This will be a compendium of posts.  I sit here in Sitka, having negotiated a force-8 gale on our way from Juneau and, strangely enough, I write from a dock.  Yes, Sitka has a dock, it’s been here for over a year, however we chose not to use it except in extenuating circumstances.  These are ‘extenuating’, the anchorages are untenable with wind and, had we not docked, would have had to cancel the call.

It is best if I begin at the beginning, that would seem the sensible thing to do  😕 .  A lovely Sunday evening saw us depart Seattle and head up the Puget Sound in the company of our (compulsory) local pilot.  We disembarked him at Port Angeles, on the north coast of Washington State, on the Juan de Fuca Straits.  A lovely sunset beckoned us west.

I took a route north which took us up through the Hecate Straits, the alternative is to the west of the Queen Charlotte Islands, however there was a forecast for a bigger swell there and Hecate is always calmer.

All went well with that plan, however mother nature always has alternatives and Tuesday morning, as we sailed up the Chatham Straits, was no exception.  The photo speaks louder than words  🙄

The fog cleared sufficiently and we embarked our South-East Alaska pilots off the small town of Kake, heading for Tracy or Endicott Arm, dependent on conditions.  No sooner had the pilots joined us when a disturbance in the water ahead of us transpired to be a pod of Orca, or Killer Whales.  There were several, including some youngsters and they had a whale of a time, (forgive the pun), playing in our wake.

Onwards then, few humpbacks in the area now, may be they’re being sensible and are heading for the warm Hawaiian waters?

I chose to try Endicott Arm and although isolated fog banks were drifting across the islands and Strait, it looked entirely ‘do-able’ and we turned for the entrance.

 A slow pass of the meadows, where we saw our bear last week, however none to be seen, there were however Bald eagles, thicker than seagulls, gorging on the salmon.   It was then that mother nature decided to throw her next ‘whammy’ at me, a fog bank appeared from nowhere, not what one desires when navigating in ice.  I waited 10 minutes and then, with no sign of it clearing, reluctantly turned to exit the Bar. I could see it was clear that way, so discretion, (aka prudence), was called for.

🙂

 

Now, Tracy it had to be, so we sailed past Harbour Island and turned sharp right, towards Tracy Arm Bar, the guests were probably quite confused by now, although I had old them what we were doing, over the PA.

Into Tracy and the last of the fog clearing, we headed for Sawyer Glacier, 28 miles away.

Onwards then to Juneau……………