Friday Funny 11-19/2021 (Wind, and Waves, and Williwaws, Oh My!)

 

What if you're at sea?

When we left Glacier Bay, we transited to Hoonah for a quick grocery shop, topped up the fuel, and water, then spent the night at the transient dock.  There were a few large cruise ships left in SE Alaska, and Hoonah is a prime stop for them.

To give you a perspective, that "little" blue boat in front of the cruise ship is an Alaskan ferry with the Alaska Marine Highway. This is the Le Conte, and it's 235 feet long, 57 feet wide, and it looks like a toy next to the large ship.

Denali Rose in Hoonah

We left Hoonah knowing that a large storm was rolling in that evening, we were trying to make it to either Takatz Bay, or Warm Springs to weather the winds. Gus, and I shared our Bonine, and with the sea state, we were glad that I'd taken the precaution. 

Takatz Bay would mean we would be at anchor, and if we went to Warm Springs, we would be tied to a dock. Our concern was that the dock would be full, and then we would have to either anchor in one of the small bays within the main bay, or go back out into Chatham Straits to back track to Takatz. 

We saw on the AIS*, that the sailing vessel BOB had joined us in Chatham Strait, and we talked to them over the radio. They had guests onboard, so we decided to go into Takatz, and let BOB have any openings on the dock at Warm Springs. We figured that the commercial fishing vessels, and anyone else out in Chatham would be headed for the dock at Warm Springs, and we didn't want to take the chance it would be full. As it turned out, BOB sent us a message from his InReach, and said that there was one more spot open. But by the time we saw their kind message, we had anchored and Bill had done all of the storm preparations/ reinforcements to our anchor, chain, and bridle [with back-up.]

We were in for a wild time. 

We found that even though we were well protected from the wind and waves in Chatham Strait, the wind would build up and spill over the tall hills, and we were constantly broadsided by williwaws* from every direction. The bow of the boat couldn't recover and point into the wind, so we were being heeled over. I sat on the settee, and watched out the window, as the wind put the toerail in the water.  There's a small cell signal in that bay, and I was texting with my friend Robin, who was reminding me of how well equipped we were, and how stout our boat was, and how Bill was  knowledgable, and capable. Bill was his usual calm self, secure with his efforts to help Denali Rose withstand the storm. Gus, and I took our cue from him, and we were calm also, (mostly). 

Since we had a cell signal, Bill was watching [and trending...] the live reports from all Wx reporting resources within 100 miles of our position- paying special attention to the closest; Point Gardner. 

Below is the final report for the records that evening: 

Here's a screen shot from Windy, there were quite a few memes made about the fact that our storm, was so much larger than that puny named one in the Atlantic. 

That's hurricane Sam, compared to Friday in the Gulf of Alaska. 

We found out later that the vessels at the dock in Warm Springs, didn't fare much better, they were hit with the williwaws also. I think this is the largest storm I've been in since we moved onboard Denali Rose.

Terms: 

AIS: (The automatic identification system, or AIS, transmits a ship's position so that other ships are aware of its position.)

Williwaws: a sudden violent gust of cold land air common along mountainous coasts of high latitudes. A type of katabatic wind caused when frigid air drops from a mountaintop to sea level. 

As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.

Friday Funny 10-12/2021 (Otters, Moose, and Bears, Oh My!)

 Our next anchorage was the no name cove at the head of Tracy Arm. Many boats use this small cove as a jumping off point to the Sawyer Glacier. Here's a vessel we shared it with.

Check out the line of "toys" tied in behind, jet skis, and kayaks for guests. When underway, all the toys are stowed inside a garage in the aft section of the boat.

Note the size of the 50ft boat in the distance, and the float plane that is bringing a new set of guests. Even though this was a large charter vessel, they were very respectful of others, their genset was super quiet, and their guests left the cove to zoom around on the jet skis.

We cruised to Juneau, so I could fly to Anchorage for a week of family, and fun. We stayed at my brother's cabin on Big Lake, (an hour north of Anchorage), and enjoyed popcorn, margaritas, and good company.

An incredible rainbow one evening, it circled all around, and reflected in the water.

A side story. My earliest memory is falling off of a dock at Big Lake when I was two years old, my two older brothers hauled me out of the water. I can still see the weed covered pilings in my memory, and you can imagine how this event has colored my reaction/interactions with bodies of water ever since. Believe it or not, I'm not really a "water person". This is the dock.

I returned back to Denali Rose, and we left Auke Bay headed towards Glacier Bay. The weather started out calm, and then we rounded Mansfield Peninsula on Admiralty Island. 

This is the area where Lynn Canal, Icy Strait, and North Chatham meet. Wind, waves, chop... we were taking waves over the top of the dodger, and bimini, and we were estimating 5-7 foot waves on very short intervals. Gus was very seasick while I held him in the cockpit. Poor kitty.

Bill duct taped the cabinets in the galley closed so they wouldn't bang open, and shut. We took refuge in Swanson Harbor on a state float, and that was the end of the rocking and rolling.

Gus was a much happier kitty on our way to Glacier Bay the next day.

Gus is comfy in Bill's fleece.

At the entrance to Glacier Bay, we were surprised by a major migration of sandhill cranes.

We saw flock after flock of cranes overhead, it was thrilling. If I were to estimate how many birds flew by, I'd say over 500. So cool. 

We love going to Glacier Bay in September/October. Most of the restrictive rules have ended, and almost all of the tourist, and cruise ships are gone. 

Otters are always cute.

We knew there was another storm coming, so we found a good bight at the then of Geikie Inlet, and set the anchor well. This isn't a well used anchorage, but we saw wildlife everyday, and even with the storm, we enjoyed our time. 

The glacier across the bay.

Black bear fishing

FAT brown bear

Getting ready for a nap on the beach

We saw bears everyday, sometimes multiple bears, at a time. 

And moose, we had two bulls come down to the waterline to forage. That's kind of unusual, moose typically eat willow, aspen, leaves, bark, and twigs. I didn't think they would eat kelp. We also had the usual company of porpoise, and otter.

My new favorite Glacier Bay hat. 😀

As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.