July 29th - 31st, Taku Harbor & Return to Juneau

Sun Aug 28 2022

Friday morning at Gilbert Bay we arose to mizzle rather than heavy rain, with a good dose of fog thrown in. By the time we hoisted the dinghy aboard the mizzle had let up and soon we were underway for our last planned stop, Taku Harbor. Taku Harbor is a lovely sheltered bay with a large state park float - no charge to tie up. There was once a salmon cannery there and now one can wander around in the woods and inspect the ruins - lots of rusty machinery and crumbling, rotting foundations where the buildings were. The state park facility includes a bunk house complete with wood stove and firewood, along with an outhouse. A bit further up the cove are a couple of large buildings which must be some sort of guest house. I saw folks scraping and painting there. Not my idea of a good time.

I got talking with a lovely young couple who had motored in on a nice little aluminum landing craft. Turned out the fellow was a tug boat captain who had to chug up Lynn Canal to push ships and barges around during all times of the year. I commented about our own luck going up there with flat water in both directions, and he replied that he’d been up there at times when the waves were washing over the wheel house. Not my idea of a good time.

Anyway, I got talking with them about crabbing and how we’d had good luck, but that we didn’t do any shrimping because we didn’t have a pot puller (an electric hoist for the shrimping trap line). Shrimp seem to like hanging out around 250’ to 500’ deep. I’m too lazy to pull that much weighted line up by hand. His wife tells me that they have several shrimp traps set, and next thing I know he’s gone and filled up a gallon ziploc bag and given them to me. I tell you, these Alaskans are the nicest people!

We had just baked a batch of brownies so I brought them a bunch for their dessert that night and planned on bringing them freshly baked bread in the morning, but they buggered off first thing early. Somehow I figured if they came all the way from Juneau that they would hang all weekend. Maybe work called. Shucks. Would like to have spent some more time with them and their puppy named Endicott. She was a rambunctious little bugger.

Later on that afternoon we had another sort of encounter. The nice NOAA Fisheries Enforcement fellows decided to come into the harbor and inspect all the boats for any halibut they might have onboard. Turns out they were very interested in our poxy amount of halibut, and ultimately took it away from us. The rules are that when one catches a halibut, as long as the fish is still onboard it cannot be cut into small pieces, AND the skin has to remain attached. Essentially they want to know that the halibut is of proper size. We were aware of this rule, but our freezer is too small to hold a large halibut fillet. Instead we had portioned up the halibut into chunks that Isabel could vacuum pack and fit in the freezer. This all has to do with international fishing conventions and is heavily enforced in coastal Alaska and Canadian waters. Our bad. Ultimately they took our fish as evidence and gave us a receipt, then advised us on the regulation we had broken and the likely fine. I have to give the officer credit though, as he ignored the package of halibut Isabel was thawing in the sink for our dinner. When he asked her what that was, she squeaked in a tiny voice “that’s our dinner”, and he even said out loud “I didn’t see that”.

The next day, Sunday, we chugged on up to Juneau so we could nail a mooring while the gill net fishermen and women were all out working. When those folks are in town there’s no space at the inn, so it’s critical to take a mooring when they’re off at work. We got in just fine and were tied up by around 10 am, then contacted Mike McVey the boat broker who we were working with. Mike had a few hours of work to do on a boat in Aurora Marina next door, so he offered to loan us his truck so we could all go visit the Salmon hatchery. What a guy! Anyway we all piled in and off we went. The sockeye were running so the mature fish were returning to the hatchery where they were born, and we got to watch heaps of them swimming their asses off to get to the fish ladder and begin their ascent towards their demise. We watched a movie to learn how the fish are processed to remove eggs from the females then fertilize them by squeezing the males over a bucket of eggs. The dead fish are processed in various ways but nothing is wasted and the process of making baby salmon proceeds. The salmon hatchery turned out to be an awesome stop, educational and entertaining.

We dropped Nicola and Charlotte downtown for a final shopping spree, and pondered our dinner options. Ian wanted to take the lot of us out for dinner and since our favorite curry house Spice was closed on Sundays, we elected to try the Hangar Cafe. I’ll say this for the Hangar Cafe, which occupies the old downtown seaplane base, the food is good and the draft beer choices are plentiful, but the service lacks a bit. Nevertheless, we enjoyed a fun evening there and then had a final walk home by the humpback whale statue.

July 28th - 29th 2022 - Sweetwater Creek!

Sat Jul 30 2022

On Thursday the 28th we arose to a rainy morning with a forecast of more to come. After hoisting the dinghy on deck and a nice breakfast we began our chug to our next destination, Gilbert Bay where Sweetwater Creek dumps out. A couple of local folks had advised us that the salmon run up the creek and get slowed down by a waterfall where they are an easy catch for bears and people alike. As we made our way North on Stephens Passage we were hailed by a boat heading South towards Ford’s Terror. They had left Gilbert Bay that morning and told us about a close encounter with a sow and her cubs as they went to observe locals netting salmon below the waterfall. That intel excited us to proceed with our plan, and we advised them about our recent experience at Ford’s Terror and the timing for transitioning the narrows. Actionable intelligence for all!

In about 3 hours time we were dropping the hook in Gilbert Bay, finding a spot between several boats and outside swinging range to crab pots that lined the bay. The bay shoals up rapidly near the shoreline and the pots were set in about 40’ of water. We ended up anchored in about 130’ with a scope of 2:1 and good holding. We decided the steady rain would not deter our adventure and we all piled into the dinghy for a trip ashore, with the hopes of snagging at least 1 sockeye salmon. Because the tide was going out we couldn’t risk letting the dinghy dry out - darn thing is too heavy to drag across a mud flat - so Isabel had volunteered to drive us in then collect us later when we hailed her over VHF. As we made our way towards the shore we spotted a pair of bear cubs with their mom, and Ian made a command decision to not risk mixing it up with the bears. Instead we observed them from the water then as the rain increased we ultimately abandoned our explorations and returned to Sunset and with her diesel furnace and lovely dry, warm interior.

The fish finder on the dinghy had been pretty active, so as everyone else hibernated aboard Sunset I elected to rig up for salmon fishing and see what would happen. Why not, I was already suited up in all my wet weather gear? After collecting up the down rigger weight and setting up the correct lure on the fishing rod off I went, trolling around the bay for about an hour until it became apparent that my wet weather gear simply wasn’t up to the task. A group of folks who had been netting salmon in the creek had returned to their boat and I tooled on over to say hello and see their catch. Four people, 23 large sockeye salmon, only about 25% of their daily quota for household sustenance. Two of them were wearing dry suits and they looked content, the others looked pretty wet. We discussed their experience and apparently on a previous excursion one of the fellows had caught 44 sockeye in an hour, so for all the work they had put in this day the results weren’t terribly satisfying. As they noted, it’s a lot of work and expense to run a boat down from Juneau, fish all day and return with only a few fish to split among them.

