Sitka is picturesque, for sure with its snow capped mountains and water everywhere. As we get to know it better, we are enjoying our time here. Too bad the marina is $46 a night or we would stay longer. But while we have the dock, we took showers, used a heater to keep us warm and enjoyed the free wifi to contact everyone.
The harbormaster was on the job at 7am when we were heading in and wanted a slip. He assigned us one and we got up to the office by 9am. Celeste took a lot of the night watch so she stayed behind to sleep as we went to check-in. While we were sailing at 7-8 knots, our ETA was around 1am. With the extra twilight that the north has provided, we were sure it would be an easy harbor to maneuver. Then the wind quit and our speed went down to 4-5 knots, we were glad to make it by 7am.
Check-in was super easy although we heard they are pretty busy for the summer and slips are few. We checked out the marine supply store-Murray Pacific for some things Scott needed and the next stop was North Pacific Seafood for what I needed-CRAB! At $9 a pound for frozen pinchers and legs, it wasn’t much but I was excited. We did buy some crab from Costco while in Hawaii but somehow this tasted better here.
Our bodies were complaining about walking around after 16 days at sea. We got so used to using our bikes in Honolulu and that’s a good thing because walking irritates Scott’s heel and my right hip. We slugged up the slight hill to A/C Lakeside Grocery and were surprised at the good selection of foods. They even have some Kirkland brand items in club sizes although we only wanted fresh items plus a few treats.
The trip back was short so we had enough strength to take a nice 6 minute $1.50 shower provided by the Marina! Sleep came easily!
The next day we wanted to go to the Fortress of the Bear where they rehabilitate wounded or train orphaned cubs to live with other bears. The Fortress is an abandoned waste water facility with 18 feet concrete walls that covers 2 acres of land. It is perfect for the Bears and there are 8 bears currently. They get fed according to what they get in the wild through the seasons: vegetables, fish and berries. Five of their bears have already been given to zoos so they are doing a great job! Above in the trees, bald eagles and ravens patiently wait for the bears to be fed. Then they get the leftovers or a herring tossed up into the air and we get to watch an eagle catch it in thin air.
It was 7 miles out of town but for $1 senior rate $2 for adults, we took a bus there and $1/2 back, stopping to walk through the Totem park and rest of the way back. Celeste monitors her steps and she said it came out to 6 miles for our walk back—we barely made it but it made for another great night of sleep.