Pacific NW

Expeditions

We cast off our moorings in Sitka after a rushed morning, running around like chickens with our heads cut off. What an incredible feeling it is to be on the water again. Our world of concerns shrinks to the size of a 27′ sailboat as we bound out for the distant horizons. Anything we forgot to buy in town we can make do with the materials at hand. Justin and I purchased a crate of lemons and exotic spices, and that was well enough for our re-supply. There are so many salmon out here it is ridiculous! Literally, very literally, they are jumping in every channel, bay, beach, and lagoon in astonishing numbers. It is not uncommon to see 7 or 8 leaping at the same time, and there is never a second where you can’t see at least one. In the late salmon-jumping afternoon we entered Peril Strait. I had made a two-hour mistake in navigation and we found the tide against us. At Sergius Narrows the tide was racing at 8.5 knots against us, which means we went 2.5 knots backwards. I played around in the hydraulic flow for awhile. It looked like a healthy river with standing and breaking waves and all. We were spun around in huge whirlpools and repeatedly sucked into and pushed out of the main flow. After a few curses we retreated to a backeddy and waited out the tide. The fish in here were leaping in formation all about the boat. One of them almost smacked its head into our bow! We fished. Justin and I hadn’t eaten a thing all day, and were quite hungry. The first hour of fishing was extremely discouraging. Not a bite and yet they were flocking the bay and we could see them everywhere. Finally Justin got a bite! As he was reeling it in the fish got off and disappeared. Quickly he caught another and we heaved it into the cockpit. The salmon thrashed around and we were worried about it jumping out of the boat! Justin pounced on it and killed it quickly with a knife. Immediately he filleted the fish and threw it into the skillet with garlic and maple syrup, and produced a huge delicious meal. I in the meanwhile was occupied with events of my own. As I was hauling in our downriggers I leaned over the side of the boat. My glance was met face to face with an empty hollow stare of a seal’s eyes. A corpse! Seals have very human-like features and it was very disturbing when it became tangled in our fishing gear. Shortly thereafter I made a stupid mistake with my knife and cut my finger slightly. Blood, blood everywhere and the cockpit scuppers ran red with fish blood. I sat down and passed on the salmon dinner, but Justin ate the whole fish. It was a powerful experience for him as he isn’t eating anything except for the fish he catches. At sunset I once again attempted the tidal rapids. On the fourth try we made it through, following the back eddies near shore. We made it into our anchorage just before darkness. On our way in we threw out the crab trap, using the salmon head for bait. Herring and salmon are having a feeding frenzy in our bay here. There is a fantastic echo in the anchorage. All evening, loud bird calls and the percussive “slap” of leaping salmon reverberated throughout the mountains.