We hiked out to swing on the Big Swing and stretch our legs a bit.

Looking out into Stephens Passage:

Walking along the shoreline:

This morning we checked the crab traps and we had two good keepers. Here's one of 'em (also known as "dinner"):

Now we're headed down to Port Snettisham to meet some folks who manage a hatchery there (and who generously offered to give us a tour and let us stay at their float). Fun!!

Oh, and if you want the beer bread recipe, here it is below. My mom used to make a really good beer bread, and this recipe I found seems really close to the one she used…but I think hers had honey in it so I’m going to try that next time…maybe substituting honey for sugar…I plan to further experiment.

Beer Bread

3 cups flour (sifted…that part is important)
¼ cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 12oz beer
¼ cup melted butter (unsalted)

Heat oven to 375.

Mix the dry ingredients, add the beer (and honey?), stir it all together. Pour into greased loaf pan, then pour melted butter over the top for a crusty crust.

Bake at 375 for one hour. Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing. (Whatever, not that important for that first slice.)

Makes one loaf of hearty beer bread with a crunchy crust. Good by itself, or toasted with an over easy egg and some chipotle tabasco on top (like we did this morning for breakfast).

Original recipe source: http://www.food.com/recipe/beer-bread-73440

Rainy Day at Mendenhall Glacier

Laura Domela — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 22:43:00 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska

Yesterday we decided to rent a car so we could do a little sightseeing and shopping, and so that we'd have a convenient way to take Christy and Mijonet to the airport on Monday. It was a rainy day, so we suited up and walked downtown to get the car. The cheapest car was a Toyota 4 Runner, 24 hours, 125 bucks, pick up and drop off at the Goldbelt Hotel, but subtract from that the $30 cab fare to the airport, and the $20/pp shuttle to the glacier…it wasn't a bad deal and gave us a lot of freedom. We headed out to Mendenhall Glacier (with a lunch stop for fish & chips at the Sandbar & Grill). Again, the fish & chips were fantastic! This place is definitely not a tourist stop. The ambiance leaves a LOT to be desired, especially in the diner part…the bar part is pretty much what you'd expect…but the Alaskan halibut fish & chips is KILLER).

We got out to Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center and started with the exhibits and the (very well done) movie in the theater, and then headed out to hike to Nugget Falls. The 7-year old got to stop at the Forest Ranger kids tent and play a game that matched footprints and animal poop with a picture of the animal (called "Track and Scat") which of course created some intense giggling. (Poop!!!!)

Loving the trails (and puddles):

After the falls and the hike back, we did a little exploring and checked out Auke Bay a bit. It's the marina further from town (on the other side of the Mendenhall Bar, closer to the airport and some of the larger shopping areas.) Looks like it would be a nice marina to stay at for a few days, but the recent reviews don't sound so great, so we may skip it.

We got back to Airship and shelled the rest of our cooked crab, and then I made crab cakes for dinner. This version of them was the best so far:

Ingredients:

1 lb. Lump Crab Meat
Panko bread crumbs
1 Egg, beaten
2 tbsp. Mayo
1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp. freshly chopped cilantro or scallions (this time I had scallions)
2 tsp. lemon juice

I also threw in some cumin, turmeric, and a little chipotle. This was an afterthought (and a substitution for the Old Bay in the original recipe, but is really what MADE the whole recipe).

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except the crab meat in a bowl. Gently fold in crab meat and chill for one hour before forming into three ounce cakes.

Saute over medium heat for 2-3 minutes per side. (I baked mine at about 375 on a cookie sheet, covered in foil, with a generous smearing of coconut oil on the foil. I just watched them, and turned them when they started smelling good…next time I'll time it.)

Our second round of boat guests leave today at 2pm, so we'll probably head downtown and check out a few shops, and the Sealaska Heritage Center.

This week will be a pretty solid work week in Juneau. We'll try to fit in some fun things here and there, of course.

