Whale's Tales

Friday & Saturday,  June 3-4:

We spent our first 2 nights in Juneau tied to the City Docks.  Usually this dock is totally full but since no one seems to be cruising Alaska we found plenty of room for both boats at the preferred dock.  From here it is only a half mile walk to the downtown area.  Another miracle occurred when I was able to get a hair cut without a week away appointment.  Juneau has hordes of mooching ravens that hang out in the cruise ship area where they are hoping to get invited to the cruise ship smorgasboard.  We spent both days restocking food, propane and clean laundry.  We did a little sight seeing with a walk past the Governor’s mansion and the State Capitol Building.

A view of Juneau from the water as we enter.

The Raven lineup.  These are very smart birds!

Sunday, June 5:

Partly cloudy but with enough sun holes that we had sun twinkles on the water as we backtracked to the south to round Douglas Island on our way to Auk Bay.  This is where visiting boats usually go.  On the way we had a humpback whale “sound” just in front of the boat.  We were quick to take the propeller out of gear.  Wouldn’t want to run over it!  From Auk Bay it is a short bus ride to the Mendenhall Glacier.

The Mendenhall Glacier as seen near Auke Bay.

Eagles find many convenient perches on the boats in Auke Bay.

Monday, June 6:

Arrived at Swanson Harbor to find only one fishing boat on the two large public floats.  The wind came up in the afternoon and we had lots of waves and rockin’ going on for all evening and late into the night.  It was too rough for bottom fishing or crab pot retrieval so we just lazed around.

We round Point Retreat on the way to Swanson Harbor.

A Hairy Triton we caught on our crab trap.

Lower Lynn Canal

The view from our moorage at Swanson Harbor.

Tuesday, June 7:

Two crabs in the trap when we pulled it in the morning.  Nice flat water for our run across Icy Strait for Hoonah.  Cooked the crab on the way.  Just past Sister’s Islands we were joined by a large pod of Dall’s Porpoises.  They are so amazingly fast.  Just a two hour run today.  Time for a little boat cleaning.  Licked our way through homemade ice cream on our walk to the Cannery (Hoonah’s major, and only, attraction).  The Cannery only opens when a cruise ship is scheduled to arrive.  It is a very nice museum with fish canning history.  From the Cannery you can load onto a bus for the ride to the top of the “world’s highest zip line”.  Three years ago it was only $90 for the 90 second ride.  Today it was $120.  John & I will save our money for other adventures. 

The ravens begged for handouts in Hoonah.

At The Cannery in Hoonah.

Wednesday, June 8:

Another short run, destination Neka Bay.  We were hoping for more crab, grizzly bears and bottom fish.  We came up short on all three counts but the meatloaf sandwiches with homemade bread made up for it.  The bay seemed void of life on the bottom.  Our crab bait was not even touched.  Weird!

The results of Roxie's baking as we travel.

Anchored in Neka Bay.  John spotted two bears on the shore here.

Thursday, June 9:

We are crossing Icy Strait again, this time north for Glacier Bay.  Along the shoreline I spot our first Alaskan Grizzly.  It is a momma bear with two little cubs.  Our course takes us past Point Adolphus.  We have never been here without experiencing many whales feeding off the point and we are not disappointed this time.  Spouts, dorsal fins, whale tails and exhalation moans all around us.  We stop and turn off the engine.  It is awesome just to drift, listening to all the bird calls, seal barks and whales blowing.  We could stay for hours but we have reservations for entering Glacier Bay.  The park limits visiting small boats to 25 per day, but do let large cruise ships in so that is often the best way to see Glacier Bay.  Plus, you don’t have to worry about sinking like the titanic if you ram a sunken iceberg.  Just before we enter the park (a call is required) we see our first wild sea otters.  Ten of them are floating on the water and do not seem very concerned with our approach.  We slow up and get some cute pictures.  All visitors are required to attend an orientation at the park office so we tie up to the huge dock in Bartlett Cove and stretch our legs a bit.  Afterwards we anchor in the cove, as stays at the dock are limited to 3 hours.

Near Point Adolphus

A sea otter.

He otter be in pictures!

Friday, June 10:

We have reservations for 3 days here in Glacier Park.  Rod & Susan on Merlin have purchased tickets for the catamaran ride to the top of the park.  We did it last time we were here and it is worth every penny of the $200 per ticket.  It is an 8 hour ride with a naturalist onboard pointing out all the wildlife with stops whenever special sightings are made.  It makes memories for a lifetime.  This year we are taking care of Katie, Rod & Susan’s dog.  She is not allowed on the trip and loves to be with us on our boat.  Katie can walk around on the roads but dogs are not allowed on any of the trails.  They would probably just be lunch for some hungry grizzly bear anyway.  I discovered a HUGE bear poop and pee in the middle of the road when I walked Katie this morning.  It has been a nice day for Rod & Susan’s ride up the bay.  John & I took Katie for a kayak ride up the river while the tide was high. 

A native carving on a spruce tree in Glacier Bay National Park.

Roxie and Katie kayak in the park.