Alaska
Gulf of Alaska
Inside Passage
The Gulf of Alaska: Inian Islands
Sunday, November 08, 2015TheCambrians
Low
clouds and rain moved into the Gulf
of Alaska , putting a
damper on our last days in Glacier
Bay . The rugged, snow-capped mountains that line
the inlet where no longer visible so we used our remaining time to slowly make
our way south, stopping in Blue Mouse Cove and Fingers Bay as we did. Neither anchorage
was remarkable under the existing conditions, but it was easy to imagine a
beautiful view was hiding just behind the clouds.
It’d
been five days since we’d last heard a weather report, so we stopped back into
Bartlett Cove on our way out for the latest news: Unfortunately, there’s nothing
but rain and southeasterly winds in the forecast for the next week. Not ideal
for what we have planned but, forever the optimists, we moved 20 miles west to
an anchorage called Inian Cove with two goals in mind: To explore areas of the
park outside the permit zone (namely Brady Glacier) and spend a day in nearby
Elfin Cove.
We wouldn’t accomplish either
one of them.
With the break-neck
pace of Glacier Bay out of the way and a forecast full of rain, we took a day out to catch
our breath and regroup. We’d travelled 1700 miles since April and were feeling
shell-shocked from the past couple of months. There was so much to assimilate –
Misty Fiords, Fords Terror, Tracy Arm and now Glacier Bay . We were beginning
to understand why so many people come back to Southeast Alaska year after
year. Trying to cram it all in during one season feels next to impossible: If
the weather conditions don’t get in the way, the miles will.
Our
season up to this point has been well-planned. I spent weeks researching
possible destinations and deciding where and when we would anchor. In the end,
it wasn’t too difficult – what goes up, must come down. But I stopped with Glacier
Bay knowing that we would need to reevaluate the rest of our season and make a
decision based on how we were doing, how the boat was doing and (most
importantly) what was happening with the weather.
There
are a couple of options on the table: We could go down the west coast of
Chichagof and Baranof Island stopping off in Pelican, Sitka and Goddard Hot
Springs, Egg Harbor and El Capitan Caves along the way (to name only a few)
before backtracking up Chatham Strait to Gut Bay, Red Bluff Bay and Baranof
Warm Springs. Or we could take the inside route down Chatham Strait
Our
permit for Anan Wildlife Observatory (to see bears fish for salmon!) isn’t
until the 7th of August which gives us four weeks to fill before we
need to be in the Wrangell area. Slowing down our pace and finding some nice
anchorages along the way to explore by kayak sounds pretty appealing. A passage
on the “outside” in fog, rain and unfavourable conditions does not.
In the end, we
decided to skip Sitka Sitka Peril Strait
In the meantime, we
were anchored in a lovely spot with a west-coast feel that merited exploring
while we waited (and waited and waited) for an opportunity to see Brady Glacier
in Taylor Bay
Besides, we still needed to get to Elfin Cove.
We
upped anchor close to slack tide Tuesday and made our way over to Elfin Cove –
a short 9-mile run that takes you into open water. It was nice to feel the
swell of the ocean again but it was a rainy, cold and generally miserable day. David
wasn’t really in the mood and we probably shouldn’t have made the attempt. He
was a little cranky, most likely still recovering from a cracking headache he’d
had the day before caused from a change in the barometric pressure (a condition
we both suffer from and call “barometer head”). But everyone, when asked, had
told us the same thing – Elfin Cove is a “must-do”.
We
arrived shortly after the small National Geographic cruise ship, the Seabird, had anchored. While they were
busy transporting passengers to shore by the dinghy-load we searched for a
place tie up. There wasn’t any room at the public dock and the best anchorage had
been already been taken by Seabird. Right
or wrong, we gave up (way too easily) and slogged our way back to Inian Cove
against a 2.5 knot current.
And
that, I’m afraid, was the extent of our foray into the Gulf of Alaska . One day the sky did manage to clear enough that I
caught a glimpse of Brady Glacier, but it was short-lived and we can’t afford
to wait any longer for a better opportunity. A weak low-pressure system is
approaching and we need to create some space between ourselves and the coast to
see if we can find our way of this seemingly incessant rain.
Note: This blog was
written on Tuesday, 14 July 2015.
