Alaska Trip Day 63

7/18/11

Sitka, AK

Miles Travelled:  1/4?

Today started with a bath for my fish headed boys…thank goodness, they stank!  Too soon we had to say good bye to Mom and Ralph since their airport shuttle left at 8:00am.  The four of us went out for breakfast at the restaurant hotel, and I have to admit that it felt really quiet just being a family of four again.  We had a wonderful visit with Mom and Ralph and were so glad they were able to come.

The rest of the day was pretty much filled with errands and chores.  We were originally planning on leaving Sitka today but decided we had far too many things to get done, besides that if we leave tomorrow morning at a very reasonable time of 9:00am or so, the tides definitely work in our favor.  We did decide to move to the normal transient marina since it was closer to the grocery store, so we did do some travelling today!

The folks on the Nordhaven behind us at Thomsen Harbor (the marina we moved to) caught a king salmon and had too much for the two of them, so they gave us a nice big hunk all vacuum packed and everything.  Wow are we excited for dinner tomorrow night!

Tomorrow we will leave at a reasonable time and hopefully make it through Sergius Narrows at slack water around 3pm tomorrow.  We had a wonderful time in Sitka and will definitely be coming back!

Playing in Grandma and Grandpa's hotel room one last time

Alaska Trip Day 62

7/17/11

Sitka, AK

Miles Travelled:  0

Another glorious day in Sitka!  The company, the weather and the city itself have all made for a wonderful time!  We started the day with breakfast on the boat with Mom and Ralph then we went back out to the totem park since we missed what we wanted to see yesterday.  On our walk out to the totem park, we passed St. Michael’s (the historic Russian cathedral), just as they did the carillon for Sunday services.  The cool thing is that the carillon is actually rung by people!  We were able to see faces in the bell tower, pretty darn cool.

The totem park was really neat, though we still didn’t see everything we wanted before we needed to head back to the boat for lunch and naps, oh darn, I guess we will just have to come back!  Odin fell asleep in the carrier so nap time was a bit messed up…especially when I heard a funny sound when they were supposed to be going to sleep and went down below to discover Odin had escaped from his enclosure and playing with an empty tin can.  What a shock!  He was standing up on the bench (hello fall hazard!), playing with an empty steel can (hello cutting hazard!), I was pretty freaked out.  We quickly got him back in the enclosure with no harm done and got the breach fixed up.  He wasn’t terribly sleepy since he fell asleep on the walk, and he was mad about his fun being taken away so there was some screaming.  I ended up going to the grocery store with Mom while Tor stayed with napping boys.  Fortunately they ended up having a good nap after all.

When they were still napping, Tor and I snuck away to go get an ice cream treat and Grandma got to be there when they woke up from their nap.  All three of them had a good time playing.  Meanwhile Ralph went on a long walk to find the Baranof brewing company tasting room.  He was successful and brought a couple of beers back for us to try.

After nap we took the boys up to Mom and Ralph’s hotel room for a bath.  Bathing the boys in a bathtub is SO much easier than in the shower!  Tor changed the oil in the boat while we had all sorts of splashing fun.

We all reconnected at the boat when it was time to start cooking dinner.  I got some black cod and spot prawns at the farmer’s market yesterday and we had a feast in the cockpit!  We had simple boiled prawns with cocktail sauce for an appetizer and then for a main course we had Asian style poached black cod with broccoli and bread which was also from the farmer’s market.  It was a very enjoyable feast and the boys loved it all too.  The only problem was that the boys decided to rub their fishy hands all over their clean hair.  Black cod is a very oily fish and they were TOTALLY stinky and there wasn’t time to bathe them again before bed.  We should have a chance to bathe them again quickly before Mom and Ralph check out of their hotel in the morning, thank goodness!

Tor and Lars looking for totem poles

Beautiful day, Low tide

At the totem park

At the totem park

Alaska Trip Day 61

Day 61

7/16/11

Sitka, AK

Miles Travelled:  0

What a wonderful day!  Mom and Ralph joined us for breakfast on the boat, then we all walked over to the Sheldon Jackson Museum.  SUPER cool museum.  The artifacts on display are representative of all the Native groups in Alaska and most of the things we saw were amazing.  The items that stuck out in my mind were the baskets, the argillite carvings, weavings, the clothing made of all sorts of different skins including loon mittens and a fish skin parka and totem poles including a mortuary pole.  The boys did great in their carriers and enjoyed ‘talking’ and hearing their voices echo in the octagonal room…good thing we were the only visitors for the majority of our stay!

We left Mom and Ralph to finish viewing what they wanted to see at the museum because it was time to get back to the boat and get the boys lunch and down for their nap.  Once they boys were down I reconnected with Mom and Ralph while Tor stayed at the boat to go watch a Tlingit dance performance.  We were so glad we went.  The dancers were mostly youth with a few adults and older teens and even a two year old.  The dancing and singing were energetic and powerful and the stories they told and explanations for the dances were very informative.  It was a very worthwhile experience.  The two year old was a real highlight for me, I’m a sappy emotional mom now, but every time I would catch sight of him held by another dancer, or watching the fringe on his fur headband as he moved, or standing still staring at the crowd I would get a little misty eyed.  It was so sweet to see him as an integral part of this important cultural event.

