After losing lots of speed (and fuel…and fuel is very
important on this leg of the trip) yesterday to the current, I was determined
to time our trip from Fanshaw Bay to Tracy Arm Cove today better. Yesterday I didn’t have a choice (flights
don’t run on the schedule of the tide), but today I could leave just about any
time from 3:30 am to noon.
According to Navionics on my chartplotter and iPad, as well
as several other sources of tide information including the guidebook I’ve been
using, Stephens Passage floods north from the south end. The current meets somewhere in the middle,
quite a bit further north than where we were going.
Low water was predicted for about 9:30 am, with high water
at 3:30 pm or so. I’d need a bit more
time than that for the trip, so I figured I’d pull anchor at 8:00 am on the
dying ebb and then catch the flood north for the rest of the way to Tracy Arm
Cove.
The plan worked for a bit, but it seemed like I was making
slow progress. At 1800 rpm in flat water
without current I should make about 5 knots.
Today I was doing 4.5 or less way too much of the time. There were some periods of 6+ knots, but not
too many. We were traveling close to
shore, so perhaps we got stuck in some back eddies that slowed our
progress. Whatever it was, the currents
up here seem more complex than I initially thought.
The morning started off unbelievably rainy. The radar was nearly useless at times because
the rain was so heavy. Visibility was
down to a mile or so. At least it wasn’t
windy! But by around noon the rain had
eased, and then the sun emerged.
 |
| Raindrops in the water |
 |
| Radar image obscured by rain |
By the time we pulled into Tracy Arm Cove, the sun was out
in full force! We got a terrific view of
Mt. Sumdum and Sumdum Glacier, along with the dozens of other snowcapped peaks
in the area. This place is truly
spectacular. When you think of
quintessential Alaska, this is it.
 |
| Great scenery when the weather cleared |
We dropped the anchor in Tracy Arm Cove at 3:15 pm, and a
few minutes later a whale swam by the entrance to the cove. With the engine off we heard the blowhole
before we saw anything, and then we watched it for 15 minutes as it leisurely
made its way past icebergs and out of view.
 |
| Perfect anchorage |
A cruise ship passed our anchorage on its way out of Tracy Arm. My cell phone buzzed to life as it went by. The message that I got indicated I was connected to a cell network from the cruise ship and would be charged $20 a megabyte. No thanks.
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| Cruise ship passing the anchorage |
Jay and JoLee on another C-Dory 22 named Hunky Dory pulled
in and anchored near us in the evening.
Jay came over and filled in some details about Ford’s Terror, a place
where he’s spent quite a bit of time. He
reported that there’s been lots of rock fall since he was there last and the
lack of trees about 15-20 feet above the high tide line indicated semi-recent
mini tsunamis throughout the bay. He had
heard lots or rocks crashing about above the anchorage and opted to leave
earlier than expected to avoid potential disaster. Looks like we’ll skip Ford’s Terror.
While we were talking Jay spotted a couple of young
grizzlies running on the beach. The
first bears I’ve seen on the trip. Their
mother was conspicuously absent…not sure where she was. Jay has a waterjet-powered kayak called a
Mokai that I tried out. It’s
awesome…fast, easy to drive, comfortable, durable…If I had seen one before
leaving Seattle I would be a lot poorer but I’d have a fun toy!
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| One of the bears |
 |
| Testing out the Mokai |
We had a nice time learning about places to see and things
to do in the area from Jay, cooked dinner, and got to bed reasonably
early. Tomorrow we’re heading up Tracy
Arm to check out Sawyer Glacier.
36.2nm today and 999.1 total
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