Deep Bay, Peril Strait - Sitka - May 20

Sitka Harbor

Woke up this morning to low clouds and overcast skies.  We have become so accustomed to bright blue Alaska skies that this weather seems ominous.  We time our departure to arrive at Sergious Narrows at 7:11 (low water slack),  We begin to pull up the anchor around 6:30 and are making forward progress by 6:35.  We see a sailboat that has just come through Sergious and consider that a good sign.  We arrive at the head of the Narrows at exactly 7:11 and make the short transit without event.  This route is used by commercial ships and state ferries.  We read that the ferries announce their entrance time 10 minutes before they will arrive.  The waters are so narrow here and the current so swift (up to nine knots) that it is imperative to stay out of the way of large ships.
From Sergious Narrows we continue in Peril Strait for 12 miles to reach St. John Baptiste Cove where we drop an anchor and wait for the end of the flood tide before high water slack.  We drop an anchor at low tide (-2.1) and find a lovely spot behind a small islet that is partially out of the wind.  We will have about a six hour wait.  Plenty of time for a "Larry Breakfast" with hash browns, sausage and eggs, some boat projects and a nap.  In my case, time to catch up on the blog.  Barrie and John take advantage of the time to nap and read.  All in all, a wonderful rest stop.  After a light bite of lunch, we pull up the anchor and enter Neva Strait at the end of the flood tide.  Our objective is to arrive at Olga at high slack water and make the final run through Olga Strait to Sitka on the beginning of the ebb tide.  The sun is out this afternoon and the scenery is spectacular.  We see seals, otters, eagles and an old shipwreck.
Once we have Sitka in our sights we give the Harbor Master a call and ask for a berth for the next couple of nights.  There is plenty to explore in Sitka and we are looking forward to spending a couple of days exploring the area.  We are assigned a berth in Eliason Harbor which is just north of the old Thomsen Harbor.  Strong northwest winds make docking a bit of challenge but soon we are tied-up.  We fill up our water tanks and spend a few minutes getting organized.  Then we are off to Ludvig's Bistro for dinner.  We have an amazing dinner in one of the best restaurants I can remember.  On a Wednesday night, the restaurant is filled to capacity -- 27 diners!  We enjoy dining on local seafood and splurge on dessert.  We have such a great meal that we make arrangements to eat there tomorrow night.