We woke to a lovely, sunny morning in Appleton Cove.  The morning check of the crab pots proved to be successful and we had 9 more keepers between a few of the boats!  We headed out of the cove at 9am with mostly overcast skies.  We passed the remains of old logging camps and even some shipwrecked boats on shore that we did not know the history of.

Our route today took us out into Chatham Strait.  The strait was a great spot for whale watching!  We saw many more Humpback whales today.  Some were traveling solo, others appeared to be mothers with their calves.  In a few areas we saw small groups of whales feeding together.  We slowed the boats down to watch in a few areas as they surfaced and dove feeding on the abundant schools of herring and other bait fish.

We traveled down the eastern side of Baranof Island today and admired the steep shores and mountains with patchy snow still clinging to their sides.  Waterfalls cascaded down from some of the smaller cliff sides and we went in close to one of the larger ones that we saw.  The Thea crew chose to stick around behind and try the fishing.  They were rewarded with three good sized fish!

We were able to fit all the boats at the dock in Baranof Warm Springs Bay.  At the head of the bay is a massive, forceful waterfall.  A boardwalk connects most of the small cabins and weekend homes here.  The trail leads up to the hot springs which are located right next to the cascading falls and continues on further to a beautiful, large freshwater lake.

We spent the afternoon exploring the trails, soaking in the hot springs and cooking up delicious dinners on board.  At one point a humpback whale swam right into our harbor!    We enjoyed a nice night on board watching the day fade into evening.  You have to stay up until almost midnight to see stars these days, but we did see a spectacular nearly full moon rise over the bay before turning in for the night.