Volcanic Coast Exploration by Ocean Raft

WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!!
I cannot recommend this excursion highly enough. It was just awesome! I hate to admit it was even better than the photography tour. There were five other people and the driver that were on this particular excursion with me. We got dressed up in bulky suits, head pull over things and sunglasses to protect and keep you warm from the ocean spray. It had special cushioned seats (reminded me of sitting on a flexible hot dog without a bun) that could move and bend with the direction of the boat. Our driver said we were going approximately 40 knots (which I believe is approximately 50 mph give or take a few mph). We were seriously flying through some pretty cool waves and caught some air--also some serious "G" forces. Let me tell you, the boat corners very well, and our driver was not afraid to do 8's in the water. I told Mom & Dad they would have hated it, but I thought it was the best excursion yet! Unfortunately, it is rather difficult to take pictures when you are flying through the water. I was having a hard enough time holding on to the camera and the seat grip even with special grippy gloves. The driver also stopped the boat in several places that that it was possