1. This is the whale that popped up along side us. I heard the puff of his exhale
2. Blue Iceberg with Eagle on top
3. SumDum Glacier out of Petersburg
4. My camera could not focus on this broaching whale.
Departure Ketchikan through Wrangell Narrows to Petersburg
Happy 24th Birthday MayJean!
Tuesday (7/8) evening as we were preparing to retire for the night (it was just after 7pm) we heard a knock-knock on our hull. It was Dan and Susan Gold from “Pacifier” – a lovely blue trawler. We had spoken to them over the radio the night we shared the anchorage at Lowe Inlet. They are from Anchorage and keep their boat in Petersburg. We invited them in for drinks and a tour of our boat. We chatted for several hours and learned a few new boating tricks from them. Susan commented on the lack of men in Alaska as it provides good odds for the women. To quote Susan, “The odds are good but the goods are odd”.
Wednesday afternoon (7/9) - Jim and I hopped the city bus to the far edge of town to see the State Historical Park called Totem Bight. The public bus is always “iffy” – we are never quite sure where it goes and what goofy characters will join us. This was no disappointment with a boisterous bus driver who gave us details on his buddy’s heart transplant, the fees for the local ferry etc...
Totem Bight - This is a recreated native village with several Totem Poles and a “Clan House”. Apparently, the natives in this area built a community house for the winters where 30 to 60 people would live. Can you imagine living with your neighbors (and their relatives) – all stuffed in your house for a five month winter? Their home security system consisted of the single entrance being a very small door that gave the women and children inside the opportunity to whack the intruder over the head as they crawled in.
We arrived at Totem Bight just in time to join a tour bus of people and their thunderous tour guide. A concerned member of their faction even handed Lara a blue/white umbrella to identify ourselves as “part of their group”.
Later that evening, Jim went off on the docks in search of “fish heads” (for use in his new crab pot). Jim approached a nearby fishing boat and asked the kid aboard if he knew where Jim could get some fish carcasses. The kid said, “Oh, I’ll just catch you a fresh one”. The young man (about 12) hopped off the boat, threw in a line and within a minutes he pulled up a 12” bullhead fish! Jim thanked him and laughed all the way back to our boat.
Thursday (7/10) It stopped raining! We spent the day continuing northward toward Petersburg. After the typical second breakfast, naps, lunch etc... Lara whipped up peanut butter cookies (from scratch) and we had an afternoon snack of warm cookies and milk. We are not starving on this trip.
This morning a few dolphin stopped by to bow wave surf the boat. Their coloring is similar to the killer whale (black and white). It is quite entertaining to watch them play. It is obvious that they are just having fun. They leap in unison out of the water every now and then as they dash around the bow wave.
We are now seeing more cabins along the shoreline. Each one is different and we can’t help but think about the difficulties involved to erect such a structure in this remote wilderness that is only accessible by boat or airplane. About every fifth cabin nature has a foothold of reclaim.
We saw a Golden Eagle this afternoon. That is one big bird with a wing span of seven feet (it was probably about 3’ tall). It looks like a giant, brown-all-over eagle. It was marching on the shore near some fellows that were cleaning fish. That bird could easily pick up a small child and carry it away. What a cool sighting (“google” Golden Eagle for a picture as this is one magnificent and rare bird)!
Happy 24th Birthday MayJean!
Tuesday (7/8) evening as we were preparing to retire for the night (it was just after 7pm) we heard a knock-knock on our hull. It was Dan and Susan Gold from “Pacifier” – a lovely blue trawler. We had spoken to them over the radio the night we shared the anchorage at Lowe Inlet. They are from Anchorage and keep their boat in Petersburg. We invited them in for drinks and a tour of our boat. We chatted for several hours and learned a few new boating tricks from them. Susan commented on the lack of men in Alaska as it provides good odds for the women. To quote Susan, “The odds are good but the goods are odd”.
Wednesday afternoon (7/9) - Jim and I hopped the city bus to the far edge of town to see the State Historical Park called Totem Bight. The public bus is always “iffy” – we are never quite sure where it goes and what goofy characters will join us. This was no disappointment with a boisterous bus driver who gave us details on his buddy’s heart transplant, the fees for the local ferry etc...
Totem Bight - This is a recreated native village with several Totem Poles and a “Clan House”. Apparently, the natives in this area built a community house for the winters where 30 to 60 people would live. Can you imagine living with your neighbors (and their relatives) – all stuffed in your house for a five month winter? Their home security system consisted of the single entrance being a very small door that gave the women and children inside the opportunity to whack the intruder over the head as they crawled in.
We arrived at Totem Bight just in time to join a tour bus of people and their thunderous tour guide. A concerned member of their faction even handed Lara a blue/white umbrella to identify ourselves as “part of their group”.
Later that evening, Jim went off on the docks in search of “fish heads” (for use in his new crab pot). Jim approached a nearby fishing boat and asked the kid aboard if he knew where Jim could get some fish carcasses. The kid said, “Oh, I’ll just catch you a fresh one”. The young man (about 12) hopped off the boat, threw in a line and within a minutes he pulled up a 12” bullhead fish! Jim thanked him and laughed all the way back to our boat.
Thursday (7/10) It stopped raining! We spent the day continuing northward toward Petersburg. After the typical second breakfast, naps, lunch etc... Lara whipped up peanut butter cookies (from scratch) and we had an afternoon snack of warm cookies and milk. We are not starving on this trip.
This morning a few dolphin stopped by to bow wave surf the boat. Their coloring is similar to the killer whale (black and white). It is quite entertaining to watch them play. It is obvious that they are just having fun. They leap in unison out of the water every now and then as they dash around the bow wave.
We are now seeing more cabins along the shoreline. Each one is different and we can’t help but think about the difficulties involved to erect such a structure in this remote wilderness that is only accessible by boat or airplane. About every fifth cabin nature has a foothold of reclaim.
We saw a Golden Eagle this afternoon. That is one big bird with a wing span of seven feet (it was probably about 3’ tall). It looks like a giant, brown-all-over eagle. It was marching on the shore near some fellows that were cleaning fish. That bird could easily pick up a small child and carry it away. What a cool sighting (“google” Golden Eagle for a picture as this is one magnificent and rare bird)!
1 comment:
Is Jim getting some 'Deadliest Catch' fever?
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