The weather can be glorious, grey and cold, or simply miserable. I have experienced trips with nothing but sunny days and temperatures allowing shorts and sandals. Other times have brought rains that equaled anything I have seen, when it seemed the sea was both above and below. Sailing through narrow, rocky passages with nothing but radar to see the shore a few hundred feet away, shrouded in fog.
You take what you get on a trip, no way to reschedule now. Rain or shine, fog or mist, each can be beautiful in their own way to an traveler willing to enjoy the experience, whatever life brings.
A grey view out the wheelhouse window of the Chrisara on Chatham Straight, 3 July 2004
The bridge of the Nordic Star, home for the next three weeks. I will be spending many hours at the wheel as we explore. There are two marine radios above along with a stereo system with CD player. (Note to self, put together a few CD’s of my playlists). On the dash are three flat panel displays that can be configured to display the GPS, marine charts, radar and depth finder display. The view is the best in the boat, aside from climbing to the upper deck. Also visible is the usual clutter of charts, binoculars, camera gear, radios, drinks and munchies.
The spacious bridge of the Nordic Star, a 52′ Nordic Tug
Nordic Tugs is a company based in Burlington, Washington on the Puget Sound. They make a line of boats intended for cruising the coastal waters of Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. Comfortable, roomy, well appointed and very seaworthy. One of these boats will be our home for the next few weeks as we explore the inland passages of southeast Alaska. An ideal way to experience the spectacular scenery of the region.
Nordic Tugs Charters of Juneau operates and rents a fleet of tugs. It is these vessels we have used in our family expeditions each year. From the smaller 32′, to the larger 42′ Chrisara and the largest 54′ Nordic Star. It is this larger vessel we will be renting again this year. Three staterooms, plenty of freezer space, a full galley, and a large bridge that does not seem crowded even when the entire crew comes topside to view a whale.
I expect to get a fair amount of handling practice with the boat this year as I will be staying the entire three weeks to assist my father with boat handling, a combination first mate and deckhand.
The 42′ Nordic Tug, Chrisara, anchored in Blue Mouse Cove, Glacier Bay, Alaska, 28 June 2004
The view from the aircraft window as typical Southeastern Alaskan scenery slides by, the interior of Admiralty Island with the Glass Peninsula in the backgroundThe topography of Southeast Alaska is beautiful beyond words. Tremendous mountains carved by glaciers. These left huge valleys flooded when the glaciers retreated and the sea levels rose at the end of the ice age. The result is a boater’s paradise, endless passages, bays and coves to explore, with mountains towering overhead. What roads exist usually end a few miles from town and the only real way to get about is by air or by boat.
A land where man does not quite rule, cities and towns are far apart and wilderness surrounds. Travel very far in any direction and you soon leave civilization behind.
The interior of Hearthside Books on Front Street, JuneauLeaving the women behind I stride towards the one shop I want to look through. My wife, my mother and her best friend– their idea of shopping and mine do not mesh. We know this and have arranged a plan, I leave them for an hour, to meet again at the vehicle.
I rapidly pass storefront after storefront, fine jewelry and tourist kitsch have no attraction for me. A few pretty pieces in the galleries draw a glance or two, but I turn and walk on. Memory leads me down the street and away from the docks, towards a shop I have visited in years past and I only hope it is still there.
Leaving the waterfront district and the tourist shops behind, I climb another block, to a shop occupying an oddly shaped storefront where the street splits. The result is a pie wedge shaped building, the shop I want is in the point.
This is a place I will always enjoy, a store filled floor to ceiling in books. It is a small shop, no literary supermarket, there simply isn’t the space. But the book-buyer here carefully chooses the selections, there seems to be anything you could want in the one foot of shelf space devoted to each subject.
A single rack, three feet of wall, is Sci-Fi and Fantasy. I have either read most of what is available, or know the authors displayed are not ones I enjoy. I make a couple selections, a classic Heinlein I have not read since I was a young teenager and one by Ben Bova I do not know. These I will save for traveling, to pass the time during the trip home with a long layover in Seattle.
For the next selection I rely on the advice of the sales clerk, a field guide to Alaskan birds. Every vacation is marked by what you forget at home, for this trip one of the forgotten items was a well worn copy of Sibley’s Western Birds.
Purchases made, the clerk ushers me out the door, closing time had passed while we chatted and exchanged credit card slips. I have few minutes before I must meet the gals, so I stroll back towards the docks and back into the crowds from the cruise ships.
