During mid-June, the crew of the Wild Blue fished Sitka Sound and surrounding areas.Sunday, June 8th:This morning the Sitka Harbormaster called to say a package had arrived and the contents were broken. This was surprising since Alex hadn’t order…
Tag Archives | Selene
LIve and Learn
Back into a predominately Muslim Malaysia and staying at a common vacation spot, Langkawi, i am once again fascinated by the Islamic female attire. Yesterday i met a lovely Saudi couple on their honeymoon, common here. She adorned the full head to toe black covering with only her dazzling eyes showing. i erroneously called it a Burqa in a facebook post. The “why” question haunted me too so a leap into Wikipedia and i am now better informed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burqa and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_types_of_sartorial_hijab
The garment she wore is actually a Abaya, it does not cover the eyes, it is common in Arab countries, the actual veil over the head is a Niqab, which is the head covering. It does allow for the eyes to be seen, and oh they are. When only a woman’s eyes are seen they tell a lot. This young lady was clearly in love, strong and protective. I approached the husband, thought it was the right thing to do, but the lady intervened stating she spoke English, (and she did perfectly). i asked if they were on their honeymoon–it was obvious, She said yes in a blush that glowed through her black veil. I invited them to come to the boat, and to have their picture taken on the boat. Those that follow the blog know i regularly invite couples aboard for wedding pictures, about a dozen have done so. After a bit of explanation to the husband, who looked confused, she graciously declined as she was very tired and thanked me profusely. i wished them the best and off they went.
in a world where we are constantly told to fear Muslims i found them far more apprehensive of me than I of them. Understandable as i am an old white guy in a bright pink flowered shirt aggressively seeking friendship, might scare me too. As soon as they realized i was really trying to be friendly they relaxed and were puzzled but happy, i hope i am part of their honeymoon memories.
So back to the attire, the Burqa is the rarely seen garment that actually covers the face, more common in Afghanistan and Persian countries than Arab. There is great confusion and fear over these garments. Australia tried to ban the Burqa as simply being “not Australian”. Other countries have also tried to legislate attire. Many modern feminists have concern as to women being forced to wear the covers, and rightly so in some places but not most.
By and large it appears Muslim women choose to wear garments that reflect their faith. When given the choice they chose the coverings. It also identifies and units them with other of their faith, much like wearing a cross.
The non PC comic in me sees the practical side, imagine ladies, if all you had to do was put on eye makeup (and oh they do!) and paint your fingernails.. and off you go! Add a few pounds, no problem, forget to do laundry and wear ruffled clothes, no one knows. Forgot to pack sunscreen, who cares! But seriously who is the more oppressed, the western woman who toils endlessly over superficial appearance, starves themselves, waxes (primeval torture) binds into push up bras and spends a fortune on hair color or the fully covered Islamic girl? the girl can only be judged by her actions. Ok that and of course those eyes.
As with the Christian Bible, the Qur’an has been used to mandate activities it does not include. There is no requirement in the Qur’an for full cover, the two passages that refer to attire are:
The Qur’an has been translated as stating:
“O Prophet! Say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the faithful to draw their outergarments close around themselves; that is better that they will be recognized and not annoyed. And God is ever Forgiving, Gentle.”
— Qur’an, Surah 33 (Al-Ahzab), Verse 59
Another verse in the Qur’an is translated as:
“And say to the faithful women to lower their gazes, and to guard their private parts, and not to display their beauty except what is apparent of it, and to extend their headcoverings (khimars) to cover their bosoms (jaybs), and not to display their beauty except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husband’s fathers, or their sons, or their husband’s sons, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their womenfolk, or what their right hands rule (slaves), or the followers from the men who do not feel sexual desire, or the small children to whom the nakedness of women is not apparent, and not to strike their feet (on the ground) so as to make known what they hide of their adornments. And turn in repentance to Allah together, O you the faithful, in order that you are successful”
— Qur’an, Surah 24 (An-Nur), Verse 31
It is also interesting that some Jewish women choose to wear a similar garment.
