Aug 21-24
Hi All,
Mt Denali: I forgot to mention in the Homer log, on our seaplane bear tour, we saw the top of Mt Denali from the plane….before 1975 it was called Mt McKinley…its top was peaking up through the distance clouds…over 100 miles away….that is one large mountian, as in the highest mountain in North America, 20,310ft…..had Mystic’s research analyst, Mr Les Dobbe look it up….whoa!!!!
We left Homer on Tuesday, Aug 21 at 7am. First to the fuel dock….took on 712 gal….the guy told me $3.36/gal but looked at the receipt and it was $3.10/gal….maybe we got a bulk discount?? We are being told the fuel in SE Alaska is about $4.35/gal…like a $1/gal higher…what’s up with that….fuel there is more expensive than Homer or Sand Point or even Adak in the Aleutians…wow…something fishy going on there for sure!!!
The passage to Port Chatham was uneventful…yea…but we did fight that pesky foul tidal current again….got it coming and going, lousy timing on our part….up to 2.5 kts….speed varied from 6.0 – 8.0 kts!!! Anchor down, passage beer open, dinghy down, crab pot set….the routine…all by 4pm!! It was cloudy and rainy most of the time but as we approached the anchorage the clouds started to lift and by dinner time we had bright sunshine….sweet as!!! But it did blow that night….15-20G30kts most of the night from the West…maybe 1′ chop in the anchorage so a comfortable night!!
An interesting fact we have picked up: The reason we are seeing so many otters is that during the Valdez oil spill in 1989….29 years ago….many thousand otters….maybe 10-15k…were relocated to this area….wow…..they say it is almost as populated as it was 200-300 years ago when the fur traders just about wiped out the otters in this area!! Speaking of the Valdez oil spill….one person told us that it covered an area as big as New England all the way down to Pennsylvania….wow, did not realize it was that big….but, they say the area has completely recovered….we shall see as we go into PWS!!!
Well….Port Chatham and Tonsina did not disappoint…..we saw so many otters, many with a young pup sitting on Mom’s belly…..cute…..still trying to get than money picture….sort of like trying to get a whale to pose:))))
Tonsina: We were up early and on the way by 6:45am on Wednesday, Aug 22. About 3 miles away was the Chugach passage that we needed to time….we did ok….was +0.5 kts when started but by end of the 5nm it was -2kts against us!!! The winds continued to blow all passage, 15-20G25kts but all from the West and we were going East so not so bad!!! And it was sunny….Tonsina is a small cove surrounded by beautiful forest covered mountains and very well protected…we were the only boat until a fisherman came in for a few hours. As we came into Nuka Passage on our way to the anchorage, we could see the Wosnesenski Glacier…we had seen its other side from Homer…it is a huge glacier and has receded quite a bit and now only covers the tops of these mountains. The passage was 43nm…got in around 1pm….anchor down, passage beers opened by 1:15pm….dinghy down and crab pot set by 3pm….LIG!!!
Another interesting fact: There may not be any Dungeness crab in this area…..too far north…too cold in the winter and as the cod and pollack population have increased the crab population has decreased as they eat the young crab. We also think so do the otters. The Tanner crab season is open but we have yet to have anything in the crab pots so we might not crab until we get further south….it’s a sad time for John-boy:(((
Thursday we woke up to fog, rain et al so we decided to take a snow day….per the gribs the weather is supposedly better on Friday and the passage from here to the Northwestern Fiord is supposedly beautiful with lots of glaciers and mountains to see so we will wait a day!!
Northwestern Fiord: I rarely give out 3 WOW’s trying to be rather discriminating….but this Fiord gets a WOW, WOW, WOW…..much like Geographic Harbor!!!! ODG….Mother Nature at her best I think. The day started somewhat partly cloudy as we left Tonsina at 7am…..sun was poking through but a lot of low clouds/mist to burn through…..in fact it took to almost mid-afternoon for the sky to become that dark blue cloudless sky. Nuka Passage and McArthur passage were no issues and the views of the mountains kept getting better and better as the clouds/mist lifted.
We arrived at the glacier moraine in Harris Bay around 1:30pm….40nm, 6 hours….just about slack tide….but still another 8-10nm to go!! From our guide book: “In 1894 the Northwestern Glacier rested on its terminal moraine at the head of Harris Bay. The glacier was at the maximum extent of its Little Ice Age advance. In 1909 Grant and Higgins reported the glacier had pulled 400 yards from the moraine in deep water. The report added that the 2-mile wide tidewater glacier, with its six medial moraines, was the most striking physical feature in Alaska’s North Gulf Coast”
The Glacier has receded more than 10 miles in the past century and continues. The 1964 earthquake hastened the breakup of the moraine and opened a narrow passage that we took!!! There are over 8 glaciers that are fed from the mile high Harris ice field. The glaciers themselves are stunning but the sounds were mesmerizing….sounds of water: running, falling, crashing, and cascading. Then there would be a thunderclap or a primal grown radiating from the bowels of the glaciers. The first time I heard this I distinctively ducked then looked all around expecting a huge splash and resulting tidal wave from a huge glacier chunk crashing down. But, thankfully there was nothing big during the 2 hours we had Mystic in front of these glaciers….just small calving!!!
We eventually picked up some glacial ice….these icebergs were tiny compared to what we had witnessed in Tracy Arm 12 years ago and were either clear or snow colored….not the deep blue color we had experienced before….and as we found out later, the ice did not last as long….must not be as dense as the blue colored glacial ice!!! We eventually found our anchorage in front of 4 gorgeous and large glaciers, made up some glacial ice vodka martinis and sat out on the bow in full sun….well, it was spellbounding….can’t really describe the awesome feeling we had….just how hard it had been to get to this moment and then just to sit there and take it all in….sounds of waterfalls and canon like glacier speak kept us mesmerized until the sun went down around 7pm….then it got chilly:)))
The next morning we woke up to a brilliant sunrise and watched the sunlight on the mountains and glaciers until the clouds started to move in….gorgeous!!!
Whale count on passage: 5 total; 3 Humpback, 1 Fin, 1 unknown
Total Whale Count since Japan: 92; 38 Humpbacks, 34 Orcas; 3 Sperms, 2 Blue, 11 Fin, 4 Unknown
Total Bear Count: 189: 132 Alaska Brown; 57 Kodiak Brown
Bear Count: 10 Silver Salmon Creek; 40+ by seaplane; 17 Kukak Bay, 43 Geographic Harbor, 44 Kitoi, 12 Alpine Cove, 1 Three Saints, 22 Volcano Bay
Crab Count: ZERO in GEO, Kukak, Port Chatham, Tonsina…..arghhhhh!!!!
Total Dungeness Crab Count: 35….we are done crabbing until we reach SE Alaska I think!!!
The Plan: On Saturday, Aug 25, with the clouds moving into Northwestern Fiord we reluctantly moved on to PWS….70nm…..more on that later!!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
GO MYSTIC GO!!
- –p