"Is anyone driving this boat?"

Wednesday, July 7 “Is anyone driving the boat?“
Leaving Juneau we travel south down Gastineau Channel, northwest on Stephens Passage, proceeding north in Lynn Canal to Haines and Skagway. South and west would take us into Icy Strait and Glacier National Park, our destination after visiting Haines and the historical Gold Rush area of Skagway. We estimate that it is approximately 100 miles to Skagway from Juneau, Andrea’s boat Shocking travels at approximately 9 knots. This is described as a remote region of high-latitude, frigid waters (no surprise), limited radio reception and extreme tides so boaters are cautioned to be well prepared. Beautiful calm waters with seldom a boat in sight.

Traveling along, enjoying the scenery, we have a wonderful opportunity to get to know each other. Becky describes her 1985 Ocean Alexander as providing “cocktails for 6, dinner for 4, sleeps 2” We compare similarities of her ‘43 trawler to my‘40 Transworld aft cabin cruiser. Boating conversations abound, interspersed with talk of children, dogs and prior life experiences as we head further north into the vast ruggedness of Alaska.
Mendenhall glacier comes into sight! Entering Fritz Cove to get a better look at Mendenhall Glacier we are welcomed with vistas of the glacier, mountains, eagles soaring overhead and the charming appeal of a protected cove. Continuing on we decide to anchor out for the night in a beautiful area called Mud Bay on Chilkat Peninsula. My first anchoring offshore experience. We have set 2 crab pots using fish heads as bait. Thank goodness they were frozen so the smell was slight as we got out a screwdriver and hammer to separate the 2 heads. Andrea caught these rock fish in Sitka, Alaska. It is 9:00 PM, the end to a perfect first day and a day of many first boating experiences. The weather couldn’t have been better with sunny skies and temperatures estimated to be in the high 60’s.We have had moments of just sheer pleasure and laughter at such utterances as “Is anyone driving the boat?”