Heading South

We have left Juneau and are heading south.  Our first two nights were repeat anchorages from our trip northward:  Taku Harbor and Tracy Arm Cove.  We tied up to the public float in Taku Harbor and we caught a glimpse of our first bear, a small black bear walking in the tall grass along the shore.  

Looks like two, but connected underwater.

Continuing south toward Tracy Arm, we came across some unique icebergs floating in the channel.

Different blue color; almost transparent.

The various shapes and colors of the icebergs were astounding!  Can you imagine what elements caused them to look so different?

Two whales here, going opposite directions

Wanting more bear sightings, we headed across Stephens Passage over to Admiralty Island, the largest concentration of grizzly bears in the world.  Admiralty Island is the home to over 1,600 grizzly bears and we were hoping to see our share.  On our crossing, however, we were treated to a large gathering of humpback whales spanning a distance of about 3 miles.







While our weather was rainy and cool that day, we could have cared less because we shut down our engine and drifted and watched nature's show.

I managed to catch 3 in one photo.

We could not count all the whales.  Were there 12? 15? 20?  Who knows.  








At one point we had two whales working together slapping the water, stunning the fish, and then both would swim around eating (we supposed) and then one would return to slapping the water again.






Continuing south, we headed into Gambier Bay and were greeted, not with bears, but with two orcas, mom and youth.  Not particularly friendly, they immediately headed deeper into the bay and we chose to leave them be and go find our anchorage for the night.  Later that night we listened to the blows of the whales as they fed in the bay.



As we left Gambier Bay the next morning, a local seiner was working in the same area and we stayed to watch them bring in their catch (something Nancy had never seen).

Which is right-side up?

Pybus Bay on Admiralty Island was our next anchorage, and you can see from this photo, the beauty of the area.  Of course, when the sun comes out, all of Alaska is beautiful!!!  Two other boats were anchored nearby and we heard of a bear playing around the point, out of our view.  Getting kayaks down and venturing over around the point got us ..... no bear!!!  So, now we are wondering why the bears are shy around us.  Maybe we should ask our friends, Brian & Patti from S/V Elusive?  [sorry, inside joke]

Lucky shot of the trip!

Leaving Admiralty Island, without a single bear sighting, we were headed back across Frederick Sound and Stephens Passage, one of the main areas for whale sightings, and once again, we were treated to the "Whale Show".  I'm not sure how I lucked out on this one shot, but glad I put my camera to "multiple" shutter captures instead of single shot.

Anchoring in Portage Bay, west of Petersburg, brought us another glorious sunset.  This being the land of the midnight sun, one of the hardest things to get used to is going to sleep before it's dark and trying to stay asleep at 3:00 a.m. when it starts to get light outside.  But, staying awake late sometimes gives you amazing sunsets which, otherwise, you might just sleep through.

Devil's Thumb is on far left side of this mtn range

We returned to Petersburg, one of my favorite places in Alaska, for a couple of nights, getting laundry done while Jerry worked on replacing our anchor light (which stopped working and while trying to fix, got dropped into the drink--ain't it fun!!).

Seals sharing the space atop a channel marker.

Wrangell Narrows is south out of Petersburg.  This 22-mile channel is filled with more than 50 buoys marking this narrow passage.  It's imperative that you stay between the red and green buoys while transiting this passage.  All hands on the boat must be paying close attention to not only the markers, but watching for faster boats coming behind you.

Another inhabitant of channel markers.  Eagles are so
prolific in Alaska, they should be called "eagulls".

We bypassed Wrangell on the southbound journey, and instead headed west to the town of Coffman Cove, "a quaint drinking village with a serious fishing problem".  We had to laugh when the Tsunami Evacuation Route sign was at the bottom of the steps leading up to the local bar.  All were friendly in the fishing town.  "Serious fishing problem" is an understatement as these fisherman go in and out at all hours of the day and night.  

Ketchikan, three days in Misty Fjords, and a calm day crossing Dixon Entrance has us back at Prince Rupert.  We'll be here a day or two fixing a steering problem.  Yes, we have had our share of "things that go wrong", but we have also had our share of "things that go right!"  It's all part of boating, and luckily Jerry is "Mr. Fix It" and has been able to keep us on the go.  We'll post again when we're next at an internet spot (should be Shearwater, B.C.)  Until then, safe travels to everyone!