High tide in Juneau today wasn’t until about 1:00p.m., so we wouldn’t be exiting Ford’s Terror until about 1:30p.m., which gave us some more time to enjoy this incredible place (and the fact that we had it completely to ourselves). In the morning, Kevin took the Mavic up for some aerials: The bear was back on the beach, but took a walk the other direction and gave the folks closest … Read more
Excitement ran high today in the flotilla – we are set to move to one of our favorite anchorages anywhere – Ford’s Terror. We have written about Ford’s Terror many times before. It’s an enormous hidden fjord, guarded by a narrow and treacherous entrance. We can enter only at high tide slack current, which seems to happen within an hour after high tide in Juneau. Any other time, there are … Read more
We awoke this morning in Tracy Arm Cove to more beautiful weather. We planned to spend the day cruising the length of Tracy Arm to see the North and/or South Sawyer glaciers (depending on ice conditions). We had heard the day before that the ice might be dense, so we prepared ourselves for a possible no-glacier-but-beautiful cruise up the fjord and back (about 20 miles each way). Just before we … Read more
We awoke to bright sun streaming in through every window and port light…a glorious morning in Cannery Cove! Rubicon was pulling out just as we got up to take photos…they got an early start today to look for wildlife out by the Brothers Islands. The rest of the group headed out a little after 8:00a.m. and saw some wildlife along the way: sea otters (one with a baby on its … Read more
The flotilla left the Ruth Island anchorage in Thomas Bay fairly early this morning for our long cruise to Cannery Cove in Pybus Bay – on Admiralty Island. Cannery Cove is a stunning anchorage – set in a giant bowl of snowcapped peaks. We often see bears, eagles, seals, sea lions, and more – and frequently catch crab, shrimp, halibut, and rockfish in and around the bay. Admiralty Island is … Read more
With everyone reprovisioned for a week away from civilization, we left Petersburg this morning for Thomas Bay – a short 19-mile hop across Frederick Sound. Thomas Bay is a huge inlet with several viable anchorages. It’s close enough to Petersburg to get quite a bit of day fishing and sightseeing traffic as well. Our sunny Petersburg weather had given way to cloudy, rainy conditions but we went ahead undeterred. Once … Read more
Today was LeConte Glacier field trip day. Scott was kind enough to invite everyone to do the trip aboard Impulse – a beautiful 53 Selene. The water was smooth and we zipped out of Petersburg with a few knots of current boosting us along. After a couple of hours, we saw the first icebergs in the distance along the shore. We crossed the bar into LeConte Bay and enjoyed picking … Read more
Going from Wrangell to Petersburg involves transiting Wrangell Narrows. The narrows are, well, narrow, and have currents that can run over 6 knots. Normally, we try to time the narrows so we arrive at the middle point – Papke’s Landing – where the current splits and goes opposite directions as the flood turns to ebb. That allows us to ride the flood current into the middle, then ride the ebb … Read more