Tuesday July 21- we left Sitka around noon traveled about 43 miles to Still Harbor. For two days we will be in the North Pacific Ocean, out of the protection of the Inside Passage. The winds were light, less than 7 knots.
The anchor was dropped around 7:30pm in Still Harbor. For dinner I made Creamy Chicken and pasta with roasted red peppers.
Still Harbor
After dinner I baked a banana bread, mostly to warm up the boat. In Sitka we purchased a bag of a dozen ripe bananas just for bread.
Wednesday July 22- anchor up by 8:30am. The sky is blue today! As we cruise south along the rocky Alaskan coast we passed more than two dozen vessels trolling the waters for fish.
Craig serenaded the whales to come play to no avail.(17 seconds)
By 5pm we dropped anchor in Egg Harbor.
For dinner I made pasta with a sausage in the sauce. Extra sauce was made so tomorrow I’ll add kidney beans and spices and make it chili. You may think it odd, chili in July but temperature here is in mid 50’s, 40’s at night, on the water.
Thursday July 23- departed Egg Harbor by 8:30am. Destination Totem Bay.
Friday July 17- We left Hoonah around 10am, heading south to Sitka.
A large pod of whales swam by us on the Icy Strait. There were at least 8-10 of them.
The wind and waves were greater than predicted, so we stopped a little earlier than planned. By 5 pm, the anchor was dropped in Pavlof Harbor.
Saturday July 18- anchor up by 8:00am. More whales this morning! A few Humpbacks and a couple of Orcas. I think I need a bigger zoom lens!
We traveled about 58 miles today to Adams Channel Bight.
Dan went up to bow to ready the anchor. While standing there he saw an Orca swimming towards the boat just below the waters surface, then the Orca swam right under us.
Sunday July 19- anchor up by 8am. Did I mention it was a cold, foggy, rainy day in Alaska? Locals have said the weather was great May, but June and July have been exceptionally rainy.
We arrived in Sitka around 4pm. I think we got one of the last slips available as we heard the marina tell several boats after us they were full.
Things that go bump in afternoon. A seam on the holding tank popped. A less than two year old tank! The manufacturer, Wellington Plastics said it’s out of warranty but they would repair it for free, if we ship the tank back to them. This however creates a logistical problem. Instead we will look for a plastic welder in the Pacific Northwest to have it repaired. They along with the service department at Haven Harbor in Rock Hall who installed it, both said they never heard of tank splitting like that.
Monday July 20- Mark on fishing vessel Lady Linda, we were parked next to in the marina. He’s a troller mostly for salmon, typically he fishes by himself.
Today was laundry and shopping day, plus we walked 8.2 miles around Sitka.
Here in Sitka, at Baronof Castle, which is now a scenic park sitting high upon a hill overlooking the harbor, where a mansion once stood, is the place where documents were signed when the US purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867. July 4, 1959, the first 49 star American flag was raised here, at the Castle. Alaska became the 49th state, January 3, 1959.
St. Michaels Russian Orthodox Cathedral built in 1848 by St. Innocent the first bishop of Alaska. Russian explorers, brought the Orthodox Faith to Alaska.
On display in town is this canoe, carved by the Tlingit to commemorate the centennial, in 1967, the purchase of Alaska.
Sheet’ Kwanzaa Naa Kahului community house resides at the entrance to where the Indian Village used to be. It’s a gathering place for clan families and special occasions like performances, graduations, events, even weddings. We spoke with Dale Linstrom, who is the tribe travel tours manager while there, he was very informative regarding the house as well as some Alaskan history like the Tlingit language is also taught in schools here. One interesting fact, only Alaskan natives can hunt otters, seals and seal lions. Every otter caught has to be tagged and processed.
In Sitka National Historical Park there are a few miles of trails in the Forrest with replica totem poles throughout. Originally totem poles stood in tribal villages, not a forest, near the ocean where travelers could see them. There is also a Visitor’s Center which was closed. Be Bear aware.
