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The Sitka Harbor entrance is blocked when we approach – by a
humpback whale. He is clearly claiming
right of way so we stop and boats pile up behind us as we wait for him to
continue on his passage, and he does so at a leisurely pace, allowing me to
finally get a good picture. I swear,
between the wolves and whales swimming in front of our boat, it’s amazing we
get anywhere.
We finally dock at our slip – or “stall” as they call them
here, in full sunshine – not the “liquid sunshine” they joke about but the kind
that has everyone scrambling for sunglasses.
Sitka is at the beginning of a 3 day heat spell – 70 degrees and the
only “summer” they have seen thus far. Many
businesses shut down for the day, posting signs in the window reading “Closed
Due to Weather.” Some locals told us they
hope to have a few more nice days before autumn, others complained about the
heat.
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Sitka is similar to the other towns we have visited -it’s
like we’ve stumbled into the middle of an episode of Northern Exposure – we
don’t know the beginning of the story, we
have no idea how it will end and we don’t even know what it’s
about.
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| Our Dinner View from Our Flybridge - A Pink Ribbon |
The town has a strong Russian and Native American history
and those cultures are still on display.
There is an active Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the middle of town and a
National Historical Park known informally as Totem Park. 
We take a one day fishing excursion in the Gulf of Alaska with
three other guys. Of course by this
time, the weather reverted to normal Alaskan climate, 50 degrees and rainy and
the sea conditions are particularly turbulent.
When we get to our fishing destination - in the middle of this big body
of water that looks just like every other spot around us but somehow this is the spot - Rich, our guide, anchors the skiff in the rough waters, with high waves rolling
the boat back and forth. We are tossed
around like a toy boat in a waterfall – Jim and I both had bruises from banging
against every surface of the boat and the only thing we have to show for our 8
hours are our black and blue marks. Not
a single fish wanted us – the three other guys snag Halibut, silver salmon and
red snapper. They take pity on us and
give us their rock fish and red snapper, which were mighty tasty.
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| All the Fish We Didn't Catch |
Our last day is spent provisioning the boat, which takes
much longer than you might imagine especially since the grocery store is 2
miles up the road, we are walking and it is raining. First we must dress for this activity. This means two of us in complete rain
regalia, 3 schlepping carts and a good dose of humor. The store has everything we need, and more, filling
4 large boxes. Luckily, they have a car
to take us back to the harbor. Of course
now that we are riding back to the boat, the rain has stopped. Make that an extra dose of humor.
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| Dinner with Gay & Wyman |
Sight-seeing and a couple of really good dinners later and
we are ready to leave civilization once more explore the remote Alaska we have
come to love.
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