Wild Iris' growing on the beach
A View through a mountain
Lots of Color on the beach - "Paintbrush"
Snowcrab shell?
Ever so watchful
Stern Tied in Cashman Bay
Lots of lazing Sea Otters enroute – but they do not stay to pose for our cameras. Another calm day and we head west to Baranof Warm Springs. All appears to be the same here with some cabins still hanging precariously over the edge. There is room on the state dock for us (rafted) and we decide to spend 2 days here so we all have a chance to take a soak! The next morning, three sailboats leave and Over the Edge and Shaman get their own spot on the dock. There are three bathhouses here and the natural hot springs (called the “Grotto”) and we get a chance to do both! No fisherman on the docks this trip – again for the most part, we are early for the fishing season as well. We have a lazy day and take a nice soak in the Grotto and a quick walk to Baranof Lake. The docks are in poor shape, but they are well used. Two fish boats anchored in the bay in the morning and a charter boats come and go all day long, ferrying their guests to shore for a soak. There are two sailboats on the dock that came in at 3:00 am after completing the first part of their sailing race. They race from Juneau have a mandatory rest stop in Baranof and head out in a few days back up to Juneau from the the south east channel. If they were to do it direct, its about a 70 hour trip (lots of becalming). We look for a carving left by Dave on the last trip but find only the screws left in the tree. That makes all the carvings left by Dave – gone to new homes!
Most of the big fish boats we have seen up here have what they call a “skiff” – a hulk of a steel squarish boat that they carry on the back of their boats and they use these boats to purse their fish nets when they are fishing. These skiffs have huge motors in them to give them the power to drag their nets around. When not fishing, the fish boats like to hang out in Baranof allowing crew to go back and forth to shore for trips to the hot springs etc. So why am I telling this story? Well….when coming back from the Grotto for our soak, Mike gets to the top of the ramp and sees Bob gesturing wildly with his hands (we know he not Italian so he is not having a civil conversation) with a member off of one of these “skiffs”……naturally the open space where these skiffs land is right on the bow of our boat! Mike knows immediately that or boat has been hit…..a big dint is seen on our bow with the crewman apologizing profusely about his accident. He goes to tget the captain off of the fishboat and we trade information just like in a car accident. When we get to Sitka, we will phone coast guard and get the “Claim Number” as the fishboat immediately phoned in to report the accident. No point in getting all huffy about it, it was an accident on their behalf.
We spent some time speaking to a local lady who lives in Baranof full time, we believe she is the owner of the “massage therapy” place as well as the expresso coffee café and store. She tells us that there are 12 cabins in “Baranof Proper” with residents numbering from 12-24 throughout the year. She is the only full time resident with three dogs to keep her company. Takes all kinds to live in this remote area!
No comments:
Post a Comment