July 17th Juneau to Taku Bay

 July 17^th Back to Juneau then on to Taku Harbor

Last night we celebrated our Ada’s fifth birthday with strawberry cake and a gigantic 5 candle. There were a few gifts to open including matching gymnastics outfits for her and her doll. We feel so fortunate to have celebrated this milestone with Ada on the Belle.

 

Ashley was thrilled that we finally caught a keeper crab for her breakfast this morning. We are finding that we are trapping mainly female or juvenile males these days. Is this a sign that it has been “crabbed out” by the professional crabbers?

We headed to Juneau to drop off our passengers, so they could catch their planes home. Along the way we encountered thick fog and some more whale tails.  We also needed to get fuel and water while there. Docking was a breeze with the help of the young men at the dock. Saying good-bye to my daughter, granddaughter and brother was not a breeze. I was overwhelmed with sadness.

                                                              On their way home

 

 

We had learned about Glacier Bay far too late having been told yesterday that reservations had to be made at least 6 months in advance. We could have called each morning to put our name on a waiting list in case someone cancelled or left early, but didn’t make the effort. Instead we headed out for Taku Harbor. We were cruising 10 hours today. When we anchored out last night, I had already made up my mind that we needed to stay two nights. I was feeling a bit weary.

 

 

This morning, David discovered that the diesel stove in the galley was not operating. He thought there was no fuel in the day tank that feeds it but found that it was full. There was no hot water for showers this morning. The stove is the “center of our universe” here on the boat for heating our water, keeping the boat warm and for baking and roasting. We were both a bit concerned. After working on it when we anchored, David was able to get the water warm enough for me to take a shower.

 

While sitting on the bow I noticed the staining job Butch did on our window frames. Butch was so eager to help in anyway possible as well as being open to learning what he could about the operations of our vessel. He pitched in whenever needed with enthusiasm. He kept saying, “Boy, Mom and Dad would be shocked to see you on this boat and all that you do, Sis.”

 

                                            Nice work, Big Brother

 As we entered Stephens Passage on our way to Taku Harbor, we were stunned by the number of fishing vessels working away. There must have been 50 in our sights at one point. When we turned aiming for the entrance to the harbor, a working boat began laying net across the entrance.  We had to squeeze between the end of his net and the rocky shore. David glared at him as we passed and over the radio we heard, “This is a working channel”.  Still can’t understand the need to block a harbor entrance.

The dock was almost full so decided to anchor out with the three fish haulers in the harbor.