June 23 - Valdez

We headed downtown around 9:00 and searched out some breakfast - great coffee and food served up at The Potatohead right on the waterfront. We sat out on a picnic table and watched the marina activity. 

It was COLD and, overnight, thick, soggy and low-lying cloud cover had filled in the valley. Rain looked immanent... We brought our warmest layers and a rain jacket. It was a bit of a disappointment after yesterday's glorious sunshine and bluebird skies but you don't get to choose so we just had to roll with what we got. 

We boarded the Lulu Belle at 10:30 and by 11:00, we were off. Captain Fred delivered pretty much a running commentary as the day unfolded, full of interesting tidbits of information and lots of humorous stories and jokes.  

Within 10 minutes of leaving the marina, we came across a group of sea otters all sleeping and floating on their backs. There must have been about 50 of them. As we approached slowly and quietly, they looked around, rolled onto their tummies and then their backs again. Some munched on shellfish and others preened themselves. Fred said that sea otter numbers and health are an indicator of the overall health of the bay. They don't have a fat layer for insulation so they rely almost solely on their fur for warmth. Any oil pollution will ruin their fur's insulating capacity and they'll die off so high numbers of sea otters (which there are) is a good sign. Also, just down the coastline from the huge oil storage facility is a salmon hatchery which is thriving and seeing record numbers.

We are aware of the politics and environmental concerns surrounding oil pipelines (it's a huge and hot topic in BC) and, when you first arrive in Valdez, you almost immediately become aware of the massive oil plant on the far shore and the tanker docked there if there is one. It seems so anathema to the magnificent and raw natural beauty that surrounds it and yet, since it's completion in the 1970s, they've managed to co-exist in relative peace. Except for that one time, of course... :)

Everyone on the West Coast of BC and Alaska (at least) remembers the Exxon Valdez that ran aground in the outer harbour and spilled millions of gallons of oil into the ocean. It was an environmental disaster of epic proportions. We heard many different stories about what happened including a 3rd mate who didn't adjust the autopilot as directed to the Captain being drunk as a Lord. Who really knows but out in the harbour, a marker memorializes the spot the Exxon Valdez went down. Where there does seem to be consensus is that the disaster was caused by human error rather than structural failure.

From there, we started to head southwest down the channel towards open water. We almost immediately started to see humpback whales. For the next 2 hours, we whalewatched and saw about a dozen humpback whales and one fin whale. One of the humpbacks was really close to our boat and it was so awesome to watch him blow bubbles in the water in a wide circle - a behaviour that confuses the fish (mostly herring in this case) and the bubbles form almost a net that confines them and then the whale goes goes in and gulps them up. Humpbacks are baleen whales so they don't have teeth, they have baleen plates that sift sealife out of enormous mouthfulls of water. 

We left the whales behind and headed for the shore. Fred brought us to a huge cave and he oh-so-carefully nosed the Lulu Belle right into the cave! He was mere inches away from rockface in several places! A very skilled and confident skipper!

Next we came across a bunch of Artic Puffins who were out on the water fishing. They fly like ducks (awkwardly) and are differently marked than the Atlantic Puffins we saw 2 years ago in the Maritimes. We then came to four beaches where Stellar sea lions were breeding. There were hundreds of them, lying like giant cigars all over the beach. The barking and roaring was deafening as the monstrous males rushed up onto the beach and crashed into the lounging groups, creating havoc in their wake. And the stink! Oh my... everyone now and then you caught a whiff - they're pretty rank, I must say!

From the sea lions, we headed for the Columbia Glacier. Apparently, it calves about 100 feet of ice per day. The bay that leads to the glacier is filled with icebergs and lots of small loose ice in the 9 miles of water leading up to the glacier face. We wondered how we would get there and if we'd be the next Titanic but old Captain Fred just deftly nosed the Lulu Belle through the maze of ice. He specially reinforced her hull with over 3 inches of additional plywood and fibreglass for this very purpose. 

We got within a quarter mile to the glacier which spans about 10 miles across. It's HUMONGOUS!!! The glacier face itself is over 300 feet high from the water.

As you approach the glacier, the air temperature plummets but the water becomes like glass and the wind almost completely died off. It was so quiet it was almost eerie and, as a result, you could hear how much noise the ice makes. The smaller icebergs around us were crackling and popping steadily like amplified rice crispies in milk. The glacier itself was alive with cracking and popping, some of which were as loud as gun shots. Every few minutes, enormous pieces would calve off and plunge into the water, slapping the surface so hard it was as loud and booming as thunder. We were there for over an hour and in that time, there was almost constant activity. The most dramatic moment was when an entire face of a wall fell apart and apartment building sized chunks fell, one after another, into the water creating a small tsunami effect that rocked the boat significantly... in that moment, we all became accutely aware of just how dangerous the glacier could be if you got too close. 

Throughout the day, the crew of the Lulu Belle serve up some delicious homemade chowder, chilli and other lunch items along with homemade baking. Today were heavenly brownies that filled the cabins up with mouthwatering aroma. The crew were all so friendly and accommodating and worked hard to make sure we all had a brilliant time.

On the return trip, we were all a bit played out. We got back to Valdez around 8pm, thouroughly thrilled with all the wildlife and dramatic glacier activity we'd seen. We were up in the wheelhouse for most of the ride back and Tash, a young woman in her 20s from Bellingham who was one of the crew, took over for Fred while he went bellow to check the engines etc. Tash explained that she is almost finished getting her Captain's license for boats in the 100 ton or less category. She'd been up crewing for Fred for the past 3 years to get her 365 days which she will achieve this summer. Once she's done that, she said Fred has offered to pay for her to get to Anchorage and do the classroom time (about 2 weeks) and then take her big exam to get her ticket. Today, he let her pilot the Lulu Belle (who is 75 feet long!) into the marina, turn her 90 degrees in a tight spot and gently back her into her slip. While she got the job done, the dozen or so of us who were in the wheelhouse with her all held our breath, so impressed that this young woman who looked barely old enough to drive a car so casually manoevered this great big boat. When she finally turned the engines off, we all errupted in cheers and she was so delighted by it all... :) 

After all the goodbyes were done, we dragged our cold, tired bodies up the gangplank and made our way to the Fu Kung Chinese restaurant. We'd heard it was good and HOLY MOLY were they right. I lived in Vancouver for 25 years and I can say that the Fu Kung served up food as good as any I've had. Another big recommendation we'd make. 

Back at camp, we promptly collapsed into bed. What a day!!