This time of year, the storms are more frequent, more intense, and tend to last longer, so I am even more attuned to the weather forecasts when planning my trips. We'd had weeks of wind and rain, even torrential rains setting a record of almost 7" in 1 day.
But the forecast looked good for a 2-day, overnight trip to Shelter Cove. That's where I was headed on my aborted trip of 09/29/2023.
This trip was to be the first with my new first mate, a mini–Australian Shepherd named Nova that I recently got. I am fostering pending full adoption.
At this point I'd only had her for a few days, so we were still just getting to know each other.
I also recently got a cat, Luna, but I decided to leave her home for this trip because Luna and Nova are still working out the pecking order between them, and the boat is pretty tight quarters. Luna will go on the next trip for sure.
On the ride out there, which is about 26 miles, Nova was alternately hiding in little corners of the boat and sitting on the couch. Her favorite spot seemed to be curled around the toolbox which is at my feet when I am at the lower helm station.
Every once in a while, she would be brave enough to sit on the couch for a short time, but then she'd go right back into hiding.
Today the water was calm, and it wasn't raining, but there was dense fog blanketing Tongass Narrows. So, it was 100% radar for the first several miles.
My Garmin GPS chart plotter has radar, and you can use it in any one of several modes. Many people like the "Overlay" mode where the radar images overlay right onto the navigational chart. I prefer to use the side-by-side mode where the navigational chart is on one side and the radar is on the other. It just seems more accurate that way. The GPS chart shows you what things are supposed to be, while the radar shows what is actually out there. Most importantly the radar shows other vessels.
When running on radar you need to run much more slowly than normal. Even with radar the chances of colliding with another vessel are very real. In that dense fog I could see nothing at all out of the front windows. You also have to be aware that there are logs and other debris in the water and if you hit something in the water it's better to hit it slowly.
I was trying to stay on course by closely monitoring the image of the boat on the navigational chart. But the problem is that even though we like to think the electronics are "real time" there is actually a bit of lag time behind what the GPS chart plotter shows and reality. And when you are going as slow as I was, the GPS chart plotter is even more behind reality. Look at these images that I shot on the way home that show the very wavy course I was following on the way out in the dense fog. My outbound track is that red wavy line. Bear in mind that I wandered around this much even though I was trying very hard to stay on a straight course.
On this last one I was completely off course by about 90 degrees.
I eventually got smart and instead of tracking the image of the boat on the screen I tried to keep to a compass heading, which I should have been doing all along. Of course, at the lower helm I have 2 GPS chart plotters, an auto pilot, and an old-style magnetic compass, and all of them show a slightly different compass heading. I just chose one, picked an appropriate compass heading and tried to stay on it. That worked out much better.
On the ride out, while I was navigating in the fog, I heard a radio call from the vessel "Fairweather." I called them back to confirm their location because I didn't want to run into them. I didn't realize at the time that this was the triumphal entry of the NOAA vessel coming into Ketchikan for the very first time. NOAA has been preparing a dock and facilities near the USCG base to accommodate the Fairweather there as its home port. If I'd realized that at the time, I would have given them a warm welcome to town. When I got home on Saturday afternoon there was a photo in the newspaper about the arrival.
I got this shot of the Fairweather at her new home port when I was on my way back into town.
When I got to the Mountain Point area the fog lifted and I was able to go off radar. I stopped for a few minutes and pulled down my 2 crab pots and got them prepped and ready to drop.
The thing about the Shelter Cove dock is that it is behind a little point so you can't actually see the dock as you approach. You have to make the turn and be directly in front of it before you can see it. This is the time of year when deer hunters are out in force, especially with good weather on a weekend after a long period of bad weather. I passed the Shoal Cove dock on the way out and noted there were 5 boats there. These USFS docks are first come, first served, and if they are full when you arrive you either raft up to somebody, or figure out a Plan B.
When I got there, there was a very large boat called the Lady Jane tied up on one side and a USFS smaller boat on the other side. The front was open, but it was a tight fit for me.
I dropped my 2 crab pots in front of the dock in about 70' of water and then made my way into the dock. Conditions were very good for a tight solo landing. The stern of the USFS boat was sticking out just a bit on one side, and the end of the Lady Jane was blocking the other side. There was not a breath of wind, so I very slowly and carefully wedged myself in there on the front of the dock.
It had taken me longer than usual to get out here due to the fog, and I knew Nova needed to be dewatered, so as soon as I got tied up and secured, I took her for a short walk. She is new to me, and I don't trust her yet to be off leash.
When we got back to the boat we got on the back deck and I opened the back door, expecting her to go into the cabin. Instead, she turned and jumped out of the boat and headed up the ramp, totally ignoring my calls. The only thing that saved me from losing her was that just at that moment 3 very burly USFS guys in full battle gear started down the ramp. She took one look at them and decided I was the better option. Crisis averted. For the rest of the trip, I was more careful and made sure she never got out of my control.
The guys in the USFS boat left, so that side of the dock was now open.
After lunch we took a very long walk up the logging road. Nova was having a great time. I really wish that I could have let her off leash, but I knew it was too early for that.
When the weather is nice this part of Carroll Inlet is so beautiful that I just cannot resist taking photos of the area.
On Saturday morning we pulled out at about 9:30 AM and immediately set to pull the 2 crab pots. Pulling up to a crab pot buoy is always a stressful situation made even more so when running solo. You have to get close enough to the buoy to grab the line with the boat hook. But under no circumstances do you want to get the line in the props, so it is essential to do it right. There was a slight breeze blowing and I think it must have taken me at least a dozen tries to get the buoy hooked. I'm sure Nova keyed into my tension and stress as I was running in and out of the cabin quickly trying to get that darn buoy. Eventually I got it, and the second pot was much easier.
I had 7 crabs in each pot, which is a pretty good haul for me. Dungeness crabs have to be males of a certain length in order to be kept. All the crabs were males, but only 9 were large enough to keep, so 5 of them got a free pass this day.
The ride back was uneventful, with Nova spending most of the time curled around the toolbox at my feet.
When I got close enough to town to have cell signal, I texted my friend Terry to see if he wanted some crabs. Of course, he did, and as a bonus he also offered to stand by and grab my lines when I came into my slip. One of the most stressful times when running solo is getting in and out of the slip. Having someone on the dock to assist is just so helpful and stress relieving.
I got into the slip at about 1:30 PM, after logging about 52 miles for this trip.
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