Alaska July 23 to 31

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We received an invitation to join two of our friends on their boat in Alaska. We left from Atlanta at 7:30 AM and flew to Juneau with a plane change in Seattle, arriving shortly after 1 PM, Alaskan time (4 hours behind Atlanta’s time). We were greeted at the airport by the boat’s captain and whisked to the boat, a spectacular 200+ foot yacht. We were shortly afterward joined by 2 Fort Lauderdale friends, Barbara Sears and Janice Chai-Chang. There were two other guests as well for the cruise. The boat has 6 guest cabins in addition to the owner’s suite and can comfortably accommodate 12 guests.

We spent the first night in the Juneau harbor on the anchor and left the next morning. The 3 ½ ton anchor and 5 tons of chain make quite a vibration when raised and lowered on the otherwise extremely quiet boat. On Monday we headed north for the Davidson Glacier. Due to the high winds and choppy waters after viewing the glacier, we abandoned our northern itinerary and went back to Sunday night’s anchorage. On Tuesday we continued south. Sunday and again on Tuesday we were entertained by many sightings of whales and orcas. We were amazed to see a group of whales circle a bunch of smaller fish and trap them for easier catching.

Davidson Glacier

Thursday, our best weather day, we arrived at Tracy Arm, the location of two impressive glaciers (North and South Sawyer Glaciers). We spent the day taking tenders to reach the glaciers. To reach the south one, we had to weave between the icebergs produced by the glacier. At one point many of us including Dean transferred from the tender to the one of the larger icebergs. Icebergs are very slick and treacherous to stand on but we did not lose anyone. The beautiful iridescent blue color of the glacier ice is caused be intense compression of the ice in the glacier. Friday we returned to Juneau so we could disembark on Saturday. We spent Saturday night in Juneau and caught our 5:20 AM flight home on Sunday. Alaska Photos

North Sawyer Glacier