Sitka, End of 2018 Cruising Season

Location: Sitka, AK

Seabiscuit being raised out of the water on a Marine Travelift, Halibut Point Marine, Sitka, AK

At the end of the last blog we had arrived in Sitka and were awaiting for Louise, my mom, to arrive for a visit.

August 31, Friday, Sitka:  It rained most of the day so we spent the day doing inside chores.  During a break in the rain mid-afternoon, Dave went to Napa for a few things and I picked up some stuff at the grocery store.  About 5:00 p.m., I caught the local bus to go and meet Mom at the airport.  A very large sea lion had come ashore earlier in the day and was spotted wandering in the woods along Airport Road.  On the way to the airport, near the health center, the bus driver stopped for a few minutes so I could take some pictures.  A few days later there was a story on the local news:  after the sea lion was ashore for four days, they tranquilized him and used a front-end loader to get him back to the ocean.  

The sea lion along the side of the road near the health center.

The sea lion on the steps of an old building.

The bus doesn’t go all the way to the airport, so I got off near the health center and walked the rest of the way, ~ ¾ mile.  We were hoping to catch a taxi back to the boat from the airport, but there weren’t any available so we got a ride from one of the hotel shuttle buses instead.  The driver was friendly and gave us a tour of downtown on the way to the harbor.   Dave had supper ready for us when we got to the boat – hamburgers with baked beans and corn.

September 1, Saturday, Sitka:  Another rainy day today.  We did some indoor chores and then Mom and I went for a walk into town.  We used the Downtown Sitka map below to plan our walking routes and our visits to historical sites.  

Map of Downtown Sitka.  Eliason Harbor, where the boat was docked, is about 1/2 mile northwest of ANB Harbor.
Halibut Point Marine, where we hauled out and are storing the boat for the winter, is about 5 miles north of dowtown.

We stopped at the Saturday Farmer's Market in the Alaskan Native Brotherhood Hall (Map #17) and bought some beets and swiss chard.  We walked through the gardens of the Pioneer Home (Map #14) and then up a short hill to the replica of an old Russian Block House (Map #18).  We viewed Princess Maksoutoff's grave (Map #19) - she was the wife of the last Russian Governor of Alaska, then made our way to the Russian Cemetery (Map #20), a very peaceful place in the woods near downtown.  

Louise (Mom) in front of The Prospector statue on the grounds of the Pioneer Home

Mom at the ruins of an old church near the Russian Block House.

Mom near the replica of the old Russian Block House.

We had lunch on the boat, then did some reading and unlaxing.  For our afternoon chore, we pumped antifreeze through the HVAC lines; Dave was in the pilot house using the drill-pump to push the fluid through the lines, Mom watched the units in the staterooms to make sure there were no leaks while I watched the saloon unit and the piping in the engine room.  We had one small leak, which we stopped by tightening a hose clamp.  We haven't used that system since we put the boiler in last year so we'll probably leave in the "winterized" state until we get back to the tropics and need air conditioning again.  For supper, we cooked "fish in the weeds" with some of the halibut we caught when Patti and Al were aboard.

September 2, Sunday, Sitka:  After breakfast, we updated our monthly budget and maintenance spreadsheets.  It was a beautiful sunny day and with our mundane administrative tasks complete we were able to enjoy the day.  Mom and I set-up the chairs on the stern and on monkey island so that they could dry in the sun.  We walked along the waterfront into town, stopped to watch the salmon coming upstream into the fish hatchery and made our way to the Sitka National Historical Park (Map #3) and the Indian River.   We stopped on the bridge over the river and watched the salmon as they prepared to spawn.

Salmon swimming upstream in the creek leading to the hatchery.

Looking down into the Indian River from the footbridge. 
The dark shapes you see in the water at the top of the photo are salmon that have come upstream to spawn.

Kara, an avian care specialist, with Spirit, a juvenile bald eagle, at the Raptor Center.

We crossed the river and walked through the woods to Pizza Express, where we had Mexican food for lunch.  After lunch, we went to the Raptor Center (Map #2).  We watched the bald eagles in the "flight training" center, visited the birds that are in permanent residence there and attended a short educational seminar.  From the Raptor Center, we walked back across the Indian River and through the woods along Totem Pole Trail, along the waterfront and back to the boat.