The Bishop’s House, completed in 1842 and was the center of Russian Orthodox Church, a diocese that stretched from California to Siberian
St. Peters-by-the-Sea, built in 1899 by Episcopalians. The church is listed on the National Register of Historical Places
The Prospector
For lunch we stopped at Ashmo’s food truck in town. Dinner we cooked Alaskan sausage which has reindeer meat in it.
Wednesday July 15- laundry day, which sometimes is an all day affair at a laundromat, especially here when there are two washers and one working dryer, three loads to wash, another person waiting. I know I only had one of each machine back home, but it’s not like I can throw in a load and come back later.
We had take out from the Icy Point Lodge. There was a picnic table on the deck overlooking the water where we had our dinner. It was trivia night inside with lots of people.
Working out back was a man named Chris. Not an Alaskan native, but now Hoonah is his home. He gave us a mason jar of homemade smoked salmon, what a treat!
Parked next to us in the marina is a couple from Washington, s/v Koru Marjorie and John they are both originally from New Zealand. They typically leave their boat in Petersburg for the winter, sail around Alaska in the summer, (as do lots of other sailors) often with their adult grandchildren. They’ve recently sailed to Hawaii and back to Alaska.
Marina in Hoonah
Jr./Sr. High School
Thursday July 16- Dan and Craig added another coat of teak sealer to the rails this morning. Later we all walked to the other side of town where the cruise ship terminals are.
One thing I neglected to mention since Panama, is coffee. Every county we be visited, we purchased roasted coffee beans from. There is a French press on board a gift from Danielle as well as a hand coffee grinder, that’s from Mike.
While leaving the dock, we met a couple from Nashville, who had just caught a greater than 70 lb Halibut. We watched his carefully filet the fish, then gave us about 2 lbs of it.
Cannery
Our niece Kari’s husband Nico built this ropes course here at the cruise ship terminal.
New gondola opening 2021.
We met Master Carvers Gordon Greenwald and Herb Sheakley they was carving a totem pole from cedar that will be displayed in town as a veterans memorial. Gordon also carved the totem poles in front of the Huna Tlingit House in Glacier Bay. He also told us a bit of history of the area, and of the Tlingit community. One interesting fact, all school children in Hoonah are required to learn the Tlingit language.
For dinner I cooked the halibut we were given along with roasted potatoes. The fish was fabulous!
Sunday July 12- it’s 12:15am, the three of us are almost sound asleep, when the boat rocks from a wave on a calm night. Since no sound of a boat, we all rose gathering in the salon. While looking out porthole windows, we see whale activity and splashing in the water off the starboard quarter, in Alaskan twilight. Parallel to the boat about 30 yards away, the spout of a whale was seen as well as it’s arching back. Suddenly, we all see a wave coming right at us like a torpedo and BAM we are violently hit broadside by a whale, creating at least 10 degree roll of the boat to Port, the impact shook everything inside the boat and us, knocking me off balance to the other side of the boat. It was a significant jolt. After collecting ourselves, we see there is no further sign of the whale or apparent damage to the boat. It took us hours to finally settle down and go back to sleep. We reported the incident to the Park and their Marine Biologist, they said our boat is about the same size as Humpback, this is not a normal occurrence, the whale may have mistaken us for another whale. It was recommended if you encounter a whale while anchored, make noise, start the engine ect. There have been no reports or sightings of an injured whale in the Bay.
In the morning we headed up Tarr Inlet along with s/v Second Wind and s/v Jan. Neither of them heard our whale encounter during the night.
At the end of the Tarr Inlet are Grand Pacific Glacier, and the Margerie. The Pacific was very actively cracking, not very pretty to look at compared to Margerie, it’s covered in silt and stones.
The Grand Pacific Glacier, N59 3.44 the point farthest North we traveled.
Margerie Glacier was very actively calving, we witnessed more than a dozen spectacular ice falls.
s/v Second Wind
s/v Jan
We took photos of each other’s boats in front of The Margerie Glacier, exchanged email addresses.
With the clearer sky’s, it warranted another drive by of Rendu Inlet, to view the Rendu Glacier. Afterwards we headed towards Blue Mouse Cove for the night.