Icebergs, Glaciers, and Bears

Laura Domela — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 16:35:00 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska

We left our little cove inside Tracy Arm and cruised the 25 miles or so to South Sawyer glacier. There was far less ice to dodge than when we were here before. Far less, and far less other boat traffic as well.

Passing a seal on our way to the glacier:

We were able to get very close (but not too close) to South Sawyer. We turned off the engine and just hung out for a while, watching (and listening to) bits of glacier calve off into the water:

Here's one as we were approaching the glacier that has another boat in it, for scale:

Here are too many photos of South Sawyer glacier (and another seal we passed on the way out):

(Note on the chart plotter how close we are to the mapped glacier.)

We decided to head in to see North Sawyer glacier, since the path was so clear. (We didn’t go in there last time at all because there was SO much ice.) There was pretty much NO ice in front of North Sawyer, and we were the only ones in there (besides two kayaks), so it was all ours.

The rock in here felt really different than in South Sawyer. Dark browns and rusts and yellows and oranges (see kayak on the right for scale).

The ice was dark and packed tight, and we only saw a few little bits fall into the water.

And this one, with a seagull circled in yellow, for scale:

Waterfall near North Sawyer:

More glaciers as we headed back out Tracy Arm:

Cool growth pattern of the green on rock:

More floating ice:

We had an amazing day exploring Tracy Arm. We heard the captain of the Disney Wonder cruise ship talking to another boat on the radio, and he said that this was the closest he’s ever gotten to the glaciers. Great day to be exploring in here!

As we got close to the anchorage where we stayed last night and would stay again tonight, we spotted a brown bear on the shore with two cubs…but the two cubs were really dark…like black bears. The sows and cubs we've seen before have all been the same color. Anyone know what the deal is with this bunch?

Also, bald eagles on an iceberg (again):

Back at unnamed cove, we anchored almost where we’d anchored the night before, and no sooner were finished anchoring when we noticed a brown bear on shore. We watched it for a bit, and then watched a guy in a dinghy setting crab traps who looked like he didn’t see the bear at all (and due to the compression of this long lens shot, looks VERY close to the grizzly, doesn’t he?)

The bear stood up and looked left (away from the dinghy) as it noticed another bear.

They saw each other, and the new bear ran toward the bear that was already there.

They approached each other slowly, and then began a casual chase up the shore.

They stopped and faced off, and then stood and wrestled with each other, while making growly bear sounds that carried well across the water so we could HEAR them growling/roaring/playing/fighting. They did this several times…chasing, facing off, wrestling, walk away…chasing, facing off, wrestling, walk away. We could see and hear ALL of it. It was super cool. We all thought (and said out loud, several times) “I can’t believe we even get to see this!”

Oh, then rainbow over icebergs:

And misty clouds in the trees:

Dinner was a hearty soup with pulled pork and veggies, with a side of garlic bread.

Our original plan was to next go into Endicott Arm and to Ford’s Terror (entering at high slack around 3pm), but since it was only 20nm away, we had some time and decided to go north for a bit in Stephens Passage to see if we could get some internet for a few work things.

Very large iceberg just outside of our anchorage as we left:

We went for quite a ways though with no hint of any connection, so we opted to go up to Taku Harbor for the night. We knew we’d gotten connected just outside the harbor, so Plan B it was. We floated around in Stephens Passage with internet for a bit and did some work, and then headed into Taku Harbor toward the free public dock. It’s busy in here at this time of year and the dock was almost full, but we got a spot and then took the 7 year old onto shore to burn some energy on the trails and the giant rope swing.

Crab traps went out and we grilled some halibut for dinner, with a side of spinach ravioli and asparagus.

In the morning the weather was super crappy and the forecast was not looking great for our cruise back down to Ford's Terror, so we opted for another night in Taku Harbor. We caught a bunch of crab, hiked around the old cannery, and took advantage of the docks and the swing for some exercise. Bummer that we didn't get back to Ford's Terror, but we can't really complain. At all.