Eldred Rock

Eldred Rock is located in the center of Lynn Canal.  The peaceful scene we enjoyed as we cruised past, with the charming lighthouse and other outbuildings, does not reflect the terrible accident which occurred here in 1918.  This is the site of Alaska's worst maritime disaster.  A steamer bound from Skagway to Juneau hit this reef and 350 people were lost.  Sadly, Juneau authorites sent out rescue boats, but the weather prohibited them from offloading the passengers.  When they returned to the reef the next morning, all that showed was a portion of the mast of the vessel~

CRABPOT JACKPOT!

After Bill took Alice ashore Sunday to go to church he put out our crab pot... with 3 chicken thighs as bait. Several hours later he pulled it and, much to our surprise, found 10-11 crabs in it! (We could never decide whether there were 10 or 11...) After throwing back the females and the small ones, we had five nice males to cook up!  They were big enough that we could only do two at a time, so it took a while.  Then came the job of getting to the meat.  Dorothy and Alice worked a while, and then we ate dinner.  Dorothy finished the rest of the job Monday morning. So far we have had CRAB, crab cakes, and will use the rest for a crab and pasta dish Alice plans on fixing and a unique version of a Denver omelet that we have decided to call the Haines omelet, in honor of the location of our first big catch!This one is almost 11 inches across!

Five Things Southeasterners Have to Give Up:

This is excerpted from an Alaska magazine: 
1. Give up the idea that you are going to be able to pop into the store without seeing anyone you know.
2. Give up on having a perfect lawn.
3. Give up on planning an outdoor party.
4.Give up on wearing dressy clothing.
5.Give up weather envy: forget reading weather reports for other places!
After all, wishing to be elsewhere can't help you when the weather's bad.  It's much better to think of other things we don't have, like tornadoes, ticks, or big snakes~

On the hook in Haines, Alaska

This is our eighth day on the hook in Haines, Alaska!  We came in when the winds were blowing 30 knots and we could not get tied down in the marina, SO we have been dancing around the crab pots in Portage Cove ever since.  A guy came by to harvest his pot Sunday and then we realized it was tangled on our anchor chain... ugh.  Between Bill raising part of the chain and the man working from his dinghy, they finally freed it.  The weekend was beautiful, with Saturday hitting 91 degrees, if you can imagine that!!  Then Monday it turned ugly and we did not get to go on north to Skagway.  It was just as

well, as Bill has had a really terrible sinus infection.  He is just now beginning to feel better, after a week.  We were entertained yesterday by the weekly arrival of the one cruise line that docks here: Holland America, and it was especially interesting for us since we came to Alaska in 2008 on the Zaandam.  The Statendam, shown here, is a sister ship to the Zaandam.

A fishing we will go~

Bill bought an Alaskan fishing license and a salmon stamp, too, in hopes of getting halibut, salmon and crabs.  We are equipped to do all three, but at this point have caught nothing.  At the anchorage shown above we dropped the crab pot and put out the halibut pole, as you can see...  However, we got nothing.  As we have talked with locals about catching salmon we have been informed that you must troll at about 2 knots with your bait about 30 feet down.  We cannot travel that slowly, so maybe one day Bill will try to catch a salmon using the dinghy.  At any rate, we sure hope we catch SOMETHING.  Otherwise, the out-of-state license will be a very expensive venture.

Three cheers for Juneau~

Dorothy and Alice have prowled the town and one day had lunch at the Red Dog Saloon, one of the remaining buildings from Gold Rush Days!  Our local-made root beer and pulled pork sandwiches really hit the spot.  Great service, too, even though a big sign on the wall said: " If you are not happy with our standards for food and service, then lower your standards!"  As I am typing this blog in the downtown public library, I am also watching the fourth cruise ship of the day pull in towards the dock.  We were here on the Zaandam in 2008.  It sure is neat to be able to be doing Southeast on our own boat this year.  What a different perspective it gives us!

On Traveling to Alaska...

"There is one word of advice to be given those intending to visit Alaska for pleasure, for sightseeing. If you are old, go by all means. But if you are young, wait. The scenery of Alaska is much grander than anything of the kind in the world, and it is not well to dull one's capacity for enjoyment by seeing the finest first." Henry Gannett 1899 Well, there you have it, folks! This must be why we are here... We ARE old and now we are seeing the finest the world has to offer! Mr. Gannet's quote was posted in the Wrangell City Museum.

North and South Sawyer Glaciers

Although both glaciers are tidewater glaciers, we were thwarted in our effort to get to the face of No. Sawyer.  We could see the upper edge of it creeping down the mountainside and had to be satisfied with this photo, as it enters the fjord past the point where there were just too many icebergs for us to handle!

However, Bill's efforts were rewarded with the stunning view of South Sawyer Glacier, shown above!  There was a pinkish cast to it, in addition to the traditional blue hue that glacial ice develops over time.  This photo does not begin to do it justice.  We have no idea how high the face of this glacier is, but do know that some are more than 100 feet tall.  This one sure looks like it would be that or more~  This is not the end of our glacier adventure.  We hope to see Mendenhall Glacier, just north of Juneau and Glacier Bay has a mere 12 tidewater glaciers and 4 more hanging glaciers (those which have receded to be landbound).  There WILL be another chapter on glaciers...

Icebergs, Icebergs, Everywhere!

On June 14, 2012, we ventured into Holkham Bay and then up Tracy Arm Fjord to get a look at both North and South Sawyer Glaciers.  We had no idea what to expect, other than that the Carnival cruise ship ahead of us was also going in and we overheard the conversation between them and a Forest Ranger saying the iceberg condition was 'good'...  It seemed strange

to think that we were following this huge vessel up the fjord, and, of course, they left us in a cloud of - not dust- but ocean spray!  Bill was determined to get to the end so we could see the glaciers, so he carefully guided Grey Wolf around tiny ice blocks on up to house size icebergs, and that was on the surface.  The blue photo above shows the top of an iceberg the size of our boat,

 above the water line! The gray sculptured iceberg shows how much earth and rock a glacier can pick up in its descent down a mountainside!  By the time we neared the face of No. Sawyer, the channel was full of icebergs, and we stopped.  Right behind us came a tour boat which plowed right on through.  Of course, the pilot knew just what to do...