| Alaska Log #7 Juneau, Alaska
July 22, 1999
(Click on each photo to see it full size)
Well, we're back 'in town' again, this time for repairs (more about
that later). Meanwhile, we've had a great trip out to Glacier Bay National Park for
several days, taking along some friends from the East Coast. The weather was perfect,
sunny for four days straight, which absolutely never happens here in Southeast Alaska. We
figure we paid our dues earlier in the trip!
 On the first day, after anchoring at the park
headquarters in Bartlett Cove, all six of us (yes, it was a bit snug aboard Raven, but
fun) boarded the 20-knot catamaran tour boat for a nine hour tour of the glaciers and
wildlife. Turned out to be the best way to see the vastness of the park, which is as large
as all of Puget Sound. The nearest glacier is well over 40 miles from Bartlett Cove, which
takes a long time at our usual 9 knots. There were about a hundred other tourists on the
cat, most of them having flown in for a day or two. (Wouldn't you know it, but one of them
was the Princeton fundraising director, who wasted no time in getting to work on me. Those
guys are merciless.)
Anyway, before the cat even left Bartlett Cove, the park ranger
aboard made sure we all spotted a black bear, a marmot, and a moose on the beach. Great
start. The Japanese guide translated for her small group, and we were pleased to learn
that 'moose' in Japanese is 'moose-o.' Then off to the South Marble Island bird and seal
colony, followed by dropping off some kayakers on a nearby beach. That's part of the
boat's job, dropping off and picking up campers and kayakers all over the park. The ones
boarding somehow always seemed a lot wearier and grubbier than the ones who were getting
off, and we figured the big smiles were for the showers they were anticipating. The Raven
crew decided we preferred having hot showers available at all times.
The glaciers were, as you might expect, magnificent close up. It was
always noisy, as the meltwater streams rushed out from underneath and the ice cracked
continuously. We saw some calving, as big chunks of ice collapsed into the tidewater. The
'glacier blue' color was less in evidence than at Tracy Arm, probably because we had such
a clear sunny day. One of the three glaciers we saw has a full-blown river boiling out of
a huge cave in the middle.
 Next day,
we took Raven 'up-bay' as the local jargon goes, to Blue Mouse Cove (no, we don't know
why). On the way, we saw the best humpback whale display of the trip. One whale breached a
couple of times, and then another one hung around smacking the water with his fins and
tail. (Gathering krill into bunches so they can scoop them up?) It was quite a show, and
we sat and watched for over an hour. It was an R&R afternoon in the cove, with various
crewmembers going off in our little red kayaks, setting out the crab pots, or going
fishing. No luck that day, following Jan's confusing instructions on trolling versus
jigging. (Troll for salmon, jig for halibut. Craig trolled for halibut, which are bottom
fish. Didn't work! The next day Craig used his own methods and caught a dinner-worthy
salmon 30 feet from the boat.)
 Next day, the
sails went up for the first time in weeks and we sailed (yes!) part of the way to North
Sandy Cove. Our hearts sunk when we got there, though, as we spotted 'Sea Sedan', a
200-foot powerboat with a helicopter on top and generators going, was anchored already. It
kind of reduced the "wilderness experience" as the rangers call it. Happily,
they left in the early evening so we shared the cove with just one other boat, a wonderful
family of 5 Kiwis who sailed across the North Pacific from Japan (4,500 miles and 32 days
at sea!!). The Park Service limits the number of boats in the Bay at any one time to 25,
including cruise ships, and the park is so vast that we rarely saw anyone else. Even the
cruise ships seemed lost in the vastness of it all.
At this point, the absolute very highest north latitude and west
longitude of our trip, in the remotest cove, Murphy's Law of Cruising struck: we had a
serious breakdown. The universal joint connecting the engine to the propshaft broke a seal
and started spewing grease all over the engine room. The Iridium satellite phone proved
its worth, though, as Jan phoned the manufacturer on the east coast, diagnosed the problem
as big but not grave, and had the replacement shipped to Juneau. The guy said we'd be OK
to run for a few hours, but to temporarily seal up the break with — you guessed it
— duct tape, a.k.a. Polish Welding Rod. Worked great, too.
 So we dropped off
our guests the next day as scheduled and headed back to Juneau. As we sit here at the
dock, our part has arrived and we'll install it today and be off again. The delay means we
can't take the boat out to Sitka, so we flew there yesterday and had a great time playing
tourist in a neat town. It's the original, Russian capital of Alaska and has some
fascinating history and buildings.
Not sure where we're headed next, but generally south. We are in
full cruiser mode now. What day is it, anyway?
Regards . . . Jan & Signe |
