Our final cruise of the flotilla was a short, twenty-mile hop up Stephens Passage from Taku Harbor to Juneau. Once again, we felt the slight jar of a return to civilization from the wilderness. Like Ketchikan, Juneau announces its presence early with giant cruise ships visible from miles away, and a sudden increase in all kinds of boat traffic going in and out of Gastineau Channel to Juneau. Arriving at … Read more
We pulled anchor a little after 7:00 a.m. in order to arrive at the entrance (exit) to Ford’s Terror by about 8:00 a.m. We were a little early but knew from our experience coming in that the tidal swing was low and that meant a longer-than-usual window for transiting the rapids. Airship went through first and only noted about a knot and a half of opposing current, so the rest … Read more
Today’s cruise from Cannery Cove up to Tracy Arm Cove was just over 40 miles, so we headed out on the early side (basically, no different from any other day with this group). 🙂 Ralph got a nice humpback show out in Stephens Passage (he left a little earlier than the rest) and shared these two photos with us: We arrived and anchored in Tracy Arm Cove, and were the … Read more
The weather today was absolutely gorgeous for our cruise from Portage Bay across to Pybus Bay on Admiralty Island. As we left Portage the fog burned off and the water was glassy smooth for much of our transit. Enroute we saw humpback whales, a large pod of Orcas, seals, and sea lions. But, the big wildlife encounter of the day was Dall’s porpoises! There were so many of them, and … Read more
It was rainy and gray when we woke this morning in Petersburg. We filled our water tanks, picked up a couple of last minute things at the market, and left our slips by about 10:00 a.m. The cruise to Portage Bay was calm and uneventful. Not much wildlife today, but an easy day on the water. Once in Portage Bay, Sam went up with his drone for some overhead shots: … Read more
We didn’t plan to leave Wrangell until 11:30 a.m. or so to get the timing right for Wrangell Narrows, so we took advantage of the late departure time and dinghied back into town for some breakfast and grocery shopping. We grabbed breakfast at J&W’s Fast Food (now serving breakfast) and it was really good — breakfast burritos, french toast, captain’s platter with eggs, potatoes, and sausage or bacon, hot coffee. … Read more
We spent a quiet night on anchor at Thoms Place and left early for Wrangell. Kevin and Laura pulled their crab traps before pulling anchor and had nineteen Dungeness total (no females, 4 large male keepers). Thoms Place comes through again for fresh crab! After an easy cruise through Zimovia Narrows (a nice, short warm up for Wrangell Narrows tomorrow), we all arrived at Heritage Harbor in Wrangell by about … Read more
In past years, we went straight from Meyers Chuck to Wrangell, a 50+nm run. This year, we decided to break it up with a stop in Thoms Place. This way, we have a relaxed day leaving Meyers Chuck, and then can make the short hop to Wrangell the following day and have much more time to explore town. And we get an extra night anchored in a beautiful, remote cove! … Read more