Overcast, Fog, Rain, & Whales Today in Frederick Sound

 

Alaska mainland mountain peaks with glaciers galore.   The LeConte, Patterson and Baird Glaciers are in the general area of this photo.   The LeConte is the furthest south, and the Baird is the northernmost of these three.   Only the LeConte is a tidewater glacier, and it is growing while the other two are receding.  Yesterday's iceberg encounter was likely from the LeConte Glacier.

The Patterson & Baird Glaciers empty into either end of Thomas Bay, which was our anchorage last night.   We stayed in the south end, near the terminal river of the Patterson Glacier.

Here we are exiting through the narrow channel over the terminal moraines of the two glaciers.

Leaving Thomas Bay, we turn north in Frederick Sound bound for Cannery Cove in Pybus Bay on Admiralty Island.   That's about a 50-mile trip for us.
That is the tail fluke of a humpback whale.   We saw a few of them today, but we were not close to any of them.

We also saw Dahl's porpoises, sea lions, seals, sea otters, and lots of birds.
Karen & Susan, caught in the act of having a great conversation...
Our steadfast Captain being photographed while hard at work.  How does he do it???
The Pybus Point Lodge, a fishing resort on the south point of Cannery Cove, which is in Pybus Bay.

We ghosted on by and headed deeper into the cove to find a spot to safely anchor for the evening.

Our intrepid crew & Admiral, Karen setting the anchor bridle in the rain.
And now it is time to cook.   John & Susan made a wonderful Caesar salad, herbed cornbread, and clam chowder.  Totally delicious!

I'm looking forward to their next culinary creation!
Four happy eaters!   From L-R, that is: Peter, Karen, Susan, & John.
The fog socked in and the winds picked up, which is unusual.   More typical would be one or the other, but not both.

What we could see of this little bay looked really interesting with snow fields in the north-facing nooks and crevasses all the way to sea level.   We can hear a waterfall out there, but we can't see it.  Hopefully, it will be clear in the morning.

Tomorrow we will head on towards Glacier Bay.   Perhaps we will stop at Red Bluff on Baranof Island.  We shall see.

In the meantime, we will just sail back and forth around the anchor in the 20knot wind gusts tonight.  I hope we can sleep peacefully.

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