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We are in Auke Bay Harbor
at the north end of Juneau. This is what
the marina looks like. You can just barely
see a sliver of the Mendenhall Glacier from this
harbor. It is just about at the lower
middle of the mountains in this picture.
And here is the Mendenhall
Glacier which I had not seen close up before
this trip. A friend who lives in Juneau drove
me out to see it. She commented that in the
10 years she has lived in Juneau she has noticed
a considerable change. The brown area at
the right was all glacier when she first
arrived. She said she believes this glacier
recedes about 100 to 150 feet every year.
And here is downtown Juneau.
Is has not changed much at all since we first
visited it in 2001. Downtown is designed basically
for the cruise ship visitors. Lots of shops.
The Douglass SE AK cruising
guide book is in print! I couldn't help but put
this picture in to show the result of the project
that I
worked on as editor for so long. The publisher
was kind enough to send me a copy. It was a
treat to
see the real thing. [See: Exploring
Southeast Alaska, Don Douglass and Reanne
Hemingway-Douglass, Fine Edge Nautical & Recreational
Publishing, 2007]
A new record has been set
for a Royal Souhder crab haul. These two pots
counted out to 21 crabs!
Now get ready to see something
amazing that was in one of the pots. No,
not this crab. This picture is actually from a
previous trip to AK. However, it shows the underbelly
of a male crab very nicely. See the arrowhead
shape? When it is narrow like that we know it
is a male and therefore is a keeper (if it's big
enough). If we saw an arrowhead that was very
broad shaped that would indicate a female. We
are required to throw females back in
the water so they have a chance to reproduce.
And here is the amazing
sight. Something we have never seen before. See
all that "stuff?" Look at the next picture
to get an even closer look.
Can you figure out what
you're looking at? This is a female loaded with
tons of eggs. (One source I looked at said they
can lay millions of eggs at a time.) Apparently
that arrowhead portion just peels away and out
come the eggs. Needless to say, this crab went
back into the water right after I took these pictures.
Oh, and I didn't say who
the new record holder is. Well, here he is. All
smiles.
We have always been at
anchor somewhere on the 4th of July. However,
this time we were in Juneau and thought we
would finally be able to see some fireworks. Think
again. The fireworks display didn't start until
12:01, July 4. You see, it doesn't get dark up
here at this time of year until about
11:30 PM. And it is light again by about 3:00
AM. You think I'm kidding?
Look at the next two pictures (which I took in
Hoonah). I took this picture at 10:00 PM !! Yes
that is the sun going down past the breakwater.
And this picture was taken
the next morning - at 3:15 AM. No special
camera settings and no photoshop touchup
in either photo. This is the real scene.
Did I see the fireworks
at 12:01 AM? Are you kidding? When you only have
a few minutes of sleeping ambience you better
shut your eyes and sleep!
However, we did get a nice treat on the 4th of
July when we looked over at the U.S. Coast Guard
boat. The Coasties had decked the boat out in
a great flag display just for the Independence
Day Holiday. Tah dah! Happy Birthday U. S. of
A.
During our stay in Juneau I took
the Fast Ferry "Fairweather" up Lynn
Canal to Skagway for a fabulous 2-day Gold
Rush history holiday. You'll have to wait a while
until I get those pictures organized. But stay
tuned for details of a terrific trip.
In the mean time, we will be leaving Auke Bay
on Tuesday to host our wonderful Santa Fe
friends to a week on the water. The Skagway trip
and adventures with our friends will be in a future
email.
Linda
& Dave
M/V Royal Sounder
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