2023 Alaska Flotilla – Leg 5, Day 7 Cannery Cove to Tracy Arm Cove
Another beautiful sunny day as we depart Cannery Cove and all of its beauty. It is difficult to leave these beautiful places but we all know that Tracy Arm is where we will see the Sawyer Glacier, so our anticipation helps to urge us onward. A few otters, harlequin ducks and bald eagles add interest to our departure from Pybus Bay.
The journey across Fredrick is calm as glass and we see a number of humpback whales in the distance but by the time we reached the area they had left. The mountains of Admiralty Island are stunning, and the view keeps us entertained. Yesterday Pamelican switched out two of its crew and now Bruce and Renee have joined them, and by morning they had already caught a crab in Cannery Cove before departure.
Upon arriving at Tracy Arm Cove, a large group decided to go ashore for a walk. The cobbles made for a slow walk but when we arrived at a spit with a beached iceberg, the kids were completely entertained! The kids from Theresa and Bonum Vitae worked together to break off large chunks of ice and portage them across the shallow water between the spit and the mainland. The adults rested on the beach and enjoyed the view of the flotilla rafted against the far shore with a spectacular backdrop of high mountains capped by snow and ice from the Stikine Ice Field. Melinda and Martha were out kayaking which was a much more efficient method of transportation! As the afternoon faded into evening, flocks of pigeon guillemots and Herring gulls flew all around us, calling with their high screeches, to settle and rest for the night.
By the time Nate ferried all of us back to the raft, it was time to make dinner and settle in for the evening. But, not before both Sara and Jason took a plunge into the cold water in the cove! Tomorrow, we have an early start to travel thirty miles up Tracy Arm fjord to view the Sawyer Glacier. Sawyer glacier is one of the few remaining tide-water glaciers left and we look forward to witnessing the power of ice as it carved the surrounding mountains to create this deep fjord.
