We didn’t go far today, only 10 nm to Elle Cove and Hidden Falls. Did you know a large portion of Alaskan wild caught salmon is actually raised in aquaculture pens until they are abut 10 inches long? We didn’t, so we found our visit to the salmon farm at Hidden Fall very educational. The release millions of these baby salmon who grow up to be caught by the local fisherman. The ones who escape capture return here to spawn and complete the cycle. There were salmon everywhere- leaping, swimming at the surface and racing away from our lures. As the guys at the farm said- you basically have to snag them as they weren’t biting. We didn’t catch any but we weren’t too sad about it when we found out they were mostly chums. The local bears love to stop by the weir and scoop up the salmon trying to go up the swim ladders, especially when the ladders are closed! Talk about easy pickings. Fynn was getting super fussy on shore to go home so we left before we saw the bears come down. Of course by the time we stopped by to say hi to the counter (he literally stands there and counts how many fish enter the netted off bay) the bears were at the weir. Oh darn, the life with kiddos… We left our prawn trap down over night and stopped by Sand Beach to check our crab trap – one BIG GUY. He measured 8 inches across and made a delicious dinner. Fynn is a fan and can happily chow down on just about the whole crab.

Today was a long day of motoring. After sailing around the pacific, this motoring is getting old FAST! After about 4 hours we stopped at shoal for lunch and dropped the crab trap. Hauled it up on our way out and it had two keepers- that’s a productive lunch break! We arrived in Baranoff around 2 pm and were lucky to snag a spot on the dock. Our stay there became as magical as promised. We headed for the natural hot spring first- and they are HOT! Fynn and I had a soak but it was too hot for her. A bit of exploring and we found a small pool of river water, conveniently beside a broken pipe that should have been transporting hot water to the houses on the beach. I was able to divert the pipe into the cold water and shortly it was warm enough to play in. Even Bowen got to go in!

Climbing to the Springs

Picture Perfect

For dinner we roasted sausages on the beach fire. That night after the kids were in bed I headed up to the tub at the bath house to soak in the tranquility of the long Alaskan nights, and reflect on how lucky we are to be here. Of course I also washed the laundry and marvelled at how easy it was with unlimited hot water.

Sausages on the fire

Love and Hugs

The next morning the sun was shining. It was glorious. The temperature rose quickly and was soon in the 20s. Kolby used the unlimited water hose at the dock to wash the grime of travel off Asunto. She certainly looked proud of herself after that- we didn’t have the heart to tell her she was still pretty dirty… Adding Bowen to our travels has really made it hard to keep up with the cleaning. Anyway, Fynn and Bowen and I walked the boardwalk, devouring salmon berries. We even found some the size of golfballs! That afternoon we hiked to the lake were we met a nice family from Sitka. Fynn was so happy to play with the boys.

Today was Bowen’s bath day and he loved it. I filled the tub and we basically swam in the lukewarm water. He floated on his back and kicked on his tummy and went right under the water – no problem! That night the boaters mingled and swapped stories on the dock while the kids ran wild way past there bed time. The following morning it was hard to leave but leave we must- right after Fynn had a bath and got good and clean!

So I was uploading my blog posts from my phone when suddenly the screen went sepia then black – never to turn on again. And I hate rewriting blogposts. The first post that I lost was about our perfect day at Sinitsin Cove.  The anchorage felt like home, just a bit colder than we are used to cruising in. As we headed to the gravel beach at the head of the bay the sun came out. Fynn delighted in exploring the rocks and the little creek that meandered through the small meadow. As the sun warmed our backs Fynn stripped down to no shirt and ate berries straight off the bush. Bowen and I headed home to start on dinner and Fynn and Kolby went out to catch dinner. When they came zooming back 45 minutes later I figured Fynn was done and it would be veggies for dinner! Nope! Kolby had clipped the painter to the last piece of kelp and drifted off the end of the kelp bed and it didn’t take much to catch the rock fish!

We planned to leave the docks last night but when Kolby came home at 11 pm we were just too tired. And we had been going non stop for the last five days.