Alaska 2016 | Day 36 | Tracy Arm Cove to Taku Harbor

As much as I wanted to show everyone Tracy Arm, I chickened out. Realistically, we wouldn't make it far enough in to see North Sawyer Glacier or South Sawyer Glacier. The ice was just too thick. We've had a great trip so far—no show-stopping mechanical problems—and I just didn't feel like pushing my luck by venturing into thick ice.

We had a lazy morning in Tracy Arm Cove. The sun was shining and everyone came over to Safe Harbour for a waffle breakfast. Lots of fun.

Around 11:00 a.m., we headed to Taku Harbor, about halfway between Tracy Arm Cove and Juneau. Taku has a good public dock that we could all tie up to. After seven consecutive nights at anchor, it's nice to have easy access to shore.

Calm water in Stevens Passage

Snowcapped mountains on Admiralty Island

We spotted several whales along the way, including this one. It surfaced 150 yards in front of the boat and was traveling on a course perpendicular to and away from my boat. I quickly pulled the throttle to neutral and it turned around and headed right for us.

Check out the blowhole!

Then it dove under the boat

When we arrived at Taku there were already five boats on the dock, but there was enough room for all of us.

Looking out the entrance to Taku Harbor

Busy dock at Taku Harbor

Some of us explored on shore—the old cannery and the rope swing—and then hung out on the dock. A little later we did a potluck dinner on the dock, which was excellent other than the massive number of no-see-ums and black flies.

Tomorrow we're heading for Juneau and the end of this part of the trip.

24.51 nm today

1118.09 nm total

Alaska 2016 | Day 35 | Ford's Terror to Dawes Glacier to Tracy Arm Cove

Clouds moved in overnight and we woke to see Ford's Terror in a different light—misty, cloudy, but no less beautiful.

Today is another glacier day, this time Dawes Glacier, at the head of Endicott Arm. Once we see the glacier, we'll head back to Tracy Arm Cove to spend the night. High-water slack at the Ford's Terror rapids is sometime between 12:30 pm and 1:30 p.m. Then it's about 16 nautical miles to Dawes Glacier, then 35 nautical miles back out to Tracy Arm Cove.

Doll Face heading out of Ford's Terror

We arrived at the Ford's Terror entrance (in this case exit) rapids at about noon, well before slack. Given the long day we had ahead, and the recon I'd done in the dinghy over the last few days, I cheated slack. The water was still flooding in, so we were traveling against it. And we made it through just fine. The maximum current velocity was about 5 knots, but the water flowed smoothly and the boats tracked well. I wouldn't want to be traveling the same direction as the current, though.

Not much ice in the water. Dawes Glacier in sight.

The run up Endicott Arm to Dawes Glacier was easy, with no significant ice in the water. We ran at cruise speed pretty much the whole way, only occasionally having to disengage the autopilot to steer through areas with higher concentrations of ice.

Because Tracy Arm is not navigable right now, Endicott Arm was busy. We shared the glacier-watching experience with several commercial tour boats. Compared to Le Conte, our visit to Dawes Glacier was more crowded with worse weather and much less ice in the water, but we got much closer to the glacier. Both were great, just different.

Drone photo of the fleet (plus a bunch of skiffs from an Uncruise boat and the David B) at Dawes Glacier

Anna took the kayak out...

...and I buzzed her with the drone

Stormy at the head of Endicott Arm.

Engines off, drifting at the head of Endicott Arm. The views are impressive in every direction.

We spent an hour at Dawes Glacier, then headed out. Back in Tracy Arm Cove by 7:30 p.m., tired, but exhilarated by another great day in Alaska.

54.41 nm today
1093.58 nm total

Alaska 2016 | Day 34 | Ford's Terror

Spoiler: We saw a bear swim. From our dinghies.

Another sunny day! When I talk with people about cruising in Southeast Alaska, the weather is always a big concern. This is a rainy place—Ketchikan gets more rain in its driest month than Seattle gets in its wettest month. So far, though, we've only had a couple rainy days.

Event Horizon at anchor.

Stormy at anchor. What a place, what a day!

Given the magnificent weather, we all piled in our dinghies for a tour of Ford's Terror. We saw the waterfalls and played in the rapids.

Dinghy tour!

This waterfall looks tiny from a distance. Up close, it's giant.

The highlight of the dinghy tour were two brown bears.

The first brown bear

Dinghies must be scary! He ran away after standing up and looking at us.

The other brown bear was even better. We watched as it shimmied down to the water, the began swimming through our group of dinghies.

"Honey, are we a little close?"

It kept swimming...

Time to go ashore...

Shaking off water...

Hmm...what's for lunch?

Yep, Ford's Terror is my favorite anchorage.

Tomorrow we'll head for Dawes Glacier, then Tracy Arm Cove for the night.