After the dance we checked out the farmers market being held right next to our marina and were able to get some barbequed black cod tips and rice.  Yum! 

When we got back to the boat the boys were still sleeping.  They had a good nap and Tor had a nice quiet time reading in the cockpit.  After they woke up we walked over to the totem park with Mom and Ralph each wearing a boy, sweet!  I felt so unencumbered!  We didn’t get too far before it was apparent that they boys had had enough time in the carriers and it was time to play in the grass.  We had fun playing with them and fortunately we still have time in Sitka so we plan to head back to the totem park tomorrow so we can really see it.

We had bratwurst and sauerkraut for dinner on the boat and ate in the cockpit thanks to the glorious weather we are having.  We feel so fortunate and are REALLY enjoying our time in Sitka!

Happy Odin playing in the grass

Happy Lars playing in the grass

Lars is trying any angle to get that rock!

Pack mules Grandparents and Grandsons

The end of a beautiful day in Sitka

Alaska Trip Day 60

Day 60

Sitka, AK

Miles Travelled:  0

The misty weather we had yesterday was gone when we got up today.  We had errands to run before Mom and Ralph got here, so after breakfast we loaded the boys into carriers and walked to the grocery store.  We got all our shopping done and back to the boat by 10am, so Tor was able to go run some boat errands before lunch and nap time. 

Mom and Ralph arrived around noon and were able to just walk down the dock and find us at the boat.  It is SO GREAT to see them!  The boys had a nice long 2 hour nap and the four of us sat on the dock and visited.  The weather was wonderful and we were sitting in the sun…glorious.

After the boys woke up and Grandma and Grandpa got their first round of snuggles, we all took off to do some exploring.  We walked to the middle of the bridge to Japonski Island and really got a great view of the area.  There are so many different little islands around, it is so beautiful.  All of SE Alaska has been beautiful, but this area is exceptional.  We kept hearing about how beautiful Sitka was, and I have to agree!

We walked to the top of the hill where Baranof’s castle once stood and were able to see more of the beautiful view, but the best part was letting the boys play in the grass.  They had so much fun and the four adults had even more fun watching them.

We tried to find a place for dinner but given the boy’s early dinner time (around 5pm), the two places we really wanted to try weren’t going to work.  We ended up at the restaurant at Mom and Ralph’s hotel, a new place called the Dock Shack, and it worked out just great.  The food was good, yummy halibut tacos, and it was a child friendly place.  It is so nice when you walk into a restaurant and they have two or more high chairs!

It was a magnificent day in Sitka.  Mom and Ralph being here has absolutely made the visit, but everything else has worked out so beautifully to make the stay comfortable and convenient…including the beautiful weather!  Tomorrow we plan to go to the Sheldon Jackson museum and I’m looking forward to seeing the collection of Native artifacts.  We’ve heard it’s not to be missed.

The happy sightseers

View of Yare from midspan of the bridge, can you find her?

Odin looks an awful lot like his Auntie Jenn in this photo

Grandma, would you like some grass?

Grandpa and Odin

Lars, where are we going next?

Alaska Trip Day 59

Day 59

7/14/11

Sitka, AK

Miles Travelled:  33

A nice short day in comparison to yesterday, whew!  We all woke up at the normal time and had a leisurely morning.  It was a beautiful trip into Sitka from Shulze Cove once the fog lifted as we got closer to town.  Sitka is essentially on the Pacific Ocean, but given the number of protecting smaller islands around it, we only had to deal with about 30 minutes of ocean swell getting here.  Pretty neat to have an inside route that would allow that.  We decided to take the longer inside route for a couple of reasons:  1. we are taking things conservatively with the boys for this trip and this seemed like a more comfortable and conservative choice, 2. we had a set arrival date for Sitka, and we felt that doing the outside route, even though it is a shorter distance, would have potentially added the complication of weather days and missing our scheduled arrival date.  Regardless of how we got here, we are very glad to be here and are so excited to see Mom and Ralph tomorrow!

We arrived in Sitka around 2pm after slowing down en route to ensure the boys had a good nap.  We wanted to tie up at the commercial boat marina, ANB, because it was the closest option to the hotel Mom and Ralph were staying in.  We were very fortunate and actually found a spot on the one dock with transient moorage at ANB despite the marina being quite full since there was a trolling closure and the trolling fleet was in.  Mom and Ralph’s hotel is basically at the head of the dock so this will be very convenient!

