Hoonah Bound

We did it. Our first overnight boating adventure.  And while it did not go entirely smoothly, the quiet family time together is something I'll remember and treasure.

We set out midway through the afternoon with a plan to leisurely make our way as close to Hoonah as we could that day, looking for a quite cove to anchor for the night.  There's something mesmerizing to me about just looking out at the beautiful views and watching our wake roll out into the waters beyond.

We are so incredibly spoiled by the wildlife here in Southeast Alaska that we've gotten to the point where we expect to see at least one humpback whale when we head out on the boat.  It's never less of a thrill, though.  On this particular trip, we saw orcas, which immediately brings excitement to both the kids and grown-ups.  To see nearly a dozen traveling together was just absolutely stunning.  Graham brought us up ahead of the whales, turned off the engine and just let them swim toward and around us.

 
Sunset

And a quiet cove

We went into this not knowing how the girls would do being on the boat overnight.  A 20' C-dory only has so much space.  And you only have what you brought on board with you.  But in talking about our trip afterward, the evening and overnight were the girls favorite part of the whole trip.  Specifically, being in their pajamas and doing some evening fishing under the supervision of a curious seal.

We can gladly report that the girls slept soundly though the night.  The same cannot be said of the grown-ups but we'll chalk it up to learning some good lessons about picking a spot to anchor that isn't subject to winds or waves from the incoming/receding tides.

The next morning, we set out to Hoonah, a small Tlingit village.  Our first stop, the hardware store for oil for the boat engine.  No first extended boat trip is complete without engine trouble, right?  At least that's what I'm telling myself.  There was no better way to illustrate just how small the village of Hoonah is then through having engine trouble.  The only hardware store gave a recommendation of a boat mechanic, who happened to be at the only dock in town parked in the boat ahead of us, who happened to know about three people we know in Juneau...and so on and so on.

 Girls were jealous that Dad got to walk up the huge ramp to the hardware store so they had to do it themselves.  Found some pallets from the latest soft drink delivery :)

We spent our day wandering around Hoonah.  Small enough to walk pretty much the entire town portion of the village.  Girls played with a group of about 8 kids who claimed to be the entire 6th grade class.

And then headed very slowly home.

***

Totally unrelated to our trip, but our first visual of Hoonah came from this youtube video, which propelled this local fisherman to Southeast Alaska fame as his dance video went viral last winter.  Going back and watching the video, we could see the exact spot where we docked our boat on this trip.  If you watch the video, make sure you see around minute 3 where he totally wipes out in the slushy snow :)

The day salmon stopped traffic

An estimated 10,000-16,000 pounds of chum salmon spread across Egan Highway, the only road between downtown (where many people work) and the valley (where many people live) caused quite the traffic jam.  #Juneau problems quickly became last night's local hashtag.

More pictures: http://www.ktoo.org/2016/07/25/overturned-truck-blocks-egan-load-fish/

The Great July 3rd Fish Story - guest post by Graham

So there I was....in about 300 feet of water, not another boat in sight. I am sworn to secrecy about precisely where we caught these fish, because, no kidding, Trevor and I both hooked within five minutes of each other and only about fifteen minutes after we put our lines in the water.

Here is my halibut, the one you see laying in the bow of Trevor's boat at the end of the video above. It weighed about 35 pounds....more than all of the rest of the fish I had caught in my lifetime put together.

Now, I am told by fishermen who know, a 35 pounder is something to be proud of, and I was quite pleased with my catch. But fifteen minutes of hand-cramping reeling, a broken halibut rod, and a team effort of pulling into the boat later, and all of a sudden my 35 lb. leviathan looked like a minnow.

This beast weighed in at around 120 pounds. 

It was quite an ordeal lowering it out of the boat, but not nearly as tough as getting it into the boat.

For reference, that is the largest wheelbarrow Home Depot sells.

The whole family got in on sizing the fish up....

Checking it out up close.......

And cleaning it in the driveway.

Trevor had a lot more work to do than me.

The kids even got an ichthyological anatomy lesson out of it. That's me, pretending I can tell the difference between fish intestines and sausage links. The girls had previously met some college students doing a summer study on halibut stomach contents at the boat ramp, so they wanted me to cut in and find out what was in there. I quickly changed the subject.

My mom kindly gave up her freezer to store all of the vacuum-packed halibut. I took some in to work and some will be going to the Glory Hole (our local homeless shelter, where Trevor works) but the rest is just waiting for you readers to come up and enjoy with us! Jenn has an amazing recipe with pesto and bread crumbs. You'll love it.

@ Nugget Falls

The day we became boat owners!

After much deliberation, much looking, offers made and lost, we became boat owners. Yes, the boat was in British Columbia.  Yes, that means it had to come to Juneau by ferry, crossing through customs unescorted.  But it made it and we could not be happier.

At an obnoxiously early hour of the morning, we waited anxiously as the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry Matanuska pulled into the dock.












With the help of some very kind deckhands, we got the trailer hooked up to our truck and off the ferry we went.

She's a C-Dory, cabin cruiser model 22' in length.

Proudly standing with his new boat.

Now it would not be the full story if I said all was well from the moment we got it off the ferry.  The previous owner made a slight boo-boo and left the key in the ignition in the on position for the entire transit from BC to Juneau so upon arrival we could not get the boat to start because the battery was dead.  Charged up, Graham and I took it out for a test ride, patting ourselves on the back because we trailed it to the harbor, launched it, took a ride and re-trailered it home.  So proud were we that the next night we took the girls out for their first cruise in the boat.  Only the battery did not hold the charge and the cruise abruptly ended with our friend having to tow us back into the harbor (thankfully we were not very far out at all).  I'll admit, it was not a great start to boat ownership.

But with the help of a mechanic, we got it all diagnosed, fixed, installed a backup battery and away  we went again. With much more success. 

We took the girls out again.  This time living up to what we hoped to get out of our boat - time together as a family, soaking up all that the beautiful water of Southeast Alaska has to offer.

There's a humpback whale in the distance.  Not a great whale sighting or picture by much of any standard.  But the first one from our boat!

Peeking out the hatch

Sketching wildlife and scenery

"Sea lions ahead, Captain!  They're sunbathing!"

The boat as of yet is unnamed.  So far in the suggestion box we have: Green Bean (Cora), Eagle Eye (Addy), Megaptera (Jenn), Orca (Graham), 'Thar She Blows (Grandma Carol) and We'll "C" (Grandma Sherry).  We're still accepting nominations :)

Alaskans Afield

Alaskans Afield is a family-oriented series of outdoor education classes offered by the Department of Fish & Game and we took our first one this spring.  Lizzie, Addy, Cora and I took "Wild Edibles" with the same instructor I've been lucky enough to have at Becoming an OutdoorsWoman.

The goose tongue and the rose hips & spruce tip tea were a hit!

When life gives you mud...

...you give yourself a mud bath???