Meyers Chuck to Santa Anna Inlet 

We enjoyed a slow morning watching a low layer of cloud burn off, exposing the blue skies behind. The first stop of the day was to visit Cassy the postmistress at Meyers Chuck. This tiny outpost gets mail delivered and picked up every two weeks by seaplane. The post office is the heart of this little community and serves as a gathering place for residents. We chatted with Cassy about the way of life in Meyers Chuck. We bought souvenirs and postcards to mail, though the plane had just come the day before so we might be home before the mail arrives!

We cruised under blue skies and across calm seas today on our way to Santa Anna Inlet. We had multiple encounters with pods of Dall’s Porpoise as we cruised and a couple times had them darting in between the fleet, riding one bow wake, then another. Watching their streamlined, powerful bodies speeding through the water and sending up rooster tails of wake as they surface. Seeing them playfully surfing along with our boats was a delight. The playful, hyperactive energy of the porpoises felt contagious, and we were all grinning by the time they got bored of us and headed off in another direction. 

The sloping rocky shoreline of Easterly Island is home to a small Stellar sealion rookery. We cruised by slowly, watching the massive bull lions noisily defending their territories and harems of females. Pigeon guillemots nest on the rocky cliffs as well, and the air and waters surrounding the rookery were busy with them flying and diving for fish.

Once in the deep, well protected anchorage of Santa Anna, each crew picked out their own spot to anchor and settled in for an afternoon of exploring. The dinghies were launched, crab pots set, and fishing poles rigged. Kayaks poked around the shorelines admiring the streams and waterfalls emptying into the bay. A bushwhack up the river at the end of the inlet lead to a beautiful freshwater lake, and the report from Chris on Arctic Star was that the cutthroat were biting in the stream! The crew on Eldean had an exciting Mink sighting from their dinghy as it fished right below them before hightailing it out of the water and up the shore. The Thea crew spotted a beaver swimming in the bay as well!

It’s only day two and already we’re settling into life onboard. Sometimes it can be a challenge to slow down to the pace of life on the water when you’re accustomed to being busy. But it’s a wonderful feeling to embrace the slowness, breathe the fresh sea air and let the weight of your worries slip away. The peaceful evening was disturbed only by some loud splashes as the Deception crew took a polar plunge.  

P.S. Is Alaska on your bucket list? We can take you there! Reserve your spot on our 2022 Mother Goose AK Flotilla today.