With high hopes for a special visit to Glacier Bay National Park, we headed toward the entrance on the morning of July 3, 2012. Alice had gotten the permit some time ago and then contacted park headquarters to check in upon our approach. Only one mile later we heard a terrible sound and soon learned that the fresh water pump to the engine had failed! There was only one option for us: traveling about ten miles to the small town of Gustavus on the north shore of Icy Strait! Bill added water at least eight times to make sure the engine was kept cool.
In addition to the blow of not getting to go into the park on the date of our permit, we found ourselves
beached in the harbor at Gustavus the following morning! We had the dock nearest to shore and a minus 4 foot low tide had truly left us high and dry with our keel stuck in the mud. (Note stern out of water) This could have been devastating, but we were blessed to suffer no damage from this little accident.
That afternoon, several people on the dock helped Bill pull the boat around from the shallow side to the deeper side- pulled, because we were afraid to turn the engine back on... Bill then got busy taking the broken pump off and locating a replacement, which had to be flown in from Anchorage via Juneau. We were in port for six days before we were repaired. Thank goodness for Bill's mechanical expertise!!
While the tide was so low the eagles had a ball finding dead goodies on shore. And the shoreline was VERY close to the boat. This photo was taken by Alice from the bow of our boat one morning when the eagles flocked in. We have learned so much about eagles, including the fact that this bird is at least five years old, as that is when the head and tail turn white!
We had some interesting critters while we passed the time in Gustavus: this darling otter lived there all by himself. It appears that he is asking a blessing on the poor crab he is about to devour, one leg at a time! There was a big bull sea lion who hung out in the harbor too, and who put on quite a show throwing his catch around before eating it.
Since we were in Gustavus for the 4th of July, Dorothy and Alice went into the tiny town to join in their festivities, one of which was a parade. They not only went one way on the street, but turned around and came back in order to make it longer! This tractor is pulling children from the local LDS Church. The banner reads: Your Family Roots- Are Your Digging Them?
In addition to the blow of not getting to go into the park on the date of our permit, we found ourselves beached in the harbor at Gustavus the following morning! We had the dock nearest to shore and a minus 4 foot low tide had truly left us high and dry with our keel stuck in the mud. (Note stern out of water) This could have been devastating, but we were blessed to suffer no damage from this little accident.
That afternoon, several people on the dock helped Bill pull the boat around from the shallow side to the deeper side- pulled, because we were afraid to turn the engine back on... Bill then got busy taking the broken pump off and locating a replacement, which had to be flown in from Anchorage via Juneau. We were in port for six days before we were repaired. Thank goodness for Bill's mechanical expertise!!
While the tide was so low the eagles had a ball finding dead goodies on shore. And the shoreline was VERY close to the boat. This photo was taken by Alice from the bow of our boat one morning when the eagles flocked in. We have learned so much about eagles, including the fact that this bird is at least five years old, as that is when the head and tail turn white!
We had some interesting critters while we passed the time in Gustavus: this darling otter lived there all by himself. It appears that he is asking a blessing on the poor crab he is about to devour, one leg at a time! There was a big bull sea lion who hung out in the harbor too, and who put on quite a show throwing his catch around before eating it.
Since we were in Gustavus for the 4th of July, Dorothy and Alice went into the tiny town to join in their festivities, one of which was a parade. They not only went one way on the street, but turned around and came back in order to make it longer! This tractor is pulling children from the local LDS Church. The banner reads: Your Family Roots- Are Your Digging Them?
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