Petersburg to Juneau

6/24/11

Read Island Cove

It’s funny how being old and reliant on drugs affects plans that you try and do, even short-term.  I was going to pick up some drugs at the Petersburg pharmacy, but they informed me that they didn’t have the one critical drug that I needed to keep my old ticker beating normally (I have arrhythmia), since nobody has the same problem I have in this little town.  Because of that, I now have to curtail what was going to be a lengthy trip to a much shorter one so that I can get the drug that I need at Juneau. 

My first iceberg!

Which means I will do anther trip to visit those places that I was interested in.  Which means that I will have to back-track some of the routes that I’m going on. Which, if anyone knows me, always irks me when I have to repeat a route.  But, hey, I should be used to it, having commuted from Santa Cruz to Watsonville for 20 years.  Talk about repeating the same trip again and again and again…

My first up-close look, close to Tracy Arm

This was probably OK because the weather report for the whole week said rain, although that can change at anytime.  But, my plan was to go up Tracy Arm (where there are big glaciers), so it just wouldn’t be a grinding trip.

Taku Cove

Taku Cove Chart

We left at 8am from Petersburg after going to the coffee shop for e-mail and breakfast.  The ebb was at an all time high, with a 5 knot current.  I jetted out of the Wrangell Narrows at light-speed and headed across Frederick Sound, to witness my first iceberg.  It was really white, with a slight bit of green to it.  Knowing that I was just looking “at the tip of the iceberg”, I knew that there was quite a lot of it unseen.  You gotta figure that it’s necessary to treat these like deadheads.  Even a small chunk can ruin your day.  I was reminded all of the times my son Alex would admonish me for chewing on ice when I had a drink: “Dad, you can’t imagine how hard ice is and what it does to your teeth!” 

That’s true; and my, what it can do to fiberglass when it is strong enough!

I saw a lot more small icebergs on my way to Read Island Cove, about 20 miles from Petersburg, which is really a series of small indents behind a small island, about a half mile from the mainland, where you could anchor if it was shallow enough (but not so shallow that you would be high-and-dry during low tide, which now was the difference of 25 feet.

Chart of Juneau

There were lots of flies here, and, despite the overcast, was warm, so up goes the screens in the sliding doors (keeping the doors closed), open up all of the hatches that have screens on it, so I get lots of airflow, and now no flies inside.  I did buy a couple of flyswatters recently, so now I’m equipped for big-game hunting.  It started to rain, so I lowered the upper hatches and read and went to bed.

Juneau and Auke Bay together - airport is near Auke Bay

The next day, I got up early and headed out.  I was aiming to go up Tracy Arm, about 60 miles to the north.  There was no wind or waves, like being in Baja again, but with lots of clouds (and, of course, cooler), but still super clear.  When I was getting close to it, I saw a bunch of icebergs floating on the bar that crosses Holkham Bay, which is the start of Tracy Arm.  Between that and hearing some chat over the radio of boats having to turn back because there was too much floating bergs around, made me decide to keep going to Taku Cove.  I went around Round Islet to check out both entrances and headed back out again, taking pics of some awesome shapes in ‘bergs. Keep in mind that it’s hard to venture in iceberg-infested areas without a watch forward.  Even when I’m in the pilothouse, it’s hard to see some of those, and I’d hate to have something happen to my Max prop, which is definitely more complex than a normal prop, as it feathers when I sail, creating much less drag than normal props.

Looking up Gastenau Channel to Juneau

My plan now is to do a round-Admiralty-Island trip before Rick and Chris get here the first of August plus a quick visit to Sitka. I will be passing Tracy Arm again and maybe I’ll drop by.

Coming in at almost 7pm, I found Taku Cove to be a very pleasant surprise.  There’s a fairly large dock on the south side of the cove, where some yachts are tied up.  I chose to anchor towards the southwest side, as it’s quieter, has a nice river flowing into it and the bottom seemed to be ok.  Plus I’m going to be tied to a slip for a whole week in Juneau. I’ll be coming back to this place when I go back south to go around Admiralty Island, so I’ll be sure to use the dock the next time.

