1 Jul 23

Oh, Canada; it is Canada Day. So, of course, we leapt out of the sack at 08:00 and then we enjoyed a lazy, sunny morning out in the solarium. Just before 09:00, I got my drone out and flew around the anchorage for a few minutes. The anchor was aweigh at 09:20 and we motored toward Sergius Narrows with the last of the flood resisting us slightly. We were through the Narrows at 10:04, about 10 minutes before posted HW slack, but it was totally calm. The wind was on the nose as we turned SE toward Sitka, so we motored all the way through cloudy, intermittent rain periods. But, the visibility was very good throughout the trip, unlike yesterday’s run. We were tied up at the dock at Eliason Harbor at 14:05. Just after we got tied up, “Adventurous”, our dock neighbor at Warm Springs Bay a couple of days ago, tied up two slips over from us, so I went over and said good-bye. While we were sitting there enjoying a beer to celebrate our successful arrival in Sitka, a guy stopped by to ask if we were posting on the Inside Passage Facebook page. After informing him that we did not “do” Facebook, he said he had read something by the owner of “c’est le bon” recently, but could not think what it was. When I asked him if he took Good Old Boat, he said that was it. So, I have been recognized twice in the last two days as the noted author from Good Old Boat. I will try not to let all this fame and notoriety go to my head. We walked into town after that and, after hitting a few shops and looking in a few bars, and visiting the site of Baranof Castle, we decided to check out “Beak”, a restaurant that was recommended on Maps. As we walked up about 16:45, we could hear Irish music coming from within. We were surprised to find that it was a live session, rather than recorded music. They apparently play there every Saturday from 15:00 - 17:00. And, Chef Renee has received a James Beard nomination, so the food was excellent. We got back to the boat about 18:30 and were sitting there trying to figure out how to occupy our time until 23:30, when the Canada Day fireworks were scheduled to begin. While we were debating this topic, the couple from “Teka” - Larry and Tracy, walked by to say hello and greet us in person. Later, when they returned from their dinner, we had a long chat with them about all manner of topics. Anyway, we chatted and Jake packed and we watched the sunset and had a long chat with Jeff, who is a live-aboard in the slip next to “Teka” and finally walked up the dock to watch the fireworks. The city put on a huge display that ran 25 minutes and a number of enthusiastic amateurs lit up the skies all around for more than an hour before the real show. Then we had a whiskey and a final chat with Jake and went to bed about 01:00.

57-03.510’N, 135-21.267”W; Log = 31.5, Sum = 1312.8 N-m; Eng. hrs. = 4.8, Sum = 3314.6

2 Jul 23

Jake had a taxi ordered at 04:15, so we were up to see him off. After he walked up the dock, we went back to bed, and even slept a little until 09:00. Jake confirmed that he made it to the airport and onto the plane without any troubles and by 10:00, he was enjoying breakfast in Sea-Tac. Hope he enjoyed his visit as much as we enjoyed having him aboard. Before breakfast, I walked up to confirm the location of the Sitka Laundry (as per info provided by Jeff), just beyond Ace. It was where he said it would be and way closer than the one on the other side of town. We spent the rest of the day doing minor boat chores and trying to recover from yesterday. Followed by a quiet evening on the boat.

3 Jul 23

After yesterday’s exertions, we slept in until 08:30. After a leisurely breakfast in the solarium, enjoying the sunshine, we hauled a load of laundry up to the laundromat. On the way back to the boat, I stopped at the grocery store and liquor store to load up on tonic, gin, wine and sandwich meat. Then, I checked in with the harbormaster and took our empty propane tank (#1) up to the Petro One station across the street; very convenient. Terri was finished with the laundry by then, so I walked back up to help her carry it all back to the boat. After lunch, on our way to the grocery store, I hauled up a bunch of expired flares to deposit at the only such depository I have ever seen. The Astros beat the Rangers 12-11 in a wild game to take the series 3-1 and get within 3 games of the division-leading Rangers; the Astros are starting to look like a championship team again, and this is without Air-Yordan, Uncle Mike, Pena and Framber Valdez in the line-up.  

4 Jul 23

Happy Birthday (no. 247) USA. We woke up about 08:30 to a dry, but overcast morning. The wind, as forecast, has gone round to the NW. After a leisurely breakfast, I dressed ship (with the signal flags) for the 4th of July. Then, we walked into town to check out the festivities. After a smash burger for lunch, we wandered around town visiting most of the shops and picking up a few books and gifts. About 14:30, the parade started through the down-town area. It was no big deal but a typical small-town parade with a good turnout from the local population, as well as the cruise-ship tourists. After the parade was finished, we came back to the boat for a rest.  

