Glacier Bay has been the highlight of an incredible
trip. Tom caught a video as we were
trying to transfer Adam from Antipodes (discussed in previous blog). It sets the mood as we watched Mother Nature
perform with sunshine, icebergs, calving glaciers and stunning colors. Working on getting it so I can post on my next blog.
On our way out of the park the currents were against us and
the trip took longer than expected. WORKNOT
got slowed to 1.4 kts and Antipodes got stalled out. They are almost as fast as WORKNOT, have the
same engine but were about half an hour behind us, meaning they got more
exposure to peak flood current. Randy
gave up and returned to Bergie Bay to wait out slack water.
We continued to the Glacier Bay Park Lodge
for lunch with the Kramer family. Our
server was from West Virginia, a student working for the summer for the Park
Service. She was right at home in the
Alaskan rain forest. Much better job
than my summer work as a wrench while in college.
This is “Snow” a whale sadly struck by a cruise ship and
killed in Glacier Bay. The size of the
skeleton is just awe inspiring. These
magnificent creatures move so gracefully it hard to believe.
.
We enjoyed a peaceful anchorage at Inian and Kimshaw
coves. Rain and then showers. Getting to understand the difference. The channels were narrow and
plenty of rocks but worth the effort.
Fresh salmon and halibut for dinner and plenty of new scenery. It just keeps impressing the whole crew.
Sitka was our next stop.
Berthed at the municipal marina there was a mixture of fishing boats,
charter boats and few yachts. This beauty
will be joining us on CUBAR trip to Mexico in November. Tango is Nordhavn 76 that has been on both US
coasts and South America. Maybe I quit
work too soon???
Sitka has a very small town feel to it, even with a cruise
ship or two in port it was different than the other towns they dominate. Highlights include the Raptor Sanctuary, the
culture center and marine touch pool.
A few of the birds being saved/rehabilitated by the center.
Tom, Fiona and the boys boarded a ferry for the trip home to
Vancouver leaving WORKNOT quiet and a bit lonely after a great week of
travel. We retraced our route back north
to the Lisianski canal and then headed east. The weather was warm and sunny so fishing
became the plan for the day.
Salmon were jumping everywhere but we had a hard time
getting them to the boat. After a few
adjustments we started catching smaller fish and Mary caught two fish on a
single bait. The “mooch” rig has two
hooks and she had a fish on each at the same time.
Next up the whale show and it was another great
performance. We were watching them
bubble feed
from a safe distance when then dove and surfaced close by. They all started toward us at the same
time. They moved so quickly there was
no time to escape. We sat motionless as they dove under us and
moved on paying little to no attention to WORKNOT
Six whales in total got very close to us without a care in the world (for them)
Randy got this shot from Antipodes....
Our last few days have been a variety of fishing, whale watching and enjoying the sunshine of Alaska. Quiet anchorages along with the hospitality of Sitka have made this a special week to share with friends.
Our journey back to Mexico begins here as we will soon part company with Antipodes and move along quickly to reach the Washington coast by the end of the month.
Keela wondering what is so special about a whale??????
Forget the boat envy. You did not quit too soon. Now is your payoff for working as a wrench in the summer while in school. Enjoy your head start on the most of the rest of your classmates. I look so forward to the day that I can pull the plug on my working life. My target date is June 1, 2018. My wife and I are already looking at big RVs with the idea of doing on land what you are doing at sea.
ReplyDelete