I left you on our way to Anchorage and I write after leaving Kodiak. We have had glorious weather with clear blue skies, the temperature however has been in the mid-50sF, or 14C.
It has been an eventful few days; I could not get onto our berth in Anchorage without a delay. There are extremely strong tidal currents off the berth, and in our case it was flooding at quite a rate, somewhere around 6-7 knots. Good seamanship dictates that one should ‘stem’, or head into the current in such circumstance and this was my original plan, here comes the ‘however’………
As we approached, one couldn’t help but notice that our intended area of the pier was rather crowded; where our gangway usually goes lay a mass of machinery; pumps, gantries, towers and heaven knows what, all intended for a ship carrying cement, arriving the next day.
In nautical parlance, I ‘aborted’ the approach and fought the current back into mid-river. OK, then it was starboard side to the berth or nothing and herein lay the challenge; having swung, presenting the stern to the ripping current merely carried us north, no matter what the power, ships were never designed to move at higher speeds backwards and reluctantly, I swung yet again, presenting the bow to the current and waited for an easing of the tidal stream. 1½ hours later, the opportunity arose and with 2 tugs made fast I had another go, successfully this time. It was rather unnerving to have a container ship ahead of us, I didn’t fancy stopping abruptly if I hit him……
Mid-river Anchorage, prior to berthing.
The city of Anchorage
No room for error, docking Anchorage.
We departed late that evening and headed for Homer, a small town which is famous for its ‘spit’, a long protrusion cluttered with houses, shops and a marina.
As we sailed south towards the town, the sun was setting, (at 11:30 at night) and the surrounding peaks were majestic in the rays of the sun.
Sunset over the Cook inlet
Early that morning the ‘Northern Lights’ appeared and did so for the next 3 mornings. Unfortunately, no photos, I was getting what sleep I could in between ports and no-one else on the Bridge had a camera. However, early morning sunrise revealed delightful views to the west.
Cook inlet, the rising sun lighting volcanic, snow-clad mountains
Cook Inlet, near Anchorage; Mt. Iliama, an active volcano, in the early morning sun.
And so to Homer, past the spit and a ‘wheelie’, turning 180° before berthing at the end of a long pier. I have never been ashore here and had little inking to do so, hence photos from the Bridge.
Homer, berthed at the end of a pier.
Homer and the guests, going back to school??
Homer and the view to the south
Onward then to Kodiak. In wind, this harbour can be a challenging place, accessed through a reef. Today however the wind was light and the process uneventful. I had never been ashore here, until today that is. I was determined to get a photo of the famous Kodiak bear. The certain way of seeing them is to jump on a float-plane and fly to the beaches on the other side of the island. No such luxury for us, a taxi would have to do and in the company of Hans, our Chief Engineer and armed with telephoto lenses, off we set.
The Buskin river first, but nope, lots of two-legged creatures fishin’, but no bear. Onto Russian river, another 10 minutes away and wait, what are those cars stopped for? Yes! A magnificent male, grazing by the river bank and then, plodding slowly off for a paddle to the adjacent island. The taxi cost us $35 each, not much to pay for such a wonderful memory.
A Kodiak bear grazing.
Brown bear going for a paddle to the island
