We had a couple days off (sort of) in Juneau between the flotilla and having friends join us…we also provisioned, did a bunch of laundry, picked up some supplies, went to the marine store, and also tried to do some sightseeing and touristy stuff with Andrea before she left.
Wednesday: Once our friends Lauren and Taylor arrived, we were fully back in non-work mode. We stopped at Devil’s Cub Brewery for a beer, then stopped for some halibut tacos from Deckhand Dave’s, along with some salmon tots…pretty good tots, but the halibut tacos were fire!
We next went (for the first time) to the Red Door Saloon because Taylor’s grandfather liked it when he was here, and we wanted to see what all the hubbub was about. The place was not packed with cruiseshipppers, which was nice, and we sampled the recommended “Duck Fart” shot (Kahlua, Bailey’s Irish Cream, and whiskey, which sounds gross but it was actually good).
Thursday – In the morning, we left the dock and headed for Taku Harbor…about 20nm. We had a bit of rain, but knew it was short-lived so no big deal.
We walked the trail, and then headed out to the cannery ruins.
Taylor is a chef, and brought a large fish box full of goodies and pre-prepped meal ingredients. Having someone else cook for us is an absolute treat after 48 days of non-stop flotilla work!
Friday – The next day we headed for Tracy Arm Cove, passing some great-looking icebergs on the way in. And not only great-looking, but HUGE. So there’s clearly been some big action up at South Sawyer glacier since last week when we were here. This one below seemed like it was blocking the whole bar entrance (green buoy visible on the right), but it wasn’t.
As soon as we dropped the anchor in Tracy Arm Cove we headed out in the dinghy to go get a closer look at some of the icebergs.
And a whole lot of photos of ice:
We picked up a nice bergie bit for cocktails and named it Isosceles:
There were a whole bunch of these surf scoters in our anchorage, which are apparently referred to as “poor man’s puffins” due to their coloring.
Next up, Kevin and Taylor went out for some fishing, and came back with a beautiful Pacific cod AND a 43 pound halibut! Score, guys!!
Taylor’s fileting skills are (of course) unstoppable. It’s great having a chef aboard…we could easily get used to this!
Saturday – In the morning, we headed off early to cruise up Tracy Arm. LOTS of huge icebergs, gorgeous scenery, waterfalls, etc. etc. etc.
We couldn’t get all the way to South Sawyer this time, but we could see it…AND…the SUN was out, so whatever South Sawyer. We’ve got sun, we’ve moving on.
We picked our way back through the ice and headed for North Sawyer. Spotted these two harbor seals, mama and pup, on an iceberg. So cute, but the mama looked like she’d suffered an injury…a little wound and some red streaked on the left side of her head. Poor mama.
On our way into North Sawyer while we were looking at this beautiful waterfall, Taylor spotted two mountain goats on a ledge to the right of the waterfall.
Super cool! We’ve only ever seen a mountain goat in SE AK one other time!
On in to see North Sawyer glacier, and we were the only ones here.
Before we left, Kevin took the drone up for some stills, and then made an epic video flying around the glacier.
Those stills are great, but holy moly this video!!
Seal chillin’ on a cool wave-shaped iceberg:
We decided to cruise over to anchor at Wood Spit instead of Tracy Arm Cove again, but we had to stop in Tracy Arm Cove to retrieve the crab traps we left there. No crab. Well, no Dungeness, but we got this little guy (actually a Giant Hermit Crab…maybe 4 inches long) I photographed and then sent him back home:
As we passed the end of Wood Spit, we spotted two grazing moose. Yesterday, we heard people talking on the radio about four moose grazing on the end of the spit, so it was cool that they were still there for us to see today.
After we dropped the hook in this beautiful spot, Taylor prepped a fabulous nosh board with ceviche made from his freshly caught halibut, the last of our Jerry’s Meats and Seafood salmon dip, and spring rolls made with the leftovers from the chicken vermicelli bowls we had for dinner last night (forgot to take photos, oops).
And this is the view from our happy hour on the flybridge:
Tonight’s dinner was fresh halibut with a tomato garlic shallot sauce, porcini mushroom pasta, and asparagus. Super delicious! Lauren snuck up to set the table on the flybridge (because SUN) with the little succulent from the salon, and an iphone candelight! So sweet!
Whales were spouting around us in the distance, and the water was flat calm. The view from dinner:
After dinner, Taylor did a little jigging from the boat and caught some fun things. This sculpin had a little flounder in its mouth when it came up, but I missed it and only got this action shot of the flounder getting away, then a nice down the throat of the sculpin:
Next up: a longnose skate!
Look at his fun little under-face!
Next up: gorgeous sunset over Stephens Passage:
An amazing day. Tomorrow we’ll head back up Endicott Arm and into Ford’s Terror.