They also told me about their bear encounters while ashore. Apparently there was a sow with 2 cubs, and another sow with a single cub, all taking a big interest in the fish the folks had bagged. The bears got within about 7 meters of them, but blasting air horns and yelling kept them at bay. That’s the difference between people who have grown up around bears and the rest of us. They respect the bears and the danger they represent, but they just equip themselves with horns, bear spray, flare guns and pistols and get on with their activities. We on the other hand are quite a bit less comfortable with the idea of a close encounter with a bear, and behave more cautiously. Not entirely inappropriate.

I returned to Sunset to find Isabel and Nicola had prepared a cottage pie with the ground moose we had been given by our pal Craig just a few days earlier. The sundeck looked like a giant laundry with wet gear hanging everywhere and my own gear simply added to the clutter. One of the things we’ve realized about Sunset is that a sheltered outdoor space that serves as a mud room like one might have in a house is a great thing indeed, as it helps keep all the dirty wet gear out of the boat interior. We’ve a little propane heater we can run on the sundeck or the fly bridge which keeps the place toasty warm and also helps dry the wet gear, an essential piece of kit in this environment.

The moose cottage pie was absolutely wonderful! Even Charlotte with her slightly picky young palette thought it tasted just like the stuff Nicola makes with beef, and we all made pigs of ourselves. It’ll be interesting to see if the leftovers heated up taste a little gamey as we’ve noted in the past when eating something made from elk.

26th - 27th Jul 22 - Ford’s Terror!

Fri Jul 29 2022

Tuesday morning we awoke to calm conditions and the promise of fairer weather to come. We killed a bit of time poking around in the dinghy then launched out up Endicott Arm to reach the narrows at Ford’s Terror around 1330, high slack tide time in Juneau. We hadn’t been underway long when the VHF crackled and it was a deck watch officer on the Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas hailing us. We all switched to channel 12 and after a friendly greeting he briefed us on the conditions the cruise ship had encountered as they had cruised up to mile 25 of Endicott Arm. He assured us that it was passable with limited ice in the path. As we were going to turn off at Ford’s Terror we didn’t see the upper part of the arm that might yield a view of a tidal glacier, however we did appreciate the information exchange, and I noted that Isabel and I had enjoyed time aboard one of his sister ships to celebrate my mom and dad’s 50th wedding anniversary. It’s fair to say that he implied he’d rather be enjoying the scenery our way than as part of a job, but still, what a way to see the world.

Despite our best intentions we arrived a the lower side of the Ford’s Terror narrows a little early so we sat at idle reviewing the blog post from the Slow Boat website and familiarized ourselves with the various landmarks that would help us avoid grounding on a shoal during the narrows transition. When we saw the ripples in the water at the narrows entrance had flattened indicating a near end to the flood tide we readied ourselves for the short transit through the hazardous area. Ian and I once again donned our bluetooth headsets and as he peered into the water for shoals and helped me keep the waterfall on the stern we made our way into the channel and around a hard bend. The depths were less than the write-up had suggested so I eased more to the outside of the bend where a sheer rock face and the typical erosion should have provided deeper water. Nicola was watching the depth and speed over ground as I maneuvered Sunset and she noted about 3 knots still running into the waterway ahead. The action of the current against the cliff sucked the stern of Sunset in and I had to throttle up briefly to maintain a safe distance from the cliff. In about 60 seconds we were through the narrows with its whirlpools and shallow depths and everyone was able to relax. As we continued up the waterway Ian and I discussed the boat handling and the suction action of the current against that sheer rock face. Another learning experience for me, another disaster avoided. Typical life - lots of calm, boring bits punctuated by brief moments of high gain activity and a bit of terror. Guess Ford was right when he named the place.

We arrived in a heavy overcast and low clouds, the tops of the surrounding mountains obscured. There were numerous roaring waterfalls cascading from the high cliffs above, and before long we saw a bear wandering the grassy meadow near the water. Ian, Nicola and Charlotte launched in the dinghy to “get closer”, then Isabel and I took our own turn. The bear didn’t pay any attention to us even when we got within 20 meters of him/her. No threat, no harm, no foul, no cranky bear.

We awakened Wednesday morning to low fog and wispy clouds aloft, but by mid-morning we had stunningly clear and brilliant sunshine with all the terrain revealed. A second bear had appeared and the pair of them seemed to get along just fine, so we decided they must be around 2 years of age and juveniles from the same sow. Again we approached in the dinghy and they took no notice, and by then Charlotte was pretty darn sure she had a topic for “what I did during my summer vacation” upon return to school in September.

As we had enjoyed more than our share of liquid sunshine since our guest’s arrival, it was really wonderful to have a crystal clear blue sky simply to prove it could happen. We enjoyed exploring the area by dinghy and the occasional visit by a harbor seal or bald eagle before finally readying ourselves for the downstream passage back through the narrows. This time we were targeting an arrival of 30 minutes after high water at Juneau, and for extra safety we towed the dinghy the 4 miles down to the upper end of the narrows whereupon Ian launched out to reconnoiter the narrows and report back his findings. We delayed our transition about 10 more minutes before he reported that high slack water must be upon us and I guided Sunset on through the narrows without worry or controllability concerns. Once in the lagoon near the waterfall Isabel kept Sunset on station while Ian and I hoisted the dinghy onto the sundeck rooftop. With everything now in passage mode we made our way back down the channel then turned right and continued down Endicott Arm. We had intended to anchor at Wood Spit but as we approached the area we noted numerous boats fishing the area just by Harbor Island and the Superyacht Serenity anchored on the South side in a nice cove. There was plenty of room and it was closer so we wandered in and dropped the hook a respectable distance away, then launched the dinghy for more exploration and a little fishing. The fish weren’t cooperating but the weather did, and after a great evening meal we enjoyed a restful night in a quiet anchorage.

22nd Jul - 25th Jul 22 - Guests!

Fri Jul 29 2022

Harris Harbor was an ideal location for taking care of business, and it had the added advantage of not having an upgraded electrical power system on the docks. Aurora Harbor just adjacent had the latest marine electrical power terminals on the dock, and word was that unless a boat was equipped with an isolation transformer the power might not be compatible. We like plugging in and avoiding using the generator and diesel furnace, so we were highly motivated to remain in Harris, but our original slip was only good for 3 days until the owner returned, so we were pleased to identify a space on the transient dock only 1 day after we had arrived. We discussed our options with the harbor master’s office then when the space opened up we cast off the lines and scooted on around. Bada boom, bada bing! Now we were good for 14 days. Turned out we also were going to be on the pontoon more than 7 days total, so a monthly rate would be cheaper. Anyway, we got settled in and continued exploring Juneau and preparing for the arrival of Ian and Nicola along with their daughter Charlotte. Ian is a professional yacht captain who we’ve crewed for on several occasions, and Nicola is Isabel’s best friend and former roommate from university. We all get on like a house afire, and we’ve sailed together on numerous occasions. Can’t say that about many of our other friends, who might become difficult company after a couple days cooped up on a small boat.