We walked down to the harbormaster’s office to pay our moorage and it misted on us the whole time.  By the time we got back to the boat we were fairly wet, but it wasn’t unpleasant.  We kicked around the idea of going out to dinner but eventually decided to just cook what I had originally planned for dinner (Hoppin’ John) because it would just be easier…even though I still had to cook the pre-soaked dry beans and we had turned off the diesel stove earlier in the day so it would need to heat back up.  It did turn out to be a good choice, going out can just add so much complication, and it tasted good.

Alaska Trip Day 58

7/13/10

Schulze Cove, Baranof Island, AK

Miles Travelled:  66

(Written by Tor)

What a fabulous day!   Generally speaking our blog posts quickly recap our day of travel, or focus on the care and lives of our boys.  Quite honestly this is because by the time we stop at the end of the day, we don’t generally have a great deal of energy for typing out complicated thoughts.  That and caring for Lars’ and Odin is really the focus of this particular journey (for the next 20 years or so).

I will begin by getting the travel recap out of the way.  We decided last night after putting the boys down that we were going to start very early to take advantage of the tides (anchor weighed at 0500).  The boys managed to stay asleep despite 175’ of chain being pulled on board and we began our motor south to Peril strait.  As soon as we got out into Chatham Strait we were travelling at close to 7 knots which is at least 1.3 knots faster than our norm.  The original plan called for two long 40+ mile days to reach Sitka by the end of the week.  We were able to do a really long day today, quite painlessly, by riding the tides south and then west through Peril Strait and Sergius Narrows with a 0.5-2 knot current pushing us the whole way.  In fact, the last two hours of our trip we had to cut the engine (Perky, as it is a Perkins diesel) back to a slow idle forward in order not to arrive at the tidal narrows before it was safe to pass.  We still ended up transiting the narrows a full ½ hour before slack water, shooting through at just over 9 knots without incident.  After 66 miles we dropped our hook behind Piper island in a gorgeous, well sheltered anchorage just a mile or so from the exit of the narrows.  This very long day only leaves a bit over 30 miles to Sitka AND the currents will be favorable for us again tomorrow morning - this time at a much saner hour of 0800!

A few things I noticed along our way today: 

A bunch of Purse seiners getting ready to set their nets when allowed by the Fish and Game ‘opener’.  We travelled amongst close to 30 or 40 purse seiners as they milled around Chatham Strait and Peril Strait getting to the spots they all wanted to fish.  Purse seiners are about 60 feet long and have a large boom and ‘power block’ for deploying a purse shaped net.  When the holds are empty most of them carry their large and very powerful skiffs resting on top of the net piled on the deck.  In the 11.5 hours we were motoring today, we never once saw a net deployed, but it was interesting to see another fishery as most of the boats we have seen so far have been trollers (my favorite) or gillneters.

The other thing that is neat about northern Southeast Alaska is the effects of glacial rebound.  All around the coast there is a grass skirt without trees for a few feet before the land hits the water.  This occurs because the land is moving vertically upward ‘rebounding’ from the weight of the melted ice.  This rebound occurs faster than dirt and trees can establish.  Further south in our travels the forested land intersects the water EVERYWHERE with a very distinct horizontal green treeline right at the water’s surface.  It is a noticeable difference between BC waters and Alaska.   In fact, in Gustavus we learned that the public dock is so long because the land is moving up fast enough that 30 year old cabins built on the water in their day are now about ½ mile inland!

Another thing to note about travelling in Northern BC and Alaska in a small boat is the dominance of the tides.  In Puget Sound we really only have Deception Pass and the Tacoma Narrows to worry about when thinking about tides.  Most of the time, we plan a trip across the sound without looking at or planning around the tides as the worst affect is usually a ½ knot speed reduction.   Here it is a bit different!  The tidal range is more than double the 13’ range we see in Puget Sound and when the local winds oppose the tides it can get scary quickly!  We have been blessed with amazing weather on our trip, but occasionally we will have a short crossing with mild 10-15 knot winds setting against the tide and have seen a glimpse of how big a problem it can be.  There is a reason the guidebooks talk a lot about different anchorages being good places to ‘hide out’ from northwesterlies or southerlies until the tides change.  Jess and I were commenting today to each other that returning to sailing in the Puget Sound in likely going to feel VERY crowded and simple.

And now back to the boys...  We are very quickly approaching two months at sea.  I cannot express in words how impressed I am with how the boys have adapted to living on our boat as a family.  They just seem so darn happy all the time.  It has been an incredible experience to spend so much time with them and with Jess.   Sure, this trip is different than our past trips.  When we arrive at an anchorage we eat dinner as a family and stay down below with sleeping boys instead of rowing around and meeting folks.  Often this means we are in bed long before the sun sets at 11pm.  Most folks make this trip in small boats to see the wilds of Alaska or even to catch a bunch of fish and crab along the way.  We happen to be focused on our family, but what a gorgeous place to watch the little guys grow!  Jess and I both miss our extended families and look forward to being home to spend time with them.  That is one of the reasons we are so excited about getting to Sitka to see Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Ralph.  That being said I would not trade our magical time aboard for anything!  Despite 66 miles of gorgeous scenery, breaching whales and bald eagles the highlight of my day was without a doubt two hours playing with the boys in ‘the bin’ while Jess took the helm through Peril Strait.  It takes a lot of work AND teamwork to pull this trip off, but those giggles are worth it! 

