Alaska 2016 | Day 80 | Elfin Cove to Pelican

Today dawned clearer than yesterday, and the view out from Elfin Cove was gorgeous. The Fairweather range is truly impressive.

Elfin Cove outer dock, Fairweather Range in the background

First thing this morning I called Western Auto in Juneau and ordered a new fuel line and a bunch of fittings…I don’t want to be stuck with half a solution! They’ll drop them off at the airport midday and they should be on the afternoon flight to Pelican…we’ll see.

Anna and I walked around Elfin Cove a bit more (because walking is sometimes tough while cruising!) then met up with the Airship crew at the restaurant for breakfast.

After breakfast we got underway for the short trip to Pelican. As we motored through Cross Sound, which is open to the west to the Gulf of Alaska, we got our first taste of ocean swells. Today was calm, but the sea caves and rock formations allude to rougher times.

Sea cave in Cross Sound

Pelican is another boardwalk town. It feels larger than Elfin Cove, less touristy and more offbeat. We walked the length of town and had a pretty mellow afternoon.

Pelican, where the roads are boardwalks and the cars are ATVs

End of the road, err...boardwalk, in Pelican

Around 5:00 p.m. the afternoon Alaska Seaplanes flight arrived. Unfortunately the lady unloading the cargo couldn’t find my package. Worse, they couldn’t find a record of it in their system. Had Western Auto not dropped it off? Of course, there’s no cell phone signal in Pelican, so no easy way to check on any of this.

So I went to Rose’s Bar instead. I figured I could both drink my sorrows away (only kidding!) and chat with locals while offering ever greater sums for their Yamaha outboard fuel hoses. Half way through my first beer, and for a crisp $100 bill, I convinced a local to walk down to the docks with me to see if his fuel hose would work.

Rose's Bar, the local source for cold beer and Yamaha outboard parts 

Half way there, the Alaska Seaplanes gal caught up with me. She’d had the package all along, it had just been mislabeled! I paid her the $15 shipping fee (same day shipping from Juneau to middle-of-nowhere Alaska was only $15!!!), offered to buy the local gentleman his next beer, and headed to the boat to try the parts. Five minutes later the dinghy was working again. Thank you Western Auto and Alaska Seaplanes for getting parts to me so quickly and reasonably.

Tomorrow we’re heading “outside,” destination TBD.

19.03 nm today

2141.57 nm total