Winesap

Wednesday August 22, 2012 Mystery Bay to Portage Bay Journey mercies. It’s rather a quaint turn of phrase until you’ve experienced a summer of them. By any name it’s what we all hope for, and it can be like saying “bon voyage” or “have a good trip.” Journey mercies are what we ask for, hope for, and sometimes plan against. We asked for safe passages and fair weather. It does of course rain in Alaska, hence the term “rain forest.” That’s where the glaciers, waterfalls, and spawning streams originate. We had rainy days but we also saw the sun glint off the glaciers and the giant stars of the big dipper reflect off the still, dark water. Storm winds can and do bear down on wide straits and passages but for us there were always bays ... read more

Tuesday August 14, 2012 Seattle to Foggy Bay via Ketchikan Little Liza is headed home. We left Seatac at 10:30, left the fuel dock in Ketchikan by 1:30 PM and are anchored in Foggy Bay by 6:00 PM which is a nice long ways from the TV morning news. The day has been bright and clear as if it were always like this in Alaska, and I wonder, what’s the rush? The “rush” is that home is a nice place too. With a good crop to pick, a family to be a part of, and a purpose to life it is time to resume our place where we belong. Little Liza glides through these sunlit waters as she was made to do, confident of herself, still respectful ... read more

Saturday July 28, 2012 Tracy Arm Cove to Windfall Harbor I picked up a message on the SAT phone followed by a call to Keith brought news that Ruth is in the hospital with a pulmonary embolism. Our on-board doctor and friend encouraged us that now that she is being treated she is “out of the woods” yet we feel very far away. Yesterday these mountains were things of beauty and grandeur. Today they are infinite barriers between us and home. The sea is thicker and harder for Little Liza to push against. I chatted again with a cruise ship, the Sea Princess, coming out of Tracy Arm and I altered course so he could make a smooth turn into Stephens Passage. Another peaceful cruise took us down and ... read more

Sunday July 22, 2012 Petersburg to Thomas Bay Nespers were delayed a little by fog somewhere in Alaska so Coalie, our taxi driver took us on a tour of the parks and beaches surrounding Petersburg. Some of the high ground was muskeg (boggy) with little ponds that she said would swallow you if you stepped into them. Scrub pine trees were the only trees that grew in these marshy areas and the airport was built on top of it. We got a fishing license for Denise and were off into a three knot opposing current in Wrangell Narrows which released us into Frederick Sound. We angled across and into a wide Thomas Bay at the end of which were views of Baird Glacier and a hint of sunshine. The water is ... read more

Tuesday July 17th, 2012 Red Bluff Bay to Cannery Cove (in Pybus Bay) At 6:00 AM all is quiet and the morning sun flamed red off the bluffs as we exited into Chatham Straits and drew a single line to the entrance to the entrance of Chapin Bay. Since it was only twenty one miles we looked at other interesting possibilities in the cruising book and extended the line up the coast to Cannery Cove. It’s 1 ¾ hours further today and ½ hour shorter tomorrow. Humpbacks spout in the distance singly and in pairs and while some are on the move others lift their tails and dive, feeding on the three hundred foot ledges off Admiralty Island. We brake for bubble feeding but no longer for distant spouts. They seem ... read more