"Playing" in the bin...Lars fell asleep playing, notice the rattle in his hand?  Yep, nap time was messed up a bit!

9.2 kts, quite a push through Sergius Narrows!

Alaska Trip Day 57

7/12/11

Pavlof Harbor, Freshwater Bay, AK

Miles Travelled:  36

We left Hoonah soon after we woke up and I cooked breakfast underway…it got really rolly and sloppy while I was cooking breakfast and I was getting worried about hot coffee water or hot oatmeal dumping on me but I was able to finish up without incident.  Unfortunately Odin was not able to eat without incident.  He started off eating just fine, but then he stopped opening his mouth for the spoon, then he started rubbing his eyes like he was tired, then his lips went pale…poor kiddo was seasick.  Lars was just fine.  I ended breakfast early and went to cuddle with the boys in our bed.  Odin kept laying down and cuddling, but just couldn’t settle in for a snooze, then he threw up on Tor’s pillow.  Poor kiddo.  He felt a lot better after throwing up.  The wind came up enough to put the main up and settle the motion of the boat and everyone was happy.

We motorsailed for about 1.5 hours then Tor raised the mizzen and we had a glorious downwind sail.  I put Lars and Odin down for their nap and all was great with the world.  We were sailing on a beautiful sunny day in Alaska and making great progress toward our goal.  Then something woke the boys up, I don’t know if it was us talking or something else, but ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!  They were both screaming and crying and completely inconsolable and there was nothing I could do.  Lars wasn’t even interested in nursing and Odin was only sort of interested.  I don’t know what happened, but it took a good 30-45 minutes for them to calm down and be happy guys again.  It was terrible and a complete mystery.  There were no poopy diapers, no gas, they weren’t hungry, a desperate dose of Tylenol did nothing, no bruises or red marks from where someone could have hurt themselves in their crib…nothing.   My guess is that they were woken up from their nap too early (by what, we don’t know) and they were iteratively crying in sympathy with each other.  It was terrible.

Meanwhile things had gotten exciting for Tor.  The wind picked up and he dropped the mizzen.  Then he had a big powerboat on our tail to take pictures.  And he had to listen to his boys screaming without being able to help.  Needless to say we were all very anxious to be anchored for the night.

We anchored in beautiful Pavlof Harbor and we were able to get the boat in order after a very sloppy morning.  We cooked bratwurst for dinner and all in all had an enjoyable afternoon, but we did put the boys to bed early given their crappy nap.

Tomorrow is an early morning because we need to make miles.  To get to Sitka we have to pass through Sergius Narrows at slack water.  We plan to be in Sitka Thursday so we can meet with Mom and Ralph on Friday.  There is something like 75 miles between us and Sergius Narrows and slack water is at 11:15am on Thursday.  We will leave here around 5am tomorrow with the hope that we can get within 15 miles or so of Sergius narrows so that we can have a chance of getting to the narrows in time for slack water while fighting a contrary current.  Fortunately it looks like the currents will be with us tomorrow and we may very well be able to make it a long way.  Hopefully we don’t have a repeat of today both with uncomfortable/ rolly sea conditions or early nap wakers!

Oh, and Lars woke up with his 8th tooth this morning!  Fortunately it hasn't seemed to bother him.

Dinner is yummy!

I like my milk too!

Alaska Trip Day 56

7/11/10

Hoonah, AK

Miles Travelled:  31

Today was our last day in Glacier Bay.  We were sad to leave, but we are very excited about Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Ralph in Sitka, so that takes some of the sting out of it.  It didn’t seem like Glacier Bay wanted us to leave either…we got stuck in a vicious contrary current that we weren’t quite expecting and we actually saw a low speed of 1.6 kts over ground.  Yikes.

It was sunny and beautiful with a light west wind and man oh man were there humpback whales in Icy Strait after exiting the park.  Wow!  There were something like 12 of them actively feeding and we even saw a mama and calf.  The way the mama and calf were right together, hanging out on the surface, it seemed like the calf was probably nursing.  So sweet. 

The trip to Hoonah went quickly and we ended up slowing down so that we wouldn’t arrive in Hoonah too early and disturb the boys’ nap.  Our timing ended up being perfect, the boys had a great ~2 hour nap and we tied up at the transient moorage dock and were ready to hit the town for groceries and, we hoped, halibut pizza for dinner.  Unfortunately we discovered that halibut pizza wouldn’t be happening since the restaurant had changed hands and the recipe didn’t go with the restaurant.  Oh well, salmon tacos on the boat were much cheaper.