Looking north at Juneau and Auke Bay

Looking down on Douglas Marina - my boat in the middle

Next morning, I left early and traveled with 3 other sailboats to Juneau.  Going up the long fiord (Gastineau Channel) to Juneau was spectacular, and not as trafficky as I thought it would be.  Because my mast is 52’ above the waterline and the bridge that spans across the fiord is 50’, I decided to not attempt to go under the bridge, but stay at Douglas Marina, on the west side of the fiord, on the opposite side of Juneau (see the map).  It’s also MUCH quieter, but has zero facilities, like everything else in Juneau.  The Juneau harbor master controls 4 marinas: 2 in Juneau, past the bridge, Douglas Marina, which is the opposite side, before you pass the bridge, and then Auke Bay Marina, which is north of Juneau, near the airport.  I found out that a boat couldn’t get there from the fiord, even during high tide, as it turns into a very shallow path; instead, you have to go around Douglas Island, which is about 30 miles.  If you stay in the Juneau area, the best thing you can do is to stay at Auke Bay to pick people up at the airport easily, and be much more accessible to Glacier Bay and Sitka. This is what I will do when I pick up my brother and his wife and then travel to Glacier Bay.

Smokey looking for good stuff to eat

Smokey finding it - 30' off the ground! A little climber!

From Douglas Marina, the only way to get around without a car is by bus – Juneau seems to have a good system. So I walked up the street and figured out where the bus stop was and got on it, going across the bridge, until it reached downtown.  From there, I walked to the harbormaster’s office, got registered, then walked back downtown and got on the “express” bus to the airport, from where I picked up a rental car and descended into being a tourist for a few days – I do like my freedom.

Like every other big port in SE Alaska, Juneau is set up for cruise ships.  The cruise ship lands, tourists pour out and then go on various tour buses and boats to do various activities or go shopping.  Like Ketchikan, Juneau is chocked full of nicky-nak stores and TONS of jewelry (lots of diamonds) and fur shops (I’m sure my past wives and girlfriends can attest to the fact that I hate jewelry, so I find it totally mysterious why the jewelry stores would be full of customers). 

Mendenhall Falls - notice the size of the people in front

Since it is the height of season, wherever I went that was a tourist draw was crowded.  So I limited myself to just a couple of touristy type of activities: I went on the tram that goes to the top of Mount Roberts overlooking Juneau, and I drove to the Mendenhall Glacier that overlooks Juneau airport, in both cases going for a long hike.  I was very fortunate that both days were sunny and clear.  Good timing!  The hike at the Mendenhall National Park was especially exciting as I walked to the big waterfall, which was dumping untold gallons of water from the glacier melt. But the tram was pretty exciting too, as it was REALLY a steep incline, and if you’re a little nervous about heights, which I am, it was a nervous experience, especially when the tram was jammed with tourists – standing room only.

The falls up close and personal

While walking on one of the many trails in Mendenhall Glacier park, I finally saw a young black bear looking for leaves, and, then finding a tree with lots of succulent leaves. The bear started climbing, and climbing, and climbing…he/she was at least 30 feet above ground.  I had no idea that black bears are such agile climbers - probably only when they are young.  The bear sight wasn’t as thrilling as it would have been if I was alone – there was about a million tourists all crowding around, whispering excitedly to each other, all taking pictures.  I felt like I was at the zoo.  Only difference is that the bear at least had freedom of sorts.

Mendenhall Glacier

There is not a whole lot to offer in Juneau. The only WiFi place is this little café which has a really slow service. I may have to add pictures to this blog later. Juneau will not be the place that I store my boat.  I will shortly visit Sitka and check that place out.  One thing it already has going for it is a West Marine store. I also need to haul the boat out soon, so hopefully Sitka will be the place.

I’m taking off tomorrow back to Taku Cove, then another try at Tracy Arm, then across to Admiralty Island to visit some new places, including Sitka.  Stay tuned.