Rendu Glacier
We dropped anchor in Blue Mouse Cove at 7:30pm. Joining our new friends plus another sailboat and a Motor boat.
Chili, perfect for dinner after a day a glaciers
Monday July 13- socially distant dinghy raft up having coffee with s/v Second Wind, Nancy and Art and s/v Jan, Jan and Giorgio. We gathered at our boat. I made a cinnamon pecan strudel to share.
We left Blue Mouse Cove around 11am. Heading towards Giekie Inlet. The Giekie Glacier seen atop the mountain in the Inlet.
There were two inlets off Giekie, The Tyndall Cove and Shag Cove.
Tyndall Cove
Shag Cove
Back on the West Arm, we spotted several whales. This one was close enough for me to photograph.
For dinner I made Italian Sausage White Bean soup with homemade Cheesy bread.
We anchored for the night in Fingers Bay.
Tuesday July 14- today our 7 day permit expired and were exiting Glacier Bay, this truly was a lifetime experience!!!
We traveled about 40 miles across the Icy Strait to the marina in Hoonah. Hoonah has the largest Tlingit community in Alaska. Located on Chichagof Island, Icy Strait Point, an authentic Alaska Native village, established when the Tlingits were forced from their ancestral lands by advancing glaciers. Also, this island has the largest population of brown bears on earth.
We saw this brilliant rainbow on our way to get take out from The Fisherman’s Daughter.
Wednesday July 8- we entered Glacier Bay National Park around 1:30 pm.
In 1925, President Coolidge established the area as Glacier Bay National Monument. In 1980 under President Jimmy Carter, the Bay became a National Park and Preserve, encompassing 3.3 million acres of mountains, glaciers, forests and waterways. It is part of a 25 million acre World Heritage Site. One of the world’s largest protected natural areas.
In 2019, Glacier Bay welcomed more than 640,000 visitors.
Glaciers are basically ice in motion. When it snows in higher elevations, the massive amounts of snow compact, forming ice. Gravity influences the ice to slide down the mountainside. A few glaciers are called “tidewater glaciers”, they reach all the way to the ocean. These glaciers have a cycle advance and retreat.
Huna Tribal House – a place for visitors to learn about the Tlingit tribe and traditions.
In 2001, a pregnant whale named Snow was struck and instantly killed by a cruise ship. Below is her skeleton.
We departed the Visitor Center around 3:30pm, headed towards our anchor spot at South Sandy Cove West, where we spent the night.
Thursday July 9- we traveled up the East Arm towards Muir Inlet. Adams Inlet and the majority of Muir Inlet were closed to all motorized vessels. Select other inlets also have similar restricted dates for motorized vessels and cruise ships.
Casement Glacier can be seen atop the tree line.
Swimming Brown Bear
Humpback Whale
Humpback Whale
Seal
Otter
Riggs Glacier
Wachusett Inlet, the water was so blue down there, I called it Glacier Blue. After 5 miles as the fog was rolling in and visibility was getting low, we turned around headed for Sebree Cove, where we’ll drop anchor for the night.
For dinner I made homemade vegetable beef soup. Yes it’s July and winter mittens and coats are on this chilly, gray, foggy, rainy day in Alaska.
Sebree Cove
Sebree Cove
Sebree Cove
Friday July 10- anchor up by 10am. Traveling slow today hoping the fog will lift as day progresses. First point of interest, going up the Tidal Inlet on the West Arm.
Tidal Inlet
Brown Bears in Tidal Inlet
A “face” on the rocks
The Rendu Inlet is closed to all motorized vessels from May 1-September 15. The glacier was hard to see through the fog.
Topeka Glacier
Ferris Glacier
Reid Glacier
We anchored for the night, in Reid Inlet, about 1 mile from the Reid Glacier.
Saturday July 11- the boat was moved closer to the Reid Glacier this morning, we lowered the dinghy and went ashore. We walked on the glacier! Later we traveled the West Arm to the Johns Hopkins Inlet and saw the Lamplugh, Gillman and Johns Hopkins Glaciers.
