Alaska     96

 Well I did quit, on my birthday, and got prepared to go Alaska, charts,

radio, GPS, and all the little things you might need on a 2 month cruise. 

Now the boat I had left in Seattle was waiting for me, and she needed

some help before it would be ready to do the Inside Passage, on the 

way to Alaska. After a little over a week I decided it was seaworthy

enough to get me there even though there was more to do. The first day

was the biggest of the trip as I made it all the way to Friday Harbor.

Then it was up into Canada and new territory before me. There was a 

battle going on this whole time with the teacher/tormentor. Once 

underway there was to much time to think and listen to him. Like how 

upset they were that I was going and that very bad things were going 

to happen to me. So watching for deadheads took on a heightened 

urgency. Deadheads are logs in the water that are partially sunk

with just a little bit showing as they bob on the surface with one

end up. The beauty of the inside passage is hard to beat with all 

the waterfalls painted high on the mountain sides or tumbling into 

the water. When your motoring along at 5-6 knots you are able to take 

a lot in, but finally I made it to Prince Rupert. 

Then a big storm blew in and I had to wait a few days for it to blow 

over. It had been raining almost everyday on the way up but that first 

night in Alaska at Foggy Bay the clouds parted and it was a beautiful 

evening. The Big Dipper was prominently displayed in the sky so I 

was reminded of who gave me all that I have, as I dined on Sockeye 

and other things that had been given to me along the way.

 At a quiet moorage came the dream of the rabid dog. I had captured 

the dog and given him to the authorities with a warning to be careful 

as this animal was very dangerous. While they were driving away the 

dog broke free and he killed his captors and then morphed into the 

Persian and turned and gazed at me with an evil glance as the van 

sped away. 

 The last time I heard Shekhina's voice was in a dream about my 

death. Suddenly I was in a heap and I knew I had just been shot when 

she came from behind and she put her arms around me and picked me up 

and as I left where I had fallen I thought about looking down at the 

scene but decided not to and that I wanted to see her face. Like I 

might then know who she was, what an idiot. Well we struggled for 

awhile and then she whispered in my ear, ... , and not long after I 

was allowed to turn to see her face. She had a mask on though and 

looked like a Gargoyle from a medieval building. Not long after this 

it was over and I wished I had looked down to see if I would have learned 

more, instead of fighting the spirit.

 I would recommend going to Glacier Bay, for anyone who makes it to 

that neck of the woods, as its beauty is spectacular. While I was 

there, I saw calving glaciers and went fishing with the bears. That 

will get your blood flowing. I have a good picture of my boat pushing 

its way as slow as I could go through a loose ice pack. I had spent

the night at Reid Glacier, which is a deep blue color, it was 

calving all night, which sounds like thunder. In the morning I 

could hear crunching on the side of the boat and got a little

worried, but it was just a layer of skim ice on the surface as the

bay had frozen over that night. But it was a gorgeous day and we

headed for the end of the bay. This was the only day I traveled

with the life raft in the water, as we rounded the last corner 

there was Mt. Fairweather shooting up over 15,000 ft. with a

huge tidal glacier at the end over a mile wide and 10 stories

tall. It had a large ice pack in front of it, but I spied a 

little opening up close and the ice pack was loose up to it.

So we headed in, the boat was bouncing off ice chunks, some 

the size of a sofa, and the whole boat would shutter. I had 

beefed up the boat for this reason and was praying for no 

wind to pick up because that would have been it. Behind the 

boat, the ice filled back in our path, like we had never been there.

 Now as I left the rangers said there was a storm coming and to find

shelter. I had hoped to make it to Tenekee to ride it out in the hot 

pool. Well someone had other plans and I spent the night in a cove 

along the way. The next day the storm still hadn't shown and though 

it was windy it didn't seem that bad as I started out. I had just 

started and gone about 100 yards when the motor failed and I started 

drifting towards shore. I threw my anchor in quickly to stop myself 

until I could get things together. The wind was really picking up and 

I was getting a little worried. The voice said not to worry the hand 

of David is holding your line. I went, oh yea, well I think I'll throw out

the storm anchor anyway. So as I rowed away from the boat with 

the brand new anchor and rope, I felt better not listening and playing 

it safe. While listening to the voice say I didn't need it, I threw 

the new anchor and rope over the side of the dinghy and watched as

they sunk out of site, because I had never used it before and it 

wasn't tied off, so it was gone. Now I was worried, as the wind 

picked up even more with 90 mph gusts the boat was getting hammered. 

The voice said, just read your Bible, for the hand of David is upon 

your line. I cried a little and said but you lie so often or bluff 

as they prefer it to be called. I put everything by the door just in 

case I had to make a quick exit. Then I settled in and began reading, 

I was supposed to be reading the Old Testament but hadn't been doing 

a good job and was at Samuel. So as I read the voice would say things 

and I could feel the spirit of David and he was so proud and I was 

so scared. I kept looking out the windows to see if the boat was 

dragging the anchor as we were getting pounded and the boat would 

lurch violently and shudder and shake. This went on for 2 days until 

the storm finally past. I took the dog to shore for the first time 

since the storm started and was amazed at her control, but she 

didn't waste any time once we got to shore.

 The trip wound down and after a few days at Warm Springs Bay  

watching a big Brown Bear feeding on salmon, it was time to head to 

the boats harbor. On the way I passed through about 18 Orcas heading 

north, it was the first I had come across while cruising. Back at 

the harbor I put the boat to bed until the next time and headed 

south and back to what I had tried to forget about. When I arrived 

home I pulled out what I had written before I left, and there was 

little doubt that the next few years were going to be interesting, to 

say the least.

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