Another warm, sunny day in Alaska? You bet! When I got up at
7:00, the salon and pilothouse were already toasty warm.
Clad in shorts and flip flops, we walked around Haines for a
bit, dumped the garbage, filled the water tank, and headed off. I didn’t really
have a destination in mind, but quickly settled on Sullivan West Bight.
The scenery along Lynn Canal continues to delight. On a
clear day, several glaciers are always in view. The peaks are jagged—reminiscent
of the Tetons or Sawtooths. Boat traffic is light and anchorages are more
plentiful than I expected.
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| Leaving Haines. Check out that house! |
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| One of many glaciers |
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| And another glacier |
Sullivan West Bight looks kind of small on the chart, but
it’s actually huge. We dropped the hook in 70 feet of water and relaxed in the
sun. After a little while I was hot—the thermometer was reading in the high
70s—so I took a swim. Remarkably, the water wasn’t that cold and the underwater visibility was decent.
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| Anchored in Sullivan West Bight |
A couple weeks ago I’d hit a piece of nearly-invisible ice
in Endicott Arm. I never did see how big it was, but it felt big. The boat
lurched as the berg made contact, followed by expensive-sounding noises as the
thing bounced along the hull. I’d immediately checked the bilges—which were
dry—and later that day inspected the waterline carefully. No damage. But now
that I was in the water, I figured I should check more thoroughly.
I grabbed the fins and mask from the lazarette and dove
under. Thankfully, my inspection revealed no damage, though I did find more
growth on the hull than I expected. New anti-fouling paint was applied in
February, and the boat hasn’t sat still for more than a few weeks since then.
When I get down to Desolation Sound (warmer water) I’ll have to dive the boat
and scrub the scum off.
Later we wandered around shore. Several houses, most in fairly good shape, and some heavy equipment are ashore. A couple small boats were on the beach, and we could hear people talking in some of the homes.
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| Old landing craft, permanently beached. |
20.72 nm today
1785.79 nm total
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