Back in Alaska

June 25

Had a great flight back to Seattle - whole row of seats to myself! Spent the night and got on the plane to Ketchikan in the morning.
While we were gone the Aspen crew enjoyed cruising the Alaskan wilderness with various guests aboard.  Read about their adventures at www.aspenpowercatermarans.com.
While the Aspen crew had the boat, they experienced a failure of the high-output alternator just as we had.  A new one is on the way and we hope to have it installed as soon as possible. However, we are not sitting in Ketchikan waiting for it's arrival. Using the boats generator and the small alternator on the Volvo Penta we are able to keep the batteries charged and get out of town.

June 26

We left Ketchikan at 11:45 and tied up to a mooring ball in Helm bay at 1:45, a quick trip of 21.7 NM.



This is a Forest Service Cabin that can be rented if you really want to get away from it all.  It really shows the types of tides that are here.  Pretty dramatic.

We were able to catch our first Dungeness crabs while in Helm Bay. Huge and delicious!

Notice the crab cracker and picks. The Admiral thinks of everything!

What is that light between the mountains!

June 27

We decide to do a quick tour around Prince of Wales Island.
Off we go to Port Protection on the northern end of the island, 7 hours and 96 miles later, we arrive.

Met the captain of this vessel, an Alaskan fisherman for 38 years. He gave me some tips to catch "brother salmon and brother halibut". Very cool guy! This old wooden schooner was to be his retirement boat.

Gumbo with fresh dungeness crab!

June 28

We cast off at 7:00 and head south with Craig as our destination.  To get there we have to pass through El Capitan Narrows on a negative tide.

Not the way we want to end up.

We made it through without any problems and our next stop was the El Capitan Caves.

This is at the top of 367 wooden steps up the hill

The lock on the gate about 200 feet into the cave

We made it to Craig and had dinner at the Dockside Cafe. There is cell service so we contacted Tom, our favorite electrician in Ketchikan, found out he was available to install alternator on Friday, so the next morning- off we go to Ketchikan, 120.3 NM away.

June 30

And here we are Ketchikan and Tom is working on the installation.

Meet Tom

We have decided to head south, back to British Columbia today (depending on alternator) or tomorrow.

Till next time.....

Glacier Bay and beyond

June 14

I am sitting in the Seattle airport on my way home after over 2 1/2 months on the Knot Wafflen'.

A lot has happened since the last entry and there is not a whole lot (or any) wifi where we have been traveling so I will try to sum most of it up quickly and share the photos.


We left Juneau June 10 and were able to secure a permit to enter Glacier Bay.  Bucket item achieved for David!  We spent two glorious nights on the hook in the park, one night at the base of Reid Glacier.  We left the park and spent one night in Hoonah, the Tilingit community on Chichagof Island. Even though they are now a cruise ship stop, the village seems to be managing  their growth and we enjoyed a quick visit and quiet night on the city dock.

Up early (4 am) for the 3 hour run to Auke Harbor where we turned the boat over to Aspen Power Catermaran's owner Larry Graff,  got a ride to a hotel near the airport, grabbed a few winks and caught the 0520 Alaskan Airlines flight to Seattle.  I said goodbye to the crew and am now waiting on my flight to Denver and then on to RDU.

Meanwhile, back in Glacier Bay-


Quick hike before boating orientation and check in at Park office in Bartlett Cove.

Cute couple

This answers the age old question about the wild bear

 Back out on the water-

Humpback!

Grizz!

It''s an otter!  Its a rock.  It's an otter, I saw it's head move!    It was a rock.

Manhattans with ice straight from the berg.  Nothing but the best for the crew of Knot Wafflen"!

Photo heavy, I know, but I hoped you enjoyed!

Going to be home for a couple of weeks and then back to Alaska where the adventure will continue.

Till next time.....