Anyway, as we prepared for their arrival I kept doing boat projects, key among them resurrecting the guest head. We had purchased parts from a place in Seattle but once they arrived I realized I might have discarded an old but serviceable part that wasn’t included in the new kit. Panic ensued until I found a vendor that had and would ship the key item immediately. Once it arrived I completed rebuilding the forward head vacuflush pump and then we needed to taxi to the pump out to thoroughly flush out both holding tanks and verify both heads were fully functional. To top that off I also was troubleshooting the shower in the master head because replacing the failed sump pump float switch had resulted in an unreliable system.

Have I mentioned I hate plumbing, especially that which involves excrement?

Anyway, our worry was that if we left our transient slip space a boat might sneak in while we were at the pump out, so we elected to get up extra early and taxi over, do our thing, and return to the transient spot before any other boats were moving about. It worked out well and soon we were back in our slip, fully functional heads and showers and ready for our guest’s arrival.

They turned up about 10 pm on Friday the 22nd looking completely jet lagged and haggard, but we did manage to sit up a bit and yak until fatigue overtook all of us. Saturday we had light rain as we poked around Juneau, taking in the local environs. Sunday morning a couple arrived to view our boat - somehow they had decided they might want to purchase her so we promised to remain aboard for their visit. We had originally intended to depart for our voyage Sunday morning but the weather was lousy with high winds down in Stephens Passage so instead we decided we would visit Mendenhall Glacier National Park, a short bus ride away. When we mentioned this to Craig and his wife Jenn, they immediately volunteered to drive us all up there, so we squeezed into their Honda Pilot and off we went. Along the way they took a lap around a big field to try for a bear sighting but that didn’t work out so on we went to the national park visitor’s center.

Mendenhall glacier was good! The visitor’s center had some great exhibits that explained how glaciers are formed and flow, and there was also a short educational movie. By the time we headed out to walk the trail down to the best viewing spot we were glacier experts. Afterwards we wandered on out a separate trail to Chester falls, a rather impressive waterfall that tumbled down a steep cliff. Charlotte was quite impressed with the waterfall, but she was most excited by the small chunk of ice Ian and I collected for her, as it was her first taste of a “bergie bit”.
When we were ready to depart the glacier we inquired about a bus or taxi or Uber, and the park official informed us that the bus was $20 each for the approximately 6 mile trip, and that Uber and taxis were not allowed to collect patrons inside the park. Stunned by the bus fare, we decided to walk towards the local bus stop about 1.5 miles distant while we attempted to flag down taxis that had dropped people at the glacier park. Apparently they weren’t allowed to stop for us as they whizzed on by, and soon we became a bit despondent, not knowing what the local bus schedule was and all. I elected to text Craig and let him know we were searching for a solution and he immediately texted back that he’d happily collect us in about 10 minutes. We continued ambling along and soon enough he arrived and transported us back to the marina, commenting along the way that we really should visit the salmon hatchery as we passed it.

We had planned to toss the lines and taxi across the inlet to the fuel dock so that we could beat a hasty departure on Monday morning, but as we did our pre-flight checks I determined that the bow thruster was completely unresponsive. Thus ensued about 2 hours of troubleshooting whereupon Ian and I diagnosed a dead (i.e. melted) “black box” controller which was part of the Lewmar bow thruster assembly. The part was available from numerous online vendors and before bedtime I had ordered a replacement for a bit under $200, shipped to “general delivery” at Juneau. Ian commented that with a compromised control system perhaps we should depart early Monday morning for the fuel dock, then launch out on our journey before any wind came up. We all voted yea for that approach and instead launched into happy hour.

Monday morning July 25th we tossed the lines around 0630 and taxied across the inlet to the Petro Marine fuel dock and soon had taken on 130 gallons of fuel. We pushed off from the dock and began our chug South down Stephens Passage to stage for the run into Ford’s Terror the next day. Along the way we spied a decent sized bergie bit. Ian and I donned our bluetooth headsets and I maneuvered the boat as he coached me in from his stern cockpit perch. Soon he had chopped off a nice chunk of “cocktail ice” and we continued on our merry way. We had initially intended to anchor up at Wood Spit which would provide excellent protection from any forecast weather, but as we got closer Ian pointed out an alternative just at the entrance to Tracy Arm. Soon we were anchored in “No Name Cove” where we might see bears along the shoreline. We launched the dinghy and Ian, Nicola and Charlotte motored off to explore a couple of sizable ice bergs floating outside the entrance. They returned a bit later raving about the insanely beautiful deep blue ice, then Isabel and I took our own turn. They weren’t kidding - it was an amazing experience to motor right up to the ice bergs, and we returned with several sculptural ice chunks to enhance our evening cocktails.

July 10th - 22nd 2022 Juneau!

57 45.186n 133 31.578w

Thu Jul 28 2022

The first order of business at Auke Bay was to have a wander and get familiar with our surroundings. It turned out the University of Alaska campus was only about 10 minutes walk away, and the library there was open everyday but Saturday. Blazing wireless speed, so a quick stop produced updated podcasts and Spotify music. We gave our friend Nicki Germain a holler and she came down to the boat for a visit - catching up several years after our last encounter in Mexico. A local craft brewery was also an easy stroll away and next door a great watering hole frequented by local fisher people. We located the bus stop and sorted the schedule for riding downtown to see the dentist.

Once we were settled in Auke Bay we found it a nice place to be, especially observing and interacting with the fishermen as they sorted out their nets and prepared for the next week of catching. We fish. They catch. There is a difference. That said, we had a freezer full of halibut and crab that we had caught ourselves, so we were feeling pretty chuff.

On a pretty day you can actually see Mendenhall Glacier from the marina, blue ice face and all. Spectacular. Once on the university campus there is a trail head for a partial loop around Auke Lake, a lovely walk through the forest. We walked several miles each day with a minimum objective of 10,000 steps, but generally doing more like 15,000 steps. Gotta exercise somehow, and that’s one of the tougher parts of boat living, getting enough exercise, especially maintaining muscle mass and aerobic fitness. Keeping weight off isn’t the problem, rather it’s shrinking in muscular stature and losing lung capacity. We found our way to the library each day to sort out personal business or research things of interest or download podcasts and Spotify music.