B and Mom in front of a totem pole in Totem Park

September 3, Monday, Sitka:  Another beautiful sunny day.  Mom and I went for a short walk then we spent the morning on the boat, doing a few chores, playing cards and reading on the stern.  After lunch we walked to Totem Square (Map #15) and Castle Hill/Baranof Castle (Map #13).  We toured the Russian Bishop's House (Map #8) and St. Michael's Orthodox Church (Map #11) before heading back to the boat.  A few afternoon chores then happy hour and reading on the stern.  We had chicken thighs with swiss chard and beet greens for supper then played our nightly game of pinochle.

View from Castle Hill of the bridge to Japonski Island.

View from Castle Hill of the mountains north and east of downtown.

September 4, Tuesday, Sitka:  Mom and I spent the morning doing laundry while Dave did some work in the engine room.  After lunch, we rode the bus downtown and visited the Sheldon Jackson Museum (Map #5).  The museum is in a small concrete building constructed in the late 1890s and includes artifacts from the 8 native groups in Alaska.  Dave stayed on the boat and met with a mechanic to discuss repairing the bolt holes on the main engine charge air cooler using HeliCoils.  When he reinstalled the cooler earlier this summer he over torqued the bolts and we could see air leakage around the flange.  The mechanic confirmed that they could be repaired with the HeliCoils and Dave scheduled the repair for next week, after the boat gets hauled out of the water.

The main engine charge air cooler.

Checking the charge air cooler bolt size in order to get the right HeliCoil repair kit.

After Dave finished with the mechanic, he met us at the bus stop near Crescent Harbor and we went out to the Fortress of the Bear (Map #1), a bear rescue center located at an old mill site on the east side of town.  After viewing the bears, we stopped for happy hour at Baranof Island Brewery then headed back to the boat for supper and our nightly card game.

A view of the mountains from Crescent Harbor.

Two of the grizzlies at Fortress of the Bear

September 5, Wednesday, Sitka: Another beautiful sunny day.  We caught the bus downtown and toured the Sitka Sound Science Center and fish hatchery (Map #6).  We had lunch at a local restaurant then went to Harrigan Centennial Hall (Map #9) to watch the New Archangel Dancers perform Russian folk dances.  After the performance, we headed back to the boat for an afternoon of reading and unlaxing.  For supper we went back downtown and ate at the Sitka Hotel Restaurant which we all enjoyed.

Early evening in downtown Sitka

Sunset at Eliason Harbor

September 6, Thursday, Sitka: This morning we did some planning for the boat haul-out and winterizing, booked a small apartment for our last week in Sitka and booked flights out of Sitka.  It was another beautiful sunny day so we had lunch on the patio at BeAK then went to the Sheet'ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi Community House (Map #16) to watch the Tlinglit Native Dance performance.  After the dance, we checked out some of the stores downtown then walked along the shoreline to the Cultural Center near Totem Park (Map #3).  Back at the boat, we had smoked salmon for supper and played our nightly game of pinochle.

Mom participating in a dance around the fire pit at the Naa Kahidi Dance Show.

September 7, Friday, Sitka: Today was Mom's departure day and it was raining.  We made our way to the airport and she caught her flight home.  Dave and I spent the rest of the morning working on our winterization check list and planning our winter travels.  The rain quit early afternoon so we walked up to the marine store to buy some antifreeze and some air dryers to help prevent mold and mildew growth on the boat while it is in storage for the winter.  We loaded fresh water and prepared for a short weekend cruise.

September 8, Saturday, Sitka to Kliuchevoi Bay via St. Lazaria Island (28 nm, 4.5 hours):  We left the dock at 7:45 and headed west towards St. Lazaria Island.  The island is formed from the remnants of an old and eroded volcano and the rock formations are amazing.  The island is home to many colonies of sea birds including murres, cormorants and tufted puffins and the cliffs and caves are filled with birds.

Humpback whale sounding in Sitka Sound.  Mt. Edgecumbe is in the background.

Cormorants perched on a rock, St. Lazaria Island

Tufted puffin with fish hanging from its beak.

An example of some of the amazing rock formations on St. Lazaria Island.
 This cliff face is filled with murres.

From St. Lazaria Island, we headed south across Sitka Sound.  We worked our way through the rocks and anchored in Kliuchevoi Bay near Goddard Hot Springs.  It was raining when we arrived so we spent the afternoon doing some of our winterizing chores including stowing the stern tie and putting antifreeze in the HVAC unit coils.

A sea otter in Sitka Sound.

