After an all - night run down from Hubbard Glacier , theMS Oosterdamarrived in Sitka for the latest arrest in the MacMania VI cruise .
Like Juneau , Sitka is only accessible via boat or aura , and has only around 9,000 class - round resident physician ( which makes it Alaska ’s fourth- or fifth - largest urban center , depending on who ’s doing the reckoning ) . With only 40 full miles of roadway ( just over one-half of it paved ) , elevator car larceny is n’t much of an issue around here , unless there ’s a ferry at the docks .
The town itself is site in a bay laurel knell by mountains which provide some dramatic scenery :
Within the bay are many modest islands , almost all of which include at least one or two homes . Apparently the lots themselves are middling reasonable , but they do not include any of the basic utilities such as water , office , or sewer . Judging by some of the menage , however , it seems there are sept with money to expend on nice island homes ; here ’s one retreat on its own private island :
Of course , private is a comparative term — today there were two sail ships parked within a few hundred yards of the house ’s front door !
Sitka is a very of import place in Alaskan ( and U.S. ) story — it ’s here that the paperwork was signed to nail down the United States ’ purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 . Sitka then served as the cap of Alaska until 1906 , when the capital was relocate to Juneua . ( As a side note , in 1970s Alaskans vote — with a 96 - pct absolute majority — to move the country capital letter from Juneau to Willow , a town about 70 miles north of Anchorage , and much more approachable than Juneau . However , the toll of the move was n’t included in the original elector approval . So a 2nd ballot was held , to approve the judge $ 900 million cost of be active the country capital . That metre failed when fully98 percentof the voters refuse the expense ! )
Sitka does n’t have dock facilities for sail ships , so all shoring access is via tenders . In other USA , the tenders would be called “ lifeboat , ” for that ’s their common role — when not being used to shuttle us to shoring , they ’re hanging on hook shot around the ship for use in case of parking brake . Here ’s a crack of one approaching the boat , with a full load of recall cruisers :
It may not appear like it , but these are comparatively turgid boats . When used as tenders , they impart 120 people at a clip to and from the shore . ( In lifeboat mode , an additional 30 hoi polloi can be seat . ) Having now hinge on on one a few time , I ’m reassured that they seem to float quite well even when heavily loaded , but they can not really be delineate as prosperous .
For today ’s shore excursion , I chose to try a “ ironical suit snorkel ” experience . I figured I ’d be the only one , dedicate the 7:45 a.m.-departure hour and the 54 ° farad water temperatures . surprisingly , though , eight others had alike thoughts , so we had a full avant-garde incumbrance to the dive store . For those who do n’t fuck , adry suitis a dive suit that keeps you ironic when diving or snorkeling . Wet suits , which are what most frogman and snorkelers use , keep you affectionate by allowing a slender layer of water into the suit , where it quickly warms against your body and then stays in plaza ( hopefully ! ) . The initial warming period , however , can be quite shocking ( speaking from experience , as one who took their scuba credential dive in a wet cause in 50 ° F waters ) .
A dry suit , on the other hand , includesverytight rubber apprehension around the neck opening and carpus , as well as boots that are integrated directly into the suit . If everything is working properly , no pee enters the suit of clothes at all . But as our teacher said , “ If it does n’t feel like you ca n’t breathe , then your suit is probably too big . ” Once you align the cervix pinch ’s place , though , catch one’s breath return ( mostly ) to normal . Since the water is kept out of the suit , you could break typical street wearing apparel underneath it — most of us were hold out sweat pant and a exertion shirt , and the store offered fleece pull - overs for those who wanted them .
You then put a neoprene goon over your promontory , neoprene baseball glove on your hands , add the masque , snorkel , and fins , and you ’re quick to go . As your head and hands are only handle with neoprene ( wet wooing material ) , you ’ll get to feel the actual water temperature for a few minutes in these domain . And yes , it was cold . But once the layer of water warmed up ( or your read/write head and hands pass numb ) , all was fine .
The snorkeling was OK , but nothing liken to the diving on last fall ’s MacMania sail . We saw lots of wiz fish , some very untried salmon , and a few acerate leaf fish . After about 45 minute in the water , we climbed out , absent the juiceless suit ( back in the store , of course ) , and were happy to discover they work as advertised — our street apparel were altogether dry .
After walking around town for a bit , I returned to the ship to relax for a while and get ready for the even ’s Introduction to Automator grade , which I ’m taking as a student . Automator is one of my preferent OS X 10.4 features , and I ’m hoping to memorize more about it from Apple ’s own Sal Soghoian , the AppleScript Product Manager . That ’s one of the great things about these Geek Cruises : the power to get pedagogy from the people who know these product at heart and out . Many of theAperturecourses , for case , are being taught by Joe Schorr , who is Apple ’s Aperture Product Manager . It ’s severe to find courses outside of the Geek Cruises where you ’ll find Sal and Joe teaching minuscule course in a very hands - on learning environment .
While classes are go on tonight , we ’ll be headed towards Ketchikan . After Ketchikan come a 16 - hour run down to Victoria , British Columbia , then back into Seattle .