Most common in Malaysia is the head covering, the Tudung or Kerudung. They are often adorned with sequence and jewels and color coordinated with other clothing. Usually long pants, although often tight western jeans, and long sleeves are worn with the Tudung. i find the Tudung alluring, and quite fashionable.
So i know have a better understanding of a simple piece of cloth that brings such a fearful reaction to many. We often put such power in symbols and things we do not understand when a little bit of learning and compassion can diminish that power so greatly. Hey maybe the bride in this story is blogging about her bewilderment of old white guys in pink flowered shirts?
Alaska 2014 – On To Sitka
June 6, 2014 – Continued
As we headed out of Petersburg at 0725 we waved goodbye to the Krogenites on the dock and quickly cleared the entrance buoy at the north end of Wrangell Narrows. Frederick Sound was a millpond, with no wind and sunny skies so we opened up the flybridge and drove Spirit from there. Aside from a few small fishing boats close to the shore there was little marine traffic. Cell phone coverage stops quickly and by the time we reached Sukoi Islets coverage had disappeared.
Just past Portage Bay we encountered our first good Humpback whale sighting in Alaska this year and managed to get some a few good tail photos. Continuing down Frederick Sound past the lower end of Stephens Passage we had several encounters with Dall’s porpoises.
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| The Devil’s Thumb leaving Petersburg |
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| Humpback in Frederick Sound |
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| Sea Otters are cute, but destroy the crabbing |
We began picking up cell phone coverage as we passed the town of Kake and coverage continued until we entered Warm Springs Bay, where Baranof Hot Springs is located. The public dock did not have enough space for us, so we anchored in the south inlet where we were treated to 2 different brown bears foraging on the beach. The anchor was set in 90 feet of water at 1800 after a 75 nautical mile day. The bottom in this inlet is hard, so we have had issues in the past getting a good set, but not this time.
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| Brown Bear out for breakfast in Warm Springs Bay |
The inlet has such steep sides that the GPS occasionally lost lock, as well as the TV satellite dish. We are at the northern most limits of coverage with this unit, so it has now been turned off. We still have our DVD movie collection, if we ever find the time to sit down and watch one.
June 7, 2014
As predicted, the rain began shortly after midnight, but with no wind the anchorage remained secure. It starts getting light before 0300, so with light coming in the cabin windows it can be hard to sleep. We pulled the anchor up at 0622 and headed out of Warm Springs Bay, intending to fish. However, 2 large sea lions had also decided to fish in the same location so we just kept going. The visibility in Chatham Strait was initially less than ½ mile, but within a couple of hours had increased to several miles. We altered course several times for Humpback whales feeding on the surface directly ahead of the bow.
Taking a small shortcut through Thatcher Channel, which cuts over a mile off the entry into Peril Strait we ran into more rain and fog. The wind, which was from the SE in Chatham Strait, bounces off the hills on Chichagof Island and changes direction by almost 180 degrees. We entered Saook Inlet with a 10 knot breeze behind us from the northwest, with a 1 foot chop. Anchoring in 100 feet of water off the end of the inlet, in a good mud bottom, we had only travelled 37 nautical miles, for a grand total of 940 nautical miles. Most cruising guides do not recommend Saook Inlet, but only because of the deep water anchorage and the steep shelf on the delta at the head of the inlet. Many cruisers are not comfortable, nor have the length of anchor rode to safely anchor here. Today we are the only boat in Saook Inlet. Patrick set two crab traps, and when we checked them 4 hours later, had to pick the six largest crabs from the 24 legal sized male crabs in the two pots.
The non-resident limit this year is three crabs per person per day, with the possession limit equal to the bag limit. We had no sooner brought the pots back to Spirit when the Alaska State Wildlife Police showed up in their large RIB and boarded us to check our licenses and the number and size of crab. Fortunately, everything was in order and after a nice chat they motored out of the inlet. After the troopers left we cooked the crab and then made crab cakes with some of the crab and froze the rest. The rain continued, heavy at times, all night.
June 8, 2014
Checking the two pots the next morning we realized we should have only set one pot. We kept the six largest crab and returned 20 back to their home in the inlet. After cooking the crab we pulled up the anchor at 0800 in rain and fog, sunshine and rainbows and continued through Peril Strait riding a modest ebb tide through Sergius Narrows to our destination, Kalinin Bay on the north end of Kruzof Island. By 1300 the anchor was down in 25 feet of water and after lunch we headed out for our first salmon fishing expedition in Alaska. Alas, the fish ignored our bait, while we worked through the logistics of a new boat and downriggers, so we returned at 1900 empty handed. Talking to one of the other boats anchored in the bay we discovered that fishing has been spotty for everyone in this area, the fish are still mostly offshore.
June 9, 2014
We headed out for the shark hole outside of Kalinin Bay at 0530 in rain. A blown fuse on one of the downriggers cut the morning short, and we had no action with the identical rig and technique that had proved successful in the past. We spent the afternoon watching eagles fish in the bay.
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| Eagles Fishing in Kalinin Bay |
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| Brown Bears in Kalinin Bay |
June 10, 2014
We did not get underway for fishing until 0600, and hoped for the best when we had our first salmon hooked on the gear. Unfortunately, the fish was too small and was released. We had two more fish on that escaped our grasp while reeling them in, but did catch 7 sea bass. Six of the sea bass were big enough to convert into fish tacos at some later date, so we finally called it quits and returned to Kalinin Bay and filleted the sea bass. That afternoon we headed for a halibut fishing spot at high slack tide and in just a few minutes had landed a small 13 pound halibut. Putting the line back in the water, no more than 5 minutes later we had hooked another fish, this time taking quite a while to get to the side of the Grady White. The halibut was too large to safely get into the boat until nearly dead, so our friends from “Jericho”, who were guiding us to the fishing spot in their tender, came over with their halibut harpoon (we had left ours on Spirit) and speared the fish, passing us the harpoon line. We spent the next 45 minutes getting the 38 pound halibut on board, since leaving the water was not on the fish’s wish list. Returning to Kalinin Bay we spent the next several hours filleting and vacuum packing the fish. We finally set ourselves down to celebrate 42 years of marriage with a fresh halibut dinner.
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| The halibut is harpooned |
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| Patrick with the 38 pound halibut |
June 11, 2014
At the relatively late hour of 0700 we pulled the anchor from the mud of Kalinin Bay and carefully headed out the channel on a -1.1 foot tide, avoiding the rock in mid channel which has only 5 feet of water, whereas we need 6 feet. By 1045 we were docked in Eliason Harbor, having covered 992 nautical miles on Spirit since Anacortes.
We have some maintenance to perform, and will fish from the Grady White for the next several days before heading back out to somewhere close to Sitka and continue our hunt for the King Salmon. The weather is predicted to deteriorate for a few days, with small craft warnings through Thursday evening and seas increasing to 11 feet offshore by Saturday AM.
2014-16 More Fishing In Whale Bay
June 3rd to 6th: Re-fishing Whale BayOver the next several days Gerard, Ken and Alex fished further into Whale Bay.Tuesday, June 3rd: We got up early and shopped for provisions: ice, bread, milk, cereal, lemons, beer…just the basics, cause we’re livi…
Alaska 2014 – Petersburg Interlude
June 4, 2014
Our planned maintenance day in Petersburg took several interesting twists. There are a group of Kadey Krogen yachts in the three harbors in Petersburg that we have met in prior years, everywhere from Swanson Harbor in 2007 to a Krogen rendezvous in Craig, Alaska in 2010. At the Craig event in 2010 we were the lone Selene surrounded by a dozen Krogens and their Krogenite crews.
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| Spirit at the new North Harbor docks in Petersburg |
This year, in Petersburg, many of the Krogen yachts are here for the book signing event at the Sing Lee Alley bookstore for Rolynn Anderson’s new book. Steve and Rolynn Anderson are moored right across the dock from us on their Krogen 42 “Intrepid” and we met them in 2012. We will go to the book signing event on June 5, 2014, so have decided to stay until Friday morning.
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| Some public art in Petersburg |
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| The fishermen’s memorial outside the “Sons of Norway” hall |
While working on “Spirit” during the morning, two children, a boy and girl, were on the docks with their fishing rods and buckets, jigging for herring and other fish. There were also some men jigging for herring close by, rather than buying bait. Herring are plentiful and easy to catch, even from the docks, and one of the best locations is just off the North Harbor docks.
