A date with wolves, Whales, Bears and another breakdown.

We arrived in Hoonah without any issues. Stocked up on groceries, dumped out waste bins and freshen up the boat. Got the bikes off and went for a ride down to the Cannery for some well earned/needed cheesy chips and a root beer.

We set out the next day to hopefully whale watch but the current and the winds were against us, so we detoured to the back of Pleasant Island to wait out the rough seas. Unfortunately the wolves of Pleasant Island were not playing. We neither saw nor heard them.

By Morning the sea had calmed, so we headed towards Idaho Inlet with the hope of bear watching. Stopping to Whale watch on the way we had several encounters.

Humps and tails

We finally made our way to what was a very secluded spot near the mudflats of Idaho Inlet only to find it was no longer secluded. There was a massive yacht, a small sailboat and then later a couple of other boats arrived. It felt like Piccadilly Circus. We anchored Harmony, with a view to going up the river to see bears at high tide the next day.

Dinky was lowered ready for our adventure. The following day as we were getting ready to board Dinky, we heard a loud whining noise. A jet propulsion skiff was heading out of the river. Not a problem, they had just been to see the wildlife, right? In actual fact is was a big problem because with the noise of their skiff the wildlife would have retreated for several hours, and would not have returned to the river until low tide which is much too low for Dinky to traverse. So our opportunity was scuppered.

We decided it was too crowded so set up to leave the following day… prepped the engine… turned the key… no dice! Checked the engine and sea water was in one of the cylinder heads! No cell, no internet… here we go again!

Drained the water from the cylinder and decided to make a mad dash to Hoonah. At least we would have connection, a store, a ferry and a plane service. We bypassed an amazing group of whales but didn’t want to risk slowing down with the engine playing up. Got to Hoonah without issue, even though I was at the helm for a good part of the journey.

The upshot is water was still leaking into the boat. Turns out an anti siphon valve had stopped working. $25 later a temporary fix has been made. Now we’re are hoping this is the last of the engine troubles. Fingers crossed!

So no wolves, no bears (other than a deceased one being eaten by Bald Eagles) a few whales and an extra visit to Hoonah.

And one little deer to boot!