Zooming in on SE Alaska.

It all started in Hoonah where our son’s Alaska Seaplane coming from Juneau was supposed to drop him off at O2’s backdoor in 20 minutes flat. At least, that is what we had in mind when we booked the flight.

But the small 8 passenger seaplane didn’t come down at the designated float dock where you’d expect it to land but 2,5 miles inland on the hard. And that’s how we missed our son’s joyous entry into the wild. “Yes, it is a bit confusing that it is called a SEAplane when they set it down on the tarmac”, Teresa our whale watch guide casually remarked as she was driving me around Hoonah on a generously offered free sight-seeing trip. My Captain, who I couldn’t warn about the sudden change of plans, stood watch at the floatplane dock for over an hour, waiting in vain.

I on the other hand got a last-minute ride to Hoonah’s tiny airport where Ramses stood wondering what could possibly have gone wrong. That maybe he had misunderstood and should have flown to Sitka instead? We hugged each other with great relief.

And to know that My Captain and I had arrived in Hoonah, well in advance. We even got hauled out for a small emergency maintenance issue and a deep clean of both hulls. A wide rim above the waterline had turned tea color brown after having been soaked in red cedar juice for months. 

We also gladly mingled with the local fisher folks again. This time, we weren’t offered edible sugar kelp in a dirty plastic box with flies on the lid, but freshly caught live Dungeness crabs. For free. The proud fisherman demonstrated with great enthusiasm how to kill them rapidly “without causing pain or distress. “So, he grabbed the live crabs by the legs, whacked the body on the edge of the wooden dock so that the whole middle part went flying high before landing into the water with a loud splash. Triumphantly, he stood holding in each hand what was left of the now definitely dead crab: the perfect clusters of yummy legs. He hosed them down, removed some leftover carcass and carefully placed them in our bucket. He sent us on our way with the advice to steam the crab legs right there and then with a pinch of salt in a bottom of water for maximum 15 minutes. We hurried back to O2 and did exactly as told. The result was luxuriously tender & delicate crab meat which was an absolute treat to eat. My Captain now wants to go crab potting, but I am not so sure about the whacking.

With Ramses finally on board we headed from Hoonah to Glacier Bay National Park via flower covered and quaint Point Gustavus where moose tracks put us on high alert. After a mandatory orientation session in Bartlett Cove, the official entrance to the park, we were ready for the epic journey ahead of us.

Glacier Bay National Park is a showcase for what Nature has to offer on this unique rock we all call home. As do our fellow creatures great and small. We met many of them as they were being busy staying alive. All of glacier bay acts as a stark reminder of the fragility of life in general, to eat and to be eaten. To breed and to die. The cycle of life right in your face. And all the time, against a backdrop of brutal peaks, glaciers were telling the tale of the passing of time as they steadily kept carving the valleys into a perfect U. 

It was also bloody cold, especially when you must wade hip deep into 4-degree Celsius glacier meltwater to recuperate a runaway dinghy because you were so awed by your surroundings that the incoming tide slipped your mind. We left the scene deeply impressed and with some awesome pics for posterity. Thank you Ramses!

We have now safely arrived in Haines by giving gill nets a wide berth. As we were motoring up the Lynn Canal, we got a VHF call from one of the many commercial fishing boats: “Hey there catamaran, you are heading up North, heading into gill nets. “ Spoken with a delightful twang. “That’s a hell of a boat you’ve got there. Stay one mile off the coast and you’ll be just fine.”  We did and we are.

Today was Independence Day and people in town all cheerfully greeted us with a “Happy Fourth!”. Haines is a pleasant little place and the most northerly O2 will go. We have rented a car to roll from Alaska into Yukon, Canada and Kluane National Park, looking for moose. This is no country for old men. Still, these old bones feel right at home.