July 23

Well, welcome back to Alaska Debbie. We've been gone from Sitka 24 hours and the fun has already begun. We anchored in Ralph's Creek Cove last night around 10ish after a fairly uneventful trip. Before going to bed, Doc asked me if I could have breakfast ready at 7 so they could leave the boat at 8, AM! Well, yeah, I guess so, kinda hard to say no when that's my job, so I stayed up late baking muffins knowing there was no way I could get them done in time in the morning. So then.....about 2:30 am I woke up to waves slamming hard against the boat and dragging the anchor. I sleep underwater level in the front of the boat and I hear everything. The noise was incredible and the boat was rocking. I laid there waiting for Brad to come tell me we were under attack or there was a surprise storm. Finally drifted off to sleep figuring if it was important, he would let me know. I pulled myself out of bed at 6:15, that was a lie, the alarm went off at 6:15, I hit the snooze several times. Then I tried to find my hat to cover up the bad hair day and it was nowhere to be found. Just gave up and came out to the galley to get breakfast going. Brad popped around the corner and asked "did ya get any sleep?" Um, no, did you? He ended up sitting in a chair for 2 hours watching the anchor gauge, the wind speeds and how much we drifted. He said he was getting prepared to pull anchor and move the boat when the winds tapered off around 5ish. This storm was not predicted and we happen to be sitting in the right cove if we want all the wind to hit us with full force. Lucky us! Finally got everyone fed, they packed their own lunches and then we got the talk. Brad was very concerned with the wind as it had picked back up and was dragging the anchor again. He didn't want to leave me on the boat and have a problem with the boat being pulled into shore, I wholeheartedly agreed. It was left that if he felt the boat or any of us were in danger, he would cut the survey short and get out of this cove early. But wait, there's more. He took me too the wheelhouse and showed me how to read the computer program that shows us where we are, how deep the water is and where the dangerous spots are located. And if the computer shows "this" spot crossing "this" red line, it was time to get my survival suit on and be ready to board the skiff. WAIT a gol darn minute here, it's way to early in the morning to be hitting me with that kind of serious stuff. And again, we're not done, he takes me to the back of the boat so he can show me how to start the skiff and run it to shore in case I need to get off the boat quickly OR come and rescue them, depending on the tides. HAHAHAHA and good morning to me! Plus, one more thing, he had dropped off the surveyors and the guides so they could start the lower stream then he would join them after he made sure the boat was safe and stable. While he was back here, the group radioed in and said they were not able to continue the survey until a sow and her three cubs left the area but guess what? The bears weren't leaving so the group had to wait them out which meant we got up early for nothing! Dadgummit Conrad Grehbiel. Brad got ready to leave after he also explained the tides and how the water level would drop which would make the shore appear closer so I MIGHT think the boat was drifting and get nervous but he was confident the anchor was holding and would be fine. HOWEVER, if the depth finder goes to 3 or 5, get the survival suit and be ready to put it on. Oh for crying out loud. Enough already. As he left he mentioned that now he had to walk the mile or so up the creek to catch up with the group and since they were running into bears he was pretty sure he would see some also. Well, that puts me even more at ease, thank you very much. I'll beach the boat and the captain with tangle with a bear, all in a day's work I guess. Just checked the computer, everything looks good and the depth finder shows 12.6 so that number is where it should be. So far so good. Will come back to you later and let you know how the survey turns out for the day. The name of the survey program is "Interactions of Wild and Hatchery Chum Salmon in SE Alaska". Okay, they all survived the day and came back for a dinner of Polenta, veges, bread and salad. We are now on our way to the next stream for tomorrow's work day. Remember how I told you about Doc, Happy and Sneezy? These kids are a scream, seriously. We just hit a rogue wave (or the rogue wave hit us) anyways, stuff went flying. Doc and Happy jumped up and tried to grab the coffee pot as it flew across the room along with bread and other misc counter stuff. Sneezy on the other hand, grabbed the two canisters of cookies and the leftover birthday cake. He then promptly sat on the flour and hugged all the containers. What a goof. I happened to be sitting out on the back deck and almost went over backwards, not in the water, just on the deck. So this weather is being unpredictable, annoying and a little scary. Not going down to my room until we anchor tonight and I hope we find a nice little, quiet cove with no wind. That would be nice. Going to post this now since we only have cell coverage for a little longer. Take care and be safe everyone.....dj