CHAPTER

Nanaimo to Port Hardy

To Shearwater

To Khutze

To East Inlet

To Prince Rupert

To Foggy Bay

To Ketchikan, Metlakatla and Clover Bay

To Wrangell and Petersburg

To Partage, Hobart and Endicott

To Auke Bay (Juneau)

To Funter, Tenakee and Saltery Bay

To Beehive and Sitka

To Still Bay, Ship Cove and El Capitan

To the Cave and Nossuk Bay

To Craig, Soda and Elbow

To Nichols and across Dixon Entrance

Prince Rupert, Captians Cove and Ala Passage

To Klemto and Fancy Cove

To Kwakume, Fury Cove and Blenden Harbour

To Port McNeil, Neville and Gowlland

To Henry Bay,  Northwest Bay, Nanaimo and Pender Harbour

photos

SAILING ALASKA 2007 (Ch. 5)

"THE INSIDE PASSAGE" - Imagine a stretch of mountain-hemmed sea, a narrow corridor walled with thousand foot cliffs rising straight from the ocean. Imagine prehistoric forests…seals sunning themselves on iceflow …a herd of killer whales. Imagine sailing through heavy seas on the open Pacific and in among thickly packed and threatening icebergs. Such are the experiences you may have on a cruise along the Inside Passage, between Seattle, Washington and Skagway, Alaska." - It is just a month now since we started on this exciting journey and every day is a new adventure with a couple more weeks ahead of us before we make our way home. Our last stop was Petersburg (Mitkoff Island) which is the home port of over 300 fishing boats. Named for its founder, Peter Buschmann, who built the first cannery and sawmill here in the late 1800’s, clean, neatly laid-out Petersburg (pop. 3,600) is famous for its Norwegian heritage. Known as the halibut capital of Alaska, its economy depends on its fishing fleet and seafood processing plants. (It’s the major fish-processing centre in the southeast.) Because it lacks a deep-water port, large cruise ships do not call here, and the town has retained its friendly, unhurried atmosphere. We had two great days here!

JUNE 15 - This beautiful sunny morning, we travel northward a couple hours and into the head of Thomas Bay to view Baird Glacier – our first. We passed our first iceberg as well. The water temperature was down to 3.5 C at one point. Trust our cameras captured the all around beauty!! Passing into Scenery Cove on the way back out to Frederick Sound we find a nice breeze blowing and that has brought a smile to Capt. Dave’s face as we can go on "sail mode" for awhile. Nice and quiet but not too easy for me to keep the computer on my knees. For awhile the computer was really frustrating me and as I looked out our cabin window and saw the ocean going by making it look like we would be below sea level any moment I wondered if that would have any bearing on the problem?? That brought a good chuckle from Norm! It is fun listening to the "tacking" happening on deck and feeling the "dipping" of the boat quickly going from one side to the other. Good thing we are all good sailors!! We arrived in Portage Bay on north Kupreanof Island where Dave promptly caught six small sole while fishing from the boat. Norm filleted them for eating another day (we have no problem keeping the freezer active) - and then was getting the traps ready when we looked out and spotted a bear on the beach. The girls will take the "doggies" for their walk to another beach! We had put the prawn traps down on the outside of the bay and the crab traps close by the boat. Saturday morning surprise – "no crab traps to be seen"!! - but Dave recovered the one that had wandered out of the bay and with binoculars spotted the other which we recovered as well. The current was just too strong and now we wondered what about the prawn traps?? Thankfully they were okay but over a mile away, no crab or prawns that day! Just thankful for the recovery!! It was another grand day as we made our way northward and into Stephens Passage where we anchored in Hobart Bay. Two small cruise boats were tied up to the public float so we anchored again. Norm and I went out in the skiff to jig but no luck. No crabs and even our "Saturday Night Movie" was a disappointment! Canasta would have been better even if the girls would have lost! BUT, Marg. made some good cinnamon biscuits and after a good dinner of sole, etc., that gave us all a lift!

BACK TO HOME

SUNDAY morning we woke up to a dull day weather-wise but excitement ran high as we traveled northward towards Holkham Bay and into Endicott Arm. The whales entertained us as they did their thing and the icebergs kept getting bigger and prettier with their spectacular shades of aqua ranging from light to dark and some with an eagle or two perched on top, along with other smaller birds. Then as we made our way across the bay to Tracy Arm the whales put on an even greater show for us. We cruised around the entrance of Tracy Arm and I will give a brief quote from a book – "Tracy Arm extends north and south for 22 miles to its head where North Sawyer and South Sawyer glaciers, two scenic tidewater glaciers generate the blue and white icebergs encountered in the fjord. Magnificent glacier-polished peaks of up to 5,000 ft. flank Tracy Arm which is often clogged by small icebergs. S. Sawyer Glacier is very active, and huge blocks of ice fall off its face into very deep water. These set up waves that have been observed as high as 25 ft. Tracy Arm, with its deep waters and bold shores, is one of the outstanding fjords of S.E. Alaska." It is 8 degrees C. outside and we are now making our way back across Endicott Arm to anchor in Sanford Cove for the night.