Hi Steve, I appreciate your posts here.

We went to both Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay in August 2001. Tracy Arm is
definately a "convenient" way to visit a tidal glacier. You anchor in
an anchorage (forget the name) about 20 miles from the glacier then
make a day trip up to Sawyer Glacier. The trip up to Sawyer Glacier is
beautiful, but a long day (there and back) if you do 5 knots like we
do. We saw one cruise ship in Tracy Arm the one day we were there.
Lots of pleasure boats.

We spent the maximum allowable 7 days in Glacier Bay. Glacier Bay is
less "convenient" in that it is father north and farther away from
civilization. As another poster mentioned, you need a permit (during
prime season) and must check in at the Barlett Cove ranger station.
They only allow a certain amount of boats (about 50 if I remember
correctly) in Glacier Bay at a time. During our seven days in the bay
we saw one or two cruise ships and maybe two other pleasure boats. It
was a great sense of isolation. Glacier Bay is a big area and if you
have a slow cruising speed like us, it takes a while to get around. I
think they also have speed restrictions if I remember correctly. It
rained 1 - 3" every day we were in the Bay (late August). Bring your
foulies. Only on a few occassions did it clear enough to see much of
the surroundings. I never got to see Mt. Fairweather, which was a
bummer. Highlight of our Glacier Bay trip was anchoring in Reid Inlet,
near Reid Glacier and having glacier margaritas. Reid Inlet was an
awesome place... where you can really see nature at work. Highly
recommend Reid Inlet and Glacier. Course that was one of the few days
that was marginally clear, so that and the margaritas might have
impact my opinion/recollection;-)

Best-Tim
s/v Patience
http://www.tgw.net

"Steve" wrote in message
...
I'm working out a few details of my summer '04 trip up the Inside Passage
and it looks like I will have time to go as far as Glacier Bay and take a
look at some ice.

Does anyone have any recommendations of what inlets or glaciers that make
it
all worth while?? I figure I will only have a day or two to spend there
and
don't want to go any farther north.

Also I would like to avoid following in the wake of the cruise ships.. I
know they go into Tracy Arm and Sawyer Glacier. Maybe the fact that my
boat
is smaller, I can get into places that they can't.

Suggestions will be appreciated.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions



Glacier Bay vs Tracy Arm

When we traveled to Southeast in 2002 we stopped for a couple of great days
in late May at Tracy Arm Cove at the south end of Tracy Arm. No appointment
necessary. We visited the Sawyer Glaciers at the head and "danced the
dance" with the bergie bits on the way up and down. It was great. The
weather was perfect and sunrises and sunsets were as good as it gets.

We had arranged a June 20 entry date at Glacier Bay by fax from Port Hardy
on Apr.23 (not more than 60 days in advance, as requested). We were ahead
of our schedule when we left Auke Bay on June 3 so we used the time for a
great sidetrip up to Skagway and return and then down Chatham Strait and
back to Hoonah. When we contacted Bartlett Cove (Park HQ for GB) on June 19
to confirm our reservation (48 hours in advance as requested) we asked for a
one day delay in entry because of the forecasted gale force winds in Icy
Strait for June 20. We were told that if we did not keep our appointment we
would lose our one week booking for Glacier Bay for the year. I asked the
young lady for the correct spelling of her name so that I would have it
right when I wrote to the Park Administrator (to asked why we could not
enter a day late when 60 days earlier they had us booked for an entire week
and no one to take our place) and the Coast Guard (to explain why they were
required to send a cutter out to rescue us in a forecasted gale). She
backed off and asked us to phone again in the morning if the weather was
bad.

We left Hoonah at 5 am and traveled a dead calm Icy Strait to arrive in
Bartlett Cove before the park crew went to work at 7 am! We enjoyed our
allotted week in Glacier Bay immensely. We had our "Three Close Encounters
of the Whale Kind" in a 24 hour period while in GB. That is about as great
as boating gets in the Northwest. We enjoyed our anchorages at North Sandy
Cove, Blue Mouse Cove, and Fingers Bay, but there were other great places to
anchor and we inspected all that we could travel to (there were some
restricted areas at the time we were there and speed limits were 20 knots in
the open water and 10 knots near shoreline feeding grounds, not a hardship
for a fast powerboat and faster than you sailors can motor G) You can
anchor in Reid Inlet in front of the glacier and dinghy to the gravel beach
and walk to the foot of the glacier to be photographed by the person who
drew the short straw and had to stay on the boat to snap the photo. Glacier
Bay is a huge area and you can easily spend a week exploring. The crabbing
and halibut fishing were great. When you take your halibut to the beach to
clean it, the eagles will come from Juneau and Skagway to clean up the
scraps.

Comparing Tracy Arm to Glacier Bay is a mistake IMHO. Your previous
responders all seem to favor Tracy Arm as did the boaters we met in Juneau
and Auke Bay. To me, that's like telling someone that if they have seen the
Hood Canal they don't have to bother seeing Puget Sound and the San Juans.
Wha'???? How do you compare a single 25 nm long fjord (like Tracy Arm)
where your long range view is restricted by the magnificent canyon walls on
either side, with a vast area with 400 nm of coastline containing a dozen
fjords ( like GB) with visibility extending all the way to the Gulf of
Alaska mountain ranges?

Boaters obviously get put off by being forced to conform to the GB rules and
regs. We gave ourselves some flexibility in time around the GB appointment
and took a personal interest in the correct spelling of Park staffers names
and it worked out great.

Give yourself more time than the minimum required travel time.

Go and see and enjoy them both!