BACK TO SITKA

We left Sitka last Sunday (June 6) for the west side of Baranof Island (that is the Gulf of Alaska side). The weather was predicted with a NW wind of 15 kts. There was only a short distance where we were totally exposed to the Gulf which was a little rough with some swells. Mostly, there are enough rocky islands that you can get behind to knock down the fetch. We went into Goddard Springs along with several boaters and fishing vessels. Apparently the hot tubs are a big hit. We took a dinghy ride to a beach in front of a beautiful ‘cabin’ that is rented out by the city of Sitka for $50 a night. The setting was just beautiful. While walking the beach we could see a lot of washed up baby crabs and decided maybe we should put out our crab trap.
Next day we went up to the hot tubs. There were 2 buildings with tubs in them and very very hot water. After Jerry did a ‘soak’ we did a little exploring in the dinghy. Next morning we decided to move on down the coast …………..not so fast. We both seemed to be in a ‘testy’ mood and Jerry did not like the way I was pointing the boat for him to get the anchor up. Then we were retrieving the crab pot and I rode over the float. WWWEEEELLLL, we knew we had a ‘cutter’ on the shaft but Jerry did not want to loose the crab pot. After much discussion and several hours of laying on the swim platform trying to see the line and the pot under the boat we decided to ‘go for it’. Sure enough the cutter cut us loose from the pot. We called it a day and planned on heading out the next morning.
In the meantime the weather reports were not looking so good and we had an open area we needed to cross to get to Still Bay. Well 20kt was ‘ugly’. When the swells would lift the boat it was very scary. We thought we had everything secure but we missed a few doors and drawers. We made it to the protection of some rocky islands and into Still Bay.
Well Still Bay was not as ‘still’ with a NW wind so after one night we decided to go to Kitoi Bay. This Bay has a narrow 70 foot opening into beautiful calm waters. Looking at the weather again, the winds were increasing in the Gulf as well as the swells. We were anticipating staying put for a few days.
Friday June 11 Jerry got up early as is his custom and checked again on the weather. The winds were shifting to the SE for a short time and then gale force winds would begin in the afternoon. The prediction was for 25kt winds and 12ft seas, very ugly. We decided to take advantage of the SE winds and head back to Sitka. We got to sheltered waters as the weather changed. The Sitka Harbormaster was obviously in a very challenging situation trying to get every boat into a slip. There are a lot of fishing vessels here as well as summertime cruisers. We were given a slip assignment and it was actually a double wide space. The wind was blowing the rain was starting, my phone was ringing, Jerry’s phone had a message and we were trying to keep the boat from slamming the dock. Whew! We made it!