Our
next activity for the afternoon was 1/2 day kayaking with Glacier Bay Sea Kayaks. David,
their guide, picked us at the dock and drove us to Bartlett Cove. Due to some confusion,
we never got the sack lunch which Annie Mae were supposed to provide us in the
morning (they noticed the problem and took it out of our bill on their own
initiative). David noticed our problem and stopped for a quick lunch in the
grocery/deli in the middle of Gustavus. We didn't have any expectations but the
sandwiches we got there were prepared per-order and were truly excellent!
From
there to Bartlett Cove where the kayaking would take place. We were 6 – us, our
Italian pals, and a couple of teenagers David picked at the Glacier Bay Lodge. All
of us were complete novices without any previous experience in kayaking. We went down to the cove
beach and started the preparation process. We were fitted with knee boots,
'skirt' for the kayak, and life vests (rain gear is also available if you don't
have your own). We were also briefed on how to enter, exit and navigate the
kayak, David explained everything patiently and methodically and made it real
simple.
Finally we took the kayaks to the water and entered them. After short
practice near the dock, we paddled out into Bartlett cove. We kayaked about an
hour and a half each way. Weather was OK (not too cold and no rain) and the water
were totally smooth and easy to paddle and navigate. We never were farther than
250 meters from the shore (which for us was excellent).
David was with us the
entire time and drove our attention to occasional wildlife. We saw several sea otters
and harbor porpoises, but the highlight was seeing a couple of sea lions who
were very interested in us and came closely to check us out. It was amazing to
watch all this from the water level!
The paddling back felt more challenging
and our Italian friends became a bit nervous since they had to catch their
flight out of Gustavus. But we made it back to shore on time. David drove us
back to our lodge. Overall it was a great experience and we highly recommend it.
After
pulling the kayaks back to shore and returning the equipment, David drove us
back to the lodge. We had another excellent dinner, packed again, and retired
for the night.
(Sorry no photos on this post since we chose to leave our cameras on shore... there will be plenty more in the days to come)
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