Petersburg to Sitka

Our stay in Petersburg ended up being longer and more fretful than expected. Shortly before arriving, we noticed that one of our cats, Annie, was not eating and had developed a wobbly gait in the hind quarter.

Both cats, now 14 years old, in their pre-departure checkup were diagnosed via their blood tests as having kidney disease, a common condition in cats. We immediately switched them to food specifically intended for cats with kidney disease. It happened so abruptly before our departure that we weren't able to unpack the 400+ cans of Fancy Feast that had been their staple for the last several years.

Upon our arrival in Petersburg on Wednesday, May 25, Marcia contacted the office of the local veterinarian. The vet was out-of-town but the vet tech in the office offered to stop by our boat and do a quick exam of Annie. After evaluating her and consulting with the vet via phone, we had an appointment the next morning for them to do a subcutaneous infusion of fluids since Annie was clearly dehydrated.

Since we were without a car, the vet tech offered to pick us up at the dock where we moored to save us a taxi ride or trying to walk carrying Annie the half-mile to the vet's office. Within 24 hours of the subcutaneous infusion (Sub-Q for short) of Lactated Ringer's solution, Annie's condition improved dramatically.

Unfortunately, the improvement was short-lived and by Sunday afternoon (5/29) when we had an appointment with the vet (he had arrived from Seattle on the mid-day flight), we were concerned that we were going to have to euthanize Annie. After the examination, we had a consultation with the vet and decided to continue regular Sub-Q infusions and see whether we could improve and stabilize her condition. We left the office with the necessary supplies for us to perform the Sub-Q infusions ourselves.

The next day we headed out of town for a short trip south of Petersburg to Ideal Cove. Rain was forecast so we intended to be at anchor, perform an infusion and see whether this was something we could do in the long term for Annie.

On Wednesday, we returned to Petersburg for another appointment with the vet. Annie was significantly improved, so we stocked up on the necessary supplies for continuing infusions. Fortunately the destination for the next leg of our trip, Sitka, has two veterinary offices so we knew we could get more care and supplies for Annie there.

The conditions were good as we left Petersburg on Thursday, June 2, but forecast to deteriorate the next day. We decided to head for an anchorage that we know is secure in a storm, Ell Cove on Baranof Island. While winds are diminished within the cove, we've learned that their direction is often radically different from the winds outside as they are bouncing off the steep slopes that nearly ring the cove.

The front arrived late on Friday and was relatively brief but pretty strong. It was in this blow that a cruise ship in Ketchikan while docking got away from the ship's master and crunched both the dock and the cruise ship.

After our second night in Ell Cove, conditions began to improve and we made our way to Douglass Bay in Hoonah Sound, dropping prawn traps on the way in. We retrieved them the next morning with a good haul of prawns, our best of the season.

We could have made Sitka that day but it would have been in the afternoon. We prefer coming into a town in the morning so that we have a chance to get a jump start on chores the same day. So we aimed for a cove on the SE corner of the Magoun Islands, about nine miles from Sitka. The winds were calm as we exited Sergius Narrows and transited Neva Strait but shortly after entering Krestof Sound they began to pick up. Soon it was blowing southerly 25-30 knots. Fortunately, Krestof Sound is not large and the short fetch meant only small waves. Our anchorage on the SE corner did allow considerable wind to enter but the bottom is good holding and we just hung at the end of our anchor chain once the anchor set.

We docked in Sitka about 9 AM on Monday, June 6 and Marcia immediately contacted the local veterinary offices to see about getting more Sub-Q supplies for Annie-cat. Annie was clearly better from the Sub-Q infusions but the method we were using with the supplies from the Petersburg vet required restraining Annie while two injections were made using a large gauge needle. The process was nearly as hard on us as it was on Annie. Marcia wanted to investigate using infusion bags of the Ringer's and a smaller gauge needle with only one stick.

We hope to accomplish our chores in two days and head out for some fishing near Sitka.