With a lightly moving ship we sailed to the Yakutat Bay again. The weather system that had caused all these waves was rapidly disappearing into the main land only leaving some swell and rain in its wake. Luckily in the course of the day the drizzle diminished and the visibility improved. Exactly what was needed to get through the ice with a minimum of fuss.
By the time we entered the bay, a North Westerly wind started to blow and that was good for us, as it blows the ice cubes out of the bay and also loosens up a dense ice field. The Millennium, who had over taken us during the night, was racing ahead again and that was also good as their pilot could now tell us where to go as they had already passed through the ice. It remained drizzly through the day, but visibility was good enough to see the whole upper bay with Turner Glacier, Hoenke Glacier which is partly obscured by the advancing Hubbard Glacier itself and to the far right the entrance to Russell fjord. I measured the opening of Russell Fjord, to the face of Hubbard on the radar and it seems that the advance of Hubbard has temporarily come to a stand still. A few weeks ago we observed it that it was still slowly advancing.
The NW wind indeed pushed the ice cubes away and we could, while going slow, get all the way to the Glacier face. There was also a considerable water outflow from under the glacier and that meant that the area in front of the glacier was almost ice free and so I could spin the ship around and let all the sides of the ship have a good view of the bay. Some of the guests who had been with us northbound were debating among themselves whether it would be better to have a sunny day at the glacier or an overcast day as today. There is no easy answer to that question. With overcast skies the Glacier looks very imposing and the blue colors of the ice come out very well. On a sunny day it looks impressive because you look at this 5 mile long white wall of glistening ice. However that is not always that good for photos because of the glare. So there is something to say for both options.
The only ones who like it to rain are the Indian Interpreters who give a lecture in the main lounge before we reach the glacier. The harder it rains the better attendance they have. This time the attendance and Q & A must have been particularly good as they barely made it to the bridge on time to do the narrating part while approaching the glacier. Most of the narration is done by one of the National Park Rangers but normally one of the Indian interpreters takes part. Yakutat Bay is not a National Park and these rangers come from the Tongass and St Elias National Parks which surround the Yakutat. The rangers that we have on board each cruise are natives themselves and come from the Yakutat area.
One of them is directly related to Ed and Ted the Indian Interpreters.
Holland America started this Ranger program a number of years ago to add something extra to the experience that is Yakutat Bay. We have our own Travel guide on board but it does add something extra to the cruise if you bring the local experts on board. Holland America is the only cruise company who is doing this and the feedback is very positive. The whole exercise is not cheap at all as it involves flying the Rangers in, paying for the pilot boat (very expensive) and paying the wages of at least two rangers and two Indian interpreters and all for a four hour visit.
Thus by 6 pm, we disembarked them again with the pilot boat at Yakutat Bay pilot station and then set sail for Sitka. The waves where still there and for the first part of the evening the ship moved about a little bit. This is the forst formal night of the cruise and while I was standing on the stage doing my welcome on board speech and champagne toast, the ship was slowing moving under my feet. Just before I went to bed, the waves started to abate and that meant that everybody could have a peaceful night to get ready for our first port of call Sitka.
The weather forecast is 70% rain and I do not think that I will be able to park the ship in that 30% spot where it does not rain.
July 21, 2008 at 8:22 am
Really appreciate your detailed info. We are coming to Alaska again this summer and have been keeping up with your weather reports, etc. We have a lot more places to visit this year thanks to your Blog.
I have a question, what about mosqitoes? Are they more concentrated in the interior, or does all of Alaska suffer their presence.