Flippin' Bergies!

Friday,  May 27:

A warm front drizzle accompanies us to Wrangle.  Three porpoises spend 15 minutes playing at our bow.  The auto-pilot takes over and both John & I stand out on deck to admire their antics.  In Zimovia Strait a humpback whale surfaced just off our starboard bow and we passed by two more heading south as we were heading north.  There is room for us at the Wrangle City Dock.  We walked through town (takes 15 minutes).  John & Rod spent the day replacing a large bow thruster battery.  Susan & I did laundry.

Pat & Rick from Tranquility joined us for happy hour.  They brought fresh crab legs, yummy! 

Humpback breath (eewue!)

Saturday, May 28:

Grocery shopping day.  There are two grocery stores here in Wrangle. We go to both to find everything on our list.  John spends most of the day at the Wrangle Library doing Internet stuff on his computer (bills, blog spot, & messages).  We time our afternoon walk with the tides as we are going to see the petroglyphs on the point north of Wrangle.  If you look carefully you can still find many on the beach.  Back at the boat I visit with a fisherman who is cleaning his two King Salmon on the dock cleaning tray.  I am mooching fish heads and bones for our crab bait but end up with a huge 1/2 salmon fillet. SCORE!!! He said he wanted our stay in Wrangle to be a memorable one!

Rocks on Petroglyph Beach near Wrangle.

Were early peoples visited by space aliens?

John relaxes among the petroglyphs.

Dude! I am Alaskan and I am cool!

World's largest dandelions.

Sunday, May 29

Away at 6:00.  Heading for Petersburg via the Wrangle Narrows.  Gray day with light drizzle and smooth water.  Our previous experience with docking at Petersburg was SCARY!  But this time no huge currents or wind so No Problemo!  Walked around town. This is a Norwegian community.  Lots of wealthy timber & fishing barons settled here.  All the restaurants are closed and will be tomorrow too for Memorial Day.  We were hoping for pizza but will make do with fresh salmon ;-). 

Note the lower, triangular, Norwegian speed bump sign.

In front of the Sons of Norway hall in Petersburg.

We are proud to have half-Norwegian grandchildren.

Monday, May 30:

Beautiful sunny day.  A short ride today heading north into Thomas Bay.  This is a fiord with glaciers flowing toward the saltwater but they have receded and do not actually touch the water.  They do however, color the water a brilliant turquoise blue.  That color contrasting with the snow fields above and the dark green forests make for a memorable trip.  Water temperature is 37 degrees here.  We tour through Scenery Cove and see a moose running (more like a gangling lope) along the opposite shore.  Our first Moose!  Hope we see more, they are a rare sight.  Anchored in the south nook of Ruth Island by 10:30.  Reading, relaxing and taking in the magnificent scenery.  High snow peaks to the south, east and north.  Snow peaks to the west are hidden by the forests on the shore.  Sunny & warm all day.  Crab pots in and retrieved at dusk.  John & Rod bring back eight large male dungeness crabs, four in each pot.  They go into the crab hotel for safe keeping until morning.

Morning departure from Petersburg.  Note the sea lions on the buoy.

Xanadu shadow on opaque glacial water in Thomas Bay.

There is always freshly baked bread on this cruise ship.

Tuesday, May 31:

Hard getting used to the early daylight and late twilight.  John & I are both up early.  I decide to get the crab ready for cooking.  I kneel on the swim step where I whap them with a fish bonker, pull off their shell, shake out their guts, pull off their gills and rinse them in the saltwater.  Sounds violent but it is quick and much kinder than putting them into boiling water while they are wiggling.  The crab is cooling in the counter when we hoist anchor at 7:30.  We are heading for the Sandborn Canal inside of Port Houghton. On the way I crack & pick the crab.  One saved for dinner tonight, two put in the freezer and one right into my mouth for lunch:-).  A beautiful cruise!  Warm & sunny with lots of whale sightings.  Rod & Susan had their first long Dall Porpoise visit on Merlin.  We watched as dolphins splashed around their bow and then a humpback surfaced just ahead of their boat.  A really memorable day for them!  Our anchorage was not as picturesque but we suddenly ended up with four boats sharing the same canal.  Weird, because we have been alone at most all the other places we have anchored.  Pretty sure I heard wolf noises off in the hills just at dusk.

All you can eat!

Wednesday, June 1:

Totally blue sky. Anchor up at 6:00. Peeked into Hobart Bay just two hours north of last night's anchorage.  Found the little 100' float at Entrance Island empty.  A tranquil little cove with eagles & ravens greeting our arrival.  Took a vote and tied up for the day.  All day to explore & relax in another piece of paradise.  It was low tide so John & I popped into our kayaks to explore.  John made it all the way around Entrance Island.  He saw an eagle's nest, black sand beaches and rock faces colored like rainbows.  As he paddled around the outside of the island he could hear whale spouts and deep slapping reverberations from humpbacks farther out.  I only made it as far as the nearest rocky point where I discovered thousands of frilled dog winkles (a type of sea snail).  I collected the frilliest and the peach colored ones to add to my sea treasures.  I cooked up the snails for cleaning.  Pizza onboard Xanadu.  Wonderful day!!!

Dogwinkle City

Eagle's nest on Entrance Island.  No, Jennifer, I did not photoshop this.  It really does look like the Muppet Eagle.

The current carries my kayak past multicolored rocks to the sound of whales breaching in Stevens Passage.

Early morning departure from Entrance Island Cove.

Frilled Dogwinkles.

Thursday, June 2:

Off to Taku Harbor at 6:00.  Humpbacks cruising ahead of us.  They sounded (nose down, tail up heading for the deep) as we got near.  Three white-sided dolphins came past our bow but didn't stay.  Whale spouts in the distance.  Ahead of us up Stephens Passage we spotted multiple white dots which grew into little icebergs being spit out from the glaciers up Tracy & Endicott Arms. They are so beautiful when the sun is shining, turning them turquoise.  We nosed up for better photos and two of them rolled right in front of us.  Very impressive!!!  The largest rolling berg broke into some smaller pieces as it rolled. John & I collected the chunks of "Bergie Bits" for our evening happy hour.  Fun to have 500 year old ice in our drinks!  Taku Harbor has a huge public dock and an additional 200' float.  We were amazed to find the harbor empty!  Where is everyone???  Another sunny day.  Three years ago there was a huge grizzly bear patrolling the shoreline but no signs of bear today.  Explored the cannery ruins and took turns on the giant swing.

Sumdum Glacier.  Really.

Xanadu noses up to an iceberg.

Merlin approaches and iceberg in Stevens Passage.

The iceberg that flipped over unexpectedly.  Yes, we were too close.

Just after flipping.  The skipper has jammed it into reverse!

It is rocking back and forth.  The skipper adds power in reverse!

The iceberg stabilizes.  Holy Cow, that is why you don't get too close to those things!

Pieces of "The iceberg that flipped."

Can you find the face of the grumpy old ice curmudgeon?

There he is.  (certified not to be photoshopped)

The other iceberg that flipped over as we watched.  Note the ribbon of kelp on the ice.

This is a common sight.

Cannery ruins in Taku Harbor.  Left to right: piling, piling, piling, Katie, piling, Roxie, piling, piling...

Xanadu and Merlin are alone in Taku Harbor.

500 year-old ice comes in handy during happy hour.