Happy 50th Shout Out to My Brother John

July 30

Happy Birthday to my brother, John, who is celebrating his 50^th with our family in Torch Lake, Michigan.

Sorry we couldn't be there for the big celebration last night!!!! I miss you guys.

And John ... welcome to the club!

Love, sis

Rest and Reunions in Pelican

Saturday, July 24

There’s a charming allure to the community of Pelican, so we were happy to head up Lisianski Inlet after a rough two days crossing the Gulf and head back into Pelican.

Fatigued but full of adrenaline from two days at sea, we were pleased to tie off the same dock next to our new friend John on Morning Mist, and invited him over for dinner Thursday evening when we arrived.

John and his wife Bliss, who unfortunately we missed because she had returned to their home in Arizona, are building a new home in Pelican. They bought two houses and are converting them under one roof into a vacation home and guesthouse.  This is quite an undertaking under normal conditions, but imagine a building project where all of your supplies need to be shipped in by a ferry that only arrives every other week!

John gave us a tour of the project and it’s going to be quite a complex. We hope we have an opportunity to return next summer to see the finished product!

In the meantime we also reunited with Deb and Keith … owners of Cross Sounds Seafood. We’ve been so impressed with the salmon we’ve tasted in Alaska that we ordered 50 pounds from them for delivery when we return to Ohio!

Pelican interestingly is the only place in Alaska we’ve visited twice … and I’m sure we’ll return in future years.

Crossing the Gulf … 433 Miles Non-Stop

Tuesday, July 20

Our second crossing of the Gulf of Alaska was less kind than the first.

With confused seas, up to 25 knots of wind and 6 to 9-foot seas … it wasn’t a comfortable ride. I spent most of my time down below with Lovie (he got sick three times along the way) and only a few hours at the wheel at the beginning of the first day and the morning of the last day of the crossing. Which meant Roland had the wheel for most of the way … 56 hours non-stop, including 43 in the Gulf.

The seas were coming at us starboard and rear quarter aft, so our back deck was covered in water and we lost our doormat to the Gulf. Glad that was the only casualty.

And even happier to hit land Thursday afternoon … with a return trip to Pelican.

13 Glaciers in Harriman Fjord … Better Than Glacier Bay!

 Monday, July 19

On Monday morning, after puling anchor around 8:30 and heading up Port Wells into Barry Arm, we were immediately struck by the view ahead – a wall of glaciers intermixed with sheer, rugged mountains capped with snow and ribbons of clouds suspended along the face.

Three glaciers come together in a spectacular view at the juncture of Barry Arm and Harriman Fjord, where Cascade, Barry and Coxe Glaciers form a terminus.

We navigated around Point Doran, where an old moraine creates a shallow shoal that we definitely wanted to avoid, and continued up Harriman Fjord …. home to 6 tidal glaciers, 7 “hanging” glaciers (not at sea level), and an endless number of cascading waterfalls carved into every crack and crevice along the entire fjord.

We anchored the boat on a 4-fathom shelf on the northeast shore … dropped the skiff for an hour … and weeded our way through a field of icebergs and bergy bits to within a half mile of the face of Surprise Glacier. 

We had been warned time and again about the dangers of waves caused by calving glaciers, so when we heard the first CRACK of thunder coming from the glacier and saw tons of ice plunging into the water along its face … we needed no more surprises from Surprise Glacier … and quickly move further wary from the face.

Photos cannot capture the sheer scale of the glaciers and waterfalls carved in this rugged terrain … it’s a treat for the eyes and a vista that is best appreciated with all five senses … in person.

Seeing RED

Richard and Fran, on their boat RED

Friday, July 16

So here we are, two months into our cruise … and I have to say the most magnificent anchorages to date have been in Prince William Sound … despite the rain, which never seems to stop.

After leaving Hogg Bay, we spent an evening in Lower Herring Bay on the west side of Knight Island. This was Roland’s favorite anchorage because there was so much to explore. We anchored in one of five inlets around the perimeter of the bay, called Miners Bight, and used the skiff to explore the others… had fun watching a bear grazing along shore in the Northwestern Arm.

Tight and very shallow entrance to Bettles Lagoon

Delightfully, we also connected for the weekend with our new friends, Richard and Fran on their beautiful sailboat Red, in West Twin Bay on the north end of Perry Island. Unfortunately it rained all weekend … but it didn’t dampen the fun of having the two of them over for dinner, sharing stories and enjoying our time together.

After leaving West Twin Bay we discovered another favorite anchorage of ours in the Sound … a gorgeous secluded place called Bettles Lagoon. We knew it was going to be shallow going in … at mid-tide we had only 2 feet of water under the keel. Sigh of relief once we made it in and found about 30 feet of water … accordingly we planned our exit the next morning for high tide.

Ultimately, it was worth the effort. Bettles Lagoon faces a glacier on one side and two spectacular waterfalls on the other … in the rain and fog it was absolutely stunning.

Slideshow 9: Roland's Photo Class and the Bear Scare

This links to one of the most beautiful collection of photos we've posted to date ... largely due to the photo lessons Roland had in Seward ... and the amazing scenery we had leaving Seward. I especially like the photos of the French red tug we affectionately called the "Beast" ... and the photos of our Hogg Bay anchorage with the harbor seals and Bainbridge Glacier in the background are stunning.


http://web.me.com/lauragongos/Engelenbak/9_Seward.html


Enjoy!!!

BEAR SCARE At Bainbridge Glacier

Thursday, July 15

These pictures are worth a thousand words …

Hogg Bay was a beautiful anchorage, with a stunning view of Bainbridge Glacier in the distance.

We were anxious to test out the new steering on the dinghy, so first thing in the morning we dropped it in and took a cruise to the Glacier. We were less than a quarter of the way there in this photo, just to give a sense of scale.

Pulling up to the glacier was awesome. Its face is away from the water ...

So we decided to beach the dinghy and then walk to the glacier ...

But Laura didn't trust the dinghy to stay in place with just rocks to tie off of, so she waited with the dinghy ...

... While Roland walked out of view to the glacier to take some photos. But ...

Laura saw a bear on the shoreline down from where she was standing with the dinghy ... and yelled ...

BEAR!!! BEAR!!! Roland came quickly back to the dinghy ...

And they pushed back into the water and drove down closer to get photos of the bear.

But once he caught wind of the two humans ... he hightailed it out of there.

And that's the story of our close encounter with the Bainbridge bear. On the way back to the boat we passed a reef with a herd of harbor seals carefully observing us as we passed.

In the meantime, Engelenbak was waiting patiently for our return. We loaded the dinghy back on the bow and by noon had pulled up the anchor and headed on to Lower Herring Bay.