The Outside of Chichagof Island

We left Pelican on Tuesday morning. Lisianski Inlet was gray and drizzly and foggy. This fish boat was just in front of us out of the harbor: The trip out to Lisianski Strait and on to the outside of Chichagof Island was mellow and the weather gradually improved as we continued further west. Hey look! It’s the Gulf of Alaska! The wind was 10-12 knots with 3-4 foot swells, so not a … Read more

Glacier Bay National Park | Johns Hopkins Inlet

After our Reid Glacier on-foot excursion (and brunch), we cruised around the corner to check out Lamplugh Glacier and then into Johns Hopkins Inlet. We took Airship, and Sam and Anna left Safe Harbour anchored in Reid Inlet and instead went in Sam’s dinghy. That way we’d have Airship as a base and could trade off passengers in the dinghy (able to go closer and be more nimble among the icebergs). The … Read more

Glacier Bay National Park | Exploring Reid Glacier

On Friday morning we dinghied over to Reid Glacier and walked around for an hour or so, exploring the ice and rocks and waterfalls. It’s difficult to explain just how cool this was, so I’m going to post a ton of photos instead of words. Sam and Anna in the fast dinghy: Arriving on shore: Tiny dots, bottom center of photo are Sam and Anna:   Taking turns standing on … Read more

Glacier Bay National Park | South Sandy Cove, Margerie Glacier, Reid Inlet

We checked in on Wednesday afternoon (July 27) at Bartlett Cove just in time to make the 2pm orientation. Not much room at the dock (well, mostly due to the inconsiderate spaces left between other docked boats) so we rafted Airship onto Safe Harbour and hustled up to the Vis (code for Visitor’s Center). The park rangers showed us a film about the park and its rules in a tiny hot … Read more

Airship | Taiyasanka Harbor, St. James Bay, Swanson Harbor

Our steam train returned to Skagway on Monday around noon, and we headed for Haines (again) because Haines is great! But at the last minute we decided to stop and anchor in Taiyasanka Harbor. We still want to go back to Haines, but thought we should try a new place. Taiyasanka Harbor was pretty and we had a nice view of Ferebee Glacier from our anchorage in one direction…. …and several gorgeous mountain ranges in … Read more

Airship | Haines, AK

We left Bridget Cove yesterday morning around 7am. Here’s the Eldred Rock Lighthouse (a good place for current weather observations on Lynn Canal): The blue dot on this map of Lynn Canal is us in Bridget Cove: Haines is about 39 nautical miles from Bridget Cove so we’d arrive in Haines around 12:30pm…just in time to meet Sam and his friend (also named Sam) for some exploring! The weather could not have … Read more

Airship | Skagway, AK

Another gorgeous day in Lynn Canal and up the Taiya Inlet to Skagway! Here’s our new view, at the Small Boat Harbor: Skagway, Alaska is pretty much the furthest north in the Inside Passage that we can travel by boat. I’m so glad the weather was great and we got to come all the way up here. It’s beautiful! Blue dot on map is us: There’s only one cruise ship here today, so the town … Read more