July 9 to July 15, 2021- Ketchikan to Thomas Bay

July 9 to July 16, 2021- Ketchikan to Thomas Bay

This next leg takes us 57 nm from Ketchikan, where we had an abundance of bald eagles, to a lovely anchorage in Frosty Bay.  We had beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and waterways.  Conditions were so pleasant that we were able to deploy Nevermore, our 10' row/sail boat, and row around the bay.  We were treated with a whale feeding in the bay along with a grizzly and cub, 120 yards away, grazing along the shore.  AND we caught our first Dungeness crab here as well. 

Eagles at the boat launch ramp in Ketchikan

Raven at anchor in Frosty Bay

The next stop took us another 31 nm, through Zimova Strait, to Wrangell so that we had cell coverage for schedule phone calls.   As we approached Wrangell and Sumner Strait the water color changed to a remarkable, milky green, color likely the result of the runoff from the Stikine River.  Wrangell is a nice quiet, town with pleasant folks, less intense than being in Ketchikan.

From Wrangell, we were planning to stop at Deception Point Cove, from which we would depart early the next morning to take advantage of the currents through Wrangell Narrows, catch the tail end of the flood and the beginning of the ebb.  However, we found weather and water so calm we decided to push through knowing we would have a bit of current as we entered into the north end of the narrows - we were well ahead of the ebb.  Going into South Wrangell Narrows we were making up to 10 kts with low throttle setting.  However as we neared Blunt Point in the North Wrangell Narrows, we found between 1 to 3 kts of current against us.  We pushed through the current, past Petersburg, and into Frederick Sound.  And, in the middle of Frederick Sound, we had our first encounter with bergy bits!  

We pressed on to our planned destination of Ruth Island in Thomas Bay.  And since we were making a late arrival, Lois had dinner cooking as we crossed Frederick Sound so that once the hook was down, we would have a lovely pork loin dinner.  As we entered into Thomas Bay, we lost track of the number of fish boats active in the bay and were surprised to see all the crab pots placed at the favored anchorage locations.  We choose not to negotiate the crab pot minefield to get to Ruth Island instead we found a nice little bite in the bay, away from Ruth Island, and anchored in 60 feet of water near the east shoreline with a lovely view of waterfalls.

The next day we deployed our tender and headed 6 nm across the bay to check out Baird Glacier.

Our first encounter with bergy bits

Raven at anchor in Thomas Bay

Nearby waterfall