Day 44 ~ Roosevelt Harbor on Zarembo Island to Meyers Chuck, Cleveland Peninsula

Our sunshine was gone and the fog was threatening. The main water pump was causing more issues so Dad switched it out with a back up before we departed. While Thor and Dad work on switching out the pump, I worked on our float plan, not wanting to have a repeat of our departure from Red Bluff Bay without a plan. We didn’t get to go Halibut fishing as originally planned because of chores and tides. I did however find us a spot near Meyers Chuck that time permitting we could drift over and pick up something. Our float plan for the day took us down Zimovia Straits between Wrangell Island and Etolin Island then out Ernest Sound to Meyers Chuck. I’ve been keeping an Excel spreadsheet on our fuel consumption and Dad asked me if we needed to go into Wrangell to get fuel and I told him no. If my calculations were incorrect we were going to be in trouble because there are no fuel options between where we were and where we are going except Wrangell.

The passage through Zimovia Straits was quite beautiful, it would have been more enjoyable had the rain stopped and the fog lifted but we got the picture. There were several cabins along the way. It’s proximity to Wrangell probably makes it a popular weekend destination. Days like this Dad and I tended to get a little cabin fever. We checked the weather before departing from Wrangell and it appeared that we are going to have rain for the next week – ugh! 

We stopped on the spot on the chart that said ‘Halibut’ and started fishing. Within minutes, we already had a ling cod on the line, which is a really ugly mean fish but great eating. We got it on the swim step and I wouldn’t let them make the ‘keep’ or ‘release’ decision until I found a tape measure and read the regulations.

Fortunately, it was 32 inches and the regulations were 30 so in the fish cooler it went. Over the next hour we caught one more that was legal and one that had to go back. We also lost all three of our 8 oz weights and created the worst birds nest in a reel that I’ve ever seen. In fact, it took scissors to save the reel. We decided that we had lost enough tackle and headed towards Meyers Chuck.

Our arrival into Meyers Chuck was a bit of a challenge. The tide was down low and there are several rocks at the already skinny entrance. The public dock was full of boats but as luck would have it, a member of the Seattle Yacht Club who we were docked with clear back in Shearwater named the Blue Moon was on the dock. His fenders were out which was as good as a welcome mat. We moved towards them and they helped us get rafted to them.

In a show of appreciation we invited them over to have beverages with us after we fluffed the place up. They accepted and were more than happy to help us consume our overstock of liquor. We would be crossing into Canada in a few days and our liquor inventory definitely needed to be depleted. They were lovely people and we enjoyed talking to them. In fact, I think that Dad and I were so enjoying having strangers to talk to that we talked their ears off. They did seem to get a kick out of our stories and our float plan book.

After they left we made some popcorn and had a home movie night. Thor hadn’t seen any of the movies so we had to go all the way back to the beginning. I wasn’t sure about getting the video camera but now that we can look back and see all the movies that we took I’m really glad that we did.