Sheep Bay to Cordova

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We woke up early at 6am. It was sunny! There were lots of otters with babies floating around, and they were playing. So cute!

Bob wanted to leave early for Cordova, so we were off by 9:38. We were happy to follow our cookies from yesterday for a no-stress exit.

It was an uneventful trip with lots of sun. We had called the fuel dock to see if they’d be open on the 4th, and they were. Expecting traffic, we were surprised to see that, once again, there was no one around. We tied up there about 11:53 and filled up, taking 525 gallons of diesel.

We had thought the Mother Goose fleet might already be in Cordova, but that was incorrect. We came into the harbor, tried with no luck to reach the harbormaster, and tied up in a great spot back on G dock.

We had lunch and walked up to the grocery store at the head of the dock to buy hamburger buns for dinner, as well as a turkey baster Bob needed for a boat project. We picked up the spare BBQ knobs that that had been sent up from Boat Electric in Seattle from the Harbormaster’s office, and then walked out on the Cordova harbor breakwater. It was really pretty.

Looking back to Cordova from the corner of the breakwater

I think all the seagulls in Cordova hang out on the breakwater

We started cleaning up the boat, both inside and out, to prepare for our 7-6 departure for Anchorage. At 5pm, we took a break for beers aboard OceanFlyer, celebrating the end of a fabulous, once-in-a-lifetime trip in Prince William Sound.


Comfort Cove to Sheep Bay

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Woke to sun, and it stayed lovely all day. We hauled the anchor, which was really clean, with just a trace of mud. Less work for me!

It was a beautiful ride to Sheep Bay. There was no one around, we didn’t see another boat along the way. On the way into Sheep Bay, the “rock awash” was covered in seals. There were lots of otters as well. We cautious headed for Telita’s anchor spot (shared from an earlier visit), but the tides were a lot lower today than when she was there. The wind blew us into the shallows as we tried to turn around, and we saw 1.3’ on the sounder. We believe it was from the eel grass on the bottom, that’s the  story we’re telling ourselves.

We took the dinghy out near high tide so we could explore as far as possible. First, we went up to the old Andersen Lodge, and then over to Shalin waterfall, which is really pretty.

Shalin waterfall. Hard to believe we missed this on the way in.

Then we went down as far towards the lagoon as we could go. It was beautiful, and we saw 3 Grizzlies! We couldn’t get too close as the water was too shallow, but they definitely knew we were there. One grizzly stood up on his hind legs, sniffed, and ran. Bears 2 and 3 almost crossed the “river” in front of us, but got spooked and ran off as well. It was a great critter day!

The "Big Guy" leads the way across the stream bed

A couple of younder grizzlies waiting to cross the stream

Back at the boat, Bob’s eagle eyes spotted mountain goats high up on the mountains. Watched them through the binoculars just to see them move. It’s the first time we’ve seen them so clearly.

OceanFlyer in Sheep Bay

We had a lovely evening. It’s a holiday weekend, and we’re only three bears and mountain goat territory in Sheep Bay.B hours from Cordova…and there is no one here. Once again, we are alone at anchor. To make it even extra special, we saw a 4th grizzly before turning in  for the night.

Bears and mountain goat territory in Sheep Bay

St. Mathews Bay to Comfort Cove

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It was foggy in the morning, and we only had a short ways to go today, so we weren't in any hurry. We saw a seaplane cruising the valley along the bay. And we saw another eagle, doing the breast stroke with his salmon catch. That’s two on this trip!

Fog trying to lift in St. Mathews Bay

We had passed Comfort Cove on our way to Beartrap earlier in the trip, and decided we should check it out as our friends on Telita's recommended it. Port Gravina had whitecaps and a bit of fetch from the Hinchinbrook Entrance, but once inside the narrow entrance, it was nice. The breeze kept the bugs down, but the tides weren’t great for exploring, so we just chilled and enjoyed the view.

Comfort Cove provides a nice calm anchorage

Long Bay to St. Mathews Bay

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 Happy July! Once again, we were alone in our anchorage last night. It has been a while since we shared an anchorage with a pleasure boat.

The weather is looking up today, we can see more of Long Bay, which we have decided is “nice” but not a major “wow” compared to some of the other places we’ve been on this trip. So we hoisted the anchor, which was very muddy with shale, and headed off for a long trip to St. Matthews Bay.

Long Bay, looking down the valley

It wasn’t hard for Bob to dodge the icebergs, and he gave the boat to me as we entered the Valdez Traffic Zone. Not much was going on traffic-wise, either visually or on AIS. The views today were beautiful in all quadrants.

The very famous spot where the Exxon Valdez ran agound

Approaching St. Matthews Bay, we went through several rafts of otters, though none wanted to pose. It’s really pretty as you wind your way into the head of the bay to anchor. We worked our way in, and found just the right spot. Shortly after dropping the hook, we went out for a dinghy ride and scared a bunch of eagles that were fishing at the bay’s’ head. There were probably 5-6 altogther.

Fun in the water, otter frolics

We then headed back towards the mouth to the little island, and circumnavigated (just!) as the tide wasn’t too low. We saw .9’ at the lowest point – glad to be in the dinghy!

The famous "porpoise cam" rig

We had a very peaceful night, alone again. This is a majestic place with gorgeous mountains and a valley at the head.

Warmer water seems to bring out the jellies

OceanFlyer in St. Mathews Bay


Eickelberg Bay to Long Bay

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We arose to rain showers and cloudy skies. We both slept late for us – about 8:30 or so. About 11:30 the tide was right, and off we went for our beach walk and to see the white cobbled bed streams. It was easy to get to shore, and we walked the beach for about an hour, finding all kinds of cool rocks and rock formations…but no animals.

What's wrong with this picture?

When we got back to the dinghy (secured with a sand spike, upon which we piled our PFDs), the tide had come up so much the sand spike was in the water and my PFD had deployed! That was really funny, we got a good chuckle out of that.

Remember, put your PDFs in the dinghy

Great long beaches at low tide in Eickelberg Bay

Beach art

Sea garden on the beach

Back at the boat, we straightened up and Bob changed the Kabola fuel filter. We had lunch and left about 3:30. Bob trolled for salmon on the way out but no joy.

Enroute to Long Bay, we dodged some ice from Columbia Glacier, some of the ice was topped by otters who were enjoying the ride.

The seals mobile home

Clouds and iceberg are the scenery for today

There's mountain in them there clouds

The rain started up again as we found the entrance to Long Bay. This was an anchorage that the Mother Goose fleet had checked out earlier in the trip and they told us it was worth a stop. It is a pretty anchorage, near an island but open to the south. The winds had died (but not the rain), so there was no fetch, although the clouds stayed low and it was a good evening to cuddle up inside.

Peaceful in Low Bay