14 September 2017 Tracy Arm, Alaska, sort of.

As mentioned yesterday we had Tracy Arm Fjord on our schedule today and I also mentioned that is was uncertain if we would get there due to the ice. This has been the case for most of the season and today was not different. When we go to Tracy Arm, we want to get to the face of South Sawyer Glacier and see the calving. Lately the Glacier has not been cooperating very much. It has been calving too much and as a result it has been retreating very fast as well. It produces so much ice that the ship has a hard time getting near the glacier and if the ice was not there then we still would have a challenge to get close to the face because the Glacier has been retreating. It has gone back by about half a mile in recent times and we do not know what is under water at this new half a mile stretch. But there was too much ice again to even contemplate going in.

As you can see there is not much difference, apart from Tracy Arm fjord being a bit more narrow. Both Glaciers come from the same ice field but for some reason South Sawyer is retreating fast.

But no worries: Holland America always has a plan B. And that is to go into Endicott Arm. So we went left instead of right into the fjord. The scenery is the same, it is just that Dawes Glacier calves a bit less. But that is exactly what we need. We like to see some action but we still have to get to the Glacier to see it. Too many ice cubes and we have a problem here as well.

This is how it looks on the radar screen. The yellow spots are the reflections of the mountains on either side.

Today we were in luck. The sun was brightly shining, the ice buildup only started about a mile away from the Glacier face and we could get just around the corner and see the Glacier at half a mile distance. It was a good day; it was a spectacular day, probably the best visit of the year. We entered the fjord around 10 am. and then it took with a speed of about 14 knots and slowing down all the time, until 12.30 before we were parked at the rim of the ice field in front of the Glacier. Our ships EXC host narrated the whole progress so everybody understood what there was to be seen and why it was there.

Approaching the face of the Glacier. The ms Amsterdam sailed passed all the large pieces and then stopped in the rubble where it was still safe to do so, approximately 0.5 miles from the Glacier.

By 1700 hrs. we were back outside again and our next stop is Juneau tomorrow. Juneau is only a good two hours distance from Endicott Arm and if we would have gone directly we would have been fully docked by 20.00 hrs. But then what? By the time the ship would have been cleared the town would have closed down for the night.  Juneau’s night life is not that sparkling that our Guests would run ashore to make a grand night of it. Some of the Bars still specialize in “low flying” locals when evicted late at night and that would be too much for most of our Guests. Plus when you dock the Shops, Casino and everything else which has the focus of the taxman has to close down. That takes away a lot of activities and thus not a good idea. So what we and most other company’s do, who are faced with this dilemma, we drop the hook for the night, just outside Gastineau Channel, the entrance fjord to Juneau.

The evening was wind still, there is a nice muddy bank on the West shore of Stephens Passage and by 18.00 hrs. a 3^rd officer was dispatched forward. He lowered 5 lengths of chain plus the anchor into the water and onto the ground. 5 lengths of chain is 800 feet, not counting the anchor. The anchor weighs about 13000 pounds, 800 feet of chain weights about 5000 pounds and so 18000 pounds of hardware was sunk into the mud to hold the ship safely into position for the night. If there is a lot of wind, then we can go up to 11 lengths of chain, but the weather forecast was good, so why bother to get more chain dirty.

We will raise the anchor tomorrow morning at 06.00 hrs. and then be docked in Juneau by 08.00 hrs. The weather calls for overcast skies and a temperature of 8oC or 47oF. and no rain. So not a bad day for shopping as long as you wear two pairs of socks. I know I will, as I will be on the mooring decks verifying the procedures that the officers and sailors have to follow to ensure a safe docking.