20 July 2008, Sitka

With almost no wind at all we entered Sitka Sound heading for the anchorage. There was still a low swell running and that caused the fishing vessels around us to bob up and down on the waves. Most of the vessels were smaller boats mainly used for charter fishing and had 6 to 8 people on board. Although these boats are very small and highly maneuverable they can create a headache for us, as a lot of the skippers really do not know what is going on outside their little world. We had a few of those this morning.

While we were heading towards our anchorage several of these charter boats came speeding out of the Sitka harbor heading directly for their favorite fishing spot. There they drop anchor and fish for the rest of their charter period, totally oblivious of what is going on around them and what sort of danger they can put themselves in. This morning we had one, who came racing out of the port and then stopped right in front of the Veendam, about half a mile away and commenced fishing. Fully expecting that the ship would move out of the way. We did, but it is not the way it is supposed to be.

Apart from the Rules of the Road, which prescribes what ships will and shall do to avoid each other when coming in close proximity we also have several local agreements. Most of them are covered under the “Voluntary Waterway Agreement” which is a regulation book for the shipping industry, made up in close cooperation between the cruise operators, the ports, the local (fishing) industry and the USCG. One of the agreements is the use of steamer tracks. These are course lines that are followed by all the cruise ships when sailing in Alaskan waters. The big ships agree to stay on one (mid channel) track and the small boats agree to avoid that track. Thus a charter boat parking itself right on the steamer track, especially while a big ship is approaching, is wrong, completely wrong.

But this charter boat did so and thus we went around it. The pilot tried to call the boat, no reaction as nobody was in the wheelhouse or paid attention to the VHF, and then somebody else answered. Whoever it was, he started to tell the pilot that he did not know what he was doing as he did not give the fishing boats enough space. He then proceeded to ask if the pilot was new to the area. Well our pilot had only been coming to Sitka for 30 years or so. When I hear people talking like that, I am still amazed about running ships. If you want to fly the smallest airplane, you need to take lessons and get certified but every lunatic is allowed out with a boat in the open waters with no restrictions at all. Thus we scrutinize each floating object that shows up on the radar or comes in view with the highest suspicion. Most of the boats we check do what they have to do, but there is always one…………………… and we ago around them to save them from a danger they do not even realize.

Today we could see Mount Edgecumbe; although it rained most of the day the clouds were fairly high. On departure I always tell a little story about this mountain. It is a Volcano, a dormant Volcano. It erupted for the last time several thousand years ago but it could do so again as it is sitting on the same fault line as Mount St. Helens outside Portland Oregon and that one blew in 1980. A number of years ago, the locals of Sitka woke up one morning and saw smoke bellowing from the top of Mount Edgecumbe, so a lot of excitement was generated until they checked their calendars…………….it was April 1st. Somebody with a sense of humor had made a bonfire inside the cone of the Volcano and set it on fire, creating a great stir in the village below.

We had an un-eventful day in Sitka and left right on time for our next port, Skagway. With the swell now running the same direction as the ship, we should have a quiet ride up the coast and into the Alaskan Inside passage. The weather is totally unpredictable for tomorrow. It is supposed to rain but there is also a lot of wind predicted and that normally blows the rain clouds away.