Santa Anna Inlet to Meyers Chuck 2 hours 26.5 miles

Fred went out in the pouring rain to get our crab pots.  We only had one “keeper” but he was a good size Dungeness.  We will have fresh crab for dinner tonight.  What a difference a day makes.  The water is calm in the inlet but the wind rapidly increased to 20-34 kts.  We were heading to Ketchikan but as the seas reached 4-5 feet we sneaked into Myers Chuck.  This is a small community in a protected bay.  We anchored because the small dock was full.  Even in here were getting about 1 ft. swells that rocked the boat.  We put the dinghy down so we could go for a walk on shore.  We were able to order sweet rolls the last time were here and Fred wants some for breakfast tomorrow.  Oh no.  The sweet roll lady has packed up and moved.!! Merlin was adorable playing with a little female Rat Terrier (terrible name, cute dog).  We now have a new noise and problem on the boat. The shower sump pump is cycling every couple of minutes.  Fred will deal with it later.

Petersburg to Santa Anna Inlet 6 ¾ hours 81 miles

We went for a latte and then departed Petersburg.  Petersburg is in the northern end of Wrangell Narrows.  We caught the tide right for the first half of our trip in the Narrows.  We were riding the flood with a 3 kt push.  We went as fast as 13.6 kts.  It took us 2 hours to pass through the Narrows.  We never saw a large vessel in there, fortunately.  We usually would stop in Wrangell but the weather is so good we pass it up and head on.  Fred ran the engines up to wide open throttle (WOT) in Sumner Straight.  We reached 2750 RPM and 18.7 speed over ground (SOG).  Zimovia Straight continued to be flat-calm.  We were going to stop in Frosty Bay but since the cruising was so easy we continued to Santa Anna Inlet.  We have never been here before.  The inlet does not offer much protection from westerly winds but we tucked into the head of the inlet and were quite comfortable.  Douglass (cruising manual) says that crabbing is good here so we put the dinghy down and placed the crab pots.  We are near a waterfall but we can’t see it.  We took the dinghy near shore and could see the waterfall hidden in a wooded area.  It is such a nice sound. 

Tracy Arm Cove to Petersburg 6 ¾ hours, 81 miles

It is rainy & foggy but the water is calm as we exit Tracy Arm over the bar.  The cruise ship Volendam is preparing to enter Tracy Arm as we are preparing to exit. Fred talked to the cruise ship and made them aware we were exiting and would be out of their way promptly.  We are just a speck in the water to them and want to be sure they see us.  Stephens Passage was relatively calm but as we entered Frederick Sound the wind picked up to 25-35 kts and the seas built to 3-5 feet. As we cut through the waves, the wind would pick up the water and throw it over the fly bridge. It was a scary site. We were grateful to get a slip in Petersburg South Harbor. The Harbormaster said that the fishing fleet was in and space was tight.  We docked in a line of Seiners.  These are very large and sturdy fishing boats that use a net for catching fish.  We have come to really see the beauty of these vessels.  The owners take great pride in them and they are washed every time they come into port.  Of course we head over to our favorite café and got our afternoon lattes. 
http://alansorum.suite101.com/alaskan-purse-seine-boats-a101462.html

Juneau to Tracy Arm Cove 4 ¼ hours 46 miles

Well, we are finally going to turn around and head south. We were beginning to think we should look at apartments here because we were going to be spending the winter in Juneau.  The wind and water are perfectly flat.  We headed over to Petro Marine to fill up the fuel tanks.  We took 354.8 gallons @ $3.95/gallon.  Our trip back down Gastineau Channel and out to Stephens Passage was so flat we could have used our kayaks out here.  Our destination is Tracy Arm Cove.  The day is mostly sunny and we can see all the mountain tops around us. 

Juneau

Joan is coming home and Fred has done all the laundry and cleaned the boat.   Joan was expected at 9:30 PM but a delay got her in at 10:30 pm.  The flight into Juneau was frightening because it was foggy/rainy/windy and the plane was bouncing about and I knew that we were flying between two mountains to get to the airport.  I was very happy to see my boys (Fred & Merlin) but I was sorrier to say goodbye to my friends and sunny California.