We got diapers washed and groceries purchased so it was a productive day in Hoonah.  

Beautiful day, good looking boat, on our way into Hoonah

Funky looking "tree" on island near Hoonah...cell phone tower in disguise?

Odin looks way too cute in my hat!

Alaska Trip Day 55

7/10/11

Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay, AK

Miles Travelled:  0

The boys woke up at 5:50am today and I woke up with a splitting sinus headache…not an auspicious start to the day.  We quietly stayed in bed and the boys finally fell back asleep at 7:00am, when they usually get up for the day.  I don’t know what happened, but they woke up around 8:00 and we got ready for our day.  Actually, Tor started to pump water to make oatmeal and the hand pump broke.  I needed to rush to get in the dinghy and row into the lodge so I could catch the shuttle into Gustavus so I could grocery shop.  It was hard to row in when I felt so crummy, but it was our opportunity for groceries.  I made it and got on the shuttle.  When we got into town I asked where to go for groceries…and found out the two options were closed since it was Sunday, so I stayed on the shuttle and headed right back to the lodge.  Gah!  Actually it turned out to be a fine thing, we aren’t desperate for groceries, we just wanted some fresh stuff, and I got a chance to chat with two of the seasonal employees and some lodge guests, and I got to drink my coffee while it was hot.

When I got back to the lodge I called Tor on the handheld VHF and he had easily fixed the freshwater pump (thank goodness!) and gotten breakfast for the boys.  I rowed back to the boat and then we moved the boat into the dock so that all four of us could go on the forest walk and refill our fresh water tank.

The forest walk was beautiful and well worth it.  Afterwards we got lunch for the boys and got them down for a nap.  When they woke up we moved back out to the anchorage (you are only allowed to tie up to the dock for 3 hours every 24 hours).  Tor played with the boys while I took a little nap and then he cooked dinner (salmon, brown rice and broccoli).  We got the boys to bed a bit early and I’m going to row back in to the lodge to hopefully get the blog up to date.

Tomorrow we will head across Icy Strait and probably stop in Hoonah for some groceries and then we may go further to an anchorage or just stay at the dock in Hoonah.  We shall see what happens.  It’s sad to leave Glacier Bay and now that we’ve started back south I’m feeling a little melancholy because it feels like our trip is wrapping up.  It know it’s silly since we still have plenty of time to be out here and we still have super fun things to look forward to, but it’ll take a few days to get my mind wrapped around starting the trip back home.

Tlingit carving near Glacier Bay lodge

Lars and Papa on the forest walk at Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay

Another Tlingit carving on forest walk

Alaska Trip Day 54

7/9/11

Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay, AK

Miles Travelled:  47.5

Whew!  That was a long day.  Last night as we were looking over our schedule before we get to Sitka, we realized that we had been planning on the wrong date for Mom and Ralph’s arrival in Sitka.  We had in mind that they would be arriving on the 17^th, when actually it’s the 15^th!  I’m glad we figured it out when we could still do something about it.  Because of that we decided to make it a long day today and get to Bartlett Cove, near the entrance of the park and where park headquarters are.  The thinking was that if we got to Bartlett Cove, we could have a chance to do the forest walk I wanted to do, do a load of diapers (to avoid hand washing), and take the shuttle into the town of Gustavus for groceries.  It would also allow us to be closer to the entrance of the park so we could make miles for our trip to Sitka.  Additionally, there is a tidal narrows at the entrance to the park and the tides are such that If we had anchored ‘up bay’ we would have been facing a strong current against us until the afternoon, if we had tried to go to Bartlett Cove in the morning hours.   We are in a good position to make it to Sitka on time with reasonable mileage days and some wiggle room for weather, whew!

On our trip south we motored close to Reid glacier, boy am I glad I didn’t row over there last night…it was a long way from where we were anchored!  The weather was good for our travels, and best of all, we saw the mama Grizzly and her three cubs on Gloomy Knob!  It was so cool to see them!  They were far enough away that I had no hope of catching them with my point and shoot camera, but I will remember seeing them!

Once we got close to Bartlett Cove we saw many humpback whales and even an Orca.  The southern portion of the park is designated whale waters and there are restrictions on how close you can go to shore and how fast you can go, and we understand why.  There were so many whales this afternoon!

At one point “sailboat BOB” hailed us on the radio and asked if we liked salmon.  We replied with a resounding yes!  He caught a couple of pinks that they weren’t going to be able to eat, so we buzzed over with his dinghy and dropped off two beautiful bright pink salmon.  Tor filleted them right away and we got the fillets on ice.  We are grateful for the fish, since we haven’t even had time to put out a crab trap given our full schedule with the boys.

We arrived in Bartlett Cove and fueled up, then we anchored near Taranga.  Gerd and Linda stopped by on their dinghy on their way back to Taranga and we were able to persuade them to join us for dinner (curried chick peas, rice and broccoli slaw).  We really enjoyed having the time to chat with them more and the timing just worked out perfectly.  We were also able to convince them to take some salmon, since that is a lot of fish for the 4 of us!  They are leaving the park tomorrow and we will stick around and do chores.  I’m going to row the dinghy in tonight and do some laundry and hopefully some blog posting.

