Aug 3-14, 2020
Seven days of unimaginable beauty and imposing landscapes. The weather was alternately; clear, blue and icy cold, deeply fogged in and icy cold and on one memorable afternoon, wildly and violently stormy and icy cold. The color of the water changed to a milky turquoise the closer we got to the glaciers.
We split our time mostly between Reid and Tarr inlets. We enjoyed long walks on the beaches to the head of the glaciers but not too close as there was constant glacial activity. Our sense of their immense power was ever present. Not to mention keeping an eye out for moose and bears
We were so happy to have my sister Abigail with us. It was so nice to share a piece of our journey with someone else. There were lots of laughs and Rosie and Abigail had lots of exploring time together, which was nice as they traveled to Zimbabwe together last year on another special trip.
On our third day we motored in to Tarr and John Muir Inlets to see the glaciers but the day was so foggy and rainy we couldn’t see much.
It was icy cold and wet (did I mention that?) and not an easy week from the weather perspective. We were boat-bound one day due to ferocious winds. Another day we were heading across the main bay when a storm blew up in minutes, funneling in to the bay directly from the Pacific where the winds were at 50+ knots. We abandoned our chosen anchorage for that night and turned around in steep seas and were barely able to make headway at full throttle back to more protected Reid Inlet. It was the most frightening moment for me of our trip as we had land and rocks on all sides of us and none of the protection of wide open seas. We threaded through a narrow opening into Reid and the seas ( but not the winds) immediately diminished. Sea sickness for those below was instant and the boat was a bit of a shambles as we had not been prepared for it.
The day after the storm, we had bright blue skies and a bay filled with drifts of icebergs of all sizes-called “bergies” locally. It was almost more than I could absorb; the stark vast beauty, and wildness and isolation. We collected an iceberg for our “icebox”- cooled by thousand years-old ice….We headed back into the mouth of Tarr and John Muir Inlets but had to be very careful avoiding the icebergs.
Enough said- I am glad we got to go there, this year of all years. After a 2 day passage back to Bartlett Cove with whales and otters everywhere, Abigail left and Rosie flew out the next day. Paul and I realized after they both left that we had just spent the anniversary of our wedding with those two special people in that very special place
After Rosie and Abigail left, Paul and I felt a bit low. Empty boat syndrome – feels like too much room just for the two of us. We spent a few more days hiking, exploring and waiting for a good weather window to return to Sitka through some of the inland passages. Our next destination was Hoonah to catch up with Koal, the son of my good friend Cristina.
Sailing Tomten 
Aww – I love seeing your photos. It was amazing to be able to join you for part of your journey and to do so in such a wild and gorgeous place was a huge gift. I loved my time with you, complete with all the laughter, chunky hot chocolate (1 or 2 times per day), dripping walls, hot water bottles midday, and of course the glaciers, grizzlies, otters, and whales. I loved too our adventuring Rosie – felt like Pooh and Piglet (not sure who was which 🙂 on an ‘expotition to the north pole’ – searching hopefully and fearfully for bears and moose. Finding the grizzlies from the relative safety of the dinghy was a highlight, as were our adventurous hikes up the mountain creeks.
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