Yesterday’s destination was Kent Inlet. Kent Inlet is part of the Kitasoo Spirit Bear Conservancy on Princess Royal Island, which sounded pretty great. Potential for a spirit bear sighting, plus the added bonus of tidal rapids to navigate (or at least time for slack, which we did). The highest concentration of Kermode bears are found in the Kitasoo Spirit Bear Conservancy. From Wikipedia: “The Kermode bear, sometimes called the spirit … Read more
Yesterday we cruised from Anger Island past Pitt Island, down Principe Channel, through Nepean Sound and Estevan Sound and into McMicking Inlet on Campania Island. Oh, and I keep meaning to mention…if you click the “Where is Airship?” button on the front page of the blog that shows you where we are via our Garmin InReach, and you see our location marker in a really weird place that a 50 … 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
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