Good Old Boat Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022

town of Craig, which sits on the southwestern side of Prince of Wales Island. Prince of Wales, along with its northern neighbors Kuiu, Kupreanof, Baranof, Chichagof, and Admiralty islands, is part of the Alexander Archipelago and is accentuated with dense forests of tall conifers, winding fjords, and steep-sided moun- tains. The fourth-largest island in the United States, Prince of Wales boasts a population of 6,000 hearty Alaskans and, some say, just as many black bears. Which makes a close encounter or distant sighting very likely. While we’ve safely encountered brown bears on Baranof several times, we had heard how numerous their black bear cousins were throughout Prince of Wales. In Trocadero Bay, just south of Craig, we found an isolated cove to anchor Yahtzee with no structures or other boats nearby. The only sign of human activity was an old, overgrown logging road that had basically turned into a hiking trail. Armed with our trusty bear spray and creating lots of noise, we made for shore and hiked the road for several miles, winding through spruce forests and grassy meadows. Along the way, we came across several piles of bear scat that, while not alarming, did serve as a reminder that we were sharing the island with them. Then, while sitting in the cockpit shortly after returning to the boat, we watched as a medium-sized black bear ambled down the shoreline flipping rocks, nosing through the grass, examining stumps, and even sitting and staring out at the water for several minutes. It was mealtime, and watching the bear forage for food was mesmerizing. Seeing bears from the boat is, of course, our preferred viewing platform, and Jill shares howwondrous

cruising around Baranof (see “Southest Sojourn, Part One,” November/December 2021) and were excited to be visiting some new places. Our first stop was on the east side of the strait at the Bay of Pillars on Kuiu Island, a mere 15-mile hop, so we weren’t in a hurry. Lazily sailing at 4 to 5 knots, Jill and the boys, Porter and Magnus, lounged on the side deck and I sat back, kicking my feet up and taking in the scene. Within a couple hours,

the entrance to the bay became visible, and we zigzagged through tiny islets before settling into a quiet nook to drop anchor. A black bear came foraging along the shoreline at Trocadero Bay, near Craig, after the Cross family had finished their walk ashore, below. Alaska's unspoiled beaches provided plenty of materials for good forts;

and awe-inspiring it was to watch this bear for so long in its natural habit. “ANational Geographic type experience,” she remarks. Time and again, those moments seem to happen throughout Alaska. Smooth Sailing When my turn at the story- telling helm comes, I can’t pick a singular moment or place, but rather an overall theme of traveling slowly and enjoying each other’s company, stunning anchorages, smooth sailing, and good weather. In particular, I recall a weeklong stretch of island-hopping that began with several days of beautiful sailing down Chatham Strait towards Kuiu, Coronation, andWarren islands. I remember unfurling Yahtzee ’s white code zero with a snap and, while trimming in, feeling all 40 feet of her gently accelerate in the fresh breeze. The autopilot steered diligently southward and the mountains on Baranof Island slowly got smaller behind us. We’d spent the better part of a month

Magnus and Porter built this on Coronation Island, at bottom.

39

January/February 2022