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!

Alaska–May 14-26

 

May 14^th brings the arrival of Judy to Petersburg. Judy is our Anacortes hiking and traveling buddy. Judy’s arrival is celebrated with a spaghetti dinner. She will crew for Earl on M/V Hey You.

 

 

 

Our arrival in Petersburg marks the end of solitude and wildlife viewing and the beginning of camaraderie and fun times at the Petersburg Little Norway Festival. The town is teaming with Vikings & Valkyries; Norwegians in their finest bunads (national costumes) and sweaters; and Fidalgo Yacht Club members.

Petersburg is a town of ~3000 people.  It appeared that every one of them participated in the festival events. Their community pride in the community more than apparent. The festival is a major fund raising event for school programs and other local events.

Judy and I participated in the 7K race. I finished 2^nd among the 60 and over women.  I won’t deny being a little sore for a few days afterwards, but it was worth it. A young red headed lad of about nine years served as my tour guide through part of the race. “This is where you can often see whales” he said as we passed a point overlooking Wrangell Narrows. “That’s unusual”, he commented as we came upon four deer watching us run by.

 

 

You will notice that there are plenty of children in Petersburg. It looks like most of them participate in the Norwegian dance troop.  For a video of the kids at the pageant in the high school: 

https://youtu.be/fD9R74tmRsI

 

 

Eating events were constant throughout the festival weekend. Friday, we had the fashion show and luncheon at the Sons of Norway Hall. Saturday brought halibut beer bits at the Moose Lodge and an “all you can eat shrimp for dinner” at the PFI Cookhouse. Sunday’s Rotary seafood bake at Sandy Beach left us so full that we just had appetizers and drinks on the dock to finish off the day.

For those of you concerned about my supply of rhubarb, it is true that the Anacortes supply of strawberry rhubarb sauce is almost gone. But fear not, Grant and Lila, honored as the “Citizens of the Year” brought us a new supply of rhubarb. I would have to agree that they are “the best”! We met Grant through Jan & Jerry on Cosmos Place three years ago in Petersburg. It turns out Grant has a cousin who farms near my home town in Iowa. Small world!

 

All good things must come to an end. We joined Carlinda and Hey You in leaving on Monday, May 18th. Back out into the wilds we go. Two nights in Thomas Bay gave us time to unwind and enjoy some kayaking and a good game of Mexican Train on Carlinda.

Hey You, Carlinda and Phase III at anchor in Thomas Basin

Back in 1971 when we were married we never would have guessed that 44 years later we would be celebrating our anniversary in the beauty and quiet of Hobart bay. A rock fish, flounder and 6 crabs were our reward for choosing this bay. David, Earl and Judy all saw a black bear, but I wasn’t quick enough to spot the elusive guy. Needing to stretch our legs, Judy and I walked the “beach” while David fished. Wild flowers graced the bluffs. The mud flats were a good place to spot animal tracks and we are pretty sure we spotted moose tracks. Darn, now I am thinking of ice cream. I will have to hang on until Juneau!

Phase III from behind the buttercups                                Moose track (my boot for scale)

I love it when the porpoise come and play in our bow wake.  If you would like to see the view from the bow of the boat check out:  http://youtu.be/ABsJvIvoIRw

Tracy Arm Cove is an anchorage I have been looking forward to. The cove is our staging point for cruising up Tracy arm to “ooh and ah” over the icebergs, sheer rock walls and glaciers. It is also a good anchorage for bear spotting. Earl did the honors of taking us along with Carl, Linda and Judy up Tracy Arm.  The arm was surprisingly free of icebergs and we were able to approach close to north Sawyer glacier. The glacier obliged us by calving a few times. A sound like a gunshot would be followed by falling ice and then a big splash.  We gathered on the fly bridge in our stocking caps to wait for the next “gunshot”, all the time enjoying the vivid green of the trees contrasted with the grey and red of the rocks and the white and blue of the glacier. For a moment I was Ansel Adams and John Muir rolled into one.

Tracy Arm North Sawyer Glacier

Back in the anchorage it was time to relax. That didn’t last long as David spotted a brown bear walking the beach.  This was the same beach where we had stretched our legs the day before. Earl did the honor of taking me over in his dinghy for some photos. I didn’t know that bears ate barnacles. Maybe they taste like potato chips, crunchy and salty.

Tracy Arm brown bear video http://youtu.be/ZdQajFSUr0E

Our next stop was the marine park dock at Taku Harbor. Taku Harbor once was a very active cannery site. Pilings and rusting pieces of machinery greet us now. There is a cabin for use by park visitors and the “famous” tree swing. After a month on the boat we are easily amused. The dock provides the perfect base for a “potluck dinner”.

From Taku Harbor it is on to Juneau where we will find stores, laundry, fuel and wifi!