As often happens, the last day of the flotilla is a whirlwind. We left Wood Spit around 6am for the 43nm cruise north to Juneau. Julie took this photo of Airship just after we pulled up our anchor.
We arrived in Juneau, and after a bit of hustling we all eventually got space on the dock…some in slips in Aurora, some at transient dock space in Aurora, some in Douglas, and some on the IVF (intermediate vessel float) south of town. After some oil changes, some boat chores, and a nap, we all gathered at Salt downtown for a celebratory group dinner.
Adrienne shared her family tradition of passing the camera around the table and taking selfies with the person on either side of you, so we did this once and then changed places and did it again a bit later. Very fun!
After dinner, a subset of the group walked down to The Narrows to keep the festivities alive for a little longer.
We said the second of our many temporary goodbyes and walked along the waterfront back to Airship.
This has been an extraordinary flotilla experience! So much fell right in line regarding the weather (lining up for us to get down to Coronation Island), being able to add in a few other spots like Hoonah (trading for weather days we insert into the itinerary just in case), and being able to get so far up to Dawes Glacier in Endicott Arm…incredible! We’ve made great new friends, and shared some fantastic once-in-a-lifetime experiences together.
The next day people got out and saw some sights, did some shopping, ate more meals out, etc. Gregg and Alicia from Evenstar 42 had a car and gave us a ride out to Western Auto & Marine (Jerry’s Meats and Seafoods closed on Sunday, boohoo), and we stopped at the Sandbar for some halibut and chips, which were just as good as they always are.
Alicia snapped this photo of Kevin and I with Gregg before we said goodbye (temporary). 🙂
Moving forward: guests arrive for some, and others will start making their way south. We will continue to be available for weather and route opinions and guidance, and hopefully we’ll connect with some folks again on the water this summer.
On Monday, Kevin and I flew home for a few days (always surreal, covering the 1500nm we just covered by boat in about 2 hours by Alaskan Airlines).
I caught several glaciers from my window seat on the flight:
And Mount Rainier sticking up through the clouds:
We’ll be back in Juneau in a couple days and begin our trip south (and will continue posting!)
Thank you to everyone following along with the trip this year. It’s been so nice to share it with you!