Day 22-Tracy Arm Cove to Tracy Arm Cove

Tracy Arm is apparently one of the great fjords of SE Alaska.  Huge walls of rock surround incredibly deep water, snow-covered peaks tower above the rock walls, and countless waterfalls tumble into the water.

We left Tracy Arm Cove around 8:00 in order to take advantage of the reduced current during the flood.  Water always flows out of Tracy Arm, slowing down boats entering the area, but the water flows more slowly during a flood tide.

The trip in was everything that we’d hoped.  Just spectacular.  Sunny, not too much wind, warm temperatures…it couldn’t have been better.  A few tour boats passed us, but there was only one other cruising boat and no cruise ships.

Entering Tracy Arm

Great view out the windows

Every turn is impressive

Photos can't capture the scale of the walls

Lots of waterfalls 

And more waterfalls

Snow and icebergs

We opted to go to North Sawyer Glacier first, and passed one other boat going in (they were leaving).  We pulled up about 1/3 of a mile from the face of the glacier, shut off the engine, and took turns kayaking around.  The wind and current carried us away from the glacier, but we enjoyed messing around for 45 minutes or so, watching the calving glacier.

First view of North Sawyer Glacier

The glacier has receded dramatically in recent years, apparently.  According to the GPS’s on board, we were actually half a mile inland when in reality we were 1/3 of a mile from the face of the glacier.  I’m glad I’m seeing this now; who knows if the glaciers will even exist in another decade.

We're in uncharted land!

After we finished up at North Sawyer Glacier we moved the 5 nm or so over to South Sawyer Glacier.  As we pulled in the last two other boats pulled out, leaving us alone once again.  South Sawyer Glacier is much larger than North Sawyer, and there was a whole lot more ice to navigate through.  Still, we could get fairly close.

The Australians, leaving as we were arriving

We again put the kayak in the water and took turns paddling around.  Seals abounded, lounging on the icebergs.  They were pretty skittish, though, and quickly moved into the water when we got too close.  After about an hour of paddling around awestruck, we headed out to take advantage of the ebb back to Tracy Arm Cove.

Mom and pup

Lots of seals, lots more ice

A whole family of seals

Ben kayaking through the ice

More seals...

The boat in front of South Sawyer Glacier

Paddling through the ice

The afternoon outflow winds had picked up, but they weren’t too bad and the curving nature of Tracy Arm keeps fetch fairly minimal.  The trip out was uneventful, and of course, beautiful.  We got back to the anchorage around 8 PM, had dinner, and got to bed early.

Tomorrow we’ll head up Endicott Arm to Ford’s Terror, but we’ll anchor outside the rapids for the night to avoid the rockslides.

52.5 nm today and 1,051.6 total

Day 21-Fanshaw Bay to Tracy Arm Cove

After losing lots of speed (and fuel…and fuel is very important on this leg of the trip) yesterday to the current, I was determined to time our trip from Fanshaw Bay to Tracy Arm Cove today better.  Yesterday I didn’t have a choice (flights don’t run on the schedule of the tide), but today I could leave just about any time from 3:30 am to noon.

According to Navionics on my chartplotter and iPad, as well as several other sources of tide information including the guidebook I’ve been using, Stephens Passage floods north from the south end.  The current meets somewhere in the middle, quite a bit further north than where we were going.

Low water was predicted for about 9:30 am, with high water at 3:30 pm or so.  I’d need a bit more time than that for the trip, so I figured I’d pull anchor at 8:00 am on the dying ebb and then catch the flood north for the rest of the way to Tracy Arm Cove.

The plan worked for a bit, but it seemed like I was making slow progress.  At 1800 rpm in flat water without current I should make about 5 knots.  Today I was doing 4.5 or less way too much of the time.  There were some periods of 6+ knots, but not too many.  We were traveling close to shore, so perhaps we got stuck in some back eddies that slowed our progress.  Whatever it was, the currents up here seem more complex than I initially thought.

The morning started off unbelievably rainy.  The radar was nearly useless at times because the rain was so heavy.  Visibility was down to a mile or so.  At least it wasn’t windy!  But by around noon the rain had eased, and then the sun emerged.

Raindrops in the water

Radar image obscured by rain

By the time we pulled into Tracy Arm Cove, the sun was out in full force!  We got a terrific view of Mt. Sumdum and Sumdum Glacier, along with the dozens of other snowcapped peaks in the area.  This place is truly spectacular.  When you think of quintessential Alaska, this is it.

Great scenery when the weather cleared

We dropped the anchor in Tracy Arm Cove at 3:15 pm, and a few minutes later a whale swam by the entrance to the cove.  With the engine off we heard the blowhole before we saw anything, and then we watched it for 15 minutes as it leisurely made its way past icebergs and out of view.

Perfect anchorage

A cruise ship passed our anchorage on its way out of Tracy Arm.  My cell phone buzzed to life as it went by.  The message that I got indicated I was connected to a cell network from the cruise ship and would be charged $20 a megabyte.  No thanks.

Cruise ship passing the anchorage

Jay and JoLee on another C-Dory 22 named Hunky Dory pulled in and anchored near us in the evening.  Jay came over and filled in some details about Ford’s Terror, a place where he’s spent quite a bit of time.  He reported that there’s been lots of rock fall since he was there last and the lack of trees about 15-20 feet above the high tide line indicated semi-recent mini tsunamis throughout the bay.  He had heard lots or rocks crashing about above the anchorage and opted to leave earlier than expected to avoid potential disaster.  Looks like we’ll skip Ford’s Terror.

While we were talking Jay spotted a couple of young grizzlies running on the beach.  The first bears I’ve seen on the trip.  Their mother was conspicuously absent…not sure where she was.  Jay has a waterjet-powered kayak called a Mokai that I tried out.  It’s awesome…fast, easy to drive, comfortable, durable…If I had seen one before leaving Seattle I would be a lot poorer but I’d have a fun toy!

One of the bears

Testing out the Mokai

We had a nice time learning about places to see and things to do in the area from Jay, cooked dinner, and got to bed reasonably early.  Tomorrow we’re heading up Tracy Arm to check out Sawyer Glacier.

36.2nm today and 999.1 total

Day 20-Petersburg to Fanshaw Bay

My older brother flew in around 10:30 this morning for a week on the boat from Petersburg to Juneau.  Before he arrived I stocked up on groceries and beer, filled the water tank, and got the boat ready to go so we could depart quickly.

We ended up pulling out of Petersburg at 11:30, bound for Fanshaw Bay.  The cloudy morning had given way to a few sunbreaks and mild temperatures.  The weather forecast called for 15 knot NW winds increasing to 20 knots in the afternoon in Frederick Sound, and I had several bailout anchorages in mind if conditions got too unpleasant.

Mountains from Frederick Sound

Soon after leaving Petersburg we spotted the first iceberg of the trip.  It was pretty large…certainly much larger than anything I’d want to hit!  And it didn’t show up well on radar.  Cruising at night or in dense fog would be tough.

First iceberg!

For the first several hours out we battled a strong current, but it eventually swung around and we got a bit of a boost.  Thankfully, the predicted wind never materialized and we made it to Fanshaw Bay by 7:00 pm.  The relatively clear weather gave me the first real sunset in a long while…nice to see that still happens!

36.3 nm today and 962.9 total