Juneau to Glacier Bay

May 28, 2012

Bill and Ruth Craven departed this afternoon after 30 days recreating Bill's voyage of 60 years ago.  We began the preparations for the next several weeks as we head to Sitka via Glacier Bay.

May 29, 2012

Our permits are in order to enter Glacier Bay on May 30, 2012 and remain until June 2, 2012.  When we called for a permit we found we were still in the system from 2007, so it was easy to update the information and get a permit number.  We will still have to stop and be briefed on the regulations and sign the forms.

Spirit pulled away from the dock in Juneau at 0850, following Serena down Gastineau Channel around the end of Douglas Island and up Stephens Passage to Saginaw Channel where we entered the southern Lynn Canal.  Turning south we headed to Swanson Harbor, our staging point for Glacier Bay.  In 2011 we spent Memorial Day weekend here with the Matheson’s on their vessel “Sea Jay”, along with many other Juneau residents celebrating the holiday.

We were the only two vessels when we arrived at 1530, so after mooring at the public float, crab pots were set at the far end of the harbor.  We were pleasantly surprised to have cell phone coverage in Swanson Harbor this year.  We don’t know whether it is the new cell phone amplifier on board or improved coverage from AT&T.

Checking the crab pots in the evening brought 2 nice crabs to the pot to boil.

Today’s run brought our total distance travelled to 1197 nautical miles.

May 30, 2012

The rain was persistent and cold overnight as a cold front stalled and is still just offshore.  The crab pots only had one more legal Dungeness crab which was quickly processed for crab cocktails this evening.

Spirit and Serena departed Swanson Harbor at 0700 for the 35 mile run to Bartlett Cove in Glacier Bay.  We will be out of cell phone and internet coverage for the next several days.