A few days into our stay I spied a pair of sailboats coming in to find accommodations, and the second of the pair was flying a Royal Cruising Club burgee from the mast head. Isabel is a long time member of the club and was quite keen to meet the crew, and as luck would have it we ended up having a great time with the crews of both boats. Clive Woodman the RCC member and his partner Angela Lilienthal lived aboard and cruised SV Cosmic Dancer, doing typical RCC things like spending a couple of seasons in Greenland and other obscure places. Anne and Michael Hartshorn of SV Nimue were English and had been cruising since about 2004, spending part of each year back in the UK. Both couples had been trapped away from their boats during Covid, the boats in storage near Sydney on Vancouver Island, Canada. They were ambitious to sail up to Kodiak but couldn’t achieve it in a single season if originating from Sydney, so were working out other alternatives to get all the way there next year. They were great fun and we gathered at the local craft brewery to tell tales.

I had a dental problem that had to be addressed in Juneau, and after the procedure was complete Isabel and I elected to wander around downtown, exploring the local watering holes and dining options. We happened upon an Indian curry restaurant called “Spice”, and after noting that something soft like palak paneer would be a good option we wandered on in and had a seat. Turned out the proprietor was an electrical engineer from Ohio who had decided to open a restaurant in Juneau. She had been born and raised in the US but her parents and extended family were from Kerala, a region in the South of India. Isabel and I had lived and traveled in Kerala for 2 months in 2018, so we were quite excited to meet the proprietor. She was quite a charming lady and informed us that she used family recipes and that her uncle shipped her all the spices she needed from the family spice farm in Kerala. We had a couple of dishes and a garlic naan, and absolutely swooned over the food.

Auke Bay has a rule about moving every 10 days. All that involves is shifting to a different stall rather than actually departing the marina. After reconnoitering downtown via bus and making a couple shopping runs with Nicki, we decided that Harris Harbor marina just by downtown Juneau would be a lot more convenient for visiting dentists, chandleries, and local restaurants and pubs. Given that Sunday is the beginning of the gill netting period each week, arriving at a marina around noon on Sunday certainly increases the odds of finding a vacant slip. On Saturday afternoon I went to visit the 2 sailboats rafted up next to us to advise them of our impending departure, as they were keen to get closer to the electrical power and “de-raft”. Turned out that one of the couples were folks we knew from Mexico - the crew of the vessel SV Coquette that was still trapped in Tonga. We had a bit of fun discussing the trials and tribulations of the covid lockdowns, then hatched a plan for them to scoot into our stall upon our departure. Best part was that involved them handling our lines and helping us get out of the spot we were so tightly squeezed into. The following morning we blasted off with their assistance and about 4 hours later were hailing the Harris Harbor master about a transient berth. The designated transient stalls were full but they were able to offer us a private stall we could occupy for about 3 nights before we would have to relocate as the owner was due back. It was a bit windy and an impressive current was running but we managed to get Sunset backed into the stall without mishap and after sorting out the electrical power off we went to explore the downtown waterfront and get in our steps. We found ourselves a short walk from the dentist’s office, the post office, a nearby State Farm Insurance office that offered printing and notary services, and a great chandlery called Harri. Given we were needing all those things life was looking up. There was a waterfront walk all the way down past the cruise ship docks that offered a pleasant stroll. It passed by the public library, a very nice facility with free fast Internet and open 7 days a week. We did our thing at the public library, sharing the facility with plenty of local folks as well as crew members from various cruise ships.

Juneau has everything we could need including a small Costco that had most popular items. One thing the Costco wasn’t currently stocking was the Kirkland branded 15w40 diesel engine oil. In the lower 48 they sell it in a 3 gallon package that goes for around $45. At Harri I found Chevron Deli 400 15w40 that went for $57 a gallon. Yay Costco! Sure glad we carried enough to do an oil change while at Auke Bay, which takes a full 8 gallons. Even better, all the local marinas had a used oil dump tank so we didn’t have to carry our used motor oil around after an oil change.

Haines & Onwards to Auke Bay 5, Jul 22 - 10 Jul 22

Tue Jul 26 2022

Haines was awesome! With a freezer full of halibut and crab we hadn’t rigged a salmon trolling line yet, but we were able to purchase a couple of nice coho from a local gill netter. He was an interesting old fellow claiming to be 81 years old but flirting his ass off with Isabel. I think she was flattered! Anyway, we also got given a half salmon by some local guys who had been out subsistence fishing and had a really good day. Folks are so friendly in Haines.

We got invited over to a friend of our pals on Fly Aweigh II, a retired Air Guard pilot / airline pilot, call sign “Beak”. He and his wife prepared a spectacular gourmet burger lunch on the grill, showed us around their lovely home and talked about how to cope with heavy snowfalls and bears. Bob pulled out his 460 magnum hand cannon and explained how he had to kill a bear the previous summer before it could mall his neighbor’s dogs or even him. Dogs are a problem around bears, and it seems bears would just cruise on and mind their own business if dogs didn’t piss them off. It’s a common theme - humans encroach upon the natives environment, then eventually kill them when they become a problem. Happens to wildlife, and has happened to indigenous peoples for a long time.

We also had a great evening on Sunset with our pals Pat and Camille on SV Tarooki. They’re a lovely couple with a big fluffy dog named Millie, and they live on a little 30’ sailboat. They came to Haines for the summer so Pat could do seasonal work while Camille, a nurse, recovered from a knee surgery. We discovered them in Meyer’s Chuck and after hearing them extoll the virtues of Haines we knew we had to check it out for ourselves. Between the friendly people, the amazing scenery, the killer 4th of July festivities, and the local craft brewery and boutique distillery we found much to like. We even had good luck crabbing out in the bay just around the seawall. We did a little funnin’ around with our pals Joe and Nancy on Harborlark too, so it was a great social time, and when we needed to chase down information or look after personal business the public library was a wonderful resource.

Getting from the Juneau area up to Haines requires chugging about 50 miles up the Lynn Canal, known for it’s nasty seas when the wind blows up. Think of it as a natural wind tunnel kind of place. We hung out in Haines until we noted the high pressure system was beginning to break down, and before the low could really move in and bring Southeasterly winds we elected to blast off for Auke Bay. Sunday July 10th we tossed the lines and made our way down the channel, observing the gill netters preparing for the noon start for the week’s salmon fishing. During the salmon run the gill netters can put nets in the water at noon on Sundays and the fishing period lasts for anywhere from 2 - 4 days depending upon the inventories that Alaska Fish and Game collect. The point is to support the fishing fleet but also to allow enough salmon to get up the creek and spawn so there will be a good harvest in years to come. Commercial fishing is a big part of the local economy in many Alaskan villages and towns. We enjoyed chatting with the local fishermen (and women) as we wandered the marina floats, observing them preparing their boats and nets.

