Friday Harbor to Glacier Bay Galleries

Friday Harbor : May, 2005... After four days in Victoria we sailed across Haro Strait to the San Juan Islands, dodging large logs and watching coconuts bobbing in the seaways transform into seals. In Friday Harbor we fulfilled some social obligations by entertaining friends aboard, especially Jim and Sue Corenman and Lester and Betsy Gunther. Richard Spindler of Latitude 38 arrived by float plane and stayed aboard ADAGIO for one night before continuing on to Victoria, BC. Before departing the San Juan Islands we nipped around to Roche Harbor for maintenance on our outboard engine.

Friday Harbor

May, 2005... After four days in Victoria we sailed across Haro Strait ...

Updated: Nov 21, 2006 12:18am PST

Strait of Georgia : May, 2005... We had inadvertently circumnavigated the Strait of Georgia, and breathed a sigh of relief that the weather and sea conditions had been mild. During the weekend we unwound by doing a little touring along the Vancouver Island coast by car, and welcomed our friends Joe and Kathy when they arrived aboard their sailing cat KATIEKAT. When it was time to leave the dock to motor under the bascule bridge and into the shipyard at Point Hope, we were happy to have men on the dock to handle our lines and fend us off. Steve expertly maneuvered our floating tennis court onto the small floating dock at the entrance to the dry dock, and the yard staff carefully positioned ADAGIO directly above two large wooden beams on which her keels rested as the dry dock rose out of the water, Archimedes fashion. On May 18 Steve ordered from Chicago parts for an engineer in Sidney to use to repair our sail drive and install it back onto the starboard engine on Friday. We re-launched ADAGIO on Saturday. So to make a short tale long, there it is in all the gory detail. We are fortunate on many counts: We hit the log relatively close to repair facilities. The weather has cooperated. We were able to make good time from one berth or anchorage to the next under half power. The anchorages and marinas have not yet filled with other cruising boats, so we could safely berth or anchor with limited maneuverability. It had taken us a month to get from Bainbridge Island, Washington to Victoria, British Columbia, around the Strait of Georgia and back again, but the season was still early. Meanwhile, the weather north of Vancouver Island where we had hoped to be by that time had been pretty stormy, while our weather in the Strait of Georgia region was mild. Victoria is a fun little town to be marooned in.

Strait of Georgia

May, 2005... We had inadvertently circumnavigated the Strait of Georgi ...

Updated: Nov 15, 2006 6:17pm PST

Princess Louisa : May, 2005... Inside Princess Louisa Inlet, waterfalls surrounded us, and at the head of the inlet, lovely Chatterbox Falls roared and sprayed high into the air. We found a space for ADAGIO at the floating dock where numerous power cruisers and sail boats were barbequeing lunch, smoking fish, and sunbathing. Extra hands were on the dock ready to take our lines, and later complimented Steve on his maneuvering, saying that he did not really need any help. We were quick to hike up to the base of Chatterbox Falls, which creates its own wind, and lightly moistens all who come near. One of the other cruisers told us that there had been much less water coming over the falls in the morning, and that as the sun warmed and melted the snow on the peaks, the flow of the waterfall at least doubled in volume. Dorothy and her sister botanized through the forest, identifying wild flowers and other Pacific Northwest plants.

Princess Louisa

May, 2005... Inside Princess Louisa Inlet, waterfalls surrounded us, a ...

Updated: Nov 15, 2006 6:20pm PST

Cortes Island to Spicer Island : June, 2005...After cancelling our plans to visit the Queen Charlotte Islands, due to unfavorable conditions for crossing Hecate Strait, ADAGIO covered over 350 nautical miles north from Spicer Islands to Juneau, where we could relax and visit the glaciers and wildlife of northern Southeast Alaska.

Cortes Island to Spicer Island

June, 2005...After cancelling our plans to visit the Queen Charlotte I ...

Updated: Nov 15, 2006 6:23pm PST

Spicer Island to Juneau : June, 2005...About 60 nautical miles south of Juneau, we expected to arrive at Holkham Bay, the entrance to Tracy Arm Fjord at high slack tide at about 2 PM. While we were watching for logs, Steve spotted an iceberg off of Port Snettisham Inlet. A dozen gulls and terns were perched on the top, and the berg was noticeably melting. It measured about 7 feet tall and 12 feet long, 4 feet wide. We motored over to examine the "floating rock", and then were frightened to see that we had motored right past several small ones which were barely visible, like large, black shiny bubbles.strung together in a row or cluster. The invisibility of the small bergs shook us up a bit, making us and our propeller feel very vulnerable to these new hazards.

Spicer Island to Juneau

June, 2005...About 60 nautical miles south of Juneau, we expected to a ...

