Sitka, Alaska

In order to catch favorable currents we left Sitka pre-dawn this morning and had a nice calm day of powering to where we sit now, a stunning anchorage called Takatz Bay, tucked way back on the east side of Baranof Island.  Our two days in Sitka were exactly what we needed in that we took care of some very over-due maintenance on the engine and hydraulics as well as had a chance to explore the area and/or rest.  Sitka is a beautiful town rich in Russian/American history.  It seems that no matter where you are you get a magnificent view of the snow capped mountains which stand sentinel over this almost New England-like setting. Yet  Sitka’s history reaches far back to a time when New England was a fledgling. To quote one of the many books we found about Sitka, “When Chicago was merely a fort town in the middle of the prairies and San Francisco a small mission, Sitka was hailed as “The Paris of the West.”  Sitka has lost none of her charm and elegance and was a true respite for all of us.

File this under: “You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me!”; Just after we got through receiving our berth assignment from Sitka’s harbor master we were hailed on the VHF by the motor vessel ”Geraldine” and switched to another freq to talk.  Seems Geraldine’s owners, Walt and Kip Jones, have been following Bagan’s progress up to and through The Passage via this blog and they too were currently in Sitka where they keep their boat.  Walt and Kip had a bit more than a vested interest in our Passage transit as they did the very same trip last year in their 46-foot Jarvis Newman designed Maine lobster boat, “Geraldine”.  Their’s was an amazing voyage in that they, unlike Bagan, had very little trouble with the ice but, unlike Bagan again, got hammered in The Bering Sea. Yesterday Walt and Kip came aboard and we compared “notes from the edge”.  It was wonderfully cathartic to not only meet these two but to talk with people who’d “been there”.  Many times in this blog I struggled to find the appropriate words to describe what we were seeing and feeling in The Northwest Passage, and admittedly came up far short far too often.  It was very validating when Kip and Walt said even though it’s been a year since they did their transit, they too just can’t adequately express the power and imagery they also found up there. If you’d like to learn more about their transit, pick up August’s Soundings Magazine and read “Lobster Yacht Adventure”, a wonderfully written article about two very cool people.

And on yet another note… As any faithful reader may have noticed (both of you) these blogs postings have slowed down a bit.  We’re still underway, making tracks towards our hoped for arrival in Seattle on or around November 5^th (if you’re in the neighborhood…) but the level (and this is a good thing) of adventure has dropped a bit.  We’re now in “cruise mode” and as such are trying to stay about as far away from adventure and potential danger as possible.  Therefore, less to fill you in on.  I can tell you this though; in about three more days we’ll be in Ketchikan where we’re all going to step away from Bagan for a few days, go our separate ways (this too is a good thing, we’re all still family/friends), get some energy back and then start the final leg down to Seattle.  With Greg’s departure in Sitka, Bagan’s crew is now just my step-son Chauncey, step-daughter Dominique, son Sefton and me. Life… How wonderful and very richly fitting that Bagan’s final leg will have aboard four family members who, in the past 15 years, haven’t had the chance to all be  together for more than five days, let alone five months.