Airship’s Electrical Upgrades Before our 5-month trip up the Inside Passage to Alaska aboard Airship, we did some major upgrades to Airship’s electrical power system. Now, after five solid months on the boat – mostly away from marinas, here is a summary of how the system performed, what we learned, and what our “ideal” power system might look like. SPOILER: It was AWESOME! We could not be more thrilled with … Read more
Ford’s Terror might just be the most beautiful place on the planet. Cliffs—absolutely humongous granite walls, really—rise from water’s edge to snowcapped bowls and peaks 5000 feet above. Countless waterfalls, some trickles, others torrents, plunge from these peaks. Bears forage ashore. Dolphins frolic around anchored boats. The scale of Ford’s Terror is difficult to comprehend and impossible to convey. It’s like Yosemite, but with water in the valleys, no crowds, … Read more
After our stop at Mitlenatch Island yesterday, we continued on to Melanie Cove, inside of Desolation Sound Marine Provincial Park. There are three areas to anchor in Desolation Sound Marine Park: Prideaux Haven, Melanie Cove, and Laura Cove. There are three areas to anchor in Desolation Sound Marine Park: Prideaux Haven, Melanie Cove, and Laura Cove. There were 4 or 5 boats in Prideaux Haven, and 5 boats in Melanie Cove when we … Read more
We left beautiful Klag Bay on Thursday morning (August 4), backtracking out Smooth Channel a little ways to see if we could locate the island where Radioville lived. Bill Pierre in Rose’s Bar in Pelican told us to look for a red shack, and in the Evergreen book Sam had, we managed to find reference to Radioville with a line from the description box to an island (lower left)… The Douglass guide, … Read more
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
We left Glacier Bay National Park on Sunday (July 31) and headed to Elfin Cove (through South Inian Pass in Cross Sound). It was nice and calm as we left Glacier Bay, and we even got a little humpback breach on our way out. A humpback near shore, closer to Elfin Cove: We were excited to revisit Elfin Cove and Pelican this year with Tiffani and Deke and Sam and Anna. We tried … Read more
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
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