October 2004 Cruise News
Hi everyone:
Fall must be upon us and winter close at its heels. =
We
had 18 out of 31 days of some sort of precipitation in
September. October brought cooler weather (including snow on the
mountain tops) but much less rain. During the first part of the
month the average high temperature during the day was in the fifties and at
night in the forties. Towards the middle of the month the high and low
temperatures dropped about 10 degrees with the lowest about 24 degrees=
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Alaska
is advertised as "the last frontier". We have to admit
testosterone abounds here. Deer and bear season opened the fir=
st
of October. Each license holder is allowed six deer because the deer
population is so great. This boat is one of our neighbors who is a
salmon troller and prawn fisherman. The=
y came
back from a two day trip with deer and halibut. |
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October
18th was Alaska Day. The week preceeding the
18th was full of activities, one of which was a performance by the Sitka
Archangel Russian Dancers. The dance group is made up of 65 women (=
no
men allowed) who perform Russian dances mostly during the summer for
tourists. This was a performance, at a significantly reduced ticket
price, for the locals. It was fun. |
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On the Raptor
Center front, we were able to participate in an "eagle
exercise". Here is Forrest, the head bird handler, taking Sitka
down to the creek for a swim. Sitka is a five year old female Bald
Eagle. She is a sweetheart. |
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Forrest puts
her on a long tether and basically lets her do whatever she
wants. He brought some pieces of salmon with him and threw the=
m in
the water. She would dunk her head to retrieve the salmon but didn't
feel like swimming on this day. |
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You can
see from this photo how white her head is becoming. She will soon be
out of the adolescent stage. Unfortunately, because of the West Nile
Virus scare, Forrest cannot take Sitka or Volta out of Alaska for any
educational trips. They would have to put the birds in quarantine f=
or a
month before allowing them back into Alaska and that is just not an optio=
n. |
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We had
some fantastic sunrises during October. |
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We, of
course, had to attend the Alaska Day festivities on October 18th.
Alaska Day commemorates the transfer of Alaska ownership from the Russian=
s to
the US. We (the US) purchased Alaska from Russia around 1867 f=
or
7.2 million dollars. Part of this days festivities included a
parade. We thought this was an interesting float--Polynesian Coconut
girl dancers in Alaska? |
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And a
small town parade in the bush is nothing without Smokey the Bear.<=
span
style=3D'font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"'> |
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This
was the most elaborate float--an aluminum dinghy on a trailer towed by a
truck. Well, it looks hokey and it was but it was fun. We thi=
nk all
of the 8800 Sitka residents were there along the parade route cheering on=
the
floats, bands and dancers. We can now say we have been to an Alaska=
Day
parade. Now, whether we go again is another question. |
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This
lovely 1991 Chevy S-10 is our new ride. The van we were borrowing h=
ad
to be returned so we decided to invest VERY little in a clunker to get ar=
ound
in. The exterior looks like hell but it runs well and what is
especially nice is the rusted truck bed (under an almost new liner) =
and
tailgate that could fall off any moment. Every vehicle not kept in a
garage in Sitka is a rust bucket. This one is no different.&nb=
sp;
In fact, this is a good one! |
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October 22nd brought snow to the mountain tops. This is a photo of main str= eet Sitka. The church is Saint Michaels Russian Orthodox -- it's cornerstone was laid in 1844.
Sitka
is located right on the water and meanders down the coastline only stretc=
hing
inland half a mile. It is bordered on one side by Sitka Sound and the
other side by the Tongass National
Forest. We have one stoplight and two four way stop signs in town.
There are a heck of a lot of cars here considering there is only 14 miles=
of
road and it costs a fortune to take a vehicle on the ferry. By the =
way,
gas is $2.29/gal here. |
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This is
the view of the mountains from the marina. It didn't rain much in
October at all. Most days were like this with clear skies and =
sun
but cool (40's and low 50's). |
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Mt. Edgecumbe continues to be the focal point of awesome
beauty. It gets more beautiful as more snow falls. Where=
ver
you go in Sitka, there it is... (see photo to the right) |
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This is
the view from downtown. Mt. Edgecumbe r=
ight
there in the background. |
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This is
the view from Castle Hill. As you can see, the weather was
gorgeous even on October 25th. |
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Fishing
boats continue to go out to catch king salmon and halibut. We heard=
on
the dock that one fisherman brought in 400 pounds of king salmon. At
$4/lb, that is a pretty good catch for a couple of days fishing this late=
in
the year. |
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Several
bull and female steller sea lions have made o=
ur
marina their winter home. They hang around and eat parts of fish th=
at
fishermen throw overboard. This one came up about 3 feet away from =
us
thinking we were going to feed him. He doesn't look it here, but he=
must
weigh a ton and is about 12 feet long. |
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Even late in the month, the sunrises were beautiful. You can see the snowcapped mountains in the background.
As Halloween
got closer, so did winter weather. Strong winds one day, hail on and
off another day, thunder and lightning on and off, and snow. Luckil=
y,
the snow fell in town at higher elevations. You never know what a n=
ew
day will bring. Seas outside in Sitka Sound were predicted to
be 31 feet. We do experience a low swell inside the marina&nbs=
p;on
days when it is rough outside but nothing uncomfortable. |
That brings us to the end of October. We are planning to
take a few ferry trips in November-- -- one to Juneau and one to Haines.&nb=
sp;
We should have some interesting things to report and, hopefully, some fun
pictures. We hope all is well with everyone. Email us!
Chris and Chuck