Tenekee Springs
Main street of Tenekee Springs
Quite the place! Building codes, rules, safety regulations, these are all words that have no definition here. Put up pretty much any kind of structure you want pretty much wherever you want it. I think you come here if you are anti establishment. Actually the people here are friendly and once you get past the first impression it is a pretty interesting place. Sherm and I took a walk when we first arrived and saw maybe three people, none of whom had inkling to look at us or say hello. Felt like the outsiders that we were.
The hot springs have designated hours for boys and girls. The girls had it till 10pm then it was guys only. Clothing is not an option thus the segregation by time. The girls went up to take a look and came back with a dismal view of the facility but that did not faze Glen or Sherm. They headed off at 10 pm determined to not let a little sulfur odor or green slime deter them and it did not. I passed on the opportunity for a rejuvenating soak in the hot springs in favor of sleep. A week on an air mattress on the floor of my In-laws place and I was thankful for the soft bed in the aft cabin of the boat.
Next morning the boys reported the soak was relaxing and the odor and green slime was not as bad as reported by the girls, go figure.
The next day also showed a distinct difference in the townsfolk. When the town woke up people were friendly and most of the population of 100 was out walking or doing whatever you do in Tenekee. The restaurant bakery store was open so Glen, Liz, Sherm and Nichole and I had a pretty decent breakfast.
The school is still open and they have a grand total of 6 students. Last time we were here about 10 years ago they were talking about closing it due to having only 6 students but the townsfolk have found a way to up the numbers when it comes to meeting the rules. They import grandkids for a month of school, up the numbers to whatever is required to meet the school board requirements for students and are able to keep the school running. It is the nicest building by far in the town. Interesting enough after climbing 95 steps to the front door there is the obligatory handicapped accessible sign on the doors. Sick Alaskan humor.
We left about noon after Sherm ran back the half mile to the bakery to pick up the coffee mug he left behind. We tried our hand at fishing across from the town and Nichole dropped her line and had a good 25 lb halibut in just a few seconds. Two hours of fishing later and that was all we had to show for our efforts. I think she got the only halibut left in the bay.
Were in Appleton Cove tonight, a great little anchorage part way down Peril strait. We will ride the tide out tomorrow and down Peril strait after a morning of fishing and crabbing. Hopefully we will have better luck here than we did at Tenekee. Stay tuned.
Checked the pots this evening, motherload, about 6 in one pot and none in the others. I moved the pots closer to the hot spot and when Glen checked the pots in the morning we had about 12 more big crab. I think we have our limit for the day.
We paddled around the bay and up the creek as far as the current would allow and enjoyed a hot sunny afternoon waiting for the right time to leave to time our arrival at surgius narrows at slack water which is at 5pm. The horseflys were out but at least they were not biting to much.
we had an uneventful but interesting run through Peril Strait and hit Sergius Narrows at exactly 5 pm. Not bad.
We decided to anchor in DeGroff Bay tonight. The book says it is an enchanting place with a narrow and intricate entrance with room for numerous boats, but the authors had never seen any other boats in there. We pulled in, strait forward entry with 40 feet minimum under the keel and there are three other boats in here including a 90 footer. Bummer, so much for privacy.
It is a pretty nice place but we are sitting in a fog bank and the wind is blowing off the Pacific so it is pretty cool in here, a drastic change from what we left in Appleton Cove.
We will pull anchor and head into Sitka early tomorrow to meet Chris and Debbie by 9am.
The Bear photo I promised in the last blog
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