Happy 4th of July! A shift in the wind last night to the NE meant we had a rather uncomfortable night in Russell Island Passage. No worries about dragging anchor, but the slap-slap of the waves on the hull kept us awake. We left early to escape the noise and discovered the rest of the area was nice and calm. Go figure.
Ryan noticed on the AIS that a pocket cruise ship had made it all the way up to the face of Johns Hopkins Glacier (the one we couldn’t approach yesterday), so he convinced me to make another attempt. We closely followed a second pocket cruise ship in past Lamplugh Glacier, using them to part the ice for us in front of that glacier’s bergs, then went ahead into Johns Hopkins Inlet.
It was not as ice-choked as yesterday - still fairly bergy, but with bigger chunks rather than the small chunks we had yesterday that were more densely packed and harder to see. We made it another 3 miles on today’s attempt before giving up and stopping 3 miles out to take a break, make Americanos, and raid the freezer for some of the cookies I had made in Anchorage.
In honor of our friend Katie, whose birthday is this month, today’s iceberg theme is rabbits.
After picking our way out of Johns Hopkins Inlet, we headed south to Blue Mouse Cove. We met quite a few more boats today, but still not many, relatively speaking. On the way south, we saw several groups of whales making their way around Glacier Bay and a few puffins and otters.
I also managed to get a little shut-eye while Ryan watched the helm. Napping in the V-berth while we’re under way is the best!
We anchored in Blue Mouse for lunch, and a nap for Ryan. While Ryan was asleep, I sat out reading in the sun and watched a black bear combing the beach near our boat for treats uncovered by the low tide.
Once Ryan recovered a little from last night’s sleep deprivation, we got moving again and proceeded to North Sandy Cove where we’ve settled for the day, positioned well for tomorrow’s foray into Muir Inlet.
There are two other boats sharing the anchorage with us. Riding our dinghy around, we’ve explored all the gunk holes in our little cove this evening and even walked over to South Sandy Cove across the isthmus to check out the neighboring anchorages. The sedge grasses along this route were a little tall and had clear bear paths through them, along with bear tracks in the mud, so we kept our bear spray handy.
Ryan is cooking some 4th of July BBQ sausages now while I sort photos and write up the day’s adventures. We are definitely in the mood to celebrate this beautiful country!
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