Always Onward Adventures

We take on the Wrangell Narrows and on to Wrangell just in time for the Anan Bear Bay. 8/21/2023 Today was our read refit day - which has truly become an art of efficiency at this point. Kicking everything off at 8a, we wrapped up laundry, hardware store trip, and groceries with everything procured and stowed by 10a. The Wrangell Narrows (today’s adventure) requires that we leave at a specific time so that we reach the midpoint (South Flats) at high water slack tide.

We head out of Juneau for some long days with good weather towards Petersburg - exploring Stephen’s passage & Frederick Sound on the way 8/18/2023 We left the dock at just after 5a - making our way down Stephen’s Passage. We will spend the next two and a half days in the passage heading south before we turn east into Frederick Sound and Petersburg. The weather is cool, but very calm - a welcome reprieve from the weather of this last week.

We leave Glacier Bay after taking a day to wait on some weather. We make for Hoonah in case more weather comes in and then head for Juneau. 8/12/2023 Our origional plan was to head out in the afternoon for Gustavos and make for Couverden Island tomorrow, but after looking at the forecast we decide to spend the night in Bartlett Cove instead. Dawn/Angela immediately inquire about a room at the lodge and much to our surprise they have one available.

The second half of our Glacier Bay excursion was heading back south towards the entrance of the park - at a slower pace than our way up to allow for more time to explore. 8/10/2023 We woke on the morning of the 10th still not totally sure what our itinerary would be for the day. Johns Hopkins Inlet was on the consideration list but we were worried about adding 20 nm to our day (10 nm to get there and 10 to get back).

It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. But every great journey needs a destination and Glacier Bay is our destination. Unfortunately for us, the forecast calls for rain during most of our stay at Glacier Bay. Fortunately, this place is beautiful even in the rain/fog and we are all in great spirits and ready to enjoy! 8/7/2023 While waiting for Dawn to arrive, we toured the longhouse - a traditionally constructed tribal house off the Hoonah Tlingit people.

This post will cover our time in Juneau - not much boating/sailing in this one, but lots of exploring in a new town with the family. 7/30/2023 We ended up spending most of the day yesterday exploring downtown Juneau - which thankfully is a very lovely town (we were worried having already committed to spending some time here). Sara and I got some magnets for the boat and ate fish & chips on the boardwalk in downtown.

7/25/2023 We woke up the following morning to a fairly strong wind coming into the bay - which meant even stronger winds in the strait. We checked the forecast on VHF and decided that today was not our day. Thankfully - we really liked this hot springs, so we did it all over again! Back up to the natural hot springs, hike all the boardwalks and explore some of the trails that lead up from the boardwalks, repeat.

7/21/2023 We departed Merrifield Bay relatively late - around 9:30a - so we could pass by Point Baker at max ebb (currents flowing the hardest) in the hopes that it would make for good whale watching. We were successful and there were quite a few whales and they were very active. We even saw them doing bubble net fishing - which is where one whale blows bubbles underwater to corral the fish for the other whales to eat.