5 Jul 23

We had another leisurely lie-in and breakfast, waking to a cool, overcast morning. After confirming that the forecast for the next 2 days is not conducive to us going to Goddard Hot Springs and (more importantly) getting back, we hung around the boat until after lunch, to watch the Astros beat the Rockies 6-4, then walked into town. There, we did a little bit of shopping, followed by a tour of the Sheldon Jackson Museum, which has a fantastic collection of indigenous artifacts collected at the end of the 19th century, before their culture was completely destroyed. Ironically, the museum is on the grounds of the Sheldon Jackson University, which at one time was a boarding high school for indigenous kids; in the school, they were not allowed to speak their native language and had to drop their native names and take on “white” names, so they could grow out of their “backward” cultural limits. This requirement forced on a people who had been living in this one area more or less un-changed for the last 10,000 years of so. Makes you cringe. After the museum, we stopped in the Bayview Pub and Restaurant, where I had a very creditable (rockfish) fish and chips. After we got back to the boat, we had a long chat with Chris and Pam on “Kachina”, a Grand Banks 38(?), with whom we have been nodding dock neighbors for the last few days. They are from Redonda Beach, CA and are heading on south (via Peril Strait) starting tomorrow. But, they had some good tips on making the most of our trip into Glacier Bay.

6 Jul 23

It was windy and cool when we woke up, but the overcast did not last and it turned into a beautiful sunny day, although the wind persisted through the day. I installed my new, low profile horn in place of the old “ahooga” horn, which was looking a bit the worse for wear. The low profile horn, which I found in LFS Marine Supply the other day, is much less likely to get tangled up with anti-jibe lines or jib sheets; the old one nearly got ripped off its mount a few times. I met Sam, on the Nordland 47(?) “High Light”, on the next slip over, on the dock and he gave me some good tips for Goddard Hot Springs and going up the west coast of Chichagof Island; hope the wind forecast cooperates for that. After lunch, we walked into town so Terri could finish shopping for gifts for the Lyons kids. I waited for her while enjoying a nice IPA in Ernie’s Old Time Saloon, which has been operating in that location for 84 years; looks like it is good for at least another 84 years. On the way back to the boat, we stopped in at Ludvig’s and managed to score a table for a 17:00 seating.  We also stopped at Sitka Sound Seafoods and bought 6 pounds of fresh frozen salmon and rockfish for the freezer. Dinner at Ludvig’s was excellent; the salmon and risotto was excellent and the chocolate tort for desert was to die for. Back and the boat, I played guitar for an hour or so before we went to bed. At sunset, there was still nary a cloud in the sky.  

7 Jul 23

Another glorious day in paradise; although a heat wave is predicted: it is supposed to get up to 78 deg F today - the horror, the horror. We were enjoying a leisurely morning in the cockpit when the harbormaster advised us that the owner of the slip we were presently occupying was due back tonight, so we would have to move. On the other hand, we only had to move over 1 slip. So, we fired up the engine and moved over 30 feet. Job done, and another day of “under command” for my Masters ticket renewal.  Then, Terri went up to the grocery store to pick up a couple of items and I decided to give the port-side dorade cover a new coat of epoxy. First, I sanded all the rough bits smooth and roughed up the rest of the area, so the epoxy would adhere. After lunch, Terri took a load of laundry up and I applied the epoxy to the dorade cover. Unfortunately, after I mixed the epoxy, Sam, from “High Light”, stopped by for a chat and I did not get the epoxy out of the cup quick enough, so it went off in a hurry. After Sam gave me some good advice about how to get a good weather report on the Garmin InReach, I mixed up another batch and got it put on before it got too unworkable. It is not my best work, but I suspect it will survive the 6 foot inspection and it looks better than it did before, so OK. While I was cleaning up the area, I discovered that the port-side deck drain was completely blocked, so I spent a few minutes cleaning it out; plugged mainly with what looked like paint or gelcoat flakes. Hmmm. After I got that all back together, we watched a bit of the Seattle @ Astros, but it got ugly in the 4th and we turned it off with Seattle up 9-1. Then, we went to dinner in town at Cold Water Bar & Grill. It was OK, but let’s just say it was not our favorite culinary outing in Sitka, and leave it at that. Our waitress did the best she could under the circumstances, and the chocolate layer cake we had for desert was quite gratifying. We walked back to the boat, arriving home at 20:30 and spent the rest of the evening watching a beautiful sunset. Ashley comes in tomorrow and the weather forecast is showing promising signs for the next week or so.

57-03.510’N, 135-21.266”W; Log = 0.1, Sum = 1312.9 N-m; Eng. hrs. = 0.3, Sum = 3314.9

8 Jul 23

Summer is over, apparently. The day broke overcast and cool. Terri made a quick run up to the grocery store after breakfast, but otherwise, we just hung around the boat and waited for Ashley to arrive; she flew from Seattle to Juneau last night and has a flight to Sitka arriving at 11:10. We had a quick lunch as soon as she arrived, then went up to the grocery store to buy something that Ashley could eat, what with her very restrictive dietary constraints. Then, we walked into town to take in the sights and do a little shopping. Terri bought Ashley a T-shirt and some water-proof boots. At about that time, I had reached my limit of shopping and so went on over to Beak to secure a table and listen to the Irish session. It was the same core group, but the fiddles did not show up today. We all enjoyed it anyway and had an early, again excellent, meal at Beak. Apparently, there is a folky, bluesy, blue-grass type of session at Beak on Sundays at 12:00, so if the wind does not abate a bit by tomorrow, I may be up there jamming with the boys. We were back on the boat by about 19:00 and had a lazy evening aboard, listening to the wind howling in the rigging, watching the sun set in another cloudless sky and playing guitar and singing good old songs, with Ashley accompanying me on the mandolin and vocals.