Greywolf’s Chronicles: Greywolf’s Trip South August 2012

For some reason that has left the confines of this Officially Old Mind, the pictures and the stories from Greywolf’s trip south in 2012 never made it to the internet. So, to make it official that we did, indeed, bring the boat back I’m posting pictures and snippets. Greywolf left on an adventure closer home this August. She’s bugging me to share. Will do!

August 14, 2012.
Auke Bay, the large boat harbor near Juneau, with Mendenhall Glacier looking over it.
I’m sure it looks almost the same this year.

Greywolf left Auke Bay in the sunshine, headed south for Bainbridge Island.

About an hour out, we smelled the easily identified and very unwelcomed odor of burning electrical wiring. As we sniffed our way through our not-all-that-large boat, we were stymied. We put the temperature gun to work looking for hot spots. We turned off everything but the computer/chart plotter and the engine. We made a U-turn in the middle of Stephens Passage and headed for Auke Bay for the fourth time this summer. The smell went away. No smoke. No flames. Nothing obviously melted and fused.

Back at the dock in Auke Bay, we switched on electrical equipment, one instrument at a time. No smell. What to do? Nothing. We enjoyed the day and the sunshine.

While mussing around on the boat that day we learned that canine desire to meet-and-greet can sometimes over-ride canine need for safety. The skipper from Alaskan Dream, a handsome pocket cruise ship home-ported on Bainbridge, stopped to talk. Duke, the skipper’s small dog sat quietly while we talked. Allie leaped wildly around the cockpit, jumping onto the locker seat and peering over the side of the boat to get a closer look at Duke. As the skipper and Duke walked away, Allie decided she needed face (bum?) time with this Bainbridge Island dog.

“Wait! Don’t go before I have a chance to....”

I don’t know if Allie jumped or simply lost track of her center of gravity. Over the side she went, missing the dock and landing safely in the water. Duke’s owner scooped her up and set her skinny little body on the dock.

Although Allie doesn’t like to swim, she does love the water, and was totally energized by her adventure. Bummer. We would have preferred that she had “learned her lesson” and been chastised by the experience. In our dreams.

View from U of A campus, a short walk from the marina.
That is Mendenhall in the middle.

Sunset at Snug Harbor.

Leaving Sung Harbor at sunrise. Yes, some days are long!

No, it really did look like this.

Don’t know who put that rock there. Oh, yes I do. The same glacier that created Snug Harbor.

Glaciers as you approach Petersburg

Ingenious reminder to CLEAN UP AFTER YOUR DOG. These buckets
were tied to the bull rail along the docks in Petersburg.

Boat reapair ad. Picturesque Petersburg in the background.

The Union Trading Company hasn’t had--or needed--many make-overs in its lifetime. It suits

the Petersburg’s waterfront fine. There is another market near the airport with Costco-type merchandise.

Allie searched for a critter under this log at Meyers Chuck for the longest time.
You can’t see the tail wagging, but it was.

The Safeway store in Ketchikan got tired of people walking off with the shopping carts. There is a wire buried in the asphalt. When the cart gets within range, the wheels lock and cart stops. If you have much speed and weight in the cart, I’m sure it all topples over.

In Ketchikan, we decided to top off our fuel tanks because the price was good.
We use Allie to soak up an diesel that spills in the bay. Greywolf is slow and stingy with
fuel consumption; she can actually can make it from B.I. to AK and back on a single
(really humongous) tank of fuel.

The skipper of the Miss Tammy from Seattle was concerned that we were still in in Alaska
this time of year. TIME TO HEAD SOUTH!!! Yes, sir.

Sunset at Prince Rupert.

The sky tells you why they call it Rainy Rupert.

I love this land formation. The grey didn’t look depressing in person.

Helicopter logging! We hung out--at a safe distance--for a long time.

The splash is the log hitting the water. I think there is a person in that pusher tug.
It looks like a precarious job.

The sign is old, but you really are welcome in Klemtu.

Nice people and dogs!

Johnstone Straits on a calm day.

The lettering didn’t have an exclamation point, but it certainly looked like it was a demand.
And we liked the fact that it was the second try at serenity.
Doug and I are far beyond the second attempt....