Quarantined to Juneau

by svtrance

Saturday June 20- Summer Solstice.

4:04 Sunrise, 9:32 Sunset Alaskan time. Still quarantined, (day 7) we planned with more detail our journey to Juneau, places to anchor, glaciers to see along the way.

There were two avocados still on the boat, I made a batch of guacamole, reminiscent of warmer weather.

We are at the city dock in Ketchikan. This afternoon we heard a whale, when we went into the cockpit, there it was right next to our boat!

This photo of Trance was taken by our newest Facebook follower, former Philadelphia resident who now lives here in Ketchikan, James W Kistner. Thanks for the photo!

Sunday June 21- Happy Father’s Day!

Dan saw these Lions mane Jellyfish by the boat this morning.

Day 8 of quarantine. We departed Ketchikan around 9am, low tide, so the current will be with us.

Ketchikan, Alaska

Guard Island Lighthouse

Our plan is to go to Juneau, stopping in coves every night along the way, not having contact with other people until our 14 day quarantine is over.

We traveled about 31 miles from Ketchikan to Vixen Inlet, where we anchored for the night.

Monday June 22- quarantine day 9. Departed our quiet anchorage at 9:00am

Easterly Island, looks very manicure doesn’t it.

We encountered a pod of these Dall’s porpoises, they swam so fast and made quick turns, we didn’t know what they were at first, but several Facebook followers told us.

We traveled 26.5 miles today anchored in Fools Inlet around 2:30pm for the night.

Before dinner I baked a lemon bread, mostly for the heat.

For dinner I made chicken and rice, with peppers, celery, carrots and onions.

Tuesday June 23- quarantine day 10. Anchor up by 8:30am after Dan made eggs for breakfast. We’re off to Madan Bay.

As we traveled up Blake Channel, to Madan Bay, there were several small waterfalls streaming down the mountains along the way.

This is where we anchored.

Wednesday June 24- quarantine day 11. We departed our quiet little cove Madan Bay at 8:30am heading towards Deception Point Cove at the southern entrance to the Wrangall Narrows.

Thursday June 25- quarantine day 12. We departed at sunrise (4am!) to catch a favorable current going through the Wrangell Narrows. Passage through the Narrows should commence on the last part of a flood. The current enters the Narrows from both ends, when it meets in the middle, similar to the Chesapeake and Delaware canal (C &D) the current reverses.

We were going with the current exiting the Narrows, our speed over ground reached 10.1 knots, our speed was only 5.8, 4.3 knots of current.

Petersburg on average gets 106 inches of rain. It’s a small town that is more concerned with fishing and lumbering, not so much tourist, and has a strong Norwegian heritage.

After the Narrows we went south to the Le Conte Bay to see the glacier, encountering many icebergs.

  • Le Conte Glacier

Later headed back north anchored in Ruth’s Cove. It was 54 degrees in boat by morning, we were sleeping under 4 quilts and fuzzy blanket.

Friday June 26- quarantine day 13. Departed Ruth’s Cove towards Hobart Bay, Entrance Island. The cove inside the island measures about 600ft diameter. It was a cold rainy, foggy day. We did see a few whales.

Saturday June 27- quarantine day 14!

After departing Hobart Bay, we went up Holkham Bay a little ways to see the Sumdum Glacier. Afterwards, we weren’t to Taku Harbor, where we tied up to a floating raft for the night.

We were tied up between the sailboat and the fishing boat on the far side of the float in Taku Harbor.

Sunday June 28- Juneau. End of our self quarantine! We arrived at a city dock, at the Intermediate Vessel Float used for small cruise ships, yachts, and fishermen.

We are there with 2 fishing boats. There no cruise ships in the harbor as they are not operating.

The dock is near the historic section of Juneau, where all the tourist shops are. We took a walk around, it’s sad all that are businesses that are closed due to Covid-19.

This Eagle was flying around the dock.

We will stay here a few days or so, then head over to the marina in Auke Bay for a few days too.

16 thoughts on “Quarantined to Juneau”

  1. Thank you for the wonderful updates and glorious pictures . I live in a small village in England, and decided to follow you due to Covid and feelings of isolation. I know nothing of sailing, but have always loved the sea and the beauty of sailing boats. You are so lucky to have the freedom you are experiencing right now and I am grateful for being able to have a little insight into your travels. Good Luck !

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  2. Been following along since you attended our CYC virtual happy hour/SouthSound Zoom meetup a few weeks ago- looks like you guys are making great progress! I fished up in Southeast on a seine boat back in summer 2018, be sure not to miss all the hotsprings around Baranof Island!

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  3. From the tropics to arctic, incredible! Are you able to purchase SPAM for a hot meal that will stay with you? Enjoyed all of the scenery, whales, and eagles.

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  4. Hi Marlene and Dan,
    WOW WOW WOW! Thank you so much for sharing all of your outrageously amazing experiences and sightings.
    Sending love from steamy hot PA and as always, wishing you a safe journey.
    Les

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  5. What a passage!i guess not many other yachts around , although you don’t have much to compare to . The ice in the passages is a suprize or do you only see at the glaciers? Thanks for taking the time to post. Cheers Warren .

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    2. The ice was contained to the bay where the glacier was located, with a few chunks that floated in the main passage but they were mostly on the shoreline.

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  6. Hey! Guys!!! Looks like a wonderfully COOLER adventure you’re having up there!! Smoking’ hot down here on the Bay! GREAT PHOTOS!!!! Missing you two, Rick

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    Sunday, June 28, 2020, 10:56 PM -0400 from comment-reply@wordpress.com : >svtrance posted: ” >Saturday June 20- Summer Solstice. > > > >4:04 Sunrise, 9:32 Sunset Alaskan time. Still quarantined, (day 7) we planned with more detail our journey to Juneau, places to anchor, glaciers to see along the way. > > > >There were two avocados still on the boat, I” >

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