@ Nugget Falls

The day we became boat owners!

After much deliberation, much looking, offers made and lost, we became boat owners. Yes, the boat was in British Columbia.  Yes, that means it had to come to Juneau by ferry, crossing through customs unescorted.  But it made it and we could not be happier.

At an obnoxiously early hour of the morning, we waited anxiously as the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry Matanuska pulled into the dock.












With the help of some very kind deckhands, we got the trailer hooked up to our truck and off the ferry we went.

She's a C-Dory, cabin cruiser model 22' in length.

Proudly standing with his new boat.

Now it would not be the full story if I said all was well from the moment we got it off the ferry.  The previous owner made a slight boo-boo and left the key in the ignition in the on position for the entire transit from BC to Juneau so upon arrival we could not get the boat to start because the battery was dead.  Charged up, Graham and I took it out for a test ride, patting ourselves on the back because we trailed it to the harbor, launched it, took a ride and re-trailered it home.  So proud were we that the next night we took the girls out for their first cruise in the boat.  Only the battery did not hold the charge and the cruise abruptly ended with our friend having to tow us back into the harbor (thankfully we were not very far out at all).  I'll admit, it was not a great start to boat ownership.

But with the help of a mechanic, we got it all diagnosed, fixed, installed a backup battery and away  we went again. With much more success. 

We took the girls out again.  This time living up to what we hoped to get out of our boat - time together as a family, soaking up all that the beautiful water of Southeast Alaska has to offer.

There's a humpback whale in the distance.  Not a great whale sighting or picture by much of any standard.  But the first one from our boat!

Peeking out the hatch

Sketching wildlife and scenery

"Sea lions ahead, Captain!  They're sunbathing!"

The boat as of yet is unnamed.  So far in the suggestion box we have: Green Bean (Cora), Eagle Eye (Addy), Megaptera (Jenn), Orca (Graham), 'Thar She Blows (Grandma Carol) and We'll "C" (Grandma Sherry).  We're still accepting nominations :)

Alaskans Afield

Alaskans Afield is a family-oriented series of outdoor education classes offered by the Department of Fish & Game and we took our first one this spring.  Lizzie, Addy, Cora and I took "Wild Edibles" with the same instructor I've been lucky enough to have at Becoming an OutdoorsWoman.

The goose tongue and the rose hips & spruce tip tea were a hit!

When life gives you mud...

...you give yourself a mud bath???

Eagle Beach

Eagle Beach is quickly becoming one of our favorite places to have a campfire picnic.

When Grandpa Johnny and Lizzie were in town, we got to take them there for a lunchtime picnic complete with Dungeness crab caught by our neighbor.  Delicious!

Love never fails

Tracy Arm Fjord

On our bucket list of things to do while here in Alaska was to cruise the Tracy Arm Fjord.  We got the chance on Memorial Day of this year while John and Lizzie were here visiting.  Just when I think Alaska cannot get any more beautiful or amazing, it astounds me again and again.

We cruised aboard the Adventure Bound along with its sister ship the Captain Cook (pictured), traveling 40 miles south of Juneau into the fjord, passing beautiful waterfalls and amazing blue icebergs along the way.   It was a cloudy, overcast day but that just made the whole landscape even more dramatic.

The further into the arm we got, the more the giant icebergs were joined by small pieces of ice from significant calving taking place at the glacier.  It was beautiful but the made the trip slow going as the captain expertly steered us clear of any pieces too large to bounce off the boat.  The iceberg you see above the water is about 15% of the total size of the iceberg; most of it is below the surface.

 Oh, the wildlife we saw along the way!  Magnificent!  In the video, you can hear the ice thumping off the hull of the boat.  And while it was slow going, the advantage was it provided lots of nice resting places for seals and their pups. Some stayed put and just checked us out; others, like the two in this video, popped back into the water.

Seals, brown bears and black bears, oh my!

And then, of course, there's the glacier itself.  We spent time just drifting and listening to the sounds of the South Sawyer Glacier.  Just breathtaking.

Such intense coloring.

It made for a long day but so worth the trip.  I can't remember the last time the girls fell asleep for a nap but I suspect the lull of the boat was just too much to resist.

A rainbow for our journey back to Juneau.