Reid Glacier

Weighing anchor in front of Reid Glacier

Odin and Papa

Lars and Papa

Alaska Trip Day 53

7/8/11

Reid Inlet, Glacier Bay, AK

Miles Travelled:  41.5

Happy Birthday Mom a.k.a. Grandma Cheryl!

We had a slow morning since we were only planning on going about 26 miles to Reid Inlet, so we had breakfast while still anchored and took the boys over to Taranga so that Gerd and Linda could meet them.  We had a nice visit with Gerd and Linda.  They are definitely kid people and though their kids are now just a few years younger than us, they were raised on Taranga, so Gerd and Linda are used to having babies aboard.  Linda pulled out bowls and wooden spoons for the boys to play with and we got to see their photos of a mama grizzly bear with her triplets, including a shot of the babies nursing.  Too sweet!

By 10:00 we weighed anchor and were on our way north.  Lars soon fell asleep in the play area…he just curled up with a burpie (the loveys that they sleep with) with his head on Tor’s pillow and fell asleep.  Crazy.  He ended up waking up about 30 minutes later and was grumpy!  He got over his grumpiness when I put him in his life jacket so he could help me look for wild life on Gloomy Knob.

 The weather couldn’t have been more gorgeous.  We slowly motored along the steep rock wall where Gerd and Linda had seen the mama grizzly and her 3 cubs on Gloomy Knob, and we were rewarded with the sight of mountain goats, but no bears.  We puttered along and Tor gave the boys breakfast and then got them down for their nap.  Since Lars had snoozed a little bit earlier it took him about an hour to fall asleep, but once he did, he had a good nap.

While the boys napped, Tor and I were inspired by the gorgeous weather to hatch a plan to head up into Tarr inlet and see the Marjorie and Grand Pacific Glaciers.  This is the quintessential Glacier Bay experience…it is the Old Faithful or the Half Dome of this park.  Marjorie glacier is an active tidewater glacier that calves ice frequently, and we wanted to make sure to have the best conditions we could to see it. Since we hadn’t planned on a long day we got a late start and by adding the detour up Tarr Inlet and back to Reid Inlet for our anchorage we ran the risk of having to put the boys to bed while we were underway and then perhaps waking them up while we anchored.  We also would have to feed them dinner while underway where we have always been anchored for dinner up to this point…it’s important to have dinner as a family and that just isn’t possible when one person is running the boat.  All that being said, the weather was amazing today, and the clouds were blowing in from the south, potentially changing our weather for the worse, and it looked like we would likely have the place to ourselves, or at least the 2 giant cruise ships that are allowed in the park each day would have already left, and if we did it, the timing was such that we would have gotten there before dinner and been able to appreciate it as a family.  We decided to go for it.

Boy are we glad we did.  When we got there a private sailboat and a smaller tour boat were both leaving.  One of the large cruise ships, the Island Princess, was there, but they were pulled off to the side and it hardly impacted us at all.  In fact they left fairly soon and we had the whole place to ourselves.  We stayed about ½ mile away from the glacier, and though it would have been cool to be closer, it just isn’t prudent since big ice chunks falling from the glacier can make for big waves.  We got to hear and see the Marjorie glacier calving and that was super cool.  We also collected burgy bits and Tor got in the dinghy to take pictures of the boat in front of the glacier and with bergy bits all around.  It was as touristy as getting our picture taken with Smokey the Bear in front of a spouting Old Faithful, and we had so much fun being tourists!

Soon the wind came up and it was getting to be time to get the boys some dinner, so we skedaddled and headed towards our anchorage for the night, Reid Inlet.  I got the boys dinner and Tor piloted us.  We hurried and we actually made it to the anchorage and got all set by about the time we normally put the glacier when the conditions were so right.  

Reid glacier is grounded so you can anchor in the inlet right next to it without the worries of being near a calving glacier.  It’s pretty stunning to look out and see the glacier right there from your anchored boat!  It looks very close, but in this huge landscape distances are deceiving and we are probably at least a mile away from it, so no going to visit it this evening.  We only have oars for the dinghy and I don’t want to row that far alone since someone needs to stay with the boys.  Next time we come here we will be able to investigate Reid glacier better.  We did enjoy scotch on ice with our newly acquired bergy bit ice from the Marjorie glacier…yum!