Patrick happened to be watching the children fish when the girl stumbled and did a slow roll into the water. Fortunately she was wearing her life vest, but the current along the docks in North Harbor was swift. Patrick rushed out of Spirit and grabbed her arm, while one of the other men ran over and helped. The two of them lifted the girl back onto the docks, which are higher than the older docks. The girl was wet, a little scraped up from the wood edges of the dock, but otherwise unharmed. We thought it appropriate that the girl was wearing a “kids don’t float” life jacket. Miriam had a towel ready and she helped the girl, whose name we never found out, dry off. Later that day, her dad stopped by Spirit and thanked us for helping. The dad was part of the crew of “Kestrel”, moored at the end of the North Harbor, only 75 feet away. Kestrel is an Alaska fisheries enforcement vessel. Not long after the incident, the two kids showed back up in dry clothes and fished the rest of the day. Life jackets for kids (and adults) are important, especially with the new higher docks!
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| Kids fishing on the dock, one of these fell in! |
By afternoon, the sun started peeking out and the cool morning temperatures started to climb. We attended a late afternoon gathering in South Harbor, a BYOB and BYOA event on a new Krogen 48, and then went to Papa Bear’s Pizza, almost the last remaining place in Petersburg for an evening meal out. The 8 couples were all people we have met on earlier cruises up here.
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| Some of the BYOB attendees on the Krogen 48 “Salty Dawg” |
June 5, 2014
The skies remained mostly sunny, but cool in the morning, and even in the afternoon the temperatures were on the cool side when the sun briefly disappeared behind a cloud. We spent the morning working on maintenance projects and laundry. In the afternoon we attended the “book signing event” at the Sing Lee Alley Bookstore, where Rolynn Anderson, from the Krogen 42 “Intrepid” was signing copies of her newest book “Lie Catchers”. This latest novel is set in the town of Petersburg, so it was really appropriate to have the book signing event here. In late afternoon, we, the Krogenites, and some De Fever trawler folks all went to the Elks Club for fish tacos. The fish tacos were good, but the conversations with the group were better, and after an enjoyable event in the crowded Elks club dining room we all dispersed, with Patrick & Miriam ending up on the DeFever 49 “Adventures”, which will be spending the winter in Petersburg. At 2230, still light, we finally returned to Spirit and began preparations for an early departure from Petersburg.
June 6, 2014
Today is “D Day”, with clear blue skies as we prepare to depart on the morning ebb tide and head out into Frederick Sound, past the lower end of Sumner Strait and across Chatham Strait to the east side of Baranof Island. We will decide later which inlet or bay will be our destination for the evening.
We have had a great time in Petersburg and can appreciate why three of the boat crews we reconnected with have decided to relocate to this delightful town. We will be out of cell phone and internet for the next few days as we fish our way the 160 nautical miles to Sitka.
Alaska 2014 – Ketchikan to Petersburg
May 31, 2014
Today we played tourist in Ketchikan. Walking from Bar Harbor to downtown, Miriam and I window shopped and observed how quiet the town was with only one cruise ship docked. The jewelry stores were mostly empty and the souvenir stores had few shoppers. The “Disney Wonder” was on the last stop before returning to Vancouver to start the cycle all over again and we think people were tired of shopping.
We had hoped to get fish & chips and have them with something to drink at Fat Stan’s, where we had gone before. However, Fat Stan’s now has a pizza and burger menu and you can no longer have the Alaska Seafood House deliver your order to Fat Stan’s. We decided to head back to Spirit and stopped instead at a place called “Alava’s”, recommended by locals we talked to and had delicious fish & chips with generous servings for less money than the tourist places downtown.
