A Nice Place to Be

Dear friends and family,

I am now slowly working my way to Petersburg from Sitka, where I spent the Fourth of July holiday with my stepson. Aaron. He just graduated with a masters in history from Central Washington University, and it was my treat to host him in Alaska for a week. Good job Aaron!

Sitka, like most cities in Southeast Alaska go all out for the fourth. Of course we had to enjoy the junk food at the local kiosks for fundraising and the parade was quite big for such a small town (8500 pop.)

One of the highlights was the Coast Guard helicopter flying barely above the streetlights with the Coasties marching below.

Here in Alaska the Coast Guard is very well respected. Everyone has boats and spends a lot of time on the water and the Guard is there when things go wrong.

I didn’t always have such respect for this branch of military. When I was cruising in the tropics in the 80’s, there were three times I was stopped and boarded by a small boat of well armed coasties in international waters. They came alongside while I was sailing, told me to hold my course and then proceeded to board, without asking permission. They then told me to stay in the cockpit with one armed guard while two others went below to search the boat for drugs. I was threatened to be shot if I went below, but lack of trust forced me to do so and I did (and risked being shot anyway) I did have to stand by while they opened up lockers, emptied stuff out onto the cabin sole or on cushions and then opened my bulk food bins of flour and oats and rice and dug their ungloved hands all through it looking for my stash of cocaine. Then, after finding none, departed quickly leaving me with a mess and dubious grain supplies with over a month before resupply possibilities.

It didn’t leave me with any warm and fuzzies about the Coast Guard. It took coming here to Alaska to appreciate the work they do and they do a great job and I am happy they are here and doing it. Opinions do change.

The night before I left Sitka, I attended a talk at the library from Dr Nigel Jollands and Veronica Lysaght of the schooner Novara, (lots of good stuff on their website) who transited the Northwest Passage last year. They sail around and use their expertise in leading communities to deal with the effects of global warming, such as sea level rise as they go. I felt like I was with my people with the audience and interest in high latitude sailing and climate issues. In fact, the woman sitting next to me and I started talking and she said that she had lived on a Folkboat in Southeast Alaska for a number of years. I told her I knew someone who had a folkboat, Carol Hasse, and of course she knew Hasse, had bought sails from her and bought her own boat from a member of the Port Townsend Shipwrights. Small world boats! Then she went on to tell me about her transit of the Northwest Passage in a wooden Norwegian fishing vessel way back in 1993, back when the ice was significantly more than now. And as you might expect, she was friends with Stef, who way back in the 70’s was one of the founders of the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Foundation and festival, who’s lived in Sitka for many years.

I was amazed, but not really surprised as the world of boats is very small and degrees of separation few. Quite a night of enjoyment for me and I could have stayed and talked late into the night.

As I sat on the pilothouse drinking my morning coffee yesterday from my anchored spot at the mouth of a river where the bears come down to look for salmon and gorge on grass, two kayakers from a small cruise ship anchored just outside this bay came paddling by.

One mentioned to me “Wow, that is a nice place to be”. I am sure she meant being retired,living on a boat, enjoying alaska and living the good life. Then I thought maybe she meant anchored where I could see the bears from the boat without even having to row closer.

In both areas I feel lucky. The pro golfer Tom Watson is often credited with his answer to a fan, after making a really tough shot who said he sure was lucky. He answered that “it is weird, the more I practice, the luckier I get”

I think of two kinds of luck:

The kind that just falls out of the sky and
The kind that shows up, like the golfing practice, due to good planning, preparation and loads of experience. And noticing it when it shows up to take advantage of it.

I’ve had plenty of both in my life and sure appreciate both.

So, I agree with the kayaker, “This is a nice place to be”

Sending love,

Charley