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Glaciers indeed have a micro climate around itself because as we sailed through the drizzle and drip during the early morning, it suddenly cleared and it remained dry all the time we were in the fjord. Luckily it remained overcast as well and the result was some incredible views of Sawyer Glacier. This Glacier tends to calve fast and sometimes it produces so much ice that we cannot even get into Tracy Arm. Because of the fast calving of the ice there tends to be a lot of blue ice, really compact ice, and if there is no sun light then it shows up very clearly. Tracy Arm is much narrower than the other fjords we visit and having the high mountains so close by on either side makes it a fascinating place to sail through. It is not so popular with cruise ships as Glacier Bay (which is permit regulated) as there is always uncertainty if you can get in and also because it does not fit so easily in a regular ships schedule. On the 7 day cruise you have to cut half a day off Juneau in order to do this, or you have to skip a port completely. We are on a 14 day cruise and that gives the time to allocate a full day to this scenic cruising and that works very well.* The captain has ample time to get in and out, can stay as long as he wants, and then go with a sedate speed up the coast to Juneau where the ship arrives in the early morning for a full day.* And that is what we did today.* We were the only larger cruise ship in, there was one smaller one the L’Austral and for the rest a rich assortment of tour boats in all shapes and sizes. We do not like other cruise ships in at the same time as they tend to get in the way, certainly in this fjord which is very narrow but we do not mind tour boats as they help to give […]
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Glaciers indeed have a micro climate around itself because as we sailed through the drizzle and drip during the early morning, it suddenly cleared and it remained dry all the time we were in the fjord. Luckily it remained overcast as well and the result was some incredible views of Sawyer Glacier. This Glacier tends to calve fast and sometimes it produces so much ice that we cannot even get into Tracy Arm. Because of the fast calving of the ice there tends to be a lot of blue ice, really compact ice, and if there is no sun light then it shows up very clearly. Tracy Arm is much narrower than the other fjords we visit and having the high mountains so close by on either side makes it a fascinating place to sail through. It is not so popular with cruise ships as Glacier Bay (which is permit regulated) as there is always uncertainty if you can get in and also because it does not fit so easily in a regular ships schedule. On the 7 day cruise you have to cut half a day off Juneau in order to do this, or you have to skip a port completely. We are on a 14 day cruise and that gives the time to allocate a full day to this scenic cruising and that works very well.* The captain has ample time to get in and out, can stay as long as he wants, and then go with a sedate speed up the coast to Juneau where the ship arrives in the early morning for a full day.* And that is what we did today.* We were the only larger cruise ship in, there was one smaller one the L’Austral and for the rest a rich assortment of tour boats in all shapes and sizes. We do not like other cruise ships in at the same time as they tend to get in the way, certainly in this fjord which is very narrow but we do not mind tour boats as they help to give […]
Click here to view the article.
