We left at 8AM for Anan Bay. Apparently, 60 permits are issued each day to see the bears. Sail Alaska was not able to secure permits prior to the trip, so our only hope was getting a cancellation. We were fortunate that we were out of the anchorage first and first to call for permits. There was quite a wait list but when we arrived, they had just received notice that 8 permits had been freed up, which apparently is very rare. So, lucky us, we barely put down the anchor and were notified that we were up for entry. With a short briefing (absolutely no food allowed, no screaming - yeah, right - would that be possible with Deb???), we hiked up the river to a set of waterfalls where salmon were returning to spawn. What a sight - black crowded masses of salmon trying so hard to make it up the waterfall! As we rounded the corner just up from the falls, there were 2 black bear (apparently, these get as big as grizzlies) eating salmon at the edge of the creek. Then, off to our left a bit, there were 2 brown bear running through the shallow water trying to grab fish. One of them was so cute - he just laid down on his back in the river and thrashed about with nothing - he looked like he was playing but we realize that we don't know what exactly "playing" looks like for these animals. It was hard to tear ourselves away from this spectacular sight but we were lucky we did. When we returned to the anchorage, the winds had kicked up to 15-20 knots and the boats did not appear solidly anchored. Quite a dinghy ride from shore out to the boats in 3 and 4 foot chop! After dropping Hal and Ellen off at their boat, we had to attach our dingy to the davits, remove the motor, raise the dingy on the davits prior to pulling anchor and getting out of there before some disaster occurred with all those boats anchored in such close proximity in all that wind. Anyway, it all worked out fine and we set off for Santa Anna Inlet. It was only about 18 miles and the bay was beautiful, a very pleasant setting on a nice, sunny afternoon. This was one of the rare times when Adoncia was 1st to arrive at a new anchorage and so we had the pick of the litter for a place to make our home for the night. A fellow stopped by from a beautiful, 80's style 47' sailboat - they apparently have lived aboard for over 20 years and a few years back had completed a 9 year circumnavigation. They were lucky to have hit the Mediterranean prior to the pirate problem so cruised through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Very interesting folks - they invited us aboard for happy hour - a lovely boat, indeed. We will look them up on our trip to California this fall.