July 4
We crossed Chatham Strait sailing southeast in a northerly on a heading for Kuiu Island. The sun blessed us with strength and stamina, pushing away nearly all the clouds over Baranof. It was the first time we were able to see all of the east facing ridge, some of the peaks rising 4,000 feet from the water’s edge.
Things were busier on the water this morning, a half dozen sport fishing boats from who knows where, were trolling off the west coast of Kuiu. The closest town is hours away at 40 miles an hour. Regardless, we sailed close to one and noticed them netting a nice salmon. Yup, took us no time to lower the sails, pull out the rods and within minutes Tim reeled in what we think was a Sockeye. It had no teeth. He lost two more but we netted a second within a half hour. Two in the bucket and off we went again, sighting whales and porpoises all along the way to Tebekof Bay on the west of Kuiu. It is within a pristine and primal wilderness area and we were the only boat in the entire bay. We anchored in Shelter Cove surrounded by dozens of curious sea otters. A grizzly grazed on the far shore and a whale lazed in the shallows nearby. Tim went fly fishing and I gratefully basked in nature’s quiet and solitude. It is my first 4th of July in over 30 years without noisy celebrations.
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| Solitude in Tebekof Wilderness |
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| Portion of north mountains of Baranof |
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| Towing the Zodiac in following seas. |
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