Updated: Nov 15, 2006 6:28pm PST

Juneau, Alaska : June-July, 2005, Juneau, Alaska By 8 PM on June 21 we had tied up on outside of Auke Bay breakwater, having traveled 83 nm that day. What a beautiful setting it was. Snow-clad mountains were all around. The sight of the Mendenhall Glacier hanging over the cove as we approached from seaward was unbelievable. We watched bald eagles flying all around, singing their musical song. Berthing is first-come-first-served. A couple of live-aboards advised that at about 10 AM boats would begin to depart, and we could bring ADAGIO in and tie up at one of the vacated berths. Potable water and electricity were available on the inner floats. The marina was in the process of installing water lines on the breakwater. The following day we rented a car and visited downtown Juneau, then drove to the Mendenhall Glacier which was well worth the visit for the views of the glacier and the educational materials at this National Park. We walked through rounded, glacially polished rocks, streaked with scars of scratches by ice-carried rocks. Days alternated between a rainy day followed by a sunny day. In the sunshine we took the Tram up to the Mt. Roberts hiking trail . The beautiful sub-alpine fields and wildflowers, forest and snowy peaks are inhabited by hoary marmots, which sun themselves on rounded rocks, allowing hikers to come within a few meters. Ruby and Rick accompanied us from s/v PER MARE. We lunched at the top of the tram, and dined on fresh shrimp from the fishing vessel KINGDOM.

Juneau, Alaska

June-July, 2005, Juneau, Alaska By 8 PM on June 21 we had tied up ...

Updated: Nov 12, 2006 4:51pm PST

Tracy Arm Fjord : June, 2005... On June 25 we took the ADVENTURE BOUND tour boat from Juneau to Tracy Arm Fjord. Beautiful icebergs, blue as can be, graced the entrance. The boat pushed its way through the ice floes and brought us quite close to the South Sawyer Glacier. There we watched the glacier calving off fresh icebergs which splashed icy waters hight into the air. Seals and their pups lounged on on icebergs, safe from predators. As we were leaving, a juvenile humpback whale was playing in the floating kelp, lifting it up with one of its pectoral fins and snout, and rolling over and over. We would not have taken ADAGIO through the ice up to the glacier. We spoke to many other cruisers who had taken their boats in to Tracy Arm, and not a one of them had been able to get close enough to even see the South Sawyer Glacier. The polished rock faces gleamed in the sun, the South Sawyer Glacier calved new bergs, and the seal moms and pups lounged on the ice.

Tracy Arm Fjord

June, 2005... On June 25 we took the ADVENTURE BOUND tour boat from Ju ...

Updated: Nov 15, 2006 6:39pm PST

Juneau to Sitka : July 12 , 2005... While berthed in the Auke Bay Marina, north of Juneau, we enjoyed a veritable circus of bald eagles. They had been attracted to the marina by the abundance of salmon who were actively feeding in preparation for their swim up the rivers and streams to spawn. Sport fishermen would bring in their quota of fish each day for all to see as they cleaned them. It was soon time for us to depart for Sitka, where we had made landfall aboard ADAGIO last year. On the way we spotted numerous whales, and even two black bears on the beach. We would have to transit Sergius Narrows to get to Sitka, and unlike the other narrow passes we had negotiated, the Alaskan State Ferries pass through Sergius, and have the right-of-way.

Juneau to Sitka

July 12 , 2005... While berthed in the Auke Bay Marina, north of Junea ...

Updated: Nov 15, 2006 7:05pm PST

Sitka to Glacier Bay : July 19 , 2005... From Sitka we headed north exploring the west coast of Chichagof Island, where sea otters were reported to abound. Our cruising guide called this "some of the finest wilderness cruising in SE Alaska." We were not disappointed. The North Pacific Ocean calmed and the sun performed at its best. About half way up the coast, we ducked in behind small islands to follow an inside passage, protected from sea swells, and habitat for sea otters who are descendants of twenty-five sea otters which were reintroduced to these waters in 1968 from Amchitka, Alaska. We were not disappointed. Lisianski Strait and Inlet offered sheltered passage to quaint Elfin Cove for one overnight. The weather was splendid, so we phoned Glacier Bay National Park and obtained a cruising permit for the following day.

Sitka to Glacier Bay

July 19 , 2005... From Sitka we headed north exploring the west coast ...

Updated: Nov 15, 2006 7:22pm PST

Glacier Bay, Alaska : July 21 , 2005, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska Having obtained a permit to enter Glacier Bay National Park, we crossed a calm Icy Strait, and checked in at the Visitor Center for an orientation session and dinner by sunset. On the first day we visited the Grand Pacific Glacier and lovely Margerie Glacier. Access was good, and we were able to approach to within a quarter mile of the face of each glacier. After anchoring not far from the face of Reid Glacier, the second day we proceeded north in Tarr Inlet and visited the Grand Pacific Glacier and Lamplugh Glacier. The icefloes move around, and we were careful to not become trapped behind them. Sixty-two mile long Glacier Bay and most of Southeast Alaska were covered and carved by glaciers during the Wisconsin Ice Age, which began 25,000 years ago. A warming period followed, and the glaciers pulled back, revealing the polished rock surfaces they had left on the mountains. One of the guide books remarks that never in recorded history has a glacier retreated as quickly as the one that filled Glacier Bay in 1750. Of the park's 16 tidewater glaciers, six are advancing, three retreating and eight holding their own. We visited the spectacular Johns Hopkins Glacier which has been advancing for the last 50 years.

Glacier Bay, Alaska

July 21 , 2005, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska Having obtained ...

Updated: Nov 12, 2006 5:25pm PST