July 5, 2017

We aimed to leave at 7:00 but it was closer to 7:30. Leaving the harbor there was low cloud and limited visibility all the way down the channel, so that meant very little wind and flat calms seas. Only 1 cruise ship passed us. We were originally going to go further south down the passage, however when we got out of the channel, the skies opened up and it was blue sky and sunny!! It's been a long time since we've seen the sun. So we decided to take the day and we we back to Taku Harbor instead. We wanted to try some fishing and enjoy a day in the sun for a change.

We got there pretty early, and then went out and put the crab pots in the water. Airship had caught 1 crab there a couple of days ago and so we thought our chances were good. Then we did a little tour in the dingy around the bay. The wind was up and quite strong coming into the bay from the north this time. Back to the boat for lunch.

Over the course of the afternoon, the place turned into a hot bed of boating activity. We had been the only boat around for so long, it was nice to know that other recreational boaters existed! A boat we saw in Tracy Arm, "Howdy", came in as did one with locals from Juneau. There was also a small boat that came in with 3 people who were staying in the shore cabin. An a Nordhavn flying a German flag anchored out. The gill net boats were everywhere, in and out, as well as their supply ship.

We decided it was time to test out the fishing gear, so Greg loaded up Bob and out we went to see if we could figure it out. It was quite rough and bumpy in the wind in Bob, but we at least eventually got the line out and the down rigger down. Greg certainly needed to figure out the routine given that there is no space to do this in the dingy. And we have this giant net leftover from charter times that takes up most of the room. So we did one run and came back in.

Then for a walk and talked to some folks, and then just sat in the sun. A beautiful older "yacht" called "Discovery" came in and docked right across from us. It does Alaska charters and was apparently stopping for the night. It was built in 1931 and was covered in varnished teak from stem to stern. Just lovely. So it was fun to watch them work and see what the guests wanted to do.

Eventually, the wind died down and it was lovely and warm. So we went out fishing again, to make sure we had the routine. It was still a little windy but not too bad if we stayed close. We trolled for about 1 hour with no strikes. Back to Spellbound and then Greg went out to check the crab pots - he had caught a flounder. We were able to sit on the flybridge again and have a beer, and then it was a late dinner. It stills cools down quite considerably at a night. The folks on Discovery were having their last night so they had a bit of a celebration - with Tequila. Fortunately, once in the aft cabin, we couldn't hear a thing.