We got a very early start, departing the float around 0500, then chugged through deteriorating conditions, occasional heavy rain, poor visibility and gusty winds until we found our way into the marina at Auke Bay. Fortunately we got to sheltered waters before the wind had time to whip up a big sea. It’s key to arrive at any local marina after the gill netter fleet has departed to go fishing, hopefully freeing up space for the likes of us. The marina at Auke Bay doesn’t take reservations, so it’s a bit of a scrum wandering around the fairways of the transient floats looking for a space. To complicate matters, the electrical hookups are centrally located at the center of the big U-shaped float sections, and many of the berthing spots might require a 100’ or longer cable run to reach the power. Top make matters even worse, the electrical junction boxes have a rather limited supply of 30 amp and 50 amp receptacles, so not everyone gets a chance to plug in.

The first spot we found was just behind a sailboat named Scintilla, a boat we knew from our days in Ensenada, Mexico. Darned if Chris and his wife Chris didn’t greet us just as we tied up and naturally we were too far away from the power box for our cord to reach. While Isabel had a visit with them I went wandering the float looking for a better location to tie up, and along the way found Frank from May Marie walking back to his boat. He pointed out a single location the we might back Sunset into, and even better a power box that our 30 amp / 50’ cord would reach. I asked him if he would stand by to catch lines and trotted back to Sunset, apologizing to the Chris’s as Isabel and I fired up the iron jennies and tossed the lines. About 5 minutes later we were squeaking into the better spot with Frank advising me on how much room I had on the bow while Isabel on her headset kept me advised on the stern clearance. When we were all situated our stern was as close possible to the float “T” intersection while our bowsprit hung a couple of feet over a small motorboat’s bow. I thanked Frank profusely as I couldn’t have gotten the bow in without his coaching, and soon we were all secure and connected to power.

Now that we were “snug as a bug in a rug”, it was time to explore the local environs!

Monday the 4th of July - Haines!

Tue Jul 05 2022

Canada Day is on July 1st. We’ve met several Canadians that came over to Haines for a long holiday weekend. Even though Isabel grew up in England, she has learned to embrace July 4th festivities, so we were pretty much “all in” on the Haines festivities. Well, except for the pancake breakfast at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) hall. Our pals Joe and Nancy went and pronounced the blueberry pancakes “darn good”. Isabel and I had scrambled eggs with sausage on board because we knew we would be eating hot dogs and pie and such today and it’s bad form to eat 2 unhealthful meals in a row, or so we think.

We learned today that Haines has a lot of young families because there were a bunch of children’s activities throughout the day. The parade kicked off at 1100 and it was a blast, reminding me of a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, except instead of silk roses and such the folks on the various vehicles and such were throwing candy for the kids. We had considered it odd that all these little children were toting empty bags before the parade, but after the parade it was as if Halloween trick or treating had just happened. Nothing more interesting than a 6 year old with a sugar buzz.

The parade was a blast with all the usual fire trucks and ambulances flashing lights and running sirens, local merchants sponsoring various vehicles, motorcycles and even one with a dog riding in the side car. Most interesting to me was a group of three women packing serious pistolas, members of a ladies shooting club. Say what you will about guns in the lower 48, up here knowing how to effectively handle a firearm might keep you from being a bear’s dinner, or at least getting mauled. Apparently moose can be pretty dangerous too, and it’s completely common to see Alaskans heading out on a hike or even wandering down a lonely road packing heat for self defense, and we’re not talking about protection from n’er do wells.

After the parade we wandered down to the local park where it was $5 for a slice of home made pie and $5 for a hot dog, chips and fizzy water. Being the big spender I am, I threw down another $1 for vanilla ice cream on my apple pie, but Isabel tended to the thrifty side and against all her principles had a free dollop of generic Cool Whip (i.e. fake whipped cream) to enhance her own rhubarb & custard pie experience. ! The pies were all baked by local folks to support some sort of fund raising effort, something we love to support. After our dessert we went to get a hot dog to support the “friends of the library” folks. A local bluegrass band made music as we enjoyed our meal and then the real fun began with various age group foot races for the kids. It’s pretty fun watching a group of 4 years and under kids run 50 yards - kind of reminded us of the Weiner dog nationals we attended at the Phoenix Greyhound Racetrack many years ago, where the dogs ran in various directions, some even actually chased the fake rabbit.

The races continued with various age groups up to young adults then repeated running backwards, then with gymnastics moves including somersaults and cartwheels. Total hoot, and a great way for the kids to work off their sugar buzz. I think the winner of each event got a dollar, and there were other prizes like a shiny quarter or whatnot for second and third place. After all that the local Tlingit dancers put on an interesting show. The pre-school had a raffle of two stand up paddle boards for $20 a ticket, and since a shark ate one of our SUPs in French Polynesia and we gave the other one to a family, we decided it was time to win those. Sadly someone else took the prize but we were still happy to kick in for the local pre-school funding.

In the evening we wandered up to Fort Seward parade grounds to enjoy some local music, and found lots of folks relaxing in the big grass field while a local musician did her best to fill in for the band that had canceled late in the game. I found myself playing “flying ring” with some other folks, a device I’d never experienced. Used to play frisbee at the beach but this ring thing is pretty impressive, and fun to hook with your arm. I’ve got a bit of work to do if my throws are going to end up where I wish they would, but hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day!

We did exploit an afternoon break in the festivities to return to Sunset and have a nap, then I investigated a malodorous problem in the forward head which resulted in me dismantling the vacuflush pump assembly. Nasty job, and it turned out the flexible diaphragm in the pump wasn’t so flexible anymore, allowing “material” to appear where it wasn’t supposed to. Clogged, malfunctioning, broken or otherwise ill behaved toilets are the most uninteresting part of boat life. Looks like some new parts will be shipping in to Juneau in a few days.

All in all we’ve found Haines to be an awesome town! There are folks of all political persuasions, big beards and crew cuts and dreadlocks, tie dyed t-shirts and “take my guns from my cold dead hands” slogans, artists and fishermen and entrepreneurs. Everyone we’ve interacted with has been really outgoing and friendly. There are a lot of young families here, a sign of optimism about the future in my view. The locals are so friendly with their Canadian neighbors that the parade color guard even had a former Canadian soldier carrying the big maple leaf flag next to an American Legion member carrying the American flag. Wow, international relations at its best. If it didn’t snow so much we might want to live here!

Saturday 2 Jul 22 - Sunday 3 July 22 - Haines!

