Bearless in Alaska

I am drinking deeply a lot of love with my community in Seattle. As we visit i of course try to make coherent for them what it is i am doing “out there,” away from them. The answers i come up with boil down to, “i am doing something i CAN do.” As opposed to focusing on what i can’t do. Something instead of nothing. And i’m doing it while i physically and financially can. I don’t know where this leads me. Rather than the theory that “if you build it, they will come,” i seem to be working on the hope that “if i come, it will be built.” Whatever “it” is. Thank you dears for our sharing, for our open and inquiring dialogs, and for even our smallest familiarities. I need this heart nourishment. As we reach deeper into each others’ company, i anticipate that it will be hard for me to leave. It will have been worth it, tho. In fact, this visit feels like it may hold some key release for me, a confidence that i am not alone no matter where i am, a belonging that reaches well beyond my horizon...and maybe beyond life without Christine. It’s just an inkling at this point.

While i’ve been in Seattle i’ve been busy. Mostly socializing my ass off. And being god’s own consumer. Sheesh! Am sure i’ve gained weight. And i’ve beefed up safety gear for Akimbo. That this yacht delivery to Juneau comes after a few weeks of visiting seems wise. It takes me away from my community in steps rather than all at once.


And it gives me a memory to make with Tyler: We spent our first night at anchor 80 miles out, in Genoa Bay, Canada. As soon as we got there Tyler remarked on the taste and feel of the air. It was well worth remarking upon. This was quintessential Northwest surrounded-by-dense-evergreens air. It felt like pure oxygen that we could take more deeply into our lungs and absorb thru our skin. After all, here we were densely surrounded by oxygen making “beings.” The air left us feeling a little giddy and rather like a sponge for it. The next day we made 112 miles while watching snow fall on the mountains of Vancouver Island. As forecast, the wind and waves came up. They were big enuf to require steering by hand rather than leaving it all to the autopilot. We appreciated the shelter the Gulf Islands gave us from the Georgia Straits, squeezed thru Dodd Narrows while its currents were fairly calm, and lost half our speed over the last mile on the approach to an anchorage near infamous Seymour Narrows.

A dawn start the next day gave us the timing we needed against the current. As this trip goes on i can’t help wanting to come back to it someday, even if it IS cold here, and despite never having felt called here in the first place. We’ve seen whales, porpoise, seals, sea lions, otters and lots of eagles.

Glaciers and icebergs and…i’m not complaining but i’m not convinced there are any bears in Alaska. If there have been any aurora, it’s not their fault that i haven’t seen them – i go to bed late (11:00ish), but not late enuf that the sky hasn’t still got some light in it. This IS magnificent country! The channels and passages are labyrinthine. With so much shelter from the weather and the ocean swell, it would be great fun to get lost exploring this place in a small fast boat. Say, aluminum for beaching, and outboard motor for any shallows, with a small cuddy cabin.

“Come back to” places include Fancy Cove in Lama Passage, Clothes Bay in Tolmie Passage, Baker Inlet in Grenville Passage, and maybe circumnavigate Baranof Island…but there are too many to count. We have been graced with very good weather, so we may arrive in Juneau a few days ahead of schedule.

Jim has been a gracious boat owner. He makes appreciative sounds of the fare we serve. And he has accommodated our points of interest – Alert Bay, Meyers Chuck and Wrangell. Thank you Lindsay and Eric and Vince – friends who welcomed us along the way.

Sure ‘nuf, we are back in Seattle three days early. “Orbit” is the word i am finding in my heart. I am at the close end of an elipse now, about to travel back out to the far end of it. Regardless of where i am, this community is a point of belonging from and to which i orbit. From this there’s a new sense of security i am finding and am glad for. Thank you. (I am also finding my head turned by many pretty women here. Were there always so many in Seattle?)
I'll be back in Mexico in a few days? After a stop in Ixtapa, i'll be aiming for Costa Rica as soon as possible, weather permitting, to get south of hurricane season. It will be my longest leg alone so far. I'm glad my "gas tank" is full to draw from for it.