It was a beautiful and sunny evening In Ruth Cove but all good things must come to an end. We left early with our sights on the unnamed bay and the entrance to the Tracy arm. This was a transit day so we saw porpoise and Whales and eagles again but they are just becoming common place. Little did I know what was to come on the next day.
After our traditional coffees, we were on our way on the short transit up the Endicott arm to find out what is up with Ford and why was he so terrorized.
From GlacierBayTravel.com
Ford's Terror is named after the naval crew member who, in 1889, rowed a dinghy into the narrow entrance of the fjord at slack tide. The tide began to rise, forcing its way through the bottleneck entrance into the fjord, and Ford was trapped in the turbulent currents for the next "terrifying" six hours.
The Transit was beautiful even though it was overcast.
We arrived about a forty five minutes prior to high tide slack so we had some time to be completely freaked out as we watched the rapids and white water coming out of the channel. I first thought it was another waterfall but then I realized that it was the entrance. When the slack tide slowed the current, we proceeded through. This is drone video of CODA transiting. Notice Sudden Inspiration and La Vida waiting their turn on the left in the beginning of the video.
We met Conrad and Leia from Texas (on La Vida) on the way up and rafted with them for the evening. We dinghied around exploring and enjoyed meals together. There are two spots in the inlet that one can anchor in but only one spot really works and we took it. Here is the view from our anchorage.
The inlet has steep cliffs that rise 1000 feet above and 1000 feet below.
It must be getting old looking at pictures of bluffs and waterfalls but inside it was very nice.
During our dinghy tour we came across a beach and I beached the dinghy to walk around. As I got out Conrad yelled at me watch out for the grizzly bear up there on the beach. I had a good laugh for a second with his wit, but then I saw the bear and high tailed it back to the dinghy. He was not joking! The bear ran towards the river where Conrad was except Conrad was stuck in shallow water. It gave them quite a scare but we all managed to escape without harm.
The next morning at high slack we exited Fords terror and headed back the the bay at the head of Tracy Arm. It was another beautiful day.
Ruths cove to Tracy Arm:
Time: 9 h 21 m ( 09:58 to 19:19 ) Distance: 70.21 nm
Fuel: 19.95 Gallons Fuel Rate: 2.13 GPH Fuel Economy: 3.52 NM/G
Avg Speed: 7.57 kn Max Speed: 9.31 kn
Engine Runtime Start: 2688.80 Hours Runtime End: 2698.15 Hours Fuel: 19.95 Gallons Fuel Rate: 2.13 GPH Fuel Rate Max: 3.91 GPH Avg RPM: 1297.46 Max RPM: 1370.50 Avg Oil Pressure: 52.67 Low Oil Pressure: 31.91 Avg Temperature: 170.40 Max Temperature: 192.20
The trip to Fords Terror technical data:
Time: 5 h 3 m ( 09:49 to 14:52 ) Distance: 26.57 nm
Fuel: 3.85 Gallons Fuel Rate: 0.76 GPH Fuel Economy: 6.90 NM/G
Avg Speed: 5.84 kn Max Speed: 10.07 kn
Engine Runtime Start: 2698.15 Hours Runtime End: 2703.20 Hours Fuel: 3.85 Gallons Fuel Rate: 0.76 GPH Fuel Rate Max: 9.14 GPH Avg RPM: 951.04 Max RPM: 1789.75 Avg Oil Pressure: 44.23 Low Oil Pressure: 31.33 Avg Temperature: 189.95 Max Temperature: 194.00
The return from Fords Terror technical data:
Time: 4 h 18 m ( 13:34 to 17:53 ) Distance: 26.15 nm
Fuel: 5.12 Gallons Fuel Rate: 1.19 GPH Fuel Economy: 5.11 NM/G
Avg Speed: 6.12 kn Max Speed: 9.99 kn
Engine Runtime Start: 2703.20 Hours Runtime End: 2707.50 Hours Fuel: 5.12 Gallons Fuel Rate: 1.19 GPH Fuel Rate Max: 7.90 GPH Avg RPM: 1065.74 Max RPM: 1722.50 Avg Oil Pressure: 48.21 Low Oil Pressure: 32.49 Avg Temperature: 186.71 Max Temperature: 192.20
