We left Lituya Bay after our
day there to enjoy a nice calm overnight passage with a bit of light air
sailing from all angles and then motoring in dead calm with the northern lights
on display. At one point we were gybing angles to keep the boat moving
and were pointing towards French Polynesia but decided it was too early to head
back yet (only 4600 nm away). We stopped at Bartlett Cove to clear into Glacier
Bay (it is a National Park) but because it was mid September we no longer required a permit. We used the ranger station's internet to
catch up on some admin/logistic dramas, and motored in the glassy calm to Sandy
Cove while the humpbacks and sea lions performed.
It was very beautiful but a bit
of a shock after the more remote parts of Alaska further north. We had been in
Glacier Bay for only an afternoon and had seen two 980' cruise ships, multiple
tour boats and two megayachts (who ran their generators all night).
The next day we left Sandy Cove
at 0600 to motor up to see Margerie and Grand Pacific Glacier. The wind was
gusty from the north so we did not feel secure anchoring in Tarr Inlet
therefore we left one adult loitering in Fluenta while kids and the other adult
checked out the glacier. Margerie Glacier put on quite a show with massive
chunks of ice collapsing into the water from 200' with thunderous splashes.
There was quite a bit of ice in the water for the last two miles to the
glacier. We arrived after the two massive cruise ships so we had it to
ourselves for most of the time and then only later with one megayacht. At
one point we were 1.0 nm from the Canadian border.
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Liz leading us through the ice so we could get close to the glacier |
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Fluenta in front of Margerie Glacier |
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Boom - more glacier calving. The glacier is over 200' high so this is a lot of ice and water. |
The next day Fluenta was in a lot of photos. We anchored
for the day for a front row spot at Margerie Glacier as the ice was open
enough to get to where the depth went from 400 to 30 feet. Two cruise ships
(1080 to 950 feet long) and two tour boats (170 to 200 feet long) came along to
sightsee as well so Fluenta will be part of their photos too. Luckily with the
height and width of the glacier we were not blocking much of their view.
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We get a front row seat ahead of the cruise ship. |
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There are a lot of people on the upper decks taking photos ! |
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Anchor down in the glacial silt not from far from the glacier. |
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Picnic in the sun anchored watching the glacier calving. |
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You can see the cruise ship behind us while we brunch. |
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A rare family photo |
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and a rarer photo of the two of us. |
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Goodbye ! |
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Small scale chart of our travels in Alaska. The arrow shows Glacier Bay. |
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Glacier Bay. 1: The Ranger Station, 2: Reid Inlet where we normally anchored and did some hiking, 3: Margerie Glacier, and 4: Lituya Bay from the previous blog post |
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Anchored in front of the glacier while a tour boat and a cruise ship visit as well. |
Great photos of you all.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice of those cruise ships to begin your gentle reindoctrination to society...
Thanks Bill. It did make us want to turn around and head back to Prince William Sound ...
DeleteAmazing to get so close to active glaciers! Great photos. Too bad cruise ships spoiled the scenery.
ReplyDelete