Return to Alaska!

 

Gulf Is Sunset

After returning from Mexico in 2019, our next boating goal was to return to Alaska in Summer, 2020. We had last cruised Alaska in 2011 and had a ball, but left many places unvisited  As we all know, Canada was closed to visitors (and boaters) in 2020 and again in 2021. So, when the border was cautiously opened in 2022, we decided to make the jump. 

A few friends have asked if we  were doing a blog for this cruise. We decided not to, since, after all, this is really is just another summer cruise, just like the others we have done for almost fifty years now. However, after two and a half months into our three-and-a-half-month cruise, it did occur to us that  we have had a few

A Full Pot!

highlights that might be worth sharing. And since a picture is worth a thousand (plus or minus a few ) words, we will include a few of our better ones.

Weather is always important in a sailing cruise and ours certainly is no different. Once again, we used the Predict wind weather forecasting software, but for some reason it took several weeks to get it going—and it only got going as we left the land of phone connectivity. And thank goodness we had it. As we cruised up Grenville Channel in BC, the forecasters were calling for gusts of 50 knots (almost 60 miles per hr!) and it was time to seek refuge. We found it at Baker Inlet, a hurricane hole of a place and downright cozy. And to top it off, we baptized our brand-new shrimp pot and hauled in something like a hundred of them, enough for five dinners, even after tossing back a third of them because we did not have room to store them.

In our previous Alaska cruise, we spent the 4^th of July in Sitka and joined in their small-town festivities. This year we aimed

The Apple Pie Relay Team (pre hamstring)

for an even smaller town and selected Hoonah, a Tlinket  Indian village, population 700. The parade had ten vehicles, tossing candy to the kids (big and small). That was followed by games and food booths on the ball field in which the highlight was the apple pie relay race. Each team had to have a member under age 10, a member over age 50 and at least one female member. Well, one team was short of an over age 50 person, so Roger jumped in. And all was going well until Roger rounded second base and pulled

 his hamstring, limping to the finish. Ouch! We did not win, but at least our team was able to compete.

Leaving Sitka this time we decided to take the path less traveled and came down the west

Forevergreen Cove--Baronof Is.

(ocean side) of Baronof Island, and t

hen made stops at Coronation Island, Craig and Hydaburg. The Baranof and Coronation anchorages we splendid wilderness sites—well protected and so scenic. In the fishing town  of Craig, we  got to talking with Darko, a purse seiner homeported in Westport, Washington, who gave us a wealth of information on Alaska purse seining, and then gave us the absolutely best, mouthwatering smoked salmon we have ever tasted. And then it was onto Hydaburg, one of only two Haida settlements in Alaska. At first, we were a bit put off by the Haida  there, but then we met  DJ, one the the Haida carvers who showed us the totem poles being carved for placement on the Juneau waterfront and filled in many

What a Rainbow!

details on living a very remote native settlement.

As we know , the highlight of any travel is meeting and conversing with locals. As Roger was biking back to the boat in Prince Rupert, he took notice of an older fellow sporting one of those conical native straw hats. It turns out that Irving is also Haida, from Masset in Haida Guai. It took him thirty years to learn the proper weaving techniques--and to top it off, he procures his raw materials himself  from the bark of an Alaska yellow cedar, only the best and ends up with a hat that protects him from sun, rain, snow and wind. Roger had just visited the Prince Rupert museum but he observed that Irving’s hat far exceeded anything in the museum!

Lynne and her buddy...

That is about it for now. We are now about half way home coming down the BC coast. If  we  have anything newsworthy to report on the remainder of our cruise, we will send out another edition in a few weeks. Until then we wish everyone the best for YOUR summer!

Roger, Lynne, and Salty

 

Fabulous House Post at Klemtu