We woke up in Red Bluff Bay all wishing we could stay another couple of days. It is so amazing here…big fish, bear, huge waterfalls, canyons, ice coming right down to the water…I really can’t wait to see heaven...this has got to be close! We really didn’t get to see all of its majesty as it was rainy and foggy while we were there. The fog and clouds came in waves and layers. At times, I couldn’t even see our boat from the dinghy a few hundred yards away. At other times, the fog was layered and we could see a long ways but it was only 15 feet over our heads. Wild!
We stopped to fill our cooler with ice/snow on the way out of Red Bluff and putted through the beauty taking lots of pictures and video, which always disappoints us compared to the real deal.
Once we got out into Chatham Straight, we could run on plane but had to use radar as well. We had about a 70 mile day planned and I was hoping the fog wouldn’t come back. Every mile we cruised, it got brighter until the sun broke out at the ocean turned to flat glass. Wow! What a nice day this turned out to be.
I was a bit nervous about crossing the southern part of Chatham and the open ocean swells but God granted us yet another flat crossing. It was so flat, that we could tuck in behind a little island, out of the way of the swells for some lunch. I dropped Connor’s fishing line in while Val did dishes and instantly caught what felt like a huge fish. His pole is pretty light weight and it did turn out to be quite a large Rock Fish. Of course, Connor wanted his pole back so I tied mine up and we both caught two more very large fish. Mom came out and jumped in on the action. Within 15 minutes we had our limit of the biggest Rock Fish I’ve ever caught! Very fun! Smiles abound. 
Then we headed for Warren Cove to check out a beach I had read about in the cruising guide, but, as usual, the day got away from us, again. Whales, right in our path, just had to be visited. We sat right in the middle of a couple of pods of Humpbacks feeding. They bubble fed time and time again. 
Several of them swam right beside our boat, within maybe 70-100 feet. The sounds and sights are amazing but the smells are kind of disgusting. Every time they blow, it smells like rotten fish…bad breath! (Of course, by now, our boat smells like rotten fish too. I finally threw all the rotting fish heads overboard. I had been saving them for crab bait but I’m giving up on catching crab until we get further south.)
Then we headed for Warren Cove to check out a beach I had read about in the cruising guide, but, as usual, the day got away from us, again. Whales, right in our path, just had to be visited. We sat right in the middle of a couple of pods of Humpbacks feeding. They bubble fed time and time again. Several of them swam right beside our boat, within maybe 70-100 feet. The sounds and sights are amazing but the smells are kind of disgusting. Every time they blow, it smells like rotten fish…bad breath! (Of course, by now, our boat smells like rotten fish too. I finally threw all the rotting fish heads overboard. I had been saving them for crab bait but I’m giving up on catching crab until we get further south.)
We didn’t get to Warren Cove until 5PM. We dropped the hook, dinghied to shore, and played on the beach for a couple of hours. It was a wide, flat, sandy beach. 
Mom and Cody played football with the dogs. Connor made sand castles, bridges, and dams. I walked around with the cameras capturing it all. The sun was warm and it felt great to go for a nice walk and stretch our legs. The dogs ran like wild animals! The tide was rising over the warm sand so Cody decided to go for a swim. He did it…not for very long but he swam in the Alaskan waters! He also found a hidden treasure…a rope that was attached to something buried in the sand. He dug and pulled and rigged up levers to get that treasure up. He finally concluded it was just an old fish net but it kept us intrigued for quite a while. 
It was after 7PM and we hadn’t even found our anchorage yet. Val had a wonderful halibut meal planned for us, so we found Cyrus Cove, about 30 minutes away and were anchored securely by 8PM. The days are sure getting shorter the further south and east we go. It’s dark here now by 11PM.
Mom and Cody played football with the dogs. Connor made sand castles, bridges, and dams. I walked around with the cameras capturing it all. The sun was warm and it felt great to go for a nice walk and stretch our legs. The dogs ran like wild animals! The tide was rising over the warm sand so Cody decided to go for a swim. He did it…not for very long but he swam in the Alaskan waters! He also found a hidden treasure…a rope that was attached to something buried in the sand. He dug and pulled and rigged up levers to get that treasure up. He finally concluded it was just an old fish net but it kept us intrigued for quite a while.
It was after 7PM and we hadn’t even found our anchorage yet. Val had a wonderful halibut meal planned for us, so we found Cyrus Cove, about 30 minutes away and were anchored securely by 8PM. The days are sure getting shorter the further south and east we go. It’s dark here now by 11PM.
Dinner was awesome. Everyone rated this halibut recipe the best one yet. Val lightly dusted halibut cheeks in flower and fried them. Then she put them in a pan with some cream sauce, stewed tomatoes, and asiago cheese. Wow! Halibut is kind of like chicken breast…it takes on flavor. This recipe is a winner!
And then poker…I won! What a great ending to another perfect day in paradise.