June 1, 2014
The weather report sounded marginal, with small craft warnings, but we thought we could be far enough up Clarence Strait towards Wrangell that we would not be affected too much. After refueling, taking on 635 gallons of diesel fuel, we left Ketchikan at 0830 and headed north up Tongass Narrows for Clarence Strait. In past trips we have taken on between 600 and 615 gallons at the same point in the trip, so the fuel penalty of towing the tender is not too bad. The weather was fine for the first 12 miles, until we approached Caamano Point at the tip of the Cleveland Peninsula, and then it took a turn for the worse. The winds started blowing a steady 25 knots, with gusts to 34 knots. The seas were steep and we had continuous spray over Spirit, with no end in sight. Passing by Meyers Chuck we could see into the harbor and also on AIS that the docks were full, so we continued on rather than attempting the narrow entrance in the wind and what would have been steep beam seas. We elected to head up Ernest Sound, through Seward Passage to Santa Anna Inlet. When we arrived at 1630, after a 57 mile day we found only one other boat anchored. The wind was blowing straight into the inlet, gusting to 22 knots, but the bottom has very good holding and lots of room, so Spirit was anchored securely in 65 feet of water.
Patrick set two prawn pots and by 2030 that evening we had 4 dozen nice spot prawns, so a third pot was set out.
June 2, 2014
The wind was consistently 10-15 knots all night, with even a small rain shower. The morning check of the pots, at 0600 yielded 8 dozen more large spot prawns, which were processed and frozen before our departure at 0900 under partly sunny skies. Our route took us up Seward Passage, past Frosty Bay and into Zimovia Straits, where we intended to take advantage of the flood current. However, this time of year the flow of water out of the Stikine River and the north wind overpowered the flood current and instead of a 1.5 knot boost we experienced a 1.5 knot adverse current. Nonetheless, we arrived at Heritage Harbor, our preferred moorage in Wrangell at 1430 after a 36 nautical mile run, docking in a brief rain shower. Spirit has now travelled 789 nautical miles since Anacortes on May 15.
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| Some spot prawns from Santa Anna Inlet |
Heritage Harbor is about one mile from the main town, an easy run in the Grady White tender. Arriving at Reliance Floats in the main harbor, we checked in and then headed to “Summer Floats” closer to downtown Wrangell. The combination of winds and tidal chop made “Summer Floats” untenable for our boat, so we headed back to Heritage Harbor and walked into town for supplies. Since our last visit the street paving project has been completed, which was a pleasant surprise. Rather than walk back, and since we had not planned dinner yet, we stopped at the Stikine Inn for dinner and a free courtesy ride back to Heritage Harbor. The food and drink at the Stikine Inn was as good as we remembered, and hope it continues if the Inn is sold (it is for sale).
June 3, 2014
We have some broken rod holders on the Grady White, and replacements are non-existent up here, but PVC pipe will work just fine. A walk into town to the True Value Hardware was successful, with 4 pieces cut from a longer length. Patrick returned from the store and Spirit was underway at 0950 for Petersburg. Although we had overcast skies, we had no rain during the transit of Wrangell Narrows. The rain started just as we pulled the Grady White alongside for the approach to the dock in an adverse current now running at 4 knots. Naturally, the rain now arrived in earnest, continuing a pattern for the last few days. We docked at the new “North” floats, only in operation for two weeks and after registering, had a nice visit with one of Miriam’s childhood friends, Marj Oines. We may stay here for two days since we really have a relaxed schedule to get to Sitka.
Make Your Dream Your Story
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2014-15 Bryon Bay, Whale Bay and Sitka…. All in a Day.
Monday, June 2nd, 2014: Byron Bay to Whale Bay then Sitka.We pulled the hook about 7:30 this morning and once outside Bryon Bay, headed northwesterly towards Sitka. By 10AM we were trolling along the north side of Whale Bay. After 90 …
2014-14 Around Cape Ommaney and up theWest Coast of Baranof
Sunday, June 1st, 2014: Around Cape Ommaney and up the west Coast of Baranof.We were out of ship’s cove by 6:30AM and eventually pointed southward towards Cape Ommaney with expectations to be somewhere on Baranof Island’s west coast this evening.Today’…
2014-13 The Gulf, across Sumner Strait, around Cape Decision, across Chatham to Port Alexander
Saturday, May 31st, 2014: Gulf of Esquibel to Port Alexander.It was already bright at 5AM as we prepped for our cruise to Port Alexander. The weather seemed OK but strong winds were forecast for later in the day. First we followed up …