Reid Glacier
Lamplugh Glacier
Gillman Glacier
Johns Hopkins Glacier
Johns Hopkins Glacier calved 5 different times when we were there. First we heard cracking, then a loud boom like fireworks before the ice fell into the water.
It’s been very quiet here in the Bay. Today is the first day we was another boat, Nancy and Art on s/v Second Wind from Oregon. They socially distanced walked the glacier also this morning. Later we spoke on the radio with Giorgio and Jan s/v Jan from Mississippi. The three of us are all anchored for the night back in Reid Inlet.
We traveled 50 miles from Auke Bay, dropped anchor in Sawmill Bay.
We anchored here.
Craig is making dinner, a Smith family favorite meatloaf recipe, served with baked rice.
Wednesday July 8- we departed our anchorage at 8:30am. We have a permit to enter Glacier Bay!
We saw Orcas! There are at least 5 of them, a few were small.
During normal times, the application to obtain a permit to enter Glacier Bay had to be requested 60 days in advance of the day you wanted to enter. Because of Covid-19, it’s now 14 days. They (The National Park) limit the number of boats in the Bay on any given day, you are only allowed to stay for 7 days. Normally that would be 25 private vessels, 2 cruise ships, 3 tour boats and 6 charter vessels. Charters, tours and cruises are not operating now.
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First stop, the visitor center. The yellow circles with anchors represent possible places we will anchor for the nights.
The city of Juneau is there because of gold. In 1880 two prospectors, Richard Harris and Joe Juneau, guided by Tlingit Chief Kowee, struck gold at the mouth of Gold Creek. During the next sixty years, Juneau produced $150 million of gold, $7 billion today! Gold, Silver, Lead, Zinc as well other minerals are still mined today. The top five industries in Alaska are oil, tourism, fishing, mining and timber.
Thursday July 2- We left the Intermediate Dock in Juneau mid morning headed to Auke Bay Marina, the other side, north of downtown Juneau. Cruising down Stephens Passage, passed this super yacht along the way, Googled it’s name, she’s owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Bravo Eugenia, it’s 357 feet long.
We arrived around 4:30 pm there were several Eagles flying around, one landed on top of our mast.
Shortly after arriving we left to do laundry. We went to Squires Laundry and Showers near the marina. Super expensive $3.50 for reg washer $6.50 super washer, dryers are $0.25 per minute.
Ordered takeout from Red Spruce restaurant near the laundromat. We both had delicious salmon burgers.
Friday July 3- boat interior cleaning day, food shopping day. New crew, Craig Smith arrival day!
Saturday July 4- Happy 4th of July!
Craig rented a car for a few days, first stop, Mendenhall Glacier, hiked a few of the trails there.
Lupine
Afterwards we drove around Downtown Juneau, stopped at Tracy’s Crab Shack for lunch. we all had the sampler, Crab bisque, 4 mini crab cakes and a King Crab leg.
Later we hiked up Preservation Trail just shy of the Mt Juneau Trailhead.
Preservation Trail, we hiked about 2 miles, out and back.
No fireworks here tonight. The Juneau Assembly voted against an ordinance to authorized the Fourth of July fireworks show and mandated the use of face coverings during the show. The ordinance didn’t pass, no fireworks show.
Sunday July 5- pretty much a lazy day, we drove around a few back roads till the road ended. You can’t get to Juneau by car, only air and sea. The rental car was returned, a few items picked up at grocery store, that we forgot.
Monday July 6- Happy Birthday to Me!
A couple loads of laundry done, before we leave Juneau tomorrow. Planned our next routes and anchorage locations.
Dan and Craig made dinner. A boat favorite on this trip Creamy Tuscan Chicken with SunDried Tomatoes over egg noodles.
Monday June 29- We walked to the Ace Hardware store this morning, picked up a water filter for our water maker. As well as pipe insulation for a few of the sweating water lines.
Exploring more of Historic Downtown Juneau.
Tuesday June 30- Dan is running a marathon in Alaska! Not a sanctioned race, they were all cancelled, he’s running the distance. The boat was his “ water station”.