Juneau

Fred has been stuck in the rain and wind in Juneau while Joan has been enjoying the sun in Southern California. The repaired prop showed up Thursday and the diver was available the same day. On it went with no trouble. What a relief to have the boat back together again.

Juneau

Joan has a 6 am flight out of the Juneau Airport.  That means that we have to get to airport before 5 am.  These early flights always seem like a good idea…  The airport is very small and Alaska is the main carrier here.  I am on a flight to Seattle and then Seattle to Long Beach, CA.  Poor Fred is staying on the boat with Merlin while I am meeting girlfriends from high school (8 of us who graduated in 1969) to take a short cruise from Long Beach to Catalina & Ensenada, Mexico. 

Juneau

We went out to Mendenhall Glacier today.  It is overcast but not raining at the moment.  There were a few salmon still heading upstream.  The salmon are bright red in color.  As we walked along the boardwalk along the river one could see half eaten salmon everywhere and the grass was beaten down into bear size paths.  The smell was pretty unpleasant but it was very interesting looking down at the end lifecycle of the salmon.  Apparently the glacier calved last week and caused flooding down the river due to river water released from under the glacier.  No buildings were lost.  I want to compare my photos of the glacier from 2007 and see if there is any change. 

Juneau

The harbor office has a great contact sheet for services in Juneau.  There are several car rental agencies but we called Rent-a Wreck.  It is run by women who couldn’t have been more helpful.  The only car they had was a 4-5 year old Lincoln Continental with 83,000 miles on it.  It was extremely comfortable and they gave it to us at the small car rate! 

Juneau

The diver came this morning and checked the hull (no damage) and removed the starboard prop.  Fred had to borrow a prop-puller from Sumdum because the one the diver had was too big.  The diver took the prop to the local prop shop for repair.  Fred got a call from them later and found out that our prop is too big for them to work on.  Fred authorized them to send the prop to Kruger in Seattle. For what this cost, we think it traveled in a first class seat.  The diver will re-install the repaired prop when it returns.

Taku Harbor to Juneau 23 miles 2 ¼ hours

We are heading to Juneau today.  It’s another sunny day and everything looks so beautiful.  There are snow-capped mountains everywhere.  We had to dodge the gill-netters again this morning.  Fishing is a really tough occupation.  We followed the cruise ship Westerdam into Gastineau Channel.  I tried calling the harbor office for a slip assignment but we must hail the harbormaster on VHS 73.  Fortunately we were able to get a side tie on dock 5 in Harris Harbor.  This marina is the closest to downtown and great for walking.  The charter boat Sumdum is behind us on the dock.  Fred got the number for a diver and made arrangements for him to come tomorrow.

Tracy Arm Cove to Taku Harbor 43.7 miles 4 ½ hours

We chose a beautiful sunny day to head north again.  We saw a group of humpback whales in Stephens Passage.  We stopped the boat to watch them.  One startled us by coming out of the water on the starboard side.  Of course I didn’t have the camera ready. I got some great shots of the whales spouting but they didn’t put on much of a show.  It is very cool, however, to just stop and listen to the sounds they make.  Makes one feel very small.  As we passed Limestone Inlet we encountered about a dozen gillnetter boats with their huge nets stretched out behind them.  We carefully stayed outside of their zone and moved on to Taku Harbor.  The Forest Service has a beautiful T shaped dock here.  There is only one other boat there so we have our choice of locations to dock.  We chose the outside of the T at the end.  There is no water or power here but at least we can take Merlin for a walk on terra firma.  We met some nice folks who are traveling on a 25’ C-Dory.  They live in Juneau and gave us some great suggestions for places to see and to eat.  The fellow also gave us information for a diver to go down and remove the damaged prop.

Tracy Arm Cove

We hung out here passing the time.  We raced up the coast to get to Alaska, now we have to slow down.  Joan leaves Juneau on 8/14/11 to fly to sunny California.  We got a lot of chores and cleaning done.  This is a spectacular spot to stay for awhile.