Aug 28-30
Hi All,
Tuesday: We woke up to bright sunshine after 3 days of dismal weather. We had to wait for the tide to come up to get over the Humpback moraine so I took a dinghy ride around the large cove…..did not see any more black bears but again saw many salmon stacked up waiting to go up the streams and the streams looked like salmon killing fields…a gazillion floating dead salmon and carcasses on the shoreline!! I think these were Silver/Coho salmon!!! Too bad spawning salmon are almost spent and we have been told not too good to eat…..I have to say they do indeed look in terrible shape.
We left at 11am for Nassau Fiord in Icy Bay….arrived about 12:30pm….~10nm….very calm conditions!! We wanted to see the Chenaga and Tiger glaciers. We had been told by sv Sagata and sv Spruce that we would probably not be able to get very close to the Chenaga glacier and they were both right…..the whole entrance into Nassau Fiord was blocked with ice flows….wow….had not seen something like that since Tracy Arm in SE Alaska….some of the icebergs were the size of houses but most were small to medium sized. For some reason, there was a strong wind coming off the glacier and the icebergs flowed 1.5 miles across the entire Icy Bay passage. We could only get to within 2 miles of the glacier face but stood off for 10-15 min fighting the strong wind….up to 20kts. We had wanted to enter the cove and try to anchor at Princeton retreat but no go….the entire entrance was blocked!! So we left somewhat disappointed but still awed by this glacier!! We did see some otter and seals stretched out on many icebergs but all from a distance!!
We had to gently dodge/weave our way through the iceberg maze and once past the blockage across Icy Bay we went the 4nm to Tiger Glacier still dodging small icebergs. Both of these glaciers did not seem as impressive as the Northwestern Glacier on the Kenai Peninsula…..maybe smaller and not as tall/wide…hopefully we are not getting too glacier jaded but still, it is indeed a wonder of nature and a sight to see!!
We made it to the Tiger bite anchorage around 2:30pm….this anchorage is about 2nm from Nassau Fiord but there is no view of either glacier. It is a lovely cove and we sat out in warm sunshine and watched the icebergs go up and down Icy Bay….you sure don’t see that everyday!!!
Wednesday: For sure a glacier day….two in fact….Chenaga and Nellie Juan!! I took the dinghy from Tiger Bite into Nassau Fiord around 8am to see the Chenaga Glacier….maybe 4nm….ODG….there was no ice flow….where did it all go overnight….we would find out later in flowed north up Icy Bay for a good 4-5 miles. So, getting into Nassau Bay would have been very easy with Mystic and we could have anchored in Princeton Retreat…darn, missed it by a day. Still, I stood off in the dinghy maybe 1/4 mile away and just listened to the glacier speak….loud cannons, thunderclaps, belly moans…..saw some small calving as well….it was a WOW, WOW, WOW…..just me, my coffee and the glacier….oh, a few seals and otters as well….and, a small swell coming off the glacier, maybe from underwater calving….impressive indeed….I will never forget that moment as well as all the sounds!!!
We then got underway around 9:30am to make Nellies Rest anchorage in Dericksen Bay and the Nellie Juan Glacier….43nm….trawler conditions….sweet as!!! As we are just coming out of Dangerous Passage into Knights Passage….who named these places????…..both of our phones lit up….eventually 3 bars Verizon LTE….very unexpected but found out there are cell towers on top of Naked Island (hmmm, another one of those names) and we were 20-25nm away….so, for the next hour or so we downloaded many pictures of the grandkids and caught up on emails, news et al….both Lana and Roxi are doing well and the pictures of all 4 grandkids are adorable….
At about the same time our phones lit up the whole horizon was filled with these gigantic snow covered mountains…..the entire north view out our pilot house….wow, blue sky, very large mountains, blue water and then some dall pupoises come to play…..sweet as!!! And, it was trawler conditions again!!! The largest mountain was Mt Baker….>12,000’…..part of the Chugach Mountains….wow, spectacular views!!!
Nellies Rest is a very small anchorage….but darn cute…surrounded by alpine rocky shoreline and a few gurgling small streams surrounded by mountains…some otters and seals but no bears….maybe room for 3-4 boats…there was a small fishing boat at anchor but no one aboard….hmmm….around 8pm we see the boat take off so they must have been asleep?? We arrived around 3:30pm…..43nm….calm conditions again!!! Anchor down, dinghy down, loaded up the dinghy with passage beers and off we went to the Nellie Juan glacier….maybe 3nm….you can only make it by dinghy….you have to cross over the moraine which can dry at low tide….we were at high tide and had plenty of water….but, also you have to watch the ice flow as sometimes it can block the moraine cut….we made it to the glacier and could get quite close as very little ice flow….<1/4mile….some ice flow/icebergs but not a large quantity…more glacier speak but not as loud as Northwestern and Chenaga glaciers….lots of birds, seals on icebergs, some very interesting and colorful icebergs, quite a bit of water flow coming off the glacier….maybe a knot or so!!!
Thursday: Woke up to those dismal clouds again….ugh….an unexpected LO had developed and brought the clouds….ugh!!! But, we decided to go on to Jade Harbor outside the Columbia Glacier…unfortunately all those wonderful views yesterday were all clouded over:(((( It is supposed to clear tomorrow so we will go see the Glacier then!!
We arrived in Jade Harbor about 2:30pm…..51nm…..had 2-3′ wind chop, beam to slightly headseas….some motion….Kathy was not happy as the short chop was irritating!! Still no whales and heavy, low clouds:(((
Once at anchor we hear Mystic Moon, Mystic Moon, Mystic Moon, this is Companera on the VHF….wow, we had met Doug and Jill on sv Companera briefly on the transient dock in Kodiak!!! They were anchored further up in Heather Bay and saw us come in…..they had prawn pots set and went to collect and then came back and anchored near us…..not doing too well prawning and confirmed not many crab in the area. They came over to Mystic for drinks….they keep the boat in Cordova and cruise up here April-Sept…..very experienced, worldly cruisers….it was a pleasure getting to know them and very encouraging for us to come back to this area!!!
For those interested I found this article on the Chenaga Tribe as I was researching the area while we had internet. The Chenaga Tribe has lived in PWS for over 10,000 years, got wiped out in the 1964 tsunami and then again in the Valdez oil spill…interesting read: https://www.chenega.com/history
The Plan: It looks like that weather window for us to cross the Gulf of Alaska is still there although per the last grib it was not the great window we thought….but still pretty good and we are seriously considering it!! We have not decided when to leave….maybe, Sun-Tues or Mon-Wed. It is ~425nm (2 nighter) if we go in one straight shot but we do have options to break the passage up if we want. But, again, getting on the berth waiting list in Sitka is stressing us a bit more each day we delay!! We will see the Columbia Glacier on Friday, Aug 31, then start to position ourselves further south…probably go to Growler Bay on Glacier Island for a night, then to Zakof Bay on Montague Island Saturday near the Hitchinbrook Channel…..the main entrance to PWS!!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
GO MYSTIC GO!!!
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