Humpbacks in Lynn Canal

June 27, 2007
Time: 1050 Hrs: 899.5
Humidity: 67% Temp: 15 C Mostly sunny with a few scattered clouds. Winds SW 15-20 knots.
Lv: Auke Bay Marina
Course: Saginaw Channel > Lynn Canal > Icy Strait > Swanson Harbour
We are entering some of the best area for viewing humpbacks whales, and just a few miles outside Auke Bay we see a large (maybe 10 or 12) group feeding. The water is a little choppy, but I persist and manage to get one or two half decent pictures out of 70 that I took. We try to keep our distance because we don’t want to harass them. We round Point Retreat and put up the sails. The winds are finally perfect for good sailing. We spend the rest of the day tacking back and forth south through Lynn Canal towards Icy Strait. Charles, who is sleeping on top of the engine cover, does quite nicely once he figures out how to tack.
Arv: Swanson Harbour, Icy Strait
Lat: 58 12.74 N
Lon: 135 06.59 W
Time: 1645
Trip: 28.2 nm Log: 3467.3 nm
We are tied up to a public dock with another sailboat from Kodiak. The temperature is a nice 20 C with a very light wind, but not enough to keep the deer flies away. They are really terrible here but don’t bother you if you are dressed in black, so Jerry dons his black hoodie and heads out to BBQ the salmon for dinner.