Our last visit to Yakutat Bay was looking very sad. Poor visibility and a moderate but limiting amount of ice. We traveled up to Point Latouche and sat there looking into the fog and ice. After more than an hour the decision was made to leave.

As we turned around and started back down the bay the clouds lifted. Like a curtain the fog lifted to reveal a crystal clear day! Those who had congregated at the back of the ship watched as the glacier was now brilliantly in view. Guests were calling to the reception desk asking if we could go back. Department heads trying to manage all the agitated guests also asked the same question, are we going back? Unbeknownst to most, we had used our allotted time for the day, for the visit. It was wasted by the bad weather; we needed to move on to make our next port.

As many, myself included, watched in envy as the Radiance of the Sea steamed toward the glacier to enjoy the sunny day all of a sudden we were turning around! Cruise Director Ray Solaire spotted me down the corridor and shouted,”we are going back!” I ran up to the bridge and grabbed the microphone to make the formal announcement that yes indeed we were going back!

What was going to be a sad start to our last cruise of the season turned out to be a euphoric celebration. The captain had made a heroic decision that not only saved the day but may have saved the cruise. Thank you Captain Armellino!

If you have sailed to Alaska perhaps you were lucky enough to visit Yakutat Bay home of Hubbard Glacier. Hubbard is phenomenal to see, at seven miles in width, fifteen hundred feet in depth and seventy-six miles in length, it is the largest tidewater glacier in North America. (I say the world because all the other glaciers that touch the sea that are bigger are continental glaciers - but that’s just me!) As you know glacial ice is melting worldwide and glaciers are retreating rapidly. But not Hubbard. It is an anomaly. Based on its location and other factors affecting the accumulation of ice, etc, it is growing. Back in 1986, it pushed forward at an incredible rate moving more than one hundred and forty feet a day! It dammed off Russell Fjord and created all kinds of problems. Eventually the ice dam broke and all was “normal” until 2002 when it did it again. Well, once more Hubbard is on the march. During the last four visits the Seven Seas Mariner has not been able to get close to the glacier due to the build-up of ice. If Russell Fjord is closed-off permanently, the ice that the glacier continues to expel will be so concentrated ships will not be allowed in. This is exactly what happened to Columbia Glacier. And you may remember that it was ice from Columbia Glacier that caused the Exxon Valdez to steer up on Bligh Reef!