Ramblings of my first few weeks of Alaska Summer 2024

The harbor is teeming with Life……baby whales, gigantic eagles screeching and killing their prey, kingfishers diving for fresh tiny silver fish and eating them on the railing heading down to the commuter boat, pulsating jellyfish, harbor seals, baby eagles learning to hunt and fly, the tidal ins and outs marked on the very tall wooden telephone posts by increments of 10’s, the gentle rocking of the boat due to other boats coming in to dock, the sound and echo of the fog horns in the Narrows, the other live-aboard boat people, the 4-wheeler of Craig (harbor manager) riding around doing tasks & keeping his eye on everything, the extremely steep ramp when the tide is in and what a workout it is to climb it up in the morning (yikes!!), and when the ramp is that steep it reveals the large orange and purple starfish along with the babies the size of dimes clinging to the telephone poles that anchor the ramp and docks, the high-pitched warbly-turkey-like-gobble-stunted-almost stutter-noise the eagles make when sitting in the tree tops it’s incredible, I’ve learned to know their sound now, the starting up and shutting down of the float planes docked here at the harbor, the whir of the engine of the huge hoist that takes in and puts back boats for dry dock…..so much Life to behold.  

Waiting out a 5 day rain storm with fog that prohibits safe passage to the property……just brings lots of things to a halt.

When the fog hugs the mountains near the harbor and wisps in and out of the curves, it’s quite beautiful. When it is clear, around 11pm, the Alaska night sky is beyond close with twinkling, diamond stars and no city pollution to interrupt the stark darkness. I feel like I could reach our the window and touch them. Stays light right now til about 10pm and starts getting light again around 4am, but it is not disturbing my sleep patterns.

The small city is teeming with Life also……..the 5 cruise ships arriving and departing each week and the buses taking the people on excursions, the dozens of float planes a day that take off and land, the delish coffee at Blair’s tiny, drive-thru shack, yum; tourists walking the sidewalks with smiles and awe of the beauty, lots of umbrellas and ponchos to see on them on rainy days, recognizing some of the locals walking to work or their cars that are now familiar to me.

The boat ride to the property is lovely and peaceful, only about 25 min on the Olympic (John’s commuter boat to & from property) now, so much quicker than friend, Judah’s boat afforded; that was a 2 hour boat ride. I love the open sea, I don’t get queasy or feel crooked which is a blessing. Sometimes when I am not in a boat or on the water, I feel like I’m bobbing as if I am on a boat; it’s weird. I’m learning about boat safety, driving, what to look for, where to drive to avoid reefs and rocks, and also the docking process.

Have learned about Shammies in lieu of towels for drying off after showers, they are amazing.

John “found” a washed up giant dock and was able to harvest huge timbers that will be used for the addition floor, about $1000 worth of lumber.

I couldn’t wait to get here to experience the solitude and the quieter pace of life and it’s been 98% mostly great; just at moments it feels removed from all I know and too much, but I know this is just the wobbly “middle” of the transition, and I will choose joy and gratitude to keep up my resonance with positive, faith filled thoughts and vibes, and not fall prey to the dark side wanting to bring me down and focus on what’s not finished yet, the fear of the unknown, and how I feel unsettled.  I know Who holds my days, and is my Anchor, and I want to lean into this new uncertainty and enjoy the waves and the ride and not complain and not wish it away.  I want to leave a legacy of Gratitude. I have to give myself the kindness I’d give others and remember that I will mount up with wings as eagles; I will run and not grow weary, I will walk and will not faint. Plus, God has given me scores of living examples of that Truth all around me; the kingfisher that dive bomb for the small silver fish and always come up with a mouthful of a meal, the orcas that kill the sea lions in the open ocean and feast, and the majestic eagles that fly overhead here all the time are a constant reminder of His Goodness; they just live and find food and fly on the air currents.  They don’t stress or grow weary or worry about where their next feast will come from.  So I need to take heed of the mighty eagles down to the smallest of birds that never faint for lack of sustenance!!

Sleeping on the Olympic in a 3×6 ft area on the floor for a bit is cozy and just wide enough to turn from side to side and stay up off the damp boat floor after 5 days of Noah-type rains.  When the rain stopped and the fog lifted, all the culverts and hillsides are again gushing water and I never tire of that sound.  I enjoy the bobbing of the boat in the harbor, it’s pleasant to me. 

The approach up to the Trapper Cabin is beyond STEEP, I feel like it’s literally a mountain goat trail; there are natural, strong, exposed root lengths to grab onto in some places, other steps there’s nothing; it’s a big challenge.  I feel thankful I put in the time over the past 3 yrs to lift weights, do lots of squats and lunges, and get strong in my core or else I would really struggle getting up the bank more than I already do! John pick-axed a second way up that winds up the mountain on a deer trail much more gradually, but at the moment it is still a bit crowded with overhanging branches; along the way he discovered we have wild blueberries and red huckleberries. So much bounty. It’s a new practice for me to be scanning the shore and the area for bears upon arriving at the property, and to be ready just in case I need to take action. Trapper Cabin is cozy and holds the heat well and my bunk is very comfortable there.

Wifi is very spotty in most of town; pretty decent at the harbor marina.  So far it’s the best at the Pilot House coffee bar. We got new phones with much better service; a friend gave John his Star Link set up which will be used at the property.