Odin playing with Papa's mittens

Lars helping me look for wildlife

Beautiful day "up bay"

Yare in front of Marjorie Glacier

Playing with Bergy Bits

The farthest north and the farthest west Yare has ever been

Alaska Trip Day 52

7/7/11 (Thursday)

Blue Mouse Cove, Glacier Bay, AK

Miles travelled:  43

(Tor reporting)

We awoke this morning around 0715 and weighed anchor before 0730, to head north up Muir inlet to see Riggs Glacier and McBride Glacier.  Although it is physically possible to travel northwest to the end of Muir Inlet (to see the Muir Glacier), the park closes certain inlets to motorized vessels to manage their impacts.  The end of Muir glacier is currently closed to motorized vessels and the furthest we were allowed to travel was to the terminus of the Riggs tidewater glacier.  

The weather started with overcast skies and very light east wind.  Jess worked on getting breakfast going while Tor worked on getting north.  We motored north along the west shore and stayed close to shore in hopes of seeing wildlife and Interglacial stumps that remain from earlier glaciations.  The weather continued getting better as the clouds dispersed and the sun kept shining.  The Riggs glacier was very impressive with its wall of ice directly opposite the towering White Thunder Ridge on the west side of Muir inlet.  We went as far north as was permitted, turning around at 59 degrees 2.7 minutes north latitude! 

On the way south we hugged the east side of Muir inlet and got as close as we dared to the Very shallow sediment fan emanating from the McBride Glacier.  The electronic depth sounder went from over 400 feet of water to 15 in a boat length.  Yare made a Hard turn to starboard to make sure we didn’t run aground before determining that we were just too far from shore to have the depth reading make sense.  We finally figured out that with so much suspended sediment in the water the depth readings just couldn’t be trusted.  We decided to play it safe and stay out towards the center of the channel as the tide was ebbing and getting stuck didn’t appeal to either of us!

McBride Glacier is one of the fastest receding glaciers in the park and was hard to see from offshore of its silt fan as it is already close to 2 miles up its scoured arm.

Working South we passed Sealers Island which is currently off limits due to being a rearing ground for seals and the park prohibits any vessel coming closer than 100 yards.  We skirted the island well outside the 100 yard limit but did not see too many seals or pups.  Shortly after we were hailed by S/V Osprey on the VHF and stopped mid channel to chat.  They are friends from The Puget Sound Cruising Club in Seattle and it was very good to catch up on their trip since we last saw them in Juneau.  We also hailed the Nordic Tug ‘Restless” on the radio as we recognized them from Hoonah.  It is fun to stay in touch with the many friendly folks on the water up here.

Continuing south we crossed the large portion of Glacier Bay and headed for the shoreline just north of Geikie inlet where there was a whale carcass reported to be on the beach.  We spotted the carcass but there were no large mammals feeding and it had been pretty picked over having been in place for over a year.  Surprisingly there was still a large mass of fleshy parts in the center of some very large bleached out bones. 

We pulled into Blue mouse cove and anchored in the SE corner of the bay in about 35 feet of water in a mixed bottom.  We anchored next to the only other boat, Taranga (a fast passage 39 sailboat).  Shortly after arriving, Gerd, one of the owners of Taranga came over to say hello in his dinghy.  We were just feeding the boys, but had a great visit nonetheless.  Gerd and his wife Linda built the boat from a hull and deck kit 34 years before and have over 50K miles cruising the inside waters between their home in Vancouver BC and Alaska.  It was very inspiring to meet likeminded folks with a remarkably similar story to our own, just quite a bit further down the road of adventures.  We very much look forward to seeing Taranga again and staying in touch with Gerd and Linda.  After the boys went to bed Linda brought over some brownies and we very much enjoyed visiting with her.  Neat Folks. 

I should also mention that the evening in Blue mouse cove could not have been any prettier.  The sun was shining, the clouds were all gone and we could even see what we think was Mt. Fairweather in the distance.  Just gorgeous!!!

Riggs Glacier, Muir Inlet

I had a little shock when I looked down before climbing down the companion way ladder, hi Lars!

McBride Glacier, Muir Inlet

Osprey, our friends Steve and Elsie

Mt. Fairweather (we think) from the entrance of Blue Mouse Cove

Sunset, Blue Mouse Cove

Alaska Trip Day 51

7/6/11

“Special 4 Fathom Anchorage,” Wachusett Inlet, Glacier Bay, AK

Miles Travelled:  34

Since we anchored in N. Sandy Cove last night, we felt it made the most sense to explore the East Arm of the park first.  The East arm is not nearly as travelled as the West arm.  No cruise ships come up the East Arm, and actually most of the inlets are closed to motorized vessels.  Wachusett Inlet is open to motorized vessels during this time frame, so we decided to check it out. 

After I cooked breakfast, Tor came down below and fed the boys and I piloted the boat.  That means I got to enjoy HOT coffee!  What a treat.  It was also a treat to behold the scenery around me.  We are in a beautiful spot, well worth all the effort to get here.  Not only are the glacially carved surroundings spectacular, but then you look up and you see glaciers seemingly everywhere.  Stunning.

Tor made bread, which was desperately needed, and we heated water for diapers.  Meanwhile I was taking us North, and then West into Wachusett inlet and very much enjoying the scenery.

