28th June. Kalinin Bay to Sitka 26 miles

We departed Kalinin bay at 9am and heard a “securite” call from the vessel Liseron who was entering the bay. Liseron is the vessel we were moored behind in Juneau. Alex, one of the crew was a personable chap and we waved as we passed on our way to Sitka. We made our way through Whitestone narrows and saw Arriba, a Motor yacht from our marina in Anacortes, they looked in a hurry.

29^th – 30^th June. Sitka

We were assigned our slip in Sitka and all went ashore to have showers, buy some provisions and have a general exploration of this interesting City. As we were walking into town we spotted Olympic Mist, Mike’s boat. We wondered if he was still here or had he already departed commercial fishing. Amber and Ben strolled into town with Steve and Sandy and I went in search of an oil filter so that I could change the oil in the engine when it would become due in a week or so.

Katya met up with the friends she had made in Kalinin bay, more provisioning, a visit to the Raptor center, a long afternoon at the laundry and another look around the city. Katya, Jude and Mike went to visit Kathleen Jo, another fishing boat who had a viewing tank and in the tank was an Abalone called Abalonely because he was all alone. Abalone used to be quite prolific along these shores but were over harvested and now the growing sea otter population is preventing them from re establishing. 

The harbor was bustling. There was a big opening (term used for by commercial fishermen allowing them to go and fish) The 58ft Seine netting boats were getting ready, buying provisions, fixing last minute problems, checking nets. The commercial trollers were also busy getting ready. We had not seen a dock so busy since we had been up in Alaska. As Jude and I were walking back from town we saw Mike’s familiar face strolling down the dock. It was good to see him. Katya would be pleased that she would see him before he headed out to go fishing. He told us that he would be working on Charity and would be leaving in a day or so. He invited us back to the boat to meet Tele, the girl who wrote “Hooked” the book Mike gave us, and Martin their skipper. We agreed to meet up later when Katya was around.

Steve and Sandy very kindly took us all out to the wonderful Channel Club restaurant overlooking the water. It was a lovely night. We all put on the smartest and cleanest clothes we could find and were taken in a mini bus to the restaurant. The food certainly lived up to our hopes and expectations. I could not resist the prime rib, which was about an inch thick. Puddings were ordered and devoured with great enthusiasm despite the very large main course. It was a jovial and enjoyable evening. Thanks Steve and Sandy!