I’m wanting a she-shed at the marina on pontoons as an in-town place to be when I don’t want to be at the property; bars on the windows, easy and simple and quaint……I chatted w/John about it and we talked about options; Craig would give us any throw away boat we wanted, we could power wash it, gut it all, keep the fiberglass hull and cabin of course, and ass brand new amenities.  That appeals to me: I’d like to side the outside w/lumber milled on the property.  It makes me feel hopeful to dream about it, to think about what I’d want and to put in sweat equity to make it happen.  For so inexpensive.  Making it airtight and fresh and new; foam in most of the windows so it’s more private and much much less to heat. A little houseboat of sorts.

I am noticing how much the weather and fog and rain delay any and all progress here. The fog that is as thick as pea soup or seas that have 10 foot swells are just not a good combination for safe passage, so we switch to the rainy day projects. Gotta be flexible around here.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever smell anything worse than the meat shop smell in Montana with blood guts and gore or the rotting, gangrenous-shot-holes on animals we sometimes took in from hunters, but the muscles, seaweed and barnacles that are power washed off the boats [just taken out of the ocean for repair or to sit in dry dock] and left to rot near the platform that leads down to the dock now takes first place with the nastiness and the gag feeling. The ravens are happy as clams when that happens, and you just learn to breathe through your mouth and walk more quickly.

I’ve had the most unexpected surprise open up to me. A 24-foot sailboat that is so clean it’s a shock since it’s been sitting in dry dock since Spring. I decided to buy it for my in-town tiny home which will require zero sweat equity (like wanting to remodel one of the abandoned boats in the boatyard). Disinfected and washed down all the inside walls and she feels so fresh and new. She just needs some sanding on the teak kitchen table and the entrance door. The royal blue cushions that look custom made are in fabulous shape, super comfortable, and just needed a scrub down and some time airing out in the sun. When Craig has room and time, she will be plopped in the water and tied up to the dock. Guess what rent is per month? $100. Oh my goodness, I feel beyond blessed & thankful. Never ever thought this would be part of my new season, but I couldn’t be happier about it. I hung an American Flag up near her sails and I love how it wafts in the breeze.

5 minutes from the marina is Refuge Cove, a lovely & spacious beach with tide pools & shade, picnic tables, lots of beach area, lots of washed-up logs for leaning against or sitting on, bathroom, gazebos and grills. It’s become our go-to place for a quick time of R&R, morning or evening; great vantage point for watching the ferries, the cruise ships, and local fishing boat traffic, not to mention the sea life. The “sand” is crushed, black shale and very sharp. There is a “white sand beach” 30 minutes away that I hear is epic and looks like Jamaica.

Harbor Life is quite a culture all its own, rich with sights, sounds, smells…… all the vessels, big & small: wooden/metal/fiberglass, the commercial fishing boats, the skiffs and boats of all shapes & sizes; there are beautiful ones, abandoned ones, works in progress, diamonds in the rough, dry-docked ones being sanded, painted, or maintenanced.  Names like Last Lite, Melissa C, Wild West, Lady Ann, Transition, Compadre, Sweet Thursday, Shekinah, Little Toot, Patsy, New Day, Saginaw, NorVak, Marsha Ann, Justice, Just One More…..makes me wonder the story behind the names.  There are nice fancy boats and smaller treasures like my mini sailboat. I’m beyond amazed & grateful for the gift of the harbor home God has surprised me with. I have decided to name my boat Megatron; it used to be my work nickname in Bozeman when we had a team name called the Justice League; I have thought a lot about the name, not wanting to reveal I’m a single woman living there; I leaned toward sweet names like Gram, or names to reflect my faith, or grateful tributes, but kept coming back to Megatron which I feel is wise to give myself a bit of anonymity and an extra layer of obscurity for my safety.

There is always lots of activity at the harbor; Craig is daily pulling boats out or putting them back in; riding around on his 4 wheeler w/a giant cigar hanging from his mouth.  I love the trees that surround the harbor; at their tops is where the squealing eagles sit; at the bottom of the trees is the water line from the tides; the trees do not grow branches below there and when scanning the hillside you see the “line” across the bottom as if someone took shears or a chainsaw and chopped it all off evenly, but it’s just the ocean water that has done it. There is the treeline out at the property too; it brings to mind a beautiful ballerina’s tutu with edges and graceful shapes. I feel harbor life is a bit of a metaphor for life (how we are all in various seasons of growth & change); all the various stages of reconstruction and remodeling within the rows & rows of boats; the men & women working on their boats, their livelihoods for fishing jobs or complete enjoyment for their days on the ocean; the boarded up boats that no one wants anymore, abandoned, cracked windows, moss growing in the places of water runoff; the sea providing all the food necessary for the hovering birds; the beautiful silver-spinner tiny fish that look like baited hooked lures when the sun hits them just right.  The mist & rain makes the harbor dirt/gravel road mucky, mushy and sloppy but a few hrs of sun dries it out quickly. Driving 5 mph is a must around here.  The local high school was given a very large sea vessel from a generous benefactor years ago so that the students can learn to boat and fish; so cool I think.  Learning which way the clouds and wind need to be going for the best weather outcomes.  The clouds & rain come and go as often as the tide comes in & out; things are always changing around here!!  I really love the feel of harbor life so far; and yet I am able to sleep a 9-10 hr day here w/the fresh sea breeze air.  It’s delightful to my soul.  

The Adventure Continues……….