Fog and Fishermen-- Sergius Narrows and Sitka

Ginny and I have been happily married for 50 years , have 2 sons and 6 grandchildren. We have been avid boaters since the mid 1970's. We have sailed in various parts of the world making 'bareboat' charter trips in the Washington and Canadian San Juans and Gulf Islands, Maine,the British Virgins, South Pacific's Moorea and Tuamoto's and New Zealand. We owned and raced a J-24, Laser, and cruised a Newport 30 before buying a long range trawler in 2003 and cruising the waters of the Pacific Northwest and the 'Inside Passage' of British Columbia to SE Alaska for the last 10 years. After first owning a 2000 Selene 47, and 2002 Selene 50 (both named 'Ina Marie', we now, in the 'bell lap' of our boating days, own, operate and thoroughly enjoy 'Ginny C' , our 2007 Selene 42.




August 8, 2013, to August 11 2013:  Fog and Fisherman-Sergious Narrow and Sitka

To see our locations click on this text

If we make it we will finally be having a crab feast in Sitka.  Before retiring for the night Baby Bear finally rewards us with 5 nice size Dungeness Crab and two Tanner Crabs which look like small Alaska King Crab.

However, we awaken to drizzle and dense fog when we pull the anchor at 5:30 am to exit Baby Bear in time to reach Sergius Narrows at its 6:30 slack water.  I definitely do not want to transit it in fog with  the thought of meeting and having to yield to oncoming commercial traffic in this narrow spot. Our hopes and prayers are that the fog will lift at least some from our less than 1/8 to 1/4 mile visibility we are ‘seeing’ as we head toward it  about 2.5 miles away.  We are locked on to our radar as we proceed slowly and I decide to give a “Securite’ ” radio call with my location and speed and direction.  We get an immediate response back from 3 other commercial fisherman, two heqding our way and one coming at us. We all get on Channel 13 to describe our positions relative to each other as we proceed. We determine that we are between the two going our direction about 1/4 to 1/2 mile apart and we all agree to proceed at the same speed.  The boat coming towards us agrees to stand off and not come through until all three of us have made the transit through. Just as we get to the beginning of this 300 yard passage the fog lifts slightly and we can see both of the red navigation bouys in the narrows.  We can not yet see ‘Nor Pac’ in front of us or ‘Aljac’ behind us, but they we do have them identified on our radar.  Our timing is perfect because we make the transit thru right at 6:25 just 10 minutes before its predicted slack at 6:35.

Wow! talk about a ‘dry mouth and wet socks’!!!!!  About 15 minutes later the fog raises enough so we can spot the other two boats.  I am flatterred that Aljac’s captain, Jim Moore, thanks me for initiating the chain of VHF radio communication and we have a nice conversation with him and Nor Pac as we head on to our passage through Neva Straights and Ogden Channel.  We arrive in Sitka in light rain about 10 am, take on 200 gallons of fuel and are in our slip about 11:30 am. We spend most of the afternoon on boat matters anticipating better weather for the next two days to enjoy all Sitka has to offer which is a lot!

After a great dinner at Ludvigs, a tiny but fantastic restaurant,we tuck in for a good nights sleep-- no need to be up at sunrise to get somewhere at a certain time.

Rain has stopped and weather is clearing .  Sitka exploring is the agenda for the next two days in between laundry, propane and grocery/produce shopping.

This town is more than the books say it is in terms of it s beauty and culture and history.  It is bustling with activity, not from cruise ships, but the hard working fishing boats.  Their catch here is the best in 10 years and they have had to stop for a few or more days because the processing plants, co-ops and canneries are backlogged and on overload.  They are catching more fish than can be processed. 

Historically Sitka is where Sewards folly was closed with our purchase of Alaska from Russia.  It was also the capitol in the early part of the century, long before statehood in 1959. The Russian presence is self evident with museums and churches and even with the native Tinglit tribe, many who have converted to Russian Orthodox.  we spend our first day here taking it all in with Dave and Steffy and end the day with a fantastic crab feast of our Dungeness catch and our first taste of Tanner crab.  We find them quite similar, the tanner being a bit more mild and sweeter.

It is August 10 as I update this.  There is not a cloud in the sky and as a result Sitka is showing us how incredibly picturesque it is. Steffy and Dave will move off the boat today and stay in a motel tonight before their flight to Seattle and on to Miami because we have a very early departure to get back thru Sergious Narrows at high Slack current. We will be essentially backtracking for the 11th and 12th as we leave Sitka heading for Tracy Arm and Sawyer Glacier about 5 days away.  Long term forcasts are for sunny weather for the next several days.  After Tracy Arm it is on into Petersberg and Wrangel, wher we will try to post further updates.

I am fascinated by the fisheries here so in my un-bashful way I decide to walk into a Co-op Processing plant and ask for a tour dropping the name s of two fishermen we had met on the docks.  I score and get the tour.  Wow - 4 tons of ice an hour, 80,000 pounds processed a day, automatic cleaning , filleting and beheading machines with fine tunning and egg processing done by workers on the 'slime line'.

We will enjoy more of Sitka today and meet for drinks at the Historic Pioneer Bar before having dinner  and saying ‘goodbye’ at the Dockside pub.