September 9, Sunday, Kliuchevoi Bay:  Light rain again this morning so we did chores,  maintenance and winterization tasks.  Dave worked on the gen-get home (GGH) engine while I worked on the paddleboard and kayaks.  After lunch we launched the dinghy and took it around the corner to Goddard Hot Springs.  The hot springs consists of two cabins with stainless steel tubs fed with both hot and cold water from the nearby springs.  Both tubs were being used so we hiked the boardwalk to Kliuchevoi Bay while waiting for our turn to soak.  When we returned, the upper tub was vacant and we had a nice soak.  We forgot to take our camera but the YouTube video below has some nice drone footage showing the bay, the hot tub cabins, the boardwalk and the view from the tubs.

YouTube drone video of Goddard Hot Spring

We beached the dinghy to come ashore to the hot tubs at high tide. By the time we finished soaking, the tide had gone down considerably and the dinghy was high and dry.  We got the wheels on and dragged it over the rocks until we got it afloat then made our way back to the boat.  We ran the gas out of the dinghy motor and rinsed out the salt water so it is ready to be put away for the winter.

Sunset at Kliuchevoi Bay

September 10, Monday, Kliuchevoi Bay to Rob's Point Cove via St. Lazaria Island (29 nm, 4.3 hours):   We fired engines at 10:00 this morning and made our way out of the bay.  It was about mid-tide which meant there was enough water to get out of the bay but not so much that we couldn't see the rocks that line the exit route and which are covered at high tide.  We headed north across Sitka Sound towards St. Lazaria Island for another look at the rock formations and the sea birds.

The rocks lining the exit route out of Kliuchevoi Bay.

A sea otter in Sitka Sound.  It could be the same one we saw two days ago.

It was a beautiful sunny day and we head a clear view of Mt. Edgecumbe, the dormant volcano at the southern end of Kruzof Island.  

Mt. Edgecumbe, looking north across St. Lazaria Island

Murres flying in and out of a shallow cave, St. Lazaria Island

We circled around St. Lazaria Island, watched the sea birds and then headed north up the east side of Kruzof Island.  We anchored in a small bight just south of Rob Point near Krestof Sound and spent the afternoon doing cleaning and winterization chores and preparing for our haul-out tomorrow.

A view of the mountains north of Sitka. 

September 11, Tuesday, Rob's Point Cove to Halibut Point Marine, Sitka (7 nm, 1.3 hours):    Another nice day.  We had breakfast then heaved anchor at 8:45 for our voyage to Halibut Point Marine.  We arrived at 10:00 and tied up at the end of the fuel dock.  We talked to Chris, the yard manager, and the lift operator and confirmed our haul-out time of 2:00 p.m.  Dave changed the oil in the main engine while I washed down the fore deck.  We had leftovers for lunch and watched other boats being launched and hauled.  At 1:30 the lift operator was ready for us.  We moved from the fuel dock into the slings of the marine lift, got off the boat and watched as it was hauled out of the water and moved to the wash down pad.

Seabiscuit being moved to the wash down pad.

Dave pressure washing the slime and algae from the bottom of Seabiscuit's hull.

After we finished pressure washing, they moved us to a temporary location, blocked the hull, put up the support stands and released the slings.  We plugged into power and lashed a ladder into place on the swim platform so that we could get on and off the boat.  Dave worked on removing the charge air cooler from the main engine and I cleaned and rinsed the dock lines and fenders.

Seabiscuit up on blocks with the travelift moving away.

September 12, Wednesday, Halibut Point Marine, Sitka:  We spent the first part of the morning watching the Eurodam come into the cruise ship dock and the passengers unloading.  From the pilot house, we have a front row seat.

Watching the Eurodam come into the cruise ship dock from our pilot house.
Our dock lines are draped around the foredeck rails drying before we stow them for the winter.

The mechanic was scheduled to arrive mid-morning to work on the helicoil job, so Dave worked on cleaning the charge air cooler flange faces while I washed down the pilot house and the bridge deck.  The engine mechanic arrived and he and Dave got busy with the repairs.  I washed the dinghy cover, talked to Chris about watching the boat over the winter and reserved a rental car for next week.  We had lunch at the crab tent near the cruise ship dock.  I took the bus to town to get a few things at the hardware store and the grocery while Dave worked with the mechanic to finish the HeliCoil job.  When I got back to the boat, I waterproofed the dinghy cover, searchlight cover, bbq cover and davit cover.  Dave cleaned up the engine room and we called it a day. 

Main engine air charge cooler HeliCoil job in progress.

Instructions for the HeliCoil repair kit.

September 13 - 17, Thursday - Monday, Halibut Point Marine, Sitka:  We had a long stretch of dry sunny days so in addition to our winterizing, maintenance and cleaning tasks, we did a bunch of outdoor tasks from our To Do List including: preparing the hull for a new coat of anti-fouling paint (we'll paint in the spring before we put the boat back in the water), rust removal and touch-up painting of the topsides white and green areas, painting the 50 feet markers on both anchor chains, etc.

