Elfin Cove

Day 46 July 6, 2008

Since receiving a transient pass for an extra day in Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay and learning the rules behind the pass, Omega slipped lines at the 4am open slot for exiting, and after passing the boundary lines of Glacier Bay, announced to Glacier Bay that we had exited the park, called Saoirse, so they could begin their exit at their 5am exiting slot. Code Blue exited with Saoirse, since they didn’t have an extension on their reservations, it didn’t matter when they left, only with the transient pass, did it matter. Interesting rules but we try to follow them….

Daleen had wanted to leave at 5am anyway, to get out on the water before the 8-10 knot current between North and South Inian Passes in search of more Humpbacks off Point Adolphus in Icy Strait.

Elfin Cove is a quaint tiny village, with meandering boardwalks along the cove, lined with houses, a few shops and very friendly people. You have a view of Brady Glacier on a clear day some 10 miles NW of Elfin Cove.

There are around 25 people that live here year around and we could imagine the weather they must have being close to the open ocean outside Cross Sound. There are quite a few new buildings where there is a big business for sports fishing. The day we were there, it was busy with huge fishing boats unloading salmon, smaller groups of guys cleaning their catch and the 200 ft of transient moorage was full as soon as a boat would depart. Code Blue and Saoirse arrived to find the dock full but soon after arriving a few big fishing boats left, which left room for Code Blue & Saoirse on the dock. Omega came in a few hours later, moored to Saoirse, after enjoying the humpback whales for around 3 hours and barely getting through South Inian Pass since the current changed 1 ½ hours before the Tide Table Book. We were at 4.5 knots at the narrowest part of the pass. Earlier Code Blue and Saoirse took advantage of the current and flew through the pass at over 12 knots. They usually travel around 6.5 knots which shows the amount of current in the pass during tide change.

We were glad we traveled to Elfin Cove, but we all were ready to leave the next morning for more whale activity and stop in at Hoonah to get some much needed laundry done and check out the Zip Rider time schedule.