Juneau's Auke Bay was a real free-for-all

Juneau was the terminus of the Waggoner Alaska Flotilla this year. Several members of the group peeled off in Ketchikan, but several others continued north to Juneau. A few headed for the marinas in downtown Juneau, but we and one other headed to Auke Bay at the foot of the Mendhall Glacier, ( and closer to the airport).

There are no reservations, except for a small section of the choppy outside of the no frills breakwater. After a much required fuel stop, we spent about 45 mins looking for a space and gave up. Our first night was spent tied up to breakwater.

Very early the next morning, while I was having my coffee on the flybridge, I spotted a side tie on the inside that had opened up overnight. After checking with the harbormaster, we went 'all hands on deck' to startup and move to the new spot. We tied up, and everyone except me left to return south. I spent the next week working on maintenance tasks and planning for the upcoming legs of our trip.

I did take a day and engaged a guide to show me around. The glacier was cool. I particularly liked the visitor center, which was very educational and which I would reccomend. Driving around town and seeing the capital buildings was fun. And then I took the very heavily priced tram ride up to the facilities on high, overlooking the city and the strait. I was glad I did that. It was cool.

After Quinn, Patty and Mark returned, we did some provisioning and I took Quinn to see the glacier before we headed out for Skagway.