At the startAfter 14 milesFinished!
Dan finished his marathon, took a tumble at mile 17, but still pushed to finish!
Wednesday July 1- explored more of Historic Downtown Juneau today, a 6 mile walk. Lots of Ravens, sounds of car tires with studs on, and the smell of Lilacs almost in full bloom.
Arrived back at the boat and Dan took a long nap. It was 70 degrees and sunny here today, a nice break from the gray skies and rain. There was measurable rainfall here in Juneau 29 out of the 30 days in June.
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!
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.
Sunday June 14- departed Anacortes, Washington around 9am, cruising around the San Juan Islands.
We called Canadian customs regarding transiting through Canada to Alaska. They said we could as long as we don’t go ashore, get off the boat. We are allowed to anchor for emergencies.
Patos Island is a small island in the San Juan Islands, Washington, home to the Patos Island Lighthouse. It sits at the Boundary Pass between Canada and the United States.
Sunset on the Strait of Georgia
The Strait of Georgia is part of the Pacific Ocean between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada.
Discovery Passage, another rainy day
Monday June 15- Discovery Passage is the main channel connecting the Strait of Georgia and Johnstone Strait. The section known as Seymour Narrows begins about 11 miles from the south end of the Passage where it enters the Georgia Strait, near the Campbell River.
Wikipedia
The adverse current in Seymour Narrows is expected to be over 7 knots today (but can go as high as 15 knots) by the time we would have arrived. We anchored at Gowlland Harbor to wait till the current shifts.
Seymour Narrows is a 3 mile stretch, 820 yards wide, known for strong tidal currents. Ripple Rock was a twin peak mountain 9 feet at low tide below the surface of the water that sat a the southern entrance. After 2.5 years of drilling, in April of 1958, the “mountains” were blown up using 1375 tons of explosives. The clearing is now 45 feet at low tide.
The Narrows
Tuesday June 16- Sunrise 5:15am, spent the day sailing up Queen Charlotte Strait in Canada. The wind will increase by mid day tomorrow, so we will tuck in at Caamano Sound around Banks Island back to the Inner Passage before it arrives. We also planned our Great Alaskan Sail!
Sunset 10:01pm, the rest of night was if the sun never completely set.
Wednesday June 17- Sunrise 5:11am. Today was the day we were to arrive in Seward, Alaska in anticipation of Dan running the Mayors Marathon in Anchorage, which was cancelled. With all the weather delays we had since Costa Rica, the boat never would made there. We would have left it at a marina somewhere and flown to Anchorage.
The day started warm, sunny, partly cloudy sky.
As the afternoon approached the wind increased, we saw up to 24 knots out of the South East. Overnight there will be a Gale warning. We picked out an anchorage that has protection from a southerly wind. We should arrive at 1:30am. Being so close to the Solstice, nights are more like twilight.
At 10:37pm, GMT-9, (2:37am Philadelphia time) Alaskan time, we crossed the border from Canada!
We sailed our boat to Alaska!!
The wind was slowly increasing as did the rain. We identified a couple of anchorages to stop for the night. Sunset 10:11pm Vancouver time
Thursday June 18- 4:04am Sunrise, 9:28pm Sunset, Alaska time. We ended up tucked in this cove, Tamgras Harbor for the day. We dropped anchor at 3:30am, then we both slept till 10am.
In the afternoon I baked chocolate chip cookies, checked us into the USA via the CBP Roam App. A customs officer from Ketchikan called on the phone, easy peasy all checked in. Now we have to quarantine for 14 days. Our travels here took 5 days, so they count as we did not go ashore in Canada. We are allowed to continue our travels as long as we don’t have have contact with other people.
Friday June 19- Happy Birthday Beth!
Sunrise 4:04am. We arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska around 1:30 pm.
Ketchikan, Alaska Our yellow quarantine flag is flying.
For dinner I made what was supposed to a clam sauce with mushrooms over linguini. Apparently I picked up two cans of Crab meat instead of Clams, so it ended up as a crab sauce.
Sailing Trance 
