Carroll Inlet

Had an awesome two nights in a little cove just north of Osten Island in Carroll Inlet.  We didn't get any sailing in...just relaxing and exploring.  I dropped my crab pot three different places and only caught one undersized crab.  He was about 6" across and looked old.  He had lost some pieces of his legs long ago and had barnacles on his claws!  Funny old fellow.  It was fun to gently handle and measure him...and determine his sex (you can only harvest males).  Then we let him go.

It was nice and warm the first two days.  We paddled around in our dinghy exploring.  There were lots of little critters in the water that kinda looked like sea slugs.  I named them Joe and lost count of how many Joes I saw...probably a hundred.  He was really cute.  He stuck his foot to the side of the bucket and started cleaning/eating with his huge mouth.

We got in a little target practice with Robert's six shooter and at night heard wolves howling...I was happy to be cozy in my boat when those wolves howled.  I think wolves are the scariest critter in Alaska...much scarier than bears.

Here are some pics from one morning.  The water was so still it provided a wonderful reflection.

  

A Time to Kill

I just made my first kill.  I had never killed anything other than a bug or spider before.  But I am a meat eater and for years have felt uncomfortable that I let others do my killing for me and just buy the tidy packages from the store.  

I killed a salmon...as quickly and humanely as possible.  My heart was in my throat as I sawed the knife through its body.  I thanked the world for its provision and apologized to the fish for its discomfort.  Now I will use the fish as bait in my crab trap.  Next I will kill a crab. 

The most distressing thing about it is that I am not as distressed as I imagined I would be.

We are off to Carroll Inlet tomorrow (here in SE Alaska).   Watch out crabbies!

Update

Every day I think:  I need to sit down and write a blog post.  Everyone will think we gave up our dream, didn't meet our goals.  But then time slides sideways...always laughing at me around the next corner ahead, and I don't get it done.  So, this morning, I thought I would just write a quickie...better than nothing?  Perhaps.  :)

Looking back at my posted plan last May, I see we have kept the spirit if not the letter of it.  We now are living aboard a 30' 1980 O'Day sailboat!!!!  We are still in Ketchikan, still working our 9-5 jobs, but we are learning and saving for the day we can cast off for parts unknown.  We also have finished and rented out our log home, which was always the plan.

Gotta run!   I see time just ahead....