Crab Feast

We arrived in Sitka just in time for the Annual All-You-Can-Eat Crab Feast!
What could be a better introduction to this town! The event is put on each
year as part of the annual music festival. We arrived before the advertised
start time and were in awe of the massive line up that was already stretched
around the building. Apparently this is serious business here. These folks
brought their own tables and chairs, most with table clothes and the
requisite crab claw crackers. Some had candles, butter warmers, napkins and
everybody had a bottle or two of wine. Oh...we felt like such tourists,
arriving in our regular sneakers (no fishing boots), and relegated to sit on
the damp wharf. But, do not be mistaken. We were not at all sad. We had crab
a-plenty. And the company of a local whom we peppered with questions about
Sitka history, highlights and must-sees!

We returned to the boat, more determined than ever, to find some used crab
pots.

A Week in Sitka Alaska

Our first week has flown by! It's been wonderful to be within reach of
hardware and grocery stores, people to talk with, and a seemingly endless
supply of french fries.

We've spent a LOT of time working on the boat, and haven't done as much
exploring in town as we were hoping. We have wondered through town tons.
We've peeked into one or two of the MANY tourist shops on the main drag. But
we've had success. We've dried and stowed several sails that we don't plan
to use in the near future. We've cleaned every piece of fabric on the boat.
We've fixed the compass light, freshwater pressure pump, engine pre-heat,
boom preventer and several other little projects. Given how long the passage
was, we're lucky that we had very few equipment/mechanical failures.

The biggest failure we've had is our computer. While here in Sitka, the
screen on our little netbook went belly up. What a disaster. I've spent
untold hours trying to retrieve the data and transfer to the big computer,
that is normally reserved for back up and movies. This is the big reason
that we haven't been posting our pictures or updating the blog. Sorry. We
hope to catch up soon.

Bald Eagle - no wonder there are not any working wind instruments on the
sailboats here!