Warmer Climes
06 June 2012 | Ketchikan
Mark
Kindergarten Cove
We decided to pull into Kindergarten Cove after a respectable day of travel and have enough time to enjoy grilling steaks in the setting sun. Kindergarten Cove was the choice and it was marvelous. Danny immediately declared a swim and was stripped down and in the water within minutes.. And out in seconds. But still – now holds the record for the first swim of the trip. We had hot water waiting with a shower for him and shortly thereafter – steaks and baby bok choy and a glass of protégées red to compliment. Kindergarten Cove was a lovely spot to stay the night and must have been named in honor of the baby fish that seem to dominate the place. We watched them leap and frolic… clearly they had something to do with the naming of the cove.
Early morning brought coffee and a lovely following breeze and following sea. We sailed over 60 miles downwind and deployed our brand new red asymmetrical spinnaker. I could simply NOT BELIEVE how the boat tracked so beautifully with the new sail. The helm was balanced and at zero degrees runner as we watched the wind build first to 20 and then 25 knots……. When we finally decided it was time to take it down, I was convinced this was a worthy purchase….despite its extravagant expense.
We covered over 65 miles in warming sunshine and things seemed to just be getting better as we neared Ketchikan. Humpback whales breached clear of the water – tails, pectoral fins and all. Porpoises danced in out bow wave, and Danny and I just caught the glimpse of a Yellow- Eyed Rock Fish (Red Snapper) afloat in the surf when Danny said “We should grab that” No sooner, we had the boat hard on the wind as Lolo shouted objections about our sudden course change from below. Soon we had the monster fish aboard as Danny snared it with the net after a few passes. We had a monster 36” fish in the icebox. It was clearly caught and had been dropped from its line/lure inadvertently. After making Ketchikan, Danny filleted it and brought back 4 large 1-gallon sized bags of white rockfish meat. But after filleting the monster, Danny was not so much in the mood for fish. We instead hit Annabelle’s for a bite to eat and enjoyed cheeseburgers.
Ketchikan is warm…warmer than we have felt for - well………maybe 12 months. The wind was warm, the sun was warm, and the flowers were in bloom wow! We didn’t even light the stove for the night. I think……we just might……….be getting into warmer climes. Cool.