Well i take the comment about the wifi back, good grief, still nothing but trouble, but i am not giving up!!       On JULY 1st, actually our Canada day , the folks in Hoonah decided to hold their 4th of July festivities on the first instead, the reason was that on the 4th a cruise ship was coming in, and they did not want to have their celebrations with several thousand cruise ship people hanging around, we were so glad to be there, every where the Hoonah folks were dressed up in Red White and Blue, little stands with food lined the main street, some Tlingit art was displayed here and there, and overall it all felt very festive.      We had met up with some of the other people on the sailboats, we met Suzie and Don with their beautiful Nauticat , and Trish and Will from Australia with their sailboat “SHADOW DANCER II”, Rita, help me out with the name of the Nauticat!!   Rita has a wonderful blog, ” MOTORSAILORBARAKABASHAD.WORDPRESS.COM   and she is so good at keeping all the names of everyone, all the boat names, so in this case i totally rely on her!!       Anyway, the day of the parade we all headed to the main street, and bought fried bread from Hetty, a Tlingit elder, she proudly told us her great great grand daughter was in the parade!!!    The fried bread is so good, i bought several pieces, and later on we bought tacos with a base of fried bread also, they things were huge, Bert and i each had one, well, there was no way we could finish them,!!!!!      Everyone was so happy, so laid back, i so fell in love with this town!!        Continue reading →

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!

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There usually is a modern art exhibition in the museum, worth checking out, these two pieces were liked by all three of us.

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Monday, it was a very low tide, i believe it was new moon, thee weather was wet, wet, wet, and cold!!    So glad we have the diesel stove in the boat, it had been going non stop since May 1st.   The warmth makes its way into the cockpit, plus , with the heat from the engine, which is right below us, we were quite comfortable.   We decided to head for Auke bay, North of Juneau, the other two boats planned to go into Gastineau Channel, going that way, you would have to go underneath the bridge, which we just didn’t think  was a good idea for Curtsy.   We waved to Gail, as we parted (for now) , going a different way, we turned to Port side in Stephens passage, left, towards Auke bay.   Gail kept on going as did Don and Ann.     The two ladies from Ca Vahn, stayed in Taku harbour a bit longer, as they were busy on their computers.   We arrived in Auke bay at 16.30, we had left at 11.30.    When you arrive in Auke bay, you mostly fend for yourself, we had to find a spot, and we soon realized that that was not a problem, the distance between the docks is very wide, so Bert turned the boat around, right between two docks, and docked Curtsy, facing out, good move!!      It seemed very quiet, but most fishing boats were out till the day after.     We figured out the bus schedule , after standing on the wrong side of the road, getting some funny looks from the bus drivers, as they whizzed by us…….two daft Canadians for sure…….    We kept in touch with Gail from Cruzeiro Do Sul, and after already having been to the museum once, planned to meet each other and go again.    This museum is phenomenal, i have a great interest in First nation arts and history, and this museum is a treasure full of art!!!        While we were sleeping that first night, a boat caught fire and sunk, right at the dock, thank goodness not close to us, we never heard a thing, apparently, the guy was on board, he was hurt indeed, and we found out that a few days before, his truck was set on fire, so i think , he had a problem with someone for sure…..  The harbor was full of debris and oil, and for 3 days, the coast guard and the harbor masters tried to clean it all up.         But now back to the museum, here are some photos, of the beautiful art.

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Taku harbour is named after the Tlingit peoples, who lived here, there were four shore communities, formerly known as Takokakaan.      The government took a senses in 1880, and counted a total of 269 people.   The Tlingit thrived here, the waters are teaming with fish, she shores full of clams, i did not find a sign of clam gardens, but then, i also didn’t check the whole bay.   In 1840, a Hudson’s bay trading post was established here.   In 1901 the San Juan Fishing and Packing company settled here, covering a huge area, many buildings are now gone , so are the docks, but i found a photo , thanks to the Alaskan State library.    Many of the First nations, the Tlingit, worked here in the cannery, it became their livelihood, but the cannery was only in operation till 1909, and today , there are only remnants of docks, buildings, boilers and electrical generators, nature is slowly but very steadily taking over.   The Tlingit have moved away since a long time.

now and then….. Continue reading →

I just had a major fight with the wifi here, tried very hard to publish a post, but the photos would not publish, so i waited a while, watched an episode of Netflix, and here we are again!!!       There was a photo in the new cabin, constructed by the Alaskan parks, in honor of Tiger Olsen, the photo is of Tiger, sorry , that it is so dark!!

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After the ice, the blue colors, the sheer cliffs, and the immense glaciers, Taky bay, Taku harbour, seemed almost like coming into somewhere tropical.      Everything is green, so lush, the Sitka trees standing majestically in the forest, their huge trucks surrounded by very large Devils club and Skunk cabbage.     There is such a quiet here, i love wandering into the forest, on a deer trail, and just stand there, and listen, i could hear a few birds, busy with the seeds out of the Sitka cones, and i could hear the distant talk of the boaters at the dock, but other then that, quiet, total quiet.        I wandered around, there is a small pathway along the shore, and first i came upon a very old cabin, windows missing, not much left inside other then an old washing machine, one that i used to use in the seventees!!!      This cabin belonged to Tiger Olsen, a gentle lad, a true earth muffin so to speak, who lived here by himself for many years.         One boater told me that Tiger did very well here, all by himself, when a boat would come in, he would meet the skipper, and tie up the lines and welcomed them to Taku harbor.      When Tiger was in his eighties, the authorities became worried about him, i guess no one wanted to find Tiger passed away , out there , in the middle of no where, i just wish they would have left him. Taku bay was his home, his love, they brought him to Juneau, put him in a retirement home, and that is where he died.      Very sad.

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Bloody cold that morning, the tide was turning soon , so we decided , as did everyone else, to leave before the tide would run too hard, its a good thing we did, i just read again in the book; EXPLORING SOUTH EAST ALASKA by Don Douglass and Reanne Hemingway Douglass, it states that the entrance into Tracy arm is 1.75 miles wide, but the navigable channel is only 0.3 miles wide, it is about 36 ‘ deep, and there are two buoys , green and red.   It states in the book, that the buoys may become submerged during a very strong tide and currents.      Yes they do!!!!      As we tried to navigate into the channel, we were only doing 1.6 knots, the red buoy totally disappeared , the green one toppled over!!!   We heard later on that the other sailboat, SA VAHN, ended up sideways in the channel, trying to get out!!!      The channel stays very narrow for quite a while, so it took a long time before we could veer off towards Portside, on out way to Taku Harbour!!  (TAKU BAY)    Whales everywhere in Stephens passage, i could not believe the number of Humpbacks!!     They all shore feed mostly, also bubble feeding , which i will tell more about later, but these whales are up North here to eat!!!!

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