More in Seward

Our third day in Seward finds us hanging out setting up a kayak trip to Bear Glacier for tomorrow. We will be flying into it on a helicopter so this should be exciting. We are currently staying at Millers Landing and took a walk out to Tonsina Point this morning. We are here spending time with Mary's daughter Kelly who has been up on Denaili for the last 3 months. She did two private climbs and then guided a trip for Mountaintrip.

Tonsina Point

Seward

We had our first full day in Seward, fortunately it was a sunny morning so we rode the bikes around the head of Resurrection Bay. We saw only one sailboat out, probably because the forecast was for deteriorating conditions, and now mid afternoon it looks like rain. It is quite a beautiful place to sail.

The Crossing

Tuesday afternoon July 6th;
As we hit the ocean swell, our inside passage ends and our outside crossing begins. As we go through Crossing Sound, one can look up into Glacier Bay providing there is visibility. Unfortunately although not “pea soup” we have only about a half mile visibility.

Wednesday July 7th

After a quiet night of rocked gently to sleep by a gentle swell, we arrived for a short stop at Yakutat. Yakutat is a small fishing community that is slowly upgrading now that the Alaska Marine Ferry stops here. Clearly much of Alaska has changed in the last few years as tourist dollars bring new vitality here.

Thursday July 8th

A 7AM arrival in Whittier and lo and behold the weather is exactly the same as Bellingham when we got on the ferry, cool and drizzly. All day yesterday there was a mixed swell of 3-5 feet and about a 20knot breeze on our stern. I thought it was both typical and tolerable, but quite a few people seem to stay in their cabins or generally in a prone position.

We decided to get on through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel right away as we had reservations in Seward and did not know for sure our plans for the next few days. Seward has also gone through some changes in the last few years, and we were delighted to find a new Safeway there allowing us to forgo getting to Anchorage right away for supplies. The rest of the day will be spent resting up and mapping out plans.

Heading out again

Today we board the motor vessel Kennicot

for the crossing of the Gulf of Alaska to Whittier. Weather looks to be relatively good, but since it is open ocean we will stop and pick up some Dramamine. We will also make a quick stop by the Mendenhall Glacier before heading out. Next post won't be for a few days until we reach Whittier.

Juneau

The ship docked at Juneau at 02:30 this morning, but somehow we managed to get to a motel in time to get some sleep and still get out for a 4 hour hike this morning. We hiked in back of Juneau on the Perseverance National Recreation Trail.

Here are a couple of pics from our hike;

Onboard

July 3d
Yesterday's embarkation was quite tedious. Though they wanted everyone there 3 hours before departure, we because of checkout time at the RV park, were even earlier, did not load until 6 PM (departure time). The highlight of the 5 hour wait was watching the explosive sniffing dog “playing” in the parking lot and a visit by the llama and cart show;


. We did manage a delightful lunch in old town Fairhaven.Since this ferry has many stops the efficient loading of vehicles is not any easy affair. We are fortunate that we had a berth reserved, for deck space was fairly limited by the time we came aboard. Once underway though leaving Bellingham Bay was the thrill departures should be, complete with a CG escort out


Today started beautiful morning entering the Queen Charlotte Strait. Just passed a pod of Orcas but not close enough for a photo op. Earlier went through a fairly large school of Pacific Whitesides. Weather is just about perfect, light breeze no waves to speak of, few clouds, but great visibility. The ferry route stays east of Queen Charlotte Sound so I expect a fairly smooth sail all the way to Ketchikan. What is noteworthy is scarcity of sailing yachts up in this area. Being familiar with the lower B.C. Coast this is so uncrowded. Of course conditions are not always as they are right now, in fact Queen Charlotte Strait and Sound are notorious for their intense weather. I am sitting here bemoaning the fact I did not bring charts with me to identify locations. I had thought I still had my Blue charts loaded on my Garmin Map 76s for the area but unfortunately they are not. With no Internet access I am kinda lost in space.

Ketchikan 4th of July

Sitting in the ferry terminal trying to update during the 1 hour layover before heading on to Juneau. It is overcast here but no rain, so considered a great day. Yesterday afternoon we had numerous Humpback sighting up fairly close. We have had very smooth sail, only feeling motion during open water crossings, woke up at 1 AM when we crossed the Dixon Entrance, but that lasted for only an hour. Of course this will change when we cross the Gulf of Alaska in a few days.





Dock watchers at Ketchikan;














Piloting a 418'LOA, 85'Beam through the Wrangle Narrows is quite a feat even with the minimal 17'6" draft

Going to sea on my birthday

Cannot think of a better way to spend my birthday, although I probably would prefer something a little smaller.
The M/V Columbia is Alaska Marine Highway System's largest vessel and will take us as far as Juneau. It doesn't look as though I will have internet access until at least our layover there changing ferries so departure pics will have to wait.