When the boys were down for their nap we washed diapers while underway.  It’s nice to get that chore out of the way during the day so we don’t have to do them in the evening, but somehow it feels a little strange to do it when you are travelling around Glacier Bay.  The weather was great though, so we were able to dry the diapers outside. 

The glacier in Wachusett inlet is not a tidewater glacier, so we weren’t dodging bergy bits, but it was quite spectacular to behold.  At the end of the inlet you see totally barren land that plants haven’t grown on because it was so recently covered with ice.  In fact, as you travel up the inlet from Glacier Bay proper, you travel through plant succession in reverse.  I loved my forest ecology class in high school, and the concept of plant succession was fascinating to me, now I’m seeing it first hand, from my boat.  How cool is that?

We decided to try anchoring in a small 4 fathom shelf near the head of Wachusett inlet.  We’ve been following guidebooks for anchorages for the whole trip, so this was the first time we looked at the chart and found a potential anchorage and tried it out.  I will say it was quite successful.  We were secure for the night, it was a beautiful place to be, and there were no other boats around since everyone else is probably using the same guidebook we are.

We put the kiddos in their life jackets and tried going for a row up the small stream we were anchored by…quite honestly it didn’t last long.  The boys were both very interested in not only standing up in the boat, but looking over the side.  My nerves couldn’t handle keeping two little boys sitting down next to me, so we were out in the dinghy for about 10 minutes.  Oh well, we have to practice.

Glacial carved valley in Wachusett Inlet

Glacier at end of Wachusett Inlet (the name escapes me right now)

Shadow of our rig on the silty waters, Wachusett Inlet

Alaska Trip Day 50

7/5/11

North Sandy Cove, Glacier Bay, AK

Miles Travelled:  35

We had fair warning that fireworks would be set off on and near the dock we stayed at last night, and well, the warning was justified.  The alarm rang at 5:00am and it seemed VERY early.  Fortunately the boys didn’t wake up when we turned on the engine, or when we departed from the dock.  We needed to leave early so that we could travel the 13 nm from Gustavus to the park visitor center at Bartlett Cove for the 8:00am boater orientation.  We pulled up to the dock at Bartlett Cove, fed the boys and got us all to the visitor center on time for the orientation, whew!

After the orientation, we took our laundry to the lodge and while it washed, I posted to the blog while Tor kept the boys occupied.  The boys crawled all over (Tor thought they did enough laps to go ½ a mile each) upstairs at the lodge where there were displays about the natural history of the park…just out of reach of little boys, perfect!  When they’d had enough crawling around, the laundry was still drying, so we brought them down stairs and I still had some posting to do, so some very bored employees ended up helping us out by keeping the boys out of things.  I felt pretty irresponsible, but everyone kept saying that they were having so much fun, and that the boys were a highlight of the day.  Thanks to the Glacier Bay Lodge staff I got the blog up to date!  We ended up buying a rather garish stuffed moose that the boys really fell in love with at the gift shop and by the time I was done posting, it just wasn’t in saleable shape any longer!  The laundry was still drying so we took the opportunity to shower all 4 of us.  It turned into a whirlwind of a morning.  By the time we got back to the boat it was lunch time and then nap time.  Tor got the boat fueled up while we got ready for nap and then we were off.  It was a very long, though very productive 3.5 hours.

We caught a heck of a push into the bay through Stikaday Narrows and saw a top speed of 9.8kts!  We’d been in Glacier Bay all morning, but now it really felt like it.  We weren’t just doing the regular old chores, we could actually look around and realize that we had made it.  Of course we were bone tired from our poor sleep last night and our whirlwind morning, and then it started POURING rain, but still we were in Glacier Bay! 

On our motor to N. Sandy Cove we went by the Stellar Sea Lion haul out on S. Marble Island.  That was a sight to see.  S. Marble Island is a designated critical habitat area and you need to stay 100 yards off, but that was plenty close to see the sea lions and hear them.  It was a lot of fun to hear them grunt and groan.  These aren’t the California Sea Lions that bark.

When we anchored in N. Sandy Cove there was one other boat.  By the time the boys were in bed, there were 7 total boats.  Glacier Bay is a very large park, but because it is mostly glacially carved fjords which are really deep, anchorages are few and far between.  Only 25 private vessels are allowed in the park at any one time, so given the vast area of the park, there really aren’t many boats, but since there are only a few anchorages, I think we will probably see several boats every night that we are in the park. 

I rowed around a little bit after the boys went to bed, and checked out the stream coming into N. Sandy Cove.  I like rowing John T the dinghy, and it was neat to poke around a little bit.

It’s early to bed tonight, we are TIRED!

Motoring in the RAIN, but in Glacier Bay!

Lars woke up from his nap before Odin did

Stellar Sea Lions on S. Marble Island

Yare at anchor, N. Sandy Cove

Mama's night out, rowing up the creek at N. Sandy Cove