Retirement Ramblings: Sitka, AK

The ship cast off at five in the evening and sailed south during the night. We awoke to the sound of the ship’s foghorn as we approached Baranof Island and Sitka harbor. It was a chilly and foggy morning. We had two sea excursions today, so we dressed warmly.

The cruise ship dock is a few miles out of downtown Sitka.

The operators of the first excursion (a sea raft tour) thought we needed to be dressed more appropriately and provided emersion suits, gloves and balaclavas. We had hoped the “raft” was a bit more seaworthy. It turns out that it was. It was an aluminum Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat or RIB. It was designed to carry six passengers and a captain at relatively high speeds. Since it is an open boat and sits low in the water, the suits were a welcome protection from the elements.

All dressed up and ready to go.

Odd seating, but once underway it was well suited for the application.

The fog was quite thick and we could only see a few yards beyond the boat. The captain was equipped with both local knowledge (he makes this trip four times a day during the season) and a modern GPS chartpotter. Off we went, and luckily the sea was mirror calm so we remained dry despite travelling at a good clip. The captain slowed for the occasional sea lion or otter, but continued on into the fog for some time.

Ahead of us the fog began to darken, and eventually a mist-shrouded rock island began to take form. With it came memories of numerous horror film scenes, and the only thing missing was a foghorn or strange background music. We circled the island and were treated to sightings of numerous otters and birds. The otters spend a good bit of time floating on their backs in the kelp beds. They can often be seen with otter pups resting on their mom’s belly as they float. We were not so lucky as to see pups on this trip though. We did see huge colorful starfish clinging to the rocks on the shoreline. We disturbed a Bald Eagle atop a prominent rock and caused him to take flight. Eagles are a very common sight all along the coast, but we never tired of seeing the majestic birds.

As we started to make our way back to the harbor the fog and clouds began to clear. Mount Edgecomb began to be visible in the distance, and as we neared the dock the mountains on the outskirts of Sitka were quite clear.

Mt. Edgecomb, a dormant volcano.

Back safe and sound.

The sun came out and we enjoyed a nice outdoor lunch and a brief stroll through town before catching our second excursion of the day.

It was to be a boat trip through the small islands and inlets surrounding Baranof Island and was to include some beach combing, which Barbara was looking forward to. It was a pleasant enough boat ride with fantastic scenery, but the beach combing was a bust. It was a very small area of barnacle-encrusted rock that did not offer much to do once you had soaked up the beauty of the immediately surrounding landscape. Tour operators are quite cautious about bears, and I imagine rightfully so. The result was we were not to venture off from the boats landing area. It was an expensive excursion and several of the passengers complained to the cruise staff on our return.