Tue Jul 05 2022

Isabel hates long drives in the car. I once drove her from San Diego, California all the way to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We went via Asheville, North Carolina to attend my dad’s funeral. I think we drove about 3000 miles all told, and one day was about 650 miles. Just a normal drive for a lot of Americans, but for a woman who grew up in England it was an epic journey, and she was almost traumatized by the experience. I thought it was just because we had to sit all day in the car, then eat crappy food at whatever blasted restaurant that Yelp or TripAdvisor claimed was awesome. We stayed with several friends along the way, but also used Priceline to book a couple of hotels. That was quite the learning experience as well.

Anyway, today was our longest chug yet, 104 nautical miles and about 13 1/4 hours from start to finish. Conditions couldn’t have been any better, with sunny skies, lovely air temperature, glassy water, and generally no current to speak of. Occasionally we had a little on the stern or a little on the bow, but it pretty well evened out to 8 knots, our average boat speed at 1400 rpm and a little under 5 gallons of diesel per hour. Diesel costs about $7.00 US/gallon right now, so that traumatizes me when we taxi up to a fuel dock. Sunset is basically a houseboat with a home gym, so there’s no excuse to sit still while we’re underway. Yes, one of us has to remain at the helm and dodge the occasional tree limb or whale, but the other can have a nap, make a meal, use the head, or work out. We even have a stair stepper in the flybridge. The enclosed sundeck is big enough to have comfortable seating for 4 folks and still have room to roll out a yoga mat and get a good stretch on. The saloon has a couple of IKEA Poang chairs that are super comfy, a sofa that can seat 3 close friends, a fold out dining table, lots of cabinetry and a big TV for those Netflix downloads. Isabel is really happy with her galley and the master stateroom aft, and the guest V-berth stateroom forward is plenty comfy. Both staterooms have ensuite vacuum flush heads and enclosed showers. We’re essentially driving a house around so a bit of diesel here and there is the cost of living.

We arrived at the Haines marina about 1915 and on the way in saw the AIS signal for our pals Harborlark. AIS is a transponder system used by mariners to assist in collision avoidance and such. Isabel started texting Nancy and when we pulled into the marina both Nancy and Joe were at the float ready to catch our lines. The marina is really well protected by a tall breakwater and the town recently added a long seawall extension to that so it’s flat calm in here. With flat water, no noticeable tidal current and very light winds docking was a snap and soon we were all tied up and celebrating the end of our long day with a cold frosty beverage.

Turns out road noise, engine noise, diesel noise, and just being in motion for many hours may be what Isabel finds disagreeable. Up on the flybridge or sundeck the engine noise isn’t a big deal at all, but down in the saloon where you’re standing just above the engines it does eventually get fatiguing. In any case, the bonus of a long day is a few days with no motion whatsoever, so now that we’re safely moored we can enjoy the lovely weather to explore Haines. Turns out there’s a couple of interesting museums here, a craft brewery, and boutique distillery, an injured raptor center and more that we’re still figuring out. If we want to visit Skagway there’s a fast ferry to get us there or we can chug on up there too. Skagway is an historic old gold rush town which gets several cruise ships per day so we may or may not find our way there. Wandering around during the day with the mobs from the ships isn’t something we look forward too, and we got our dose of that in Sitka. If we take Sunset up there we can enjoy the town in the evenings after the ships have left, so that might be more interesting.

Saturday evening we strolled the pontoons and visited with Canadians on their weekend getaway from Yukon, which is a fairly short drive away. They keep their boat here and drive over to fish, and since this weekend has Canada day on one end and July 4th on the other, there are a lot of folks in town. They told us about having to cross into British Columbia where the Canadian customs folks were rather difficult, then into Yukon where the customs folks were really easy to deal with. Weird. The RV park adjacent to the marina apparently just opened and it’s about full of visitors from the lower 48, Canada and even a few Alaskan license plates.

Anyway, on Sunday we took a long walk to explore the town a bit then after lunch headed up to check out the public library which always includes free WIFI. With the exception of Hoonah, all these Alaska towns have had really impressive public libraries, and Haines is no exception. It was good to see that the facility is well used, as there were children and older adults spread around reading and using the computers. We generally go for the WIFI, but it’s always fun to peruse the books, magazines, DVD and CD collections, and even the $1 book sales tables where lots of bargains are available. Public libraries are one of the best uses of tax money out there.

We thought it would be fun to visit the local craft brewery or the boutique distillery, but as luck would have it both were closed on Sunday and of course pretty much everything was to be closed on Monday for the holiday. We satisfied our curiosity by wandering into the various food shops that were open, noting what provisions were available and the cost relative to other places we’ve visited recently. Isabel was hunting eggs but the shop had run out, and an employee explained that the last supply barge that had come failed to bring many of the restocking items ordered. Sounded a lot like French Polynesia to us. Isabel did find a smokin’ deal on celery and green onions so she brought those home to make fish cakes and such. The store employee did note that he was also out of eggs at home and hoped that the next supply barge (due Tuesday) would have some.

Part of cruising is figuring out how to do without or improvise when food items or spare parts simply aren’t available. The more we mix with them, the more we figure these Alaskans are a lot like the cruisers we know. Independent, self sufficient, improvising when necessary and looking after each other. We like these folks.

Thursday 30 Jun 22 Saturday 2 Jul 22 — More Glacier Bay and Beyond

Sun Jul 03 2022

Another good night’s sleep and we popped up like a piece of toast, enjoying our morning coffee and looking for the elusive bear. None to be had, so we worked on our Backgammon skills for a bit then darned if Isabel didn’t spot a large black bear wandering the beach. It was just trundling along and we almost didn’t need binoculars to enjoy the sight, but it’s always more fun to get up close and personal with a bear (that’s called an allusion I think) so we donned the big eyes and enjoyed a few minutes of bear viewing. Finally, Shag Cove had provided us with a great wildlife event. The folks on Alpenglow saw the bear too, but the Canadian boat had already left. Their loss.

A couple more games of Backgammon actually playing by the rules while the weather forecast downloaded and we decided that despite the stunning scenery and cool bear action Shag Cove was probably the buggiest place we’d ever been. We elected to chug South a bit and have a look at Fingers Bay, so here we are for either a few hours or overnight, depending upon how the spirit moves. We have to pass through the Sitakaday Narrows to get back down towards Bartlett Cove, so we either need to catch the outgoing tidal flow after 1600 this afternoon or get up early and have at it in the morning. It’ll take around 2 hours to get down to the anchorage by the National Park Service float, so either way will work out just fine. They offer evening programs and it might be nice to enjoy 1 or 2 of those, and there’s a road to Gustavus so we might try to hitch a ride over there to check out that village. We met a boat broker from there recently, and he seems to like the place pretty well.

