Captain Scott's Log ~ Monday & Tuesday, August 25th & 26th 2008

Monday, August 25, 2008 4:31 AM
Subject: P Dream resumed

6 days in Daneli with Gill. Great weather, views of Mt McKinley, hiking every day, lots of game, and now back to Kodiak by air. Although I saw Grizzlies in Daneli, I decided to see Kodiak bears here. Jeff's girl, Clara, is here and we chartered a bush pilot to fly us to an interior lake to bear watch. Salmon are swimming up the river to spawn and the bears have collected at a set of small falls to cash in. Since I am not allowed to carry a machine gun, I bought a can of "bear spray". The instructions are hysterical. 1) Point the nozzle at the bears face, not yours. 2) Do not spray into the wind. 3) Wait till the bear is close then spray for 2 seconds. 4) If this does not work, check and clean the nozzle. 5) Repeat 3. The flight in a float plane, a Beaver, was worth the price as we had 2 hours of air time over fantastic wilderness. On the river we sat on a small knoll 20 feet from the falls. 3 cubs played on the bank a few feet beneath us while Mom fished. 11 adults caught salmon and ignored us. After 2 hours we hiked back to the plane. A large bear met us on the trail, stood on his hind legs to look us over, then turned and went the other way. Today is Monday the 25th and the weather is good. I am going to cruise the north coast of Kodiak for the next couple of days before putting in at Seward.


Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 6:13 PM
Pipe Dream-Yankee Trader

Left Kodiak in calm and approaching Whale Island we saw----Whales. About 30. Engine off and drifting among them--for me, it was the sound in the calm and quiet, of them blowing all around us. For the crew it was the proximity as they dived within a boat length of us. Then we went through Whale Passage and we saw---Otters and Puffins by the thousands. Puffins with orange large beaks that fly through the water and struggle to fly through the air. Otters that lie on their backs eating oysters from their tummy. The next day we passed Alligator Island and saw---Otters. Then past Eagle Cape and saw---Sea Gulls and Kelp.
The first night was past and among high mountains and tonight we are in Big Bay on the Island of Shuyak 58 33 27n 152 36 44w. Stupid me did not refuel in Kodiak and so our extra cruising is stretching our supply as we have only motored for the 2 days. Now anchored off what we thought was an empty summer cottage, we radioed for any vessel to ask where fuel might be obtained. We were answered by a park ranger. Yes we are in a park and anchored off the ranger station. Jason the ranger broke speed records getting to our boat when we offered a drink and dinner. Now the
Yankee Trader bit. You may recall we bought rum in the Philippians that was cheaper than diesel. Jason was happy to trade 1 fifth of rum ( 1 dollor) for 10 gal of his diesel!
For those of you who like to Google map her location, here it is. Lat: 59-7-42 Lon: 151-18-25.3