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June 11, 2009 – Juneau, Alaska
by Herb McCormick
(June 11): Twenty years ago, I ventured to Juneau for the first time on an assignment for Sailing World magazine to cover the annual 200-mile Spirit of Adventure/Around Admiralty Island Race. In fact, the local sailors are presently gearing up for the next edition of the event, which starts on June 20th. It’s one of the cooler ocean races I’ve ever sailed: the course takes the fleet out from nearby Douglas and around to Baranof Island, where everyone enjoys a long soak in the famous hot springs and downs too many beers. The next day, the race restarts and returns to Douglas.
Please bear with me: There is a point to all this, and I will get to it. The day before the race, I rented a mountain bike and pedaled out of town a few miles to have a look at the Mendenhall Glacier, which these days attracts literally hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, most of whom are bused in from the armada of cruise ships that ply these waters; at the moment, no less than five of the behemoths are parked within sight of Ocean Watch. It was the first glacier I’d ever laid eyes upon, big and blue and glorious, and it left a lasting impression.
I hadn’t seen it again until this morning, and my fresh, new impression will be equally lasting. Simply put, the Mendenhall Glacier ain’t what it used to be.
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| Glaciologist Roman Motyka |
Roman Motyka is a glaciologist and research professor in the various arms of the University of Alaska educational system, and he guided the crew on a tour of the glacier early today. Professor Motyka confirmed that my memory was correct and that the Mendenhall has receded in a major way in the last few decades, and continues to do so at a relatively rapid pace. Our own resident scientist, Michael Reynolds, will address the causes and the role receding glaciers play on the worldwide climate stage in the next installment of his Ocean Watch blog.
Professor Reynolds has been a busy man since Ocean Watch rolled into Juneau two days ago. Last night, with an able assist from expedition photographer David Thoreson, he was the keynote speaker at a lecture on the University of Alaska Southeast campus where he discussed the various projects he’s helping to spearhead on the voyage. And today he’s visiting with scientists and conservationists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) laboratory in nearby Auke Bay to hear about their ongoing research in these waters, a meeting that will also be featured in his next blog.
The Ocean Watch crew owes a big thanks to NOAA, which has loaned us space on its centrally located downtown docks, and also to Juneau resident and sailor Theresa Svancara, who’s done a fantastic job organizing our stopover here, as well as the attendant program of events that have highlighted it. In the “one-degree-of-separation” world of sailing, Theresa and skipper Mark Schrader were part of a summer-long expedition to Prince William Sound with Sailors for the Sea founder David Rockefeller, Jr., back in the early 1990s. Thanks to Theresa’s efforts, the Ocean Watch voyage has been front-page news on the Juneau Empire twice this week (sharing space with Governor Palin’s visit to New York and the riveting tale of the Little League treasurer who pocketed roughly $50 grand from the nippers’ coffers).
With sunny skies and summer weather persisting this week, later this afternoon Ocean Watch will head out into the Gastineau Channel for a sail and photo shoot, and to fuel up in advance of this weekend’s departure for Dutch Harbor, a voyage that, quite honestly, has us all a little anxious.
Meanwhile, the work list continues. We did add one unexpected job this week. Along Ocean Watch’s boom, a list of several of our major marine-industry supporters are spelled out in honor of our appreciation for their work and their generous donations on our behalf. Among them is Winslow Life Raft, the 8-man version of which Ocean Watch carries in event of emergency, as everyone aboard feels their product is the absolute best of its kind. However, somewhere in the graphic-arts department, something got seriously lost in translation, and a “t” was substituted for an “e,” thus leaving unwary visitors to the boat with the erroneous impression that Ocean Watch is equipped with an unusual device called a “lift raft.” The gaffe has presented the Ocean Watch crew with a unique opportunity. We now, quite literally, have to buy a vowel.
Vanna? Vanna???
- Herb McCormick with photographs by David Thoreson
*This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos
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