No rest for the weary, so around 1600 we weighed anchor and enjoyed about 4 knots on the stern plus lots of swirlies as we made our way through the Sitakaday Narrows and then turned towards the Bartlett Cove National Park Service float and anchorage. We must have gotten a little out of the channel because big brother hailed us on VHF to remind us of the rules about remaining 1 mile from the shoreline OR center channel at all times when underway due to the risk of whale collision. I muttered an apology over the radio and made a hard turn to starboard to clean up our spacing, and we continued on towards the anchorage. There was a Westerly day wind blowing and it was pretty lumpy as we came in, so I asked Isabel to rig the port side for docking and we tied to the float to take on fresh water and wait for the conditions to settle. There was a big Ocean Alexander moored behind us and the lovely couple on that vessel invited us over for drinks and dinner. Seems they, like us had a lot of surplus halibut. We had a lovely evening with them and by the time it was all said and done we concluded we might as well wait until morning to clear off the float, as the limit was 3 hours and the park office was closed until 0700. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, and in our minds that must be 3 business hours. Sometime in the night a rather large boutique cruise ship moored in front of us for about 2 hours, likely to take on fresh water. I awakened to the propulsion noise and was surprised to see an enormous stern about 4 stories high just in front of us.

We maneuvered to the anchorage a bit after 0700 Friday morning then launched the dinghy for a shore excursion, which included exploiting the awesome fast and free WIFI at the NPS office, and a lovely walk in the woods. At 1500 our new best friend (and boat broker) Mike McVey arrived to give us the grand tour of Gustavus. It’s a second class city. I’m not making that up, that’s how the town is designated, so they’re not required to assess property taxes from the residents, but they do have a guest house bed tax so that they provide revenue to the state, and in return the state maintains their mostly gravel roads, even including snow removal. Pretty good deal, if you want to live in a community of about 450 people spread out over quite a few square miles. We saw the airport and the community float where Mike’s grandpa was launching a sailboat project that had been in his yard for about 10 years. Great fun.

After our rather rowdy night on Thursday we had an early night on Friday, playing just a few games of backgammon before retiring. It was too rough to hoist the dinghy onto the upper platform so that was our task before getting underway for Haines this morning. Not an easy thing to do, something as complex as that before the first cup of coffee, but we powered through. We weighed anchor and got underway about 0600 and it’s now nearly 1600. We’re chugging along on flat water, virtually no wind, sunny blue skies, marveling at the big snow capped peaks on both sides of the Lynn Canal as we ply our way towards Haines. I just rang up the harbormaster and we’ve got a float assignment with 30 amp power for the next few days, so life is good and we should be moored by 1900 or so. I promised Isabel a wild night on the town or a cold beer, her choice.

We’ve been looking forward to visiting Haines and expect to spend 3 -4 nights before proceeding back South towards Juneau. The Lynn Canal can get really nasty when the wind pipes up, and it looks like late in the week this big high pressure system may finally give way to a rather strong looking low. We’ll need to be moored in Juneau before that shows up or we may not get there for a long time, and we’ve got guests coming on July 22nd. Gotta plan ahead.

Isabel has been a bit disgruntled about her wildlife viewing checklist, as even though she’s enjoyed several bear sightings and we’ve seen amazing humpback whale activity, there have been no orcas in our life. Until today, when I spotted a pod coming up the Lynn Canal and that tickled her pink, then to add icing to the cake we had a pod of Pacific Whitesided Dolphins join us for a swim on our bow wave. Sometimes when it rains, it pours.

Wednesday 29 Jun 22 - Glaciers!

Thu Jun 30 2022

Monday night Isabel and I celebrated our impending arrival at Glacier Bay with a gin and tonic. Well, maybe two. Anyway, Tuesday neither of us were in the finest of condition, so last night we crashed around 2030 and didn’t awaken until after 0600. Even with the anchor and chain just laying on the bottom with nothing substantial to grip, and the occasional grinding sound as Sunset moved gently in the light breeze or tidal current. Sometimes a good night’s sleep is the best medicine. Anyway, we woke up to another blue sky sunny day and Sunset was just where we had left her, so all’s well that ends well. We decided that today we were going to chug North and check out a tidal glacier, as those are the coolest ones. Many of the glaciers up here are receding rapidly due to climate change and so from the water we see a bunch of dirt and gravel and a really dirty looking - not the super deluxe creamin’ photo worthy glacier we’re after.

After chugging past Reid Glacier and noting it was one of those less pretty ones, we continued Northwards until we arrived at Johns Hopkins Inlet. By then we had passed and avoided several “bergie bits”, small chunks of glacial ice bobbing around in the bay. They looked almost slushy so I wasn’t worried about hull damage or even scratching the bottom paint, but Isabel had a different point of view. At the entrance of Johns Hopkins inlet we spied a small exploration type cruise ship called the Safari Explorer, one of those who take their passengers ashore for a brown bear meet ’n greet, or sea kayaking. Tough customers, not those softies on the giant cruise ships. Speaking of which, that National Park allows 2 cruise ships per day to wander the water, and today was no exception with a Princess and a Holland America ship trying to avoid one another.

As we continued to penetrate Johns Hopkins Inlet we finally got a view of a true tidal glacier. Lamplugh Glacier became visible and lo and behold there was all that really spikey blue ice coming right down to the water. In the water were many more bergie bits so we wended our way slowly through the obstacle course until Isabel became sufficiently concerned about our safety or something. I shut the boat down and we drifted for awhile amongst the collection of icy chunks until Isabel finally corralled one with the boat hook and I got the fishing net on one end. It was actually rather large and heavy and very solid, not the slushy ice I had imagined; glad we hadn’t hit any on the way in!

Back in my Boeing flight test days I did a lot of differential GPS test range surveying, and had purchased a small sledge hammer somewhere along the way. On the last major flight test program I ran we taught our robot helicopter to exploit some really cool technology developed by Near Earth Autonomy, and we landed in a field of obstacles to demo the capability to the US Marines, Office of Naval Research, and various other hopefully important decision makers. The program was called AACUS. Since I hate acronyms I can’t remember exactly what that stands for. Anyway, my test pilot Roger Hehr carried the sledge hammer in the cockpit and upon landing he’d drop it out the door to mark the spot then the customers could come out and verify independently that we’d successfully navigated the obstacle field and found a suitable landing zone. That’s an LZ for y’all who hate acronyms.

