Wednesday, July 20: The Lu-lu Belle Glacier Tour

Captain Fred picked us up at the Eagles Nest RV Park at precisely late 10:13 for our tour of Alaskan wildlife and the Columbia Glacier on his 45 foot Lu-lu Belle yacht. Known as the Limousine of Prince William Sound, the Lu-Lu Belle is a well appointed cruiser with Persian carpets and teak and leather seating. The crew bakes muffins and, later in the tour, brownies to help clients deal with cool temperatures and the rigors of wildlife and glacier watching. While the tour starts on time at 10:45 the end time is ‘before dark, or at least before the restaurants close.‘ of course it’s Alaska where it doesn’t get dark until after 11:00 this time of year, but the restaurants close at 9:00. So we were in for a full day! 


First stop was a fishing boat where we watched the catch of hundreds of pink salmon spill on board. The workers were rewarded for allowing us to watch with warm muffins. 




Next was a cruise of the rugged coastline where Captain Fred took us into caves and under overhangs within feet of the rocks to view the nesting habits of puffins, small comical birds with yellow beams and orange feet. 


Betsy was able to locate us as well as three geocaches along our route. The blue dot is us:

We’re headed for the glacier and the island directly south. 




Caves where puffins prefer to nest to avoid predators like bald eagles. 

 



Sea lions, the scourge of the seas, at least according to Alaskan fishermen, because they eat salmon!




Along the way we encountered a grey whale that strung us along, surfacing several times before diving to eat it’s fill. Nice pic, Bets!


Then it was on to the glacier where viewing was obscured by wet and misty conditions. 



Iceberg. We’re the Titanic!



Ice in the bay. We got within 1/4 mile of the glacier which towered 300 feet above the water, and 500 feet below! 


Betsy dressed for winter. 


The crowd on board taking pictures. Betsy took this picture from the forecastle. 


Lounging in the warmth inside. 

Hanukkah card anyone? 

Christmas card instead?


Almost 7:30 and captain Fred is about to get us home!


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