After a very hard rain early this morning, we woke to this: Just as we were pulling our anchor we noticed a black bear at the head of the bay, beyond Ithaka… …and then realized there were two! And on our way out through the narrow exit, one more on shore there munching on some grass, watching us as we puttered past. Those three, plus the two seen yesterday on … Read more
Up again at 4am (okay 4:30am) to check the 4am forecast and conditions for a Dixon Entrance crossing today. The Dixon Entrance East forecast for today looked about the same as last night: Last night at 7pm Green Island was reporting 5ft moderate, and the wind at Grey Islet was SSE 25kts. We were hopeful that things would mellow overnight. This morning, conditions seemed to have improved, except we were … Read more
We left Ketchikan on Thursday morning after topping off all of the fuels (diesel, propane, dinghy gas) and headed for…well, we weren’t quite sure where yet! We’ve got a good window for crossing Dixon Entrance on Friday or Saturday, so we considered Foggy Bay, Judd Bay (on Duke Island), or somewhere we had not been before, and the new place won: Kah Shakes Cove, just north of Foggy Bay. The … Read more
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