We’ve aren’t often here in PLI this early in the season. Robust waterfalls cascade all around us. As the day heats up Chatterbox falls goes from dramatic to full with the daily snow melt from the abundant snow on the mountain tops. We even had a little pile of snow at sea level near our anchorage! We’ve never seen that before.
The seagulls are nesting on Seagull Cliffs and the PLI pair of eagles are on their nest. We haven’t seen any baby seals yet. We are hoping we get to see a new born before we leave. With the last three days being the first really warm weather this year the trees released their pollen, which collects in swirling patterns on the surface of the water. Luckily neither of us is allergic to tree pollen!
Teaming with early spring life the seawater is quite dark. It’s still beautifully reflective but with a hunter green tint vs a reflective blue. So far we have seen very little bioluminescence (phosphorescence) in the algae although we did see a little glow at the bottom of a close waterfall on our second night. We’ve put up a hummingbird feeder and I just saw one fly by as I write this entry (joyful giggle).
The Eagle vs Seagull Battle: While Jayne and Warren were with us we explored in the tender and noticed a ruckus going on at Seagull Cliffs. It was something we had never seen before. The eagle was hunting for eggs in the seagull’s cliff-side nests. I was able to catch some good photos and Jim got a fun video. We also saw the strange sight of one of the eagles on the top of a tree near its nest and on the other branch very, very close was a small bird. I didn’t have my telephoto lens so we don’t have a picture. We have many theories though: the two birds are friends from a previous lifetime, the little bird is trading lookout duties for protection, or the little bird’s parents were too lazy to make their own nest so they laid their egg in the eagle’s nest, which was adopted by the eagles and is now one of the family (aka lazy mazy in the Horton Lays An Egg).
So Many Spectacular Waterfalls.
Curve of Time Podcast Customers All Around: The cutest family came by our anchorage to explore our waterfalls and pick salmon berries. I gave them one of my Curve of Time Podcast cards! If you haven’t signed up already please go to CurvePodcast.com. You’ll be among the first to know when the episodes are launched, hopefully by mid-July. Yesterday an old, small wooden powerboat came in that looks very similar to the “Caprice”, the family boat in the Curve of Time. We need to go check it out today before it leaves.
Longest Days of Summer: The days are so long now we can’t stay up late enough to see the stars. So we are going to sleep and if we wake up in the middle of the night we go up to the top deck to take a look. Last night wasn’t ideal (there is quite a bit of moisture in air). But it was pretty good. The Summer Triangle (Vega, Deneb and Altair) doesn’t rise fully over the mountains until 1 AM. But last night at 2 AM we saw it and the Milky Way, a few shooting stars and lots of satellites.
Another Glorious, Sunny, Warm Day: Sunday it was 80 degrees here! The First Mate did her exercises on the bow while the Captain did his amazing editing job on the blog. We went out on the tender to check out the eagles nest again to try to see some newly hatched eaglets. No eaglets yet, but we did see one of the pair strike the water with talons and grab a fish! We followed it in the tender and I was able to capture this spectacular photo (the eagle with a fish in his talons and a glaciers in the background!). After that we returned to the True Love and the first mate deployed the pizza-shaped floaty toy! Hopefully, we can float again tomorrow!
Contemplating Connectivity: We found out a few days ago from a fellow boater that Starlink’s RV system works perfectly here. But we cherish our 10 days “off the grid” every year. All we have now is a Garmin InReach which allows very brief texts for checking in. The Starlink system is certainly appealing for the boat, but if we do get it, our house rules will have to be to shut it off whenever we’re inside in PLI. Our quiet time here is so precious and special; we never want to lose that.
Our Last full day in PLI: Glorious sunshine greeted us this morning again. We definitely hit the weather jackpot for this time of year. Kayaking filled the glorious calm morning. Jim and I raced across the inlet back to the True Love and he beat me by two lengths. He’s getting so strong! After some fish tacos for lunch we lounged the afternoon away reading, sunning and floating. Jim even did some paddle board yoga! Then we headed out on the tender to try again to get a glimpse of an eaglet in the Eagles Nest. And this time . . . . . success! Then we played a bit in the outer edges of Malibu Rapids trying to capture a video of the churning water and whirlpools. We also got some more photos of a wood duck and her 10 chicks. Tonight the hummingbird came around the feeder during our yummy steak dinner and we caught it on video. Tomorrow afternoon we plan to raise anchor and leave with the slack tide at the rapids around 2PM, then anchor at the head of Jarvis Inlet in preparation for a dawn exit the next day to get a power assist from the big ebb tide. Tomorrow is also our 41st Anniversary. We are so lucky to have found each other in this time and space.
It’s impossible to truly explain PLI and our perfect anchorage. We try with our words and our pictures. It’s like immersing yourselves in the most special nature painting and then adding sound and smells. Jayne said she felt like she was in Rivendale (the magical City of the Elves from the Lord of the Rings movie). That’s a pretty good explanation.
This blog is lovingly written by the Captain and the First Mate of the True Love.
True Love Adventures 