The Lu-Lu Belle Cruise

The Lu-Lu Belle was built by her owner and Captain, Fred Rodolf. The plans were approved by the Coast Guard in Washington D. C.. In November of 1976 Captain Fred purchased a 65 foot Kelly Hull from Westport, Washington and went to work. For the next 10 months Captain Fred became Carpenter Fred and in September of 1977 the Lu-Lu Belle became certified by the United States Coast Guard. He some years later added a ten foot stern platform making the overall length 75 feet, which is her present configuration. The Lu-Lu Belle is powered by two 650 horsepower, 6 cylinder 993 cubic inch Luggers. They are turbo charged and can produce a cruising speed of 20 knots. The Lu-Lu Belle has been the home for Captain Fred and his wife Megan for the past 46 years.

In 1985, Admiral Megan and Captain Fred bought some property and built an office on Kobuk Drive in Valdez. When 1986 came around Captain Fred was ready to operate on his own offering Columbia Glacier and Wildlife Cruises with his family. He has run all of his own cruises since 1979 and has logged 5,241 Columbia Glacier cruises. His enthusiasm for sharing Prince William Sound with his guests is readily apparent as he shares a wealth of information and stories in a lively narration. He often goes off the beaten path looking for everything that swims and flies.

We boarded at 10:30 AM and departed the dock soon after and headed for the Prince William Sound. This body of water is off the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

As we proceeded to the Sound we encountered numerous fishing boats working the near shore. These fishing boats, according to Captain Fred are "Purse Seine" fishing for Pink Salmon with a net. The net is kept floating by synthetic corks arranged on the surface and a skiff drags one end of the net around a school of salmon to enclose them in the bag; the net is then hoisted on board with a driving pulley and a winch. We watched the process as Captain Fred came up very close to the fishing boat. I thought he was getting some fresh fish from the Sea Prince!

Continuing out to the Prince William Sound we surveyed the rocky shoreline for Steller sea lions and Puffins. Captain Fred found both as we cruised to the Columbia Glacier. Steller sea lions are the world’s largest species of sea lions. The adult male Steller sea lion can weigh up to 2,400 pounds and will grow to be 3 times the size of an adult male grizzly bear. During the summer months, they congregate at rookeries or breeding grounds where they breed, give birth, and nurse their pups. In Alaska, it was found that females return to the rookery where they were born in order to breed.

Two species of puffins can be seen in Prince William Sound near Valdez: the horned puffin and the tufted puffin. Horned puffins are named for the black skin "horn" above their eyes. Tufted puffins are named for the tufts of feathers that extend from the back of their heads.

Captain Fred is a master at boat handling and maneuvered the Lu-Lu Belle into some small inlets where the birds like to hide out. With the aid of his First Mate on the bow, he could drive with in a few feet of the rocky walls for the best views. Some of the guest who had positioned themselves on the bow had to avoid small waterfalls off the cliffs from above.

We navigated out the Valdez Passage and spotted a humpback whale sounding before making the turn into Columbia Bay. At first, the waters at the entrance appear very similar to the Prince William Sound but as we proceeded further into the bay we spotted small, turquoise blue icebergs ahead. The ice volume in the water increased as we continue into the bay. Some of the drifting ice is white, some clear and even blackish gray. These are all produces from the Columbia Glacier that have broken off or "calved" from the face and now drift south to the open sea.. The air temperature is decreasing as we enter this natural "ice box" and it is difficult to spend time outside with the windchill created by the moving vessel.

The Columbia Glacier descends from an icefield 10,000 feet above sea level, down the flanks of the Chugach Mountains, and into a narrow inlet that leads into Prince William Sound in southeastern Alaska.

Captain Fred pilots the Lu-Lu Belle past a "raft" of Sea Otters on a ice raft through the increasing ice field and motored us up to a mere quarter mile from the massive face of the Glacier. This is an amazing natural wonder and we are fortunate to see this five mile across structure. The best part of all is Fred is in no hurry to get back to Valdez so we just drift and listen, take photographs and videos.

Words cannot adequately express the majesty, magnificance and wonder of what we've seen and experienced in Alaska. The Lu-Lu Belle was a high point for us and we're so happy that we got to spend this long, nine hour day with Fred and his crew! This one excursion, in my opinion, is a must see and do if you ever come to the 49th state. Everything rolled up into one package.