I am roughly here at the moment, here being somewhere north of Sitka, Alaska.
I am huddling on the upper deck in the companionway between a couple of cabins because it is the only outdoor space that is currently dry enough for me to have a computer out. We are anchored in a small bay, and when I look up I see a small spit of tree covered land, mostly lost in fog. I can hear a bald eagle or two out there somewhere. The fog is making our satellite internet connection unhappy, so by the time I post this, we will probably be elsewhere.
Many years ago I came across a proverb in a book about traveling in Afghanistan: “the soul can only move as fast as a camel walks”. I have no idea what culture the proverb properly belongs to, but the sentiment fits my understanding of travel, and that weird numb feeling that comes from too much time on airplanes.
I left from Fort Meyers on Friday (we were on a family vacation).
And took a flight from there to Atlanta,
The inevitable sprint through the Atlanta airport due to a late arrival meant that I missed the chance for a photograph.
Then to Seattle
Then Juneau
Then finally into Sitka (by then is was actually mostly dark – we’re still far enough south and early enough in June that that the sun does set, but the glow never leaves the horizon) and the boat. I meant to get a lovely photo of the boat alongside the dock, but was in enough of a rush here that I only got a photo of the fuel dock from the boat instead.
This is really a more accurate view of my life aboard anyway. I am trying to be better about it, but I very rarely leave the boat during my time working on it, so I actually very rarely get to see what she looks like from land.
Leaving Sitka
And finally, last night. We spotted a small pod of whales, and spent a lovely evening bobbing slowly about the bay trying to get a better view of them, but really just enjoying the view. My soul, confused by the fast pace of the travel from Florida to Alaska, is slowly catching up now that we are moving at a more civilized ten knots, interspersed with long afternoons at anchor while the guests kayak.