Turns out a sledge hammer is just the thing for turning a very large chunk of ice into several smaller chunks of ice, and soon we had harvested enough ice to make an evening cocktail or two. Let’s hope we learned our lesson about gin and tonic already. Into the cooler the ice went and we continued enjoying the view and silence before finally restarting the iron jennys and carefully making our way out of the ice field. Given we had achieved our major super cool objective and also that diesel costs as much as gold bullion these days, we blew off Tarr Inlet where the cruise ships also went and instead routed Southeast around the East side of Russell Island, where our pals on Harborlark had seen harbor seals and whales and otters and lots of birds. We saw lots of otters and Isabel claimed she saw a harbor seal but I must have been below at the time. We continued on South, the cruise ships eventually overtaking us so we could enjoy rolling in their rather impressive wakes, then we pondered our navels and elected to aim for Geike Inlet and a smaller leg called Shag Inlet. I figured English folks would know what that’s all about, but maybe it’s just because of a particular bird. Into Shag Inlet we chugged and found another vessel we’d already seen here and there, a rather nice Diesel Duck called Alpen Glow. They had nailed a particularly nice spot in the bay, but we crept past them and dropped the hook to establish a superior position. Eventually a sailboat full of Canadians rolled in and outdid us both, tucking in a bit closer to the shore than we’d prefer. Hope the low tide doesn’t make life too interesting for them. Or us.

Now we’re on the flybridge keeping an eye out for bears. There must be bears here. It’s just a perfect spot. Even though it’s already after 1800 and will be light for a few more hours, we’re optimistic that Mr. or Mrs. Brown Bear (more impressively referred to as a grizzly bear) will grace us with his or her presence. The ultimate experience would be a sow with a couple of cubs. One can dream . . . and in the meantime we’re spritzing ourselves with a concoction of water, peppermint oil and tea tree oil because someone told us it would repel horse flies. Not sure it’s doing much good, but we both smell great!

Oh, and Isabel devised a delightful tequila beverage that exploits the glacial ice we collected earlier. Seriously dense ice cubes!

Monday 27 Jun 22 to Tuesday 28 Jun 22 - Flynn Cove & Glacier Bay Arrival

Wed Jun 29 2022

We departed the float at Hoonah about 0900 and meandered gently towards the fuel dock, finding it completely cluttered with vessels large and small. After idling and drifting for about 15 minutes we elected to drop the hook and shut down. We hailed a nearby fishing boat that had already been waiting for a bit and noted we’d happily wait our turn. Isabel whipped up a tasty breakfast and we used our time productively until there was finally room for us at the inn. There was a price break if one purchased more than 100 gallons, so 120 gallons of diesel later we were in for a fuel bill of a bit over $800. That’s some pricey diesel!

Departing the dock we motored on out into the bay and proceeded North past the cruise ship terminal out into the Icy Strait, turned to port and about 30 minutes later we were maneuvering for a good anchor spot in Flynn Cove. It was a pretty place and Isabel felt there would be halibut, so out the frozen herring came and soon the halibut rig was set just off the bottom. Might as well fish, never know what might happen. We got on with our route planning for our entry into Glacier Park and darned if the halibut rod started twitching. Isabel reeled in the lure to investigate then reported that we had a nice sized halibut on the hook. She handed me the gaff and pretty soon the fish was on deck and dispatched. This halibut was a good bit smaller than the last one, perhaps 16 - 18 pounds, but as our filleting table is more suitable for a large trout is was still challenging to butcher. We ended up with 4 large fillets and a bunch of small bits perfect for breading and frying.

Then we ate smoked pork chops for supper. There’s been a lot of fish and crab in our diet lately and a pork chop just seemed like the right thing to do on Monday evening. Besides, we weren’t planning to catch a fish when the chops exited the freezer. It was early to bed and early to rise and this morning we had the anchor coming up well before 0500, and began our journey to a waypoint just a bit west of Gustavus. It was a bit lumpy out in the Icy Strait but the tide was with us, and we arrived at the Bartlett Cove Visitor’s Center float around 0730, having made our mandatory VHF calls along the way. In nothing flat we were tied up, and after a light breakfast we wandered up to the National Park Service office to say hello. We had gotten authorization for a visit from June 28th to July 2nd, but when I asked if we could stay for the maximum 7 day limit the ranger checked the reservation schedule and revised our authorization. Awesome! We may or may not want the whole time, but it’s nice to have the option.

We walked about a mile around the area to check out the lodge and the Tlingit long house, discovering the complete skeleton of a female humpback whale named “Snowy” on display. Seems that Snowy had been visiting Glacier Bay since the 70’s, but was hit and killed by a cruise ship a few years ago. Snowy was a big girl.

With the tide running in, we motored North towards the Northwest area of the park, enjoying a stern tidal current of up to 4 knots at times. We passed Fingers Bay, our first anchorage pick and continued another 14 miles or so to Blue Mouse Cove. Gotta use that tidal current when it’s working for you. Anchoring there we found poor holding with a thin sand over rocky bottom, but enough chain out and we’ve stayed put all day. There’s no wind in the forecast so we should be OK overnight.

This morning the port engine alternator didn’t come to the party, so after some initial troubleshooting I elected to run the generator while underway to get the house batteries and engine start battery topped up. The house and engine start battery system is tied together with a diode isolator so that the house battery bank can charge the engine start battery, but the house battery loads cannot deplete the engine start battery. Seems to work, too. After a good nap I pulled the port engine alternator off and gave it a thorough examination, and finding nothing amiss reinstalled it, but only after ringing the wiring to the alternator, and pressing a button on an isolator device that must protect the engine electrical system from a dead short in the alternator. Don’t ask me why I needed to do that.

Anyway, firing up the port engine revealed the squawk was cleared, and adding the starboard engine produced normal indications, so Isabel pronounced me “very clever”. After celebrating with a Michelada made from a Hinano beer mixed with spicy V-8 juice, she fried us up all the little halibut bits and served it with a nice Asian slaw. Protein and veggies, what’s not to like?

It’s been a beautiful day here in Glacier Bay National Park, with sunny blue skies and temperatures up into the low 70’s. It’s nice to be barefoot with shorts and a t-shirt, but unfortunately the horse flies seem to come out when the local temps start to tickle 70 F. They’re obnoxious little creatures and like to bite us, occasionally drawing blood. It doesn’t hurt a lot and neither of us seem to react with such things as welts, but still they are a source of great irritation and it’s too warm to keep the boat shut up. Oh yeah, and we don’t have screens for the larger hatches and doors either.

I have a new hobby! Once we accumulate the requisite number of horse flies inside the cabin, out comes my secret weapon, the vacuum cleaner and I hoover those evil little buggers right up. The vacuum has a clear housing so one can inspect the previously hoovered contents and it’s rather satisfying to see the little turds crawling around in their new prison. Die you gravy sucking pigs.