Days 41-42 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Tracy Arm Cove, Dawes Glacier, Ford’s Terror

A downright leisurely morning in Tracy Arm Cove — we didn’t leave until just before 9am. The plan for today is to head up Endicott Arm to see how close we can get to Dawes Glacier, before turning around and heading for the entrance to Ford’s Terror so we arrive around 3:30-4pm. High slack in Juneau is at 4pm, so we should be able to transit the entrance somewhere between … Read more

Day 40 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Taku Harbor to Tracy Arm Cove

Every summer during the flotillas, almost every evening, there’s discussion about what time people want to leave in the morning. Sometimes we have a reason to need to leave early (weather, timing for current and tides, things like that), and when we don’t have a reason to leave early, we leave it up to the individual boats. We’ll put in the written plan, even “Leave whenever you want today!” Inevitably, … Read more

Day 39 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Couverden Island Cove to Taku Harbor

We wanted to leave sometime before 6am this morning because it was a long day (53nm) down to Taku Harbor. As has become customary, most of us are pulling anchor at the time we all said we’d set our alarms for…so 5am it was! But the reward was pretty incredible. We had a tiny bit of wind and a little chop, but the wind wasn’t supposed to pick up until … Read more

Day 31 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Deep Bay to Sitka

This morning’s alarm was set for 4am (!!!) and we all left Deep Bay in time to catch slack at Sergius Narrows (4:50am, about 30 minutes from Deep Bay). Conditions were calm, gray, and rainy today, so not many photos were taken along the route. Along the way, Two’s Out had a mechanical problem. A new sound had appeared – vaguely like a pump. But, the sound only happened when … Read more

Day 29 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Red Bluff Bay to Takatz Bay

Another beautiful morning (before the “mostly cloudy” sets in)! We stopped to pick up our prawn traps on the way out of Red Bluff Bay and had 55 more spot prawns. Yum! Nice and calm in Chatham Strait today for our run up to Takatz Bay. There were no other boats anchored in Takatz Bay when we arrived, which is quite rare! We got out to do some dinghy exploring … Read more

Day 28 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Explorer Basin to Red Bluff Bay

We awoke to a gorgeous morning in Explorer Basin! The group left the anchorage in shifts. First out was Seabear, who reported back they were again seeing humpbacks bubble-net feeding outside the entrance. Our route in and out of this place is definitely on the herring trail because the waters around here are just bubbling with ’em! Some swell and some chop (and some fog) out in Chatham, but not … Read more

Days 25 – 26 | 2023 Flotilla to Alaska | Thomas Bay to Pybus Bay

Day 25 – The group left the Thomas Bay anchorage early this morning and headed north in Frederick Sound toward Pybus Bay at the south end of Admiralty Island. As we neared the Brothers Islands, the wildlife sightings began! Over at West Brother Island — a colony of sea lions (over 100 as reported by Free Solo and Seabear) as well as some orcas. The orcas came to visit Airship … Read more