We wanted to go through Rocky Pass, but as we approached, the fog we were having every morning, persisted. We were uncomfortable making the 22 mile passage for the first time in the fog, because of the shallow depths, the currents, the rocks and the minimal markers. There are specific locations you need to be at during high water slack, and we didn’t want to try to figure it out for the first time, in the fog. Since we could not comfortably enter Rocky Pass at our targeted time, we decided to enjoy the calm water and playful sea otters and go south around Kuiu island. This turned out to be a monumental decision for us.
As we rounded Cape Decision, the wind grew, and the swells from the Pacific made their presence known. We put the fish in the water and that made for a more comfortable ride. We rounded the point and traveled about 20 miles north until we came to Port Malmsbury. We entered and anchored in Mud Bay. It was not muddy! It was breezy, but sunny. It was nice to see the sun out. This summer has been pretty weak in the Vitamin D department.
While we were there, we did a little fishing in the tender and caught some rockfish. We didn’t get any crab. There were some very elusive and skittish sea otters in the bay. We tried to get some good video of them, but they were very cautious of us. Later, we chatted with a fisherman who had anchored in the bay with us, and he mentioned that they hunt the otters in season. So, I expect the otters will remain elusive, and understandably so.
On Thursday, July 30, we departed Mud Bay and fished around the point for a short while. The wind picked up, so we decided to call it on the fishing and get going. We got a couple of salmon, pinks, then continued on with our plans to go to Red Bluff Bay. We got part way across Chatham Sound and realized that we were pitching so much, and making such little headway, about 5 knots, we looked for another place we could stop. We decided to cross the sound and go to Little Port Walter. With some of the seas on the beam, we had a more comfortable ride.