Seabiscuit's hull prepped for a new coat of anti-fouling paint.  The white patches are where we sanded down
the rough areas and applied primer.  We'll apply the bottom paint in the spring before we get relaunched.

B painting yellow stripes every 50 feet on both anchor chains.  In previous years, we just had a yellow stripe every 50 feet. 
This year we added some red stripes so that we could easily identify how much chain was out. 
We used the following code: 50 feet = one yellow stripe, 100 feet = one yellow stripe, one red stripe,
150 feet = yellow, red, yellow, 200 feet = yellow, red, yellow, red, 250 feet = yellow, red, yellow, red, yellow. 
We have ~ 275 feet of chain on each side so near the bitter end, at 260 feet, we used three red stripes red   red   red.
In addition to the paint stripes every 50 feet, we have a small piece of red or green line tied every 10 feet.

September 18, Tuesday, Halibut Point Marine, Sitka:  Today was moving day and we were both up early.  We prepared the boat to move to a different location in the storage yard where she'll stay for the winter and we prepared to move off the boat into an apartment for our last week in Sitka.  We rented a heated mini-storage unit to store all of our soft goods for the winter so that they wouldn't grow mold or mildew and for our house batteries and liquid goods so that they wouldn't freeze.  We removed the house batteries from the battery box and up onto the deck using a block and tackle system that Dave had rigged up and piled other stuff going to storage in the saloon.  Just before lunch, they put the boat in the travelift slings and moved her over a few spaces and back against the concrete wall below the main building.

Seabiscuit getting moved to her permanent winter storage location.

Putting up the jack stands before releasing the travelift slings.

We spent the afternoon packing and doing other chores.  At 4:00 we picked up the rental car, dropped off our first load of stuff at the storage unit and checked into our apartment.  For supper we walked downtown and had salad and pizza at the Mean Queen.

September 19 - 21, Wednesday - Friday, Halibut Point Marine, Sitka:  We spent most of Wednesday moving stuff from the boat to the storage unit.  We moved all of our mattresses, seat cushions, seat backs, bedding, towels, clothing, etc. and used the davit to lower the house batteries over the side and into the rental car.  We displaced the salt water from the stabilizers, main engine, GGH engine and shaft seal cooling systems with anti-freeze.  We shut down the boiler.  On Thursday, we finished moving stuff to storage, picked up the last pieces and parts we needed for winterizing and turned in the rental car.  We drained the hot water heater and the potable water system and filled the suction and discharge lines with anti-freeze.  Friday was our last full day of winterizing and we started the day by listing all of the things we had left to do before leaving for the winter then spent the day working through the list.  Before leaving, we set up the electrical system on minimum load and plugged in the air dryers and the fans.  We left a few things for Monday and will come back then to finish up.

September 22, Saturday, Sitka:  Today was Sitka's annual end of the summer season celebration including the 24th annual Running of the Boots.  Running of the Boots is a fun run where people wear their Xtra Tuff Boots, aka Alaskan Sneakers, and run through downtown Sitka.  The Cruise Lines International Association donates hamburgers, hotdogs, sodas and all the fixings for lunch as a thank you for the people and businesses in town who supported the cruise ship passengers during the summer season.  People were asked to give a $2 donation for lunch to help two local non-profit organizations, Sitka Youth and Sitka Local Foods Network.

End of the Season Celebration:  The band playing at Totem Square.

Runners in their Xtra Tuff boots running through downtown Sitka.

September 23, Sunday, Sitka:  A rainy day today.  We watched football and sorted through stuff that needed to go back to the boat and that will go with us when we leave.  During a break in the rain, I went for a walk to the Indian River and through the woods along its shore.  It was a very different view compared to three weeks ago.  The river was full of salmon carcasses and seagulls feeding on the dead fish with an aroma to match.

Seagulls feeding on dead salmon in the Indian River.

Monday, September 24, Sitka:  We made our final trip to the boat this morning to finish our winterizing tasks.  We didn't have much to do: cleaning, mold and mildew treatment, putting out damp rid bags, making sure our electrical set-up was working, taking out the trash and locking up.  We finished early afternoon and headed back to the apartment to unlax. 

Dave waiting at the bus stop near Halibut Point Marine.

Tomorrow we fly from Sitka to Spokane to visit my friend Jennie for a week.

Until next time...