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.