Wrangell to Juneau via Tracy and Endicott Arm

Dawes Glacier, Endicott Arm

Waterfall near Fors Terror, Endicott Arm

May 21, 2011

This is the long day we knew was coming, getting to Tracy Arm Cove via Frederick Sound and Stephens Passage. We left Petersburg at 0820 and were swept out Wrangell Narrows into Frederick Sound by the ebb tide, which helped all the way to Cape Fanshawe. At Cape Fanshawe we saw what looked like a dead baby humpback whale that was being eaten by several giant sea lions.

Rounding the cape, we headed past Five Finger Islands lighthouse and were greeted by a number of Dall Porpoise, which stayed with us for nearly 5 miles of our journey up Stephens Passage and into Holkam Bay, the entrance to Tracy and Endicott Arms. As we continued up Stephens Passage we began to see pouts from Humpback whales, but the closest we got to them was about 1 mile.

Sea Jay was already anchored in Tracy Arm Cove and the weather was calm, so at 1655 we rafted alongside and headed out to the nearest iceberg for some ice for "glacial" martinis. There were four brown (grizzly) bears on the beach, and we were able to approach within 100 feet from the water before they seemed to care about us. It appeared that there was a mother and three yearlings. Only the yearlings cared about our approach, the mother simply ignored us. It would probably have been different if we were on land. Our two vessels were the only ones in the cove.

Dinner was simply prawns and appetizers to go with the glacially cooled drinks.

May 22, 2011

The days just keep getting longer, and by 0330 it was light enough to wake us up, along with heavy rain. Even with the rain, we decided to go up Endicott Arm to see Dawes Glacier and so we left at little after 0800 for the 68 mile round trip to the glacier face. The ebb tide was running full force as we crossed the bar and we had a few minutes of excitement in the standing waves set up by the current flowing out of Tracy Arm into Stephens Passage. The rain became light and then stopped when we were about six miles from the glacier face. The ice was manageable until we were within ½ mile of the glacier face, so we stopped there and got our pictures while watching a small berg calve. The glacier has receded so much that our charts showed us 3 miles inland. On the way back we stopped outside of Fords Terror for photos alongside a waterfall and then headed back to Tracy Arm Cove, arriving at 1754. Once again we were the only two boats in the cove.

Dinner this evening was smoked pork tenderloin (done by Jim), salad, baked potatoes, fresh baked cornbread and caramelized onions. The weather continued to improve and we were treated to a nice sunset, but no more brown bears on the beach.

Our log now stands at 939 nautical miles.

May 23, 2011

The rain returned overnight, heavy at times, but no wind. We departed Tracy Arm Cove at 0745, bound for Juneau, a distance of 42 nautical miles. Just as we were leaving the cove we spotted a brown bear on the point; it looked like the mother bear we had photographed two nights before in the rain. The seas were flat, no wind, but occasional light fog. As we crossed the bar at Tracy Arm, we saw the Holland America ship "Zuiderdam" approaching. This was the same ship we had been on while transiting the Panama Canal a few years ago. Both we and Sea Jay managed to get across the bar well before the Zuiderdam approached.

About 20 miles up Stephens Passage, just around Taku Harbor we saw numerous humpback whales spouting and feeding. They were all too far away for good photos. We continued on and headed up Gastineau Channel into Juneau Harbor followed by two cruise ships that joined two others already there, for a total of four. The downtown area was crowded!

We had arranged a car rental through "Rent a Wreck", and they picked us up at the dock to get the car and sign the paperwork. We did a quick tour of Costco, the Mendenhall Glacier and Auke Bay before returning to the downtown area and having dinner at the Twisted Fish Restaurant.

Tomorrow is a lazy tourist day in Juneau for both of us while Jim and Cheryl Matheson fly to Skagway and ride the White Pass and Yukon Railroad, a tour we have already done.

Spirit has now travelled 982 nautical miles since leaving Anacortes, and we are almost as far north as we will go this trip, at 58 degrees, 17.665 seconds North Latitude.