Thursday, July 15th Andrea got up at 3:00 AM to analyze the current wind and sea conditions. I got up at 4:00AM anticipating the weather being OK to leave Haines after being docked for 3 days. After disconnecting the electric power cord and untying the spring lines I look up to see 3 majestic eagles soaring overhead. One lands on the breakwater not more than 50 feet away. What an incredible send off. Goodbye people of Haines. I take with me memories of a little community with lives intertwined. I am anxious to read Heather Lendes’ new book “Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs“ about family, friendships and faith in small-town Alaska. Her other book “If you Lived Here, I’d Know your Name” I mentally add to my “want to read list”.
I am anxious to be on to new sights! I take a seat in the pilothouse, computer in front of me, scanning the stunning views in the early morning hours along Lynn Canal.
We pass the cruise ships and the Alaskan Highway ferry that following a cruise ship looks tiny in comparison.
Tomorrow we have the reservations for admission into Glacier Bay National Park so we are heading there but prepared to anchor in one of the protective coves noted on the charts along the way should the winds come up again.
A glacier comes into view with a gill netter fishing boat going by providing the perfect photographic element. We look on the chart to discern the name, Davidson Glacier. Suddenly 2 whales are spotted. My first whale sighting! A beautiful view of the whale flipping its tail! Good morning to you too! They dive and we search for their return to the surface. How long can they stay submerged???
The waters change and gradually become waves 1 to 2 feet. The boat takes on the movement of the water and we check to make sure everything is “battened down”. It becomes necessary to reach for the handles and rails and I follow closely my “always have one hand holding” rule or I would go sprawling.
We pass Eldred Rock, possibly the most charming lighthouse of Alaska. Thoughts go to what it must have been like to be the Light keeper on this little isolated island before the technology that allows us to be connected with the world. Among the electronic systems of the boat; the Nobeltec computer navigation system, showing on the large screen, has our route charted and provides us a constant reference in addition to the paper charts stacked in order on the table in the pilothouse, the Furuno radar system giving us a visual of our surroundings, autopilot allows us to have the boat remain on the course without the wheel in our hands, and the depth finder registers 586 feet for present depth of the waters underneath us. In addition to the systems of the boat, the boat is filled with the many cell phones, computers and cameras, that each of the 4 Gals On A Boat have brought on. An Iridium satellite cell phone assures that we will always have a connection to the world.
The waves increase to three feet and the first spray that I have observed since beginning this boat trip hits the windows of the pilothouse. The skipper, Andrea, turns on the windshield wipers to reveal our view again. We continue on, the seas calming down, towards our Glacier Bay destination.
Rozlynne declares: “Is this the whole navy fleet out there!” as we come upon a busy area of approximately 30 commercial fishing boats appearing on the radar screen. Upon binocular inspection while bobbing in the water we decide these are Gillnetters. Gillnets are made of tough lightweight twine woven into panels of mesh, the top edge of the net lined rigged with a series of plastic floats with the bottom of the net attached to a weighted line. We need to know how long their nets go out from the boat so reference “Ocean Treasure: Commercial Fishing in Alaska” by Terry Johnson. We read that the “float and weight setup causes the net to deploy like an underwater curtain 10 to 100 feet deep and 300 to 1,800 feet long.” Staying well clear of the fishing boats on their quest for all species of salmon, we continue our cruising to Glacier Bay.