From Juneau to Sitka it is a long and winding road to sail. First you go south from Juneau through Gastineau channel, then North through Saginaw channel, with a sharp turn down again heading for Sumner Strait. This strait leads west towards North Inian pass which ends in Cross sound and then it goes south to Sitka. Nearing Sitka it goes east rounding Cape Edgecumbe and it ends with a Northerly course up at the Anchorage. What an airplane can do in 40 minutes as the crow flies, takes us all night. But as the sun set late, it was a very scenic trip with great views on either side of the ship, until the ship entered the Pacific Ocean but by then it was dark anyway.

We were together with the Oosterdam in Sitka today. She is a seven day ship sailing from Seattle and we meet up every 14 days on our northbound cruise to Seward. Sitka has four anchorages of which three can be used at all times. Number one is only safe during nice weather as there is not enough room to swing around on a stretched anchor chain. However it is the closest one to town so it reduces the tender distance. Again there is a pecking order; ships that call most often get preference. If there are ships that call with the same frequency, the biggest one wins. The Oosterdam carries approx. 600 more guests than the Veendam, they call every week and thus the Oosterdam Captain had the choice. As it was nice weather today, he went for the inner anchorage; closest to town and I took his officially assigned anchorage number two.

Thus for the approach I had left night orders for the Officer of the Watch to keep an eye on the Oosterdam and if they were on time, to line up behind the ship and follow it in. The Oosterdam was on schedule and we had a nice Holland America Line parade into Sitka sound. With keeping a distance of about a mile from each other we approached the anchorage one after the other and while the Oosterdam backed into anchorage number one, I dropped the hook at anchorage number two. This anchorage is called the seven fathom bank as, until recently, it was thought that it was located 7 fathoms; that is 42 feet below water. Recent soundings have established that it is only 35 feet below water but as sailors are sticklers for continuity we still call it the 7-fathom bank.

The Veendam on the seven Fathom bank.

The trick is here to try to anchor in the gravel and not in the mud. If you anchor in the gravel, the holding ground is as good as in mud but you do not have to clean the anchor chain as much as otherwise would be the case. Through the years I have figured out more or less where the gravel is located on this bank and I try to drop the anchor on this spot and then lay the chain in the gravel as well. Nowadays with GPS and thrusters you can do that without too much difficulty and it pleases the Bo ‘sun who keeps his chain locker and forward deck free of mud.

The tender run into Sitka is a little bit longer then from anchorage number one but it is quite scenic. The weather was quite good, no drizzle as had been predicted and this gave the guests a nice ride. With the bonus of having the chance to have a look at the Oosterdam. They used their tender platform on their port side, so the Veendam tenders passed by at the starboard side to make sure that there was no wake running along the platform. Both ships were tendering to the floating dock under the bridge. Normally the shop keepers demand one ship under the bridge and one in Crescent harbor so the “shopper flow” descends on the town equally from both sides. Today the tour operators won out, as with two ships of the same company it was much easier to coordinate the tours from one location. Let’s wait and see where I have to tender to next call.

We sailed from Sitka on time, heading for Hubbard Glacier in the Yakutat Bay. The Oosterdam, who just came from there, reported a lot of ice and could not get close to the face at all. Maybe the Veendam will have more luck.