Winners and Losers

The crew of the mighty Thankful had a lengthy discussion the first day we were aboard about the etiquette of waving to other boats as you pass them. Matt, who spent many years as a commercial fisherman here in Alaska, told us that in this part of the world it is OK to return a wave from another boat, but if you are the first one to wave then you are "a Loser".

Yesterday afternoon, as we were powering along between Baranof and Chichagof Islands, I went outside to relieve myself and was mortified to find a fender dragging along beside Thankful. We had put it out overnight between the dingy and the mother ship and had neglected to pull it in before departing Kalinin Bay. We subsequently passed a number of boats headed in the other direction, and I know exactly what they were thinking when they saw our fender dragging along in the water..... "Losers"....

It takes more than a little seamanship faux pax to destroy the fantastic morale aboard Thankful. Undaunted, we poked out into Chatham Strait after forty miles of narrow channels and turned south to head for Kelp Bay. On the way there Matt saw salmon hitting the surface and decided to stop to try to catch one. It seems the Noodle fishing curse may finally be broken. I was lucky enough to catch a nice three pound pink salmon Crew consensus is that catching the salmon more than negates "the fender incident" and that perhaps we can now consider ourselves "Winners".

Yesterday was a stellar wildlife day. We saw orcas, seals, eagles, and a lot of humpback whales. Thankful stopped as she entered Kelp Bay so the crew could watch a purse seiner retrieve his net. Matt estimated that the seiner got about 100 salmon in that set, a pretty weak catch.

We had a peaceful overnight stay in Kelp Bay and we are now heading south in Chatham Strait for Baranof Hot Springs where we plan to do some soaking in the ground heated baths.