Glacier Bay and Juneau

After uploading the blog at the Hoonah Library, we managed to get in a last shower for awhile, and then depart the dock at 1000, crossing Icy Strait and bound for an anchorage on the north side of Pleasant Island, just across from the town of Gustavus. This would allow us easy entry into Glacier Bay Park the following morning. We motorsailed on a beam reach, with the tide current assisting us most of the way, spotting several whales surfacing around us. As we rounded the west end of Pleasant Island, the dock at Gustavus appeared free and clear, so we tied up at the dock (our guides warned it is usually full, but we found lots of room). It was cool and overcast, with rainshowers, but that didn't stop Shane and I from taking a walk along the road into town to explore a bit. Although there is a golf course, several restaurants, a grocery store, a gas museum, etc.....all was closed because of it's being a Sunday. We did manage to pick some wild strawberries along the side of the road, though, which we used in our salad in the evening meal. Back at the dock, several sportfishing boats were returning with their catch....lots of salmon and halibut, including 1 halibut weighing in at 293 pounds!!!!













Cleaning a very large halibut










We had a dinner of pork chops with salad, and then watched the movie “Lovely Bones”.....at least the first half, until the memory on the computer choked up and we had to shut it down. It was time for bed at any rate, as we needed an early start the next day.
Which we got....up at 0500, and off the dock at 0530, motorsailing in light airs for Glacier Bay. It was a nice sunny day, with Mt. Fairweather (15,300 ft +) plainly visible to the north.





Entering Glacier Bay, with the Fairweather range in background





We managed to arrive at the dock at Bartlett Cove, at the Park Entrance – just in time for the Ranger Station 0800 briefing and check-in (mandatory for all arriving visitors). We topped up the fuel, and were underway into Glacier Bay Park by 1000. We saw lots of wildlife the first day into the park. With warm, sunny weather, we enjoyed watching many humpbacks, sea otters, and a family pod of Orca.






A Sea Otter drifts by
















A Family of Orca






We passed several colonies of stellar sealions, and later viewed 3 wolves loping along the beach. 30 miles north of Bartlett Cove, we pulled into Blue Mouse Cove for our first anchorage in the park.







Sea Lion Colony


















Humpbacks









We had a dinner of leftover pork chops, and then finished our movie (“Lovely Bones”), making it to bed by 2230 – a very pleasant day, both weather and wildlife-wise!
Tuesday morning, July 13 – we woke up at 0700 to overcast skies, and less than ¼ mile visibility in fog and rain, with a north wind (the direction we were planning to go!). So back to bed for a bit, and relax at anchor. By 1000, the fog was lifting a bit, so we headed out to view some glaciers. At 1300 we passed by the carcass of a humpback whale on the beach with a brown (grizzly) bear feasting on it.







Brown Bear eating a whale carcass







We proceeded past the Reid and Lamplugh Glaciers, both of which were stunning glacier views. The weather was starting to close in again, so we returned to anchor in the inlet off Reid Glacier....as we anchored, the weather lifted again, so we stuck some food in the oven and rowed to shore, walking up the beach to the glacier itself.












Up Close and Personal at Reid Glacier











We returned to the boat with some pieces of bergy bit, for a glacial rum celebratory drink, and a slightly overcooked dinner of ribs and roast potatoes. We managed to have showers on deck, with a pre-wash in extremely frigid glacial water, followed by the warmth of our coleman shower.
Wednesday morning started with a howl. Actually, howling winds.....a very strong wind roared down the glacier, at full gale force, very cold, and very noisy....at three a.m. Our anchor was holding nicely, although I let out some more scope to 10:1, with a kellet, to be sure. I then set up an anchor watch for the rest of the night (although it's hard to call it night, as it was already light outside). A power boat also anchored in the bay dragged anchor and left. By 0730, the wind was still blowing, but down to 20-25 knots, so we raised anchor and motored up Tarr Inlet, weaving around various bergy bits and then facing the magnificent Margerie Glacier, also called “the Performer” because of the movement and calving of the glacier. We shared the area with the cruise ship “Ryndam”, and while we were watching, the glacier rumbled like thunder, and cracked and roared, dropping off several large chunks of ice.








Margerie Glacier Calving










We continued past the Grand Pacific Glacier, which is quite large, but also very dirty-looking (hard to tell it's actually ice). At this point we were at 59 degrees 3 minutes north latitude – likely as far north as we'll get on this trip (57 miles south of the Arctic Circle) and only 1 mile from the Canadian border, which crosses the glacier just inland.




A Seal adrift on a bergy bit









We then turned south again, passing Russel Island, and across the bay to check out the dead whale carcass.....this time with 2 smaller grizzlies nearby. They walked up the beach and then swam out to the carcass (it was high tide, and the whale was partly submerged), and started ripping and tearing at it. We then continued back to our previous anchorage at Blue Mouse Cove, anchoring at 1830. We had a nice dinner of spaghetti and salad, and hit the bed at 2015 after a very long and tiring day.
Thursday, July 15 was to be our last day in the Park. We were up at 0730, and underway by 0830. A cloudy day (some breaks), good visibility, and light and variable winds greeted us. We crossed over to have a look at a large rock face, and viewed some mountain goats.....a kid with its mother, with the ram on a ledge overhead, keeping eye.







Mom and Kid


















Dad watching over them













We then motorsailed back southbound on the east side of the bay, spotting dolphins, and a mother bear (black bear) with a very small cub. Several more humpbacks surfaced and breached throughout the day. There was not much wind, and a lot of current against us, but by 1700 we were finally getting a bit of a nice sail, as the wind finally picked up from the southwest. We docked off the ranger station in Bartlett Cove at 1845, and checked in with them, getting a transit permit for anchoring overnight in the cove and then leaving in the morning, instead of having to leave the park by midnight. We were able to have a quick supper on the boat (Shepherd's Pie), then visit the Glacier Bay Lodge for showers and a go at the Internet, and a beer. With a limit on the number of people allowed on their wifi, we had extremely limited use of the Internet, so just managed to have a quick look at email and Facebook. We then had to move the boat off the dock, and anchor for the night.
Friday morning we moved the boat to the fuel dock and topped up our diesel again (we'd used 11 gallons of motoring and heat in the park). We got underway by 0930, clearing the park just over an hour later. We managed to get a good push from the end of the ebb tide, out of Glacier Bay, and then caught the flood to push us eastward again, down Icy Strait. We were bound for Funter Bay, at the east end of Icy Strait, north end of Chatham Sound, and the south end of Stephen Channel (they all meet there). It was mostly a motoring trip, with no wind, but only ½ mile visibility in fog and rain. I did manage to pick up some cell coverage for awhile and chatted with Linda. We tied up to a float in Funter Bay at 1830, barbecued some steaks for dinner, then had a quick game of Scrabble before getting to bed by 2300.
It is now Saturday 17 July. We got underway at 0810, but lost a fender outbound and had to return to retrieve it, getting away again by 0830. In spite of a forecast for northwest winds of 15-20 knots and 3 ft. seas, we were experiencing Southerly winds instead, so got a very nice sail northbound in Stephen Channel, running wing-on-wing. By 1100, we rounded Pt. Retreat into Saginaw Channel, bound for the north end of Juneau at Auke Bay, now motorsailing in an easing wind. We did manage to spot several more whales in the channel, and at 1240 we passed “Star of the Winds” outbound from Auke Bay, with a fresh crew on board, and bound for Glacier Bay. By 1345 we were tied up at the dock in Auke Bay, and called Customs and Border Patrol for clearance into the port. We also called Linda's cousin, Barb Bonner, who lives in Juneau. She had just been kayaking in front of a calving glacier – obviously an exciting experience!
Barb showed up at the boat a short time later, and took us in tow for a bit of a tour – starting with the Alaskan Brewing Company brewhouse. Barb has been reading the blog, and knew that one of our big interests may lie here – very astute! We tested the 8 available types of brew available, and were appreciative of them all....although I found myself most attracted to the darker ales. While there, we met one of Barb's room-mates, who, with some smooth-talking from Barb, volunteered us the use of her truck, to allow us to avail ourselves of the use of 3 bicycles and 3 kayaks which Barb and her room-mates own. Barb then took us for a tour of the area, suggesting some interesting places to go with the bikes and kayaks, and viewing the Mendenhall Glacier.







Barb and Kelcy enjoying the view at Mendenhall Glacier











We all trooped into a very popular Thai restaurant for dinner, and found that the reason for its popularity is it's great food.....and large portions, too! In fact, even with Shane along, we couldn't finish it all. We retired for an early night at the boat, and were in bed by 2130. More adventures from Juneau to follow.