The Ice Cocktail Challenge

In a ‘Lectronic Reader Submission from earlier this month, Janet Baker asked what we thought was an improbable question: "Have you ever had glacial ice in your whiskey?" The gauntlet thusly thrown down, we had a quick response from David Eberhard and Deborah Connors of San Francisco.  

"You asked if we’d ever had glacial ice in our whiskey. The answer to that is no," David wrote, "but we had it with our rum and cokes on many occasions last summer." The couple went cruising in Alaska in 2016, and sent us a few photos of their trip onboard Valkyrie, a Roberts 44. 

"We would often lasso a small bergy bit and haul it aboard. Not only is the ice very hard and long-lasting, but it is crystal clear. In the sunlight it sparkles as though it is diamonds. It’s very beautiful." 

The couple did do some sailing as well: "The photos only start to explain what last summer was like for us. There is so much more to the adventure than pictures of ice. The navigational challenges include timing to run tidal rapids so you don’t get caught in currents that can be in excess of 12 knots."

Also challenging was "picking out an anchorage when your daily tidal range can be 20 to 24 feet. Anchoring included frequent shore lines to trees. These are just a few of the many things we discovered last summer in Alaska. It was a challenging summer, but worth every minute of it."

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