With my City League basketball schedule, it's really hard to get 2 days when I can do an overnighter, which is really what I like to do the best. But you take what you can get.
The weather and my schedule cooperated to make a Saturday day trip possible. I'm still on a mission to get some shrimp so I decided to once again go up into Western Behm Canal, drop my pots, and then hang out a bit before pulling them and heading in.
A friend of mine from the harbor had told me about a spot that is near the little community of Loring, so I decided to drop the pots, and then hang out at Loring.
I wanted to get an early start out of the harbor to maximize my use of the very short daylight hours. So, I was up at 4 AM and down to the boat by about 5:30 AM. I went through my pre-departure checklist and also got the shrimp pots and buoys pretty much baited and ready to go before pulling out at about 6:30 AM. The weather was calm and cold, but still very dark at that hour. My relatively new dog Nova was my shipmate again for today's trip.
Here is my track for the day.
By about 8:30 AM I was running inside Grant Island near the Silverking Fishing Lodge, which is closed for the season, when I spotted a lone Orca (Killer Whale) heading south towards Clover Pass. When I'm running, I always have my camera at the ready, but I quickly swapped out my lens and put my telephoto lens on. I switched the shooting mode to "Continuous High Speed" and ran out to the back deck. When travelling like that the Orcas are underwater most of the time, so I only got one brief chance to shoot some quick photos, but alas they were not good enough to publish. Still, it was neat to see it. it's odd to see one Orca alone though.
I motored up to the designated spot at about 9 AM and dropped my two shrimp pots in about 380' of water. I had them baited with shrimp bait pellets and chopped up herring in the bait cannisters, freezer burned salmon pieces as hanging bait, and as an added bonus, chicken drumsticks in the mesh bait bags.
After that I went to the dock at Loring. Loring has always been sort of a "Plan B" for me. I tie up there if I'm headed to the Naha dock and it is full. Loring is only a few minutes away from the Naha dock. The dock at Loring is much more exposed to weather than the Naha dock, so I really don't want to stay there if it's stormy.
Here's a shot of what I call "Fader's Castle In The Woods" that I passed on the way to Loring. It was built by acquaintances of mine, Greg & Jean Fader. It must have been quite a challenge to build a place like this out in the wilderness with no electricity. Sadly, after living there for a bit, Greg died. Jean tried to live there alone for a while but ended up eventually selling the place. I used to cruise by there slowly and wave to them as they sat out on the deck.
Here is a little blurb about the community of Loring that I copied over from the Waggoner Cruising Guide:
The settlement of Loring, located 25 miles north of Ketchikan on Naha Bay, was predicted to become Revillagigedo Island’s major city. Loring’s early 1875 settlement operated a saltery owned by the Salmon Packing & Fur Co. in 1883 and had established a post office by 1885. A much larger cannery was created later with upwards of 40 houses and temporary dwellings for seasonal workers. The houses were a fair distance from the cannery but connected by boardwalks, lined with wildflowers and berry bush tendrils. Schooners arrived at the docks and filled their ships with canned salmon bound for California, while Ketchikan’s successful cannery did not come about until 1900.
The early residents of Loring smoked fish, made jelly, and used elderberries (laughing berries) for wine. George Collins, an early resident, had brought special balsam tree saplings; these trees still bloom today and attract many types of birds. A variety of berries and apples were put up for the winter; children collected gumboots and sea cucumbers and helped their mothers with canning. The noises and activities of the past are now silent.
Today, Loring is mostly a ghost town. The cannery closed in 1930 and the large buildings began to disappear, slowly dismantled to be used for other purposes. The forest has reclaimed the cannery site, but the hillside graveyard lives in the hearts who still reside at Loring. Adding to Loring’s demise, Ketchikan had the advantage of a potentially superior harbor.
My recollection was that the dock was owned and maintained by the State of Alaska, but it's been many years since I actually stopped in and tied up there. The sign on the dock said it was maintained "Locally." Not sure what that means since the official population of Loring is listed as 0. When I was there, I saw smoke coming from only 1 of the houses.
Being the old math teacher that I am when I saw the "Est 1885" on the sign I of course immediately did the math. I thought 85 - 23 is only 38 years. Hmm, I thought Loring was older than that. Then I realized it was 138 years!
The dock itself was in excellent condition and I got tied up and secure without any issues.
However, I must say, it's a really long dock. It was covered in just a little icy snow, and there are no bull rails on the long walk to shore. I was worried that Nova would slip off the side, so I kept her pretty close to my side.
I took Nova to shore so she could "dewater."
There is a private lodge right next to Loring. I happen to know the original owner, however I heard that he no longer owns it. It sits on about 62 acres of land right next to Loring. I read an article in a magazine about Alaskan real estate a while ago and it showed some details about the interior. It's quite impressive. I think it might be operated as a guest fishing lodge in the summer months only now.
I took a little walk around the area and took some photos. However, you can't go very far before you start bumping into big "No Trespassing" signs, so I didn't really get all of it.
This little abandoned cabin sits right on the beach as you go to shore on the dock.
This little place has been for sale for a little while. When I was house hunting, I briefly considered it. From the signage it looks like it's still for sale, if you are interested.
There are a few places that are kind of neat and full of character.
Looking at this pen I was trying to figure out if the netting was over the top to keep the critters in, such as geese or ducks, or perhaps to keep the eagles from swooping down and taking the geese or ducks. Maybe both?
Here's another little place that's for sale.
Well, our daylight hours at this time of the year are increasing, but they are still very short. And my boat is slow. I like to try to get back to town just as it's getting dark. That did not leave much time for the shrimp pots to soak and for me to explore Loring.
At the appointed time, about 1 PM, I pulled out and headed for the pots. Pulling the pots when alone is always a stressful challenge. You have to get close enough to snag the buoys, but not so close that you run over the line and get it wrapped around a prop. That's very bad!
For this trip I had an ace up my sleeve. I put a second buoy on the line, with about 10' of line between the two buoys. Then I bought a grappling hook with about 50' of line on it. That way I didn't have to get so darn close to the line to snag it with the boat hook. I could just throw the grappling hook to snag it.
That part of the plan worked perfectly, and I was able to snag the buoy line on the first throw. The other part of the plan, the part about actually catching some shrimp, didn't work out so well, as both pots were completely empty. This is my 3rd attempt and I've essentially gotten skunked each time. I think the lesson to be learned here is that 4 hours is not enough time for the pots to be on the bottom. I've got to figure out a way to work an overnighter into the schedule so the pots can soak overnight.
After securing the empty pots aboard I headed for town, arriving just before dark as planned.
41 miles logged for this trip.
Comments