We're back in the internet world, so we can read some news, do some banking, order off of Amazon, and most importantly, write a Friday Funny.
We had a glorious day, a safe transit out of Ford's Terror, (as usual, going places with scary names), a stop to scoop up glacier ice for the cooler, or call it a MOB(man over board), drill with a net and small ice bergs, bears, seals, whales, a sunny day, a beautiful bay for anchoring, solitude, and 30 shrimp in the pot. What could spoil this? A broken throttle cable to the outside helm, thats what.
 |
| Off of Endicott Arm, we're going into Ford's Terror. |
 |
| A close up of the chart for the "scary part". |
The opening into the narrow chokepoint can build up dangerous tidal currents, and should be transited at high slack, (at the peak of incoming tide, with no movement, before the tide reverses out), This entrance can build up to a 2-3 foot waterfall, there are videos on youtube of people surfing here. We entered at low slack, (at the peak of outgoing tide), because that's how we roll, or float actually, Bill likes a challenge. A couple of days later, we left at high slack, timing was good for the departure.
 |
| The illustration from the "Exploring SE Alaska guide by Douglass/Hemingway". Check out the note at the far right top, "unsurveyed", most of Ford's Terror is unsurveyed, and very deep because it's a fjord created by glacial movement. |
 |
| Line up your stern with the double waterfall for the entrance. |
 |
| Narrow entrance, we're keeping an eye on how fast the current is moving. |
We lined up with the entrance three times before we determined that the current had slacked enough for a safe transit.
 |
| Made it, around the corner. |
Tall sheer mountains on all sides, with plenty of picturesque waterfalls.
 |
| Mama black bear and her cub showed up daily. |
On the morning of departure, we pulled up our shrimp pot, success! Dinner at our new anchorage will be shrimp.
 |
| Fresh spot shrimp, very tasty. |
Motoring down Endicott Arm, avoiding icebergs, and small growlers, we saw seals lazing in the sun.
 |
| Those dark spots are seals, we keep our distance, so we don't disturb them. |
Leaving Endicott Arm, we cross Stephens Passage, and head up Seymour Canal. I'm standing in the cockpit on watch, and suddenly I yell, "Whale, 9 o'clock!" (Clock directions) What a show!
 |
| Tail Slaps |
 |
| Fin Slaps |
Fin, and tail slaps, as well as breaches sound like gun shots, and they echo off of the mountains. We anchored in Pleasant Bay, and the whales kept up their sounds, feeding, slaps, and breaches for a solid week. We saw/heard them all day, and all night, it's the most whale action I have ever seen.
 |
| Looking out Pleasant Bay |
 |
| These two seemed to have a contest, who could slap the loudest. |
So what could mar this beautiful setting?
Just as we were leaving Ford's Terror, and entering Endicott Arm, we saw some small glacier ice floating nearby, and it was about the size that would fit in our cooler. Bill grabbed the net, and I was at the helm, doing forward, and reverse to get close enough to snag the ice. It's called back, and fill, to pivot the boat in place, and I'm not very good at it, so this was good practice for me. Suddenly it seemed like I wasn't getting any power when I shifted into forward, or reverse, meanwhile, Bill is calling to get just a little closer to reach the ice. I advised him, "um, no can do.... " So now we're drifting along with the bergs, some small, some large, and Bill is still wanting to get ice. He manages to snag a couple, puts them in the cooler, (I'm getting antsy... thats all I'll say about that), and he goes to the lower helm to see if we can get propulsion. Our two helms work independent of each other, and when one is engaged, the other is locked out. The good news is that if one breaks a throttle cable, the other one still works because it has it's own cable.
 |
| Glacier ice in the cooler, it's so dense, it lasts a long time. |
Not much could be done while we were underway, so we set the lower throttle to speed, and did most of the steering, and use of the autohelm in the cockpit. Once we had anchored in Pleasant Bay, he dived into the possible problems, and solutions. He took the plate off of the binnacle, I think it looks scary in there, but Bill knows what he is looking at.
 |
| Arrow pointing to the throttle cable. |
The cable broke off right at the top connection to the housing that connects to the shifter arm. If you want a more technical answer, ask Bill, I'm not the one to provide it. 😀
 |
| Cable connection point. |
 |
| Two throttle controls to the Ford Lehman. |
Bill managed to make a connection good enough to get it working again, and we're headed back to Wrangell to get a new cable, and a spare. Having spares is a handy thing.
We're at an interim stop in Petersburg to see friends, and check their chandlery for parts.
 |
| Gratuitous photo of Gus taking all events in stride. |
The usual cruiser mantra, "fixing your boat in exotic places", is a true statement.
