Sitka Interlude

We have spent the last six days relaxing and completing maintenance on Spirit after the first 1200 miles. It was time for an oil change on the generator, cleaning of the watermaker prefilters, cleaning the fresh water system filters, cleaning sea strainers, fueling the tender, general cleaning and just playing tourist in Sitka. The weather the past six days has alternated from rain to sun, wind to calm. On Monday, when we had tentatively planned to leave, it was really windy and raining, with seas to 8 feet at a 6 second period at the weather buoy off Cape Edgecumbe, which makes them very steep and nasty, so we decided to just stay put. We later heard from a Nordhavn 50 that they were unable to get into the entrance of Kalinin Bay, where we had planned to go to, due to the seas at the bay entrance, so our decision to stay in Sitka was wise.

On Saturday when we arrived we went to the Channel Club in Sitka for a arrival celebration dinner, and last night was an evening with Mathesons and their guests for the past three days, the Lambertsons, at Ludvig's Bistro, reputed to be one of the best places to eat in town.

Ludvig's has space for just 20 people and the only reservation we could get for six people was at 8:45 PM. However, they called about 8 PM and we actually got in about 8:20 PM for a very well cooked and served meal. Our menu choices included oysters on the half shell, white king salmon, filet mignon, seafood paella and capped with either a vanilla bean crème brulee or a chocolate torte for dessert.

Tomorrow, Friday, June 10, is our 39^th wedding anniversary. The weather forecast for the next 5 days is favorable, so we will celebrate it while heading out of Sitka, southbound, on a 5 day circumnavigation of Baranof Island. We will be in the open water of the North Pacific for about 50 miles until we turn the corner at Cape Ommaney at the southernmost tip of Baranof Island and head back up Chatham Strait. We will not have internet or cell phone until we return to Sitka on June 14, in the afternoon. Our stops along the way will all be new destinations for us.

This trip will be about 225 nautical miles, or about 45 nautical miles per day.