Guest swap time in Juneau! Kevin’s brother Craig flew home after two weeks with us on Airship, and a few days later we flew Kevin’s mom Shirley in for 10 days or so as we cruised from Juneau to Ketchikan. First stop on our way south was Tracy Arm Cove, where we promptly spotted a bear on shore with a salmon in its mouth. Not long after this first shot, … Read more
Monday – We left Tracy Arm Cove this morning on the late side (for us – 10am-ish) to get to the entrance to Ford’s Terror by 1:30pm (high slack in Juneau). It’s been a few years since we took Kevin’s brother to Ford’s Terror, and he’s psyched to see it again. The flood current was rippin’ as we crossed the Tracy Arm Bar…maybe 4-5 knots against us. It was very … Read more
Saturday: We left our anchorage at Honey Dew and headed across Keku Strait for a stop at Kake. We were in the market for some more fresh vegetables, more wine and beer, and some dinghy fuel. The grocery store hours said it opened at 9am, and the liquor store at 10am, and no doubt the gas station would be open sometime in there as well. We arrived just after 9am … Read more
This morning was still and silent at anchor…nothing but the sounds of birds and the occasional splash from a fish jumping. We pulled anchor around 8:30am and headed out. Out in Chatham Strait it was not calm at all. 15-18kts of wind from the north and 2-3 foot wind waves (against a slight current). Not bad, but we definitely got the boat salty. We saw a handful of humpbacks in … Read more
The sky was mostly clear yesterday morning and the clouds were no longer obscuring the tops of the mountain peaks, so we opted to go back down to Gut Bay to show Kevin’s brother another new spot (and more amazing scenery). We noticed on AIS that there was another boat anchored up at the head of the bay near where we were before with Dan & Eileen on Fortunate, so … Read more
Tuesday: We left Basket Bay and cruised about 35nm south to Takatz Bay. We’ve been seeing very little other traffic which seems a bit odd, considering it’s late July and typically one of the best times to be boating in SE Alaska. The salmon are here, the bears are out, the weather is usually mild…oh well. We’ll take it! The further we went, the fewer clouds and more blue sky … Read more
We woke in Pavlof Harbor to very little wind and mostly flat water. What a difference a day can make! We pulled our anchor and left around 10am for our not very long 14nm cruise down to Basket Bay. We arrived right near low tide, and anchored in the north corner of Basket Bay in about 85 feet, set out a couple crab pots, and then dinghied over to the … Read more
Last week we spent three nights in Auke Bay, where we took advantage of the land base to rent a car and reprovision, visit with friends, and we even got to take a nice hike out to Nugget Falls at Mendenhall Glacier. We picked up Kevin’s brother on Friday night and left Auke Bay early Saturday morning. Our plan for the next two weeks is to do a counter-clockwise loop … Read more