May 27– June 9

A recap of previous blog links:

Blog #1: http://witiak2015.blogspot.com/2015/05/april-22may-4-2015.html

Blog #2: http://witiak2015.blogspot.com/2015/05/may-5-may-13.html

Blog #3: http://witiak2015.blogspot.com/2015/06/alaskamay-14-26.html

25 = Juneau; 26 = Funter Bay; 27 = Hoonah; 28 = Neka Bay; 29 = Dundas Bay; 30 = Hobbit Hole; 31 = Elfin Cove; 32 = Pelican (where the boat is now).

Picking up from where we left off – our arrival in Juneau. Juneau is a town with a population of ~ 31,275 (70% white, 12% native, 16% mixed). We took a slip in Auke Bay which is about 9 miles from downtown Juneau. Remember, we have our trusty bikes for transportation. Once our immediate needs of fuel and water were met, we were ready to start on the “Juneau List”. Laundry with internet access from the restaurant above was first on the list. That was followed by a trip to the Alaskan Amber brewery for a tasting and then on to nearby Costco for shopping. I should have taken a photo of David’s bike with a box of oranges (don’t want any scurvy) and cooler full of cold goods strapped on the back rack.  Additionally, each of us carried a backpack full of groceries. Thank God the eggs made it back in one piece. The Juneau Library Friends store was a source of some additional puzzles. A donation of two puzzles made space for two “new” ones. The thrift store provided me with a pair of Eddie Bauer chinos. My jeans are taking too long to dry, hence the need for different pants. All of this running around put about 18 miles on our bikes. We were ready for a nice Thai dinner at the restaurant near Auke Bay. Thursday is hiking day in Anacortes. Judy and Earl from Hey You joined us to hike East Glacier trail at Mendenhall Glacier Park. This glacier is in retreat. I wonder if I will be able to notice when I compare my photos from three years ago.

Funter Bay was our next destination. We anchored in Crab Cove, but that was a misnomer. We didn’t catch any crabs. The next day we moved to the public dock along with Hey You and Carlinda. From the public dock it was a short dinghy ride to shore and a short hike to the cemetery. In WWII the native residents from villages in the Aleutian Islands were evacuated by our government when the Japanese invaded. Some were relocated to Funter Bay.  An old cannery location was to be their home. The conditions were poor and the government left them to fend for themselves. In December of 1943 many of them died of the flu. Though native, they belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church. Don’t forget, we bought Alaska from the Russians.

Afternoon happy hour on the dock turned into a horsefly swatting tournament. Judy won “most enthusiastic” swatter, Earl was the best “fly spotter”, and I stood out in the “stealth” category.

It is now the first of June and we are off to the village of Hoonah. There are six Anacortes boats together again (Tonic, Mosey, New Adventure, Carlinda, Hey You and Phase III). Hoonah has a population of ~760 (30% white, 53% native, 17% mixed). They have a grocery store, a library with wifi, and a couple restaurants. Some cruise ships have Hoonah on their circuit. The cruise ships stop at the old cannery about a mile out of town. They have one heck of a zip line to entertain cruisers. No, none of us tried it.

Hoonah is among other things, a fishing village.

We shared a dock with a local fishing boat. The owner and his son were painting the boat getting it ready for the season. I couldn’t help but overhear their conversations. “Pa, I need more white paint.” “Son, roll nice and slow so it doesn’t drip.” “Dog, you stay over here!” The son was a nice looking boy of 19 or 20. The dog was a friendly black lab. Given the son’s age, I would guess Pa was in his 40’s. It was hard to tell. I think the life of a fisherman’s life is hard. Pa and Son were working rapidly to finish painting the boat before rain came. 

 

 

It was time to move on to Neka Bay. Only two hours from Hoonah it is a beautiful protected bay. We anchored in the South Arm where in 2012 we had seen lots of bears. We spent two nights there and only saw one bear. Earl caught some crab. Our trap came up empty. It is time to head back to Hoonah, refill water tanks and check the weather for passage to Dundas Bay.

Dundas Bay is just west of Glacier Bay and doesn’t require permits to enter. It doesn’t have any visible glaciers either. It was pretty in there, but we were having trouble finding a protected anchorage. Finally we settled into a little cove where we had some protection from the south wind.

You might ask, “What do you do in these bays when there are no bear to entertain?” There are trips to the other boats to play Wizard, Mexican Train, Zilch or some other game. There are books to read. There are puzzles to piece together. 

We have completed 9 puzzles so far!

The winds died down and we ventured out of Dundas Bay and down Mosquito Passage to anchor just outside of Hobbit Hole. If I wanted to get away from everything and everyone, I would buy the house inside Hobbit Hole. Hobbit hole is occupied by two brothers and their families. They have lived there for the past 40 years. They say they would like to sell and move to the city (Juneau). There is a narrow and shallow (at low tide) entrance to Hobbit Hole. Once inside you have very protected calm water and surrounded by trees and waterfalls. While enchanted by Hobbit Hole, I don’t see myself leaving the comforts of civilization just yet.

Elfin Cove, population 20 (70% white, 5% native, 25% mixed), is a quaint little boardwalk community. It is home to several fishing lodges and a fleet of fishermen. We found space on the dock for Phase III and Carlinda. Hey You rafted next to Carlinda. Exercise consisted of walking the boardwalk from the outside dock through the community to the inside harbor.

         Elfin Cove side street                          Brady Glacier as seen from Elfin Cove

As long as we are visiting all of the little boardwalk communities, we may as well go on to Pelican, population 88 (59% white, 34% native, 7% mixed). To get from Elfin Cove to Pelican requires some exposure to the Gulf of Alaska and the open ocean swells. It wasn’t awful, but we know why we are “inside Passage” people. We were delighted to turn down into Lisianski Inlet and cruise quietly into Pelican.

If you are traveling right along with us and want to get a feel for the ocean swells.  Check out the following video: https://youtu.be/IkVRAgxv7Rk

Remember:  I was on a boat doing the same up and down as Carlinda who was so kind to pose for the video. 

The folks of Pelican were super friendly. We had dinner at Rosie’s Bar and Grill and lunch the next day at the Pelican Inn. Choices are limited by the ferry schedule. They are currently waiting for a ferry with supplies. The Alaskan ferry system is apparently having some funding issues. Hamburgers and pizza were no problem.

David by the totem outside City Hall                Somebody has a sense of humor

Our next decision is do we go down the “outside” towards Sitka or do we go back to Hoonah and down the inside? Stay tuned!