7 Fathom Hole

After our whale encounter we entered Jackpot Bay. We passed a boat in front of us laying what looked to be crab pots in the deep water. Before we headed towards 7 Fathom Hole to anchor for the night we went down another arm of Jackpot Bay to look at some waterfalls. It is too deep to anchor but supposed to be very pretty. We just drifted along under sail to the end and it was indeed quite beautiful. Shame there was no anchorage here, it would have been lovely.

As we headed back around to head to our anchorage we passed these delightful little islets spotted along the bank. It was so picturesque.

The entrance to 7 Fathom Hole was really tight and we had to avoid two rocks at the entrance so I took the helm while Dean spotted, followed the map and gave me instructions. It was similar to neighbouring Em’urluq Bay where we had anchored two nights ago, but on a much smaller scale, and it was just as beautiful.

We have found a river into a bay will govern the wildlife you see of which salmon is the backbone. Once you have a river it seems you have salmon, which then attracts the mega fauna. So although it wasn’t a big river, the salmon were still schooling so we knew the bears wouldn’t be far away.

We’d already spotted otters and seals and very soon spotted our first black bear. Interestingly enough there was only a lone seagull, compared to the large colonies we normally see around the rivers.

Dean went off for an evening kayak, and a small motor cruiser joined us in harbour while he was exploring. I must say he did well and he bravely climbed to the top of the hill and took a photo of us down in the harbour below.

He also spotted this beautiful Blue Jay. You can hear them warbling in the trees, such a gorgeous colour. Although I could hear them I never got to see one, so I was glad Dean had taken the camera.

On his way back he stopped by the other boat, Kingfisher, to say hi and have a chat, and found out that the crab pots we saw the other boat laying are actually catching shrimp. And they gave us a very generous bag of them that they had caught, which was really kind.

Although I already had dinner prepared we couldn’t resist fresh prawns so Dean threw a handful on the barbie for an entree and we just shelled and ate them. A big thank you to Dan and Mary for sharing your spoils with us! They tasted amazing. But take a look at this. Many of the prawns had roe- I have never seen that before. And they had these kind of armour plates that came down and protected the eggs. We were both fascinated and basically dissecting these prawns as we ate them! Oh gee, the scientist in me coming out and making a study out of my dinner!

Dan and Mary are Alaskans and this is their stomping ground to go fishing. It was so nice to hear them talking about a place they so clearly adore. They even have moose in their back yard where they live! Dean was very jealous to hear this as he wants to see a moose.

The next day after I said my good-byes to them, I had a bit of an explore in the kayak. I had two seals following me the entire time. They just can’t stay away, funny fella’s.

The photo below shows the entrance to this gorgeous little harbour. Just ot the right of the image.

I had a hover downwind of the river and was rewarded by one of the bears coming out. Since I was been blown by the wind and carried by the tide it was quite hard to get close quietly and take a photo. I think he was suspicious I was there but not sure and hesitated coming close to the shore. We were both happy with that decision. We had seen a mamma bear and two older cubs that morning, and if that was mamma or one of the cubs I certainly didn’t want to get too close in case mamma got aggressive, and I was in shallowish water.

Once Kingfisher left (with a bag of our rubbish onboard, thank you), once again we were alone in our little cove. We had good holding, good swinging room, no rocks. Dean was very happy! So we decided to stay another night and enjoy the tranquillity of this wonderful place. If we could we would have stayed a month!

I had a last paddle with my trusty side kick nearby.

And then in the amazing calm we reluctantly had to leave. What a fabulous morning for it though.

As we went through the narrows of Jackpot Bay, we saw something in the water. Our first thought was a dog. Only because there was another boat in the bay and Dan and Mary had a dog so it was in our thoughts. And then we came to our senses and, oh it’s a bear! A black bear was swimming across the passage. We stopped and let it get across, wow what a sight. We have been so lucky seeing the wildlife in their habitat. It has been wonderful.

He made it across safely. If we had any doubts they are good swimmers we have none at all now after seeing grizzly’s and now a black bear effortlessly swimming pretty big distances with absolutely no hesitation.

And that was that. We now had to leave this amazing place. I don’t think I could ever do an organised cruise after our time here because it would just be a sad reflection of these memories we have made. And I never want to sail back here from Australia. This is definitely a trip of a life time. I think our only option if we wanted to visit again would be to buy ourselves a boat already here whether it be yacht or cabin cruiser, and have it here for a few seasons!