If you are visiting Alaska and you want to see bears we highly recommend you take a plane or boat to Geographic Harbor. Our first day searching for bears was very rainy. Marj and Sara gave up and Wade went ahead to scout out for bears in the area. He found a mother and cub hunting in a nearby river which we explored the next day. We also figured out that bear viewing tends to be better at low tide because the bears are closer to the waterline and further from the tree line. We braved the rain again and found at least six bears. We had seen pictures of other sailing cruisers standing 20 and 30 feet, so Sara and Wade braved walking up stream to get within 50 yards while Marj stayed close to the dinghy. The sun finally came out and with a morning low tide we went out again and saw twelve different bears.
This was our first time that the grib (weather) files we pulled from Sailmail were very wrong; instead of, 8 knots of wind out of the south west we had 25 to 30 knots from the west. We’re not sure if it was the effects of wind wrapping around land, but thankfully the direction was good for us to average 7 knots and sail wing on wing to Bluefox bay. Upon our arrival we had a bit of trouble seeing land and shallows because the sun had set just as we arrived, but we snuggled up close to the north side of Bear Island. We tried requesting weather and sending a Noon Report, but our SSB would not connect.
We heard from locals this is a great area to go deer hunting. We explored deeper in Bluefox bay and found the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Public Use Cabin. Sara is excited to start our hunt for deer from the cabin because there is a well marked trail leading atop Devilpaw Mountain, so hopefully there will not be too much off trail hiking. We fished a little today but to no avail, not even Rockfish. We did see plenty of otters and spotted seals. The VHF radio weather forecast predicted winds from the north at 25 to 30 knots, so we moved the boat to the southern side of Bear Island.
Cheers,
Wade and Sara
North of Bear Island Rocky Bottom Anchorage 58° 26.961’N, 152° 41.347’W
South of Bear Island Sand Bottom Anchorage 58° 26.386’N, 152° 41.369’W
