Before i continue on, telling you about Hoonah, i first want to wish all of our family, all our friends and everyone in our lives a MERRY , MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND A HAPPY JOYFUL NEW YEAR, FULL OF GOOD SURPRISES AND ABOVE ALL, GOOD HEALTH!!!   We are traveling up island , to spend Christmas with three of our daughters, i so wish i could beam Sandra and family, and Erin and family over here, they will be missed….

So, Hoonah , the town we both fell in love with, the atmosphere, the people, the marina, we really liked it there!   We left Auke bay on June 30th, it was cold, raining, but by now we were so used to that, the diesel stove never stopped throwing its heat at us, we were comfortable and dry. We barely had rounded Point Retreat at the northern point of Mansfield Peninsulas, and here came the whales, blows everywhere, once we were in Icy Strait, we were surrounded by Pacific Whitesided Dolphins, passing Rocky islet, a large group of very stinky sea lions lounged on the rocks, you just know they are nearby as they smell so strongly!!!    The salmon jumped all around the boat, no wonder so many marine mammals hang out here, so much food!      One very large humpback whale came close to the boat, he seemed to be the only one.       Hoonah is the largest TLINGIT settlement in SE Alaska, the economy was mostly based on logging and fishing, fishing is still very strong but now the town is more dependent on tourism.     The cannery has been renovated into a large hall where the First nation perform their dances and sell art. There is a cruise ship dock now, for one boat at the time, once it arrives , it spills a few thousand people into the tiny town, yes, they bring in money, but its a double edged sword as they say, i so hope the town stays as it is, the people are wonderful, and we could feel the atmosphere change when one cruise ship came in on July 4th, all these fancy dressed folks, that wont make eye contact, wont say hallo, the Hoonah folks just went quietly about their business, but i could feel the change.    The harbour has a large transient dock to the left as we came in, and the tide was low that day, very low, but Bert managed to bring the boat around, so she was facing out, i was waiting for the crunch of gravel under the keel, but, we made it!

Low tide indeed!!!   Curtsy at the front , our newly found Aussie friends behind us!!