A very scary Glacier Bay story with a happy ending

Monday June 17th, 2024

Our blog for today will NOT have pretty pictures of Marlene and I kayaking amongst the Bergie bits in Glacier Bay, or breath-taking views of the pristine waters and glaciers. Today we will write about Mother Nature, danger, and friendship.

We spent the day with our new friends, Karen and Kevin exploring Reid Glacier. We pulled our kayaks up onto the shore and then walked through the shallow parts of the glacier runoff, Xtratuffs on protecting our feet and keeping us dry. It was a beautiful day, 60s, clear sunshine. Not a cloud in the sky. It is by far the most beautiful anchorage we have ever set anchor in. We kayaked back to the boat, showered and got ready for a quiet evening in a beautiful anchorage. Then, Mother Nature showed up.

The glasslike conditions were predicted to change a bit later in the afternoon. Predict Wind forecasted 2 to 3 knots with 6 knot gusts. Nothing to worry about. We were planning on taking our dingy over to Kevin and Karen’s boat for dinner. Around 2 p.m. another trawler entered the cove. The anchorage area in Reid Inlet is pretty small. There is enough room for probably 3, no more than 4 boats. The anchorage is in about 50 to 60 feet deep but then it shoals up fast going down to 12 feet or less with very rocky shores. We were both concerned about the boat entering the harbor because we had both encountered this boat before. The first time was when we first entered Glacier Bay at Bartlett Cove when we docked for the orientation. As we came back to the dock we saw this 50 trawler racing in to the dock. I ran to our boat as fast as I could with the full intention of attempting to push the bow of this boat back to keep it from smacking into our bow. “Stop, you are getting really close.” The captain didn’t hear me. Thankfully, thankfully he did stop but only 2 feet in front of our bow. I took note of the boat’s name which I will not record for obvious reasons. “Hopefully that’s the last we see of that boat,” I told Marlene. It wasn’t.

Soon after we set anchor in North Sandy Cove we encountered—guess who—the bumper boat tooling around looking for a place to anchor. He came close several times then went off to the north of us in the harbor. He set, and reset his anchor 3 times. Watching this I also noted that he was all rode (meaning rope, no chain), which is not advisable in Alaskan waters. “Hopefully, hopefully, this time will be the last we see of him,” I said again to Marlene. It wasn’t.

Enter in Reid Inlet. Around 2:00 p.m. here comes the bumper boat. Both Karen, Kevin and I became concerned. This boat also almost hit them on the dock as well. “I think the captain has some type of condition” commented Karen. Great. Just what you want in a captain minding his boat. He circled around our friends boat several times. We have a range finder so I can tell exactly how far away he is from us. I texted Karen and told her that he was intending to anchor about 50 feet in front of them. Way too close. Fortunately, he pulled up his anchor and went a bit farther out, around 80 feet. He was around 100 feet from us. And then the weather changed.

By 4 pm the weather conditions changed dramatically. We were seeing 12 knot wind with 16 plus gusts (might have been 20 it’s hard to guess), and at least 3 feet of rolling waves hitting our boats fortunately on the bow. In the protected anchorage of Reid Inlet we saw white caps develop, which further enhanced the bouncy conditions. All we could do was watch it, our boats, and be ready to move if our anchors broke loose from the seabed.

I had our internet on checking weather, etc, until around 5:00 p.m. and then I turned it off. I was sitting in the pilot house looking out towards the glacier and the sea conditions when I heard someone yelling, “Greg, Greg get out here.” I immediately went to the stern of our boat and saw our friend Kevin, in his dingy being violently tossed about and he was holding, yes HOLDING, the now very short line tied to the bow of our dingy. The rope that secured the dingy to the stern of our boat had completely sheared apart and our dingy was floating towards the shore when Karen and Kevin noticed it. Kevin, thank God, went out in his dingy and retrieved it before it was bashed onto the shore. Had it reached the shore our dingy and motor would have been toast and our whole “Alaska adventure” would have changed dramatically. Thanks to Kevin the story had a happy ending. Needless to say I replaced the dingy line with a BIG ASS more secure line.

The lesson here is to never take Mother Nature for granted. She is a mercurial force, prone to anger and change. Always be mindful of her waters. Have boating friends. One day, like yesterday for us, you might need them. Be thankful for good outcomes. Enjoy the waters and nature but, never let down your guard. Tomorrow is our last day in Glacier Bay. We have our eyes WIDE OPEN.

We are currently on our way back to Bartlett Cove in calm seas. We will anchor there tonight as our Park Permit expires tomorrow, and we want to have a shorter cruise to Swanson Harbor. We may even try to get dinner at the Lodge tonight, but we will definitely dump our garbage before we leave the cove!