27 June 2017; Glacier Bay, Alaska.

The weather turned out to be quite decent in the end. Not much sunshine but also very little wind and that is important for good sightseeing. If we have a wind that blows into the bay and somewhere goes over a Glacier while coming in, then it becomes a very cold wind and that makes being on the outside deck a bit of a challenge. But not today. It was nice and quiet in the upper bay.

We normally pick up the Rangers between 06.30 and 07.00 hrs. at Bartlett Cove which is a small village at the entrance of the Bay and where also the Ranger Station is located. We return them between 16.30 and 17.00 hrs. after a full day in Glacier Bay. The Rangers come out in their own boat, called the Shirak, and they board via the pilot ladder. Normally there is a minimum of three Rangers, one for the announcements, one for the desk and shop they run in the crow’s nest and one who does the lecture in the show lounge. Then there is often an Indian interpreter from the local tribe who have lived near Glacier Bay for centuries and very often we also have a “spotter” on the forward deck. A Lady or a Gentleman who spends all day looking at wildlife and counting the sightings. I have the greatest respect for this person as he or she stands there all day long in wind, rain and cold, looking around and counts and observes. I always think how lucky I am to stand on the bridge behind glass and a steady temperature.

It is so simple to say” pick up at 07.00 hrs. and drop off at 17.00 hrs.”, but there is a whole puzzle behind it, a puzzle which the captain has to solve and adhere to. First of all there is the requirement of spending 4 hours in the upper bay, where the glaciers are. This 4 hour requirement was instigated in the past as there were captains who raced up and down the bay and managed to sail past all the glaciers in 2 hrs. time. That does not give the guests much time to enjoy the experience and thus the 4 hr. rule was imposed quite a few years ago.

Then we have to deal with “Whale Waters” as I mentioned last week. At the moment we can still do 20 knots in the middle of the bay but in the near future it will be reduced to 13 or 10 knots. As soon as more wildlife is taking up station in the Bay area. Then it will take much longer to sail up or down the bay. Finally the Rangers also give a presentation and during that time they want to have everybody as much as possible in the lounge, so we try to be in an area where there is not too much to see, because if there is wildlife, then we like the Rangers to be there to explain it.

That all together gives for the fact that it takes a bit of doing to cobble a workable schedule together. However we have been at it for a long long time so the guest does not even notice that they are being ran on a very strict schedule in order to comply with a lot of different rules (*)

Marjorie Glacier with a ice pinnacle sticking out into the bay. Very unusual.

Marjorie Glacier had calved a lot since last week and today there was a long straight pinnacle heading into the Bay. It will not stay there very long, a few times with the tide going up and down and it will break off. But at the moment we have two curved gaps in the face of the Glacier, where once Marjorie was one straight wall of ice. It will be interesting to see how this develops and if one day we can walk in front of the Glacier on dry land.

Tomorrow we will be in Haines where we will arrive before 06.30 in the morning as that is the time the first tour is leaving. The weather is supposed to be overcast but dry, so it should be a good day for everybody to be out and about.

(*) and of course do not forget the bingo a 17.00 hrs. as it would be lethal if we would have to cancel that one.