The Adventures of Ka'sala: Sitka

Five days is just not enought time to do Sitka justice. What a lovely town it is! We have spent our time here recovering from our passage - getting the sleep patterns back in order after the watch system has taken a bit of work on my part - but we are both feeling rested now and ready to proceed. Tomorrow we are up early and will head north through Olga and Neva passages, into Salisbury Sound, transit Sergius Narrows, into Peril Strait and Chatham Inlet. We are heading for Warm Springs Cove on the east side of Baronof Island where we will stay for a couple days, though we will likely anchor in a spot or two en route. Our reservation for Glacier Bay isn't until July 23, so we imagine ourselves meandering up Chatham Strait over the next week, exploring other anchorages and hot springs en route. Apparently internet connection is infrequent, so I may not be able to post as regularly.

(I will post a chart following our route at a later date - in the meantime, if you are interested, you can find the route described above with a google search)

While in Sitka, we cleaned up Ka'sala inside and out, loaded her up with diesel and water again, and filled the stores with fresh provisions. There is a local grocery store here, Sea Mart, which has excellent stock at reasonable prices considering what is involved in bringing goods to this remote location. They even paid for our taxi ride back to the marina! But it hasn't been all work. We did find the Pioneer Bar and drank our fill of Alaska Amber and Baronof IPA!

We explored the Sitka National Monument and Park and learned about the history of the Tlingit, Russian and American people who have lived here. Everyone seems friendly and most people want to know where you come from and where you are going. It is hard to get down the dock without being engaged in several conversations. The locals, for their part, lead interesting lives. Many are fishermen and the collection of their boats on the docks is vibrant and very much in working order. The commercial fishing industry here is alive and well!

The only complaint we have had is the internet connections here are terrible. The cell phone coverage is very weak and overwelmed most of the time. Only a handful of places have WiFi available to the public and, they too, are over burdened. I think part of it is because of the many cruise ships that unload their passangers each day - many of them probably have their smartphones with them.

There are about 25 miles of road here and we have explored most of it on our bicycles. It was great to get out and stretch our muscles! Sitka is definitely bicycle friendly with a wide bicycle lane along the highway. We will miss this place!