Several things fell into place today. Anna got to the boat, and both Airship and Safe Harbour made it into Glacier Bay National Park.
Anna made it to Juneau. Rather than going back to Juneau for
the fifth or sixth time this summer, I put her on an Alaska Seaplanes flight to
Gustavus. I booked the flight yesterday, and I could have flown her into a half
dozen other small communities depending on where I was. The flight only cost
$110—money well spent to avoid the several day detour back to Juneau.
After Anna arrived we hustled into Glacier Bay National Park
for the 2:00 p.m. briefing. I had last been in Glacier Bay in 2012. The
regulations haven’t changed, but boaters are required to attend the briefing
once per season. Given there are only 25 boats allowed in the park at any given
time, and we had no advance reservations, and it’s the busiest time of year, we
were lucky to get permits for both Airship
and Safe Harbour to visit Glacier
Bay National Park.
Unfortunately today was not a great day for cruising Glacier
Bay. The weather varied from pouring rain to dense fog. Oh well, the most
impressive sights are yet to come.
We anchored for the night in South Sandy Cove. In the evening the clouds lifted enough to get a peak at the surroundings.
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| Clouds lifting slightly in South Sandy Cove. |
Two good wildlife highlights today, though. On the way to
Gustavus I spotted several orcas. They were traveling quickly and didn’t do
anything special, but it’s always fun to see orcas. The second highlight was
the sea lion colony at South Marble Island. Seeing them was cool, hearing them
(arrrrffff arrrrffff arrrrrffff) was way cooler, and smelling them was gross.
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| Orca in Icy Passage |
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| Sea otters everywhere! Cute, but crab killers. |
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| Sea lion colony at South Marble Island |
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| Don't get downwind of this! |
49.71 nm today
1999.81 nm total
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