Saturday, June 17, 2023

Sitka Soggy Sitka

Keeping with our 2023 “style” of cruising, we’ve been staying in the Sitka area the last two weeks. The first five days after we arrived on June 3, we were on the dock.  We did lots of walks around town and on the nearby trails.  Drake was able to get two play sessions a day at the dog park a short distance from the harbor.

We did leave on June 8 with the intent to poke around south of Sitka on the west coast of Baranof Island. Our first night was at Dorothy Cove in Necker Bay a bit over 40 miles of cruising from Sitka. Most of that distance is actually protected by islands from direct ocean swell. We had one exposed section of about 5 miles for which we put our stabilizing “fish” in the water to lessen the roll from the incoming waves hitting us on our starboard side.  They did dampen the boat’s motion and improve Drake’s experience and, hopefully reduce his anxiety.

TempChart

Unfortunately, about that time the weather became a bit colder and drearier. After two nights in Dorothy Cove and with a forecast for windier conditions, we decided to get back north of the exposed open coast section.  We stayed one night each at Jamboree Bay and Sevenfathom Bay before heading to Leesoffskaia Bay, a few miles south of Sitka.  The temperatures remained cool with highs in low 50’s and low’s in the mid 40’s.. Winds were generally 10 to 20 knots with occasional rain showers.  Not exactly the weather for lounging on deck.

PrecipChart

After two nights in Leesoffskaia, we traveled the short six miles to Sitka Harbor and tied up at the transient dock on June 14. Since arriving, a strong front has passed by dropping over 1.5 inches of rain and bringing high winds with accompanying heavy seas off shore. We’ll stay a few more days on the dock waiting for a forecasted period of fine weather then head north.

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