After a few days of NWE crew and boat preparation in Juneau, this morning we cast off!  Most of the Mother Goose boat crews arrived a few days prior in order to be briefed on their boats and have time to provision.  Arriving early also gave us time to explore the city of Juneau.  Juneau is the state capitol of Alaska and it holds a lot of interesting history.  We were all excited to get underway though!

It looks like we have another great group cruising with us for this trip!  On Change of Latitude we have Harvey and Mei and their friends Dee and Martin.  They did the Desolation Sound Flotilla together last year and are excited to be back for more!  Aboard Victoria are Bonnie and Merle and their daughter Becky.  They are also return clients and have done a leg of the Alaska flotilla in the past.  They are new to powerboats but not to boating.  Bonnie and Merle actually completed a circumnavigation of the world on their own sailboat years ago.

Patos has another international crew for this leg.  Instead of Australians, the boat is now being chartered by Helga and Goffredo from Switzerland and their friends Emily and Jeffer from Taiwan.  One of their bags was lost in transit and didn’t make it to Juneau so they had to leave without it this morning; but as we arrived in Taku Harbor, it was delivered personally to them by sea plane.  How’s that for service?!

Crewing on Bonum Vitae are Jack (91 years young!) and Annette and Jack’s granddaughter Carlyne along with her husband, Don.  Although there was some disagreement on the exact number, this is Jack and Annette’s fifth or sixth Mother Goose charter!  We are so happy to have them back.  Aboard Discovery are John and Gail, their daughter Ally and her boyfriend Garrett.  They have chartered many boats in different areas of the world, but this is their first time to Alaska.  I get the feeling that it won’t be their last.

We had a great first day out.  We spotted multiple humpback whales, bald eagles, and many other diving birds such as Pigeon Guillemots and Scoters.  We arrived in Taku Harbor in the early afternoon, with plenty of time to explore.  The fascinating remains of an old cannery that was built in the early 1900s littered the beach.  We poked along, finding old pieces of pottery, machinery, bricks, pilings, animal bones and bear scat.  After a lovely happy hour hosted on Deception, some of the Bonum Vitae crew and I headed out to explore more.  We searched for an elusive trail up to the lake; and although we never found it and returned quite drenched, we had a great time!  We are happy to be embarking on this trip and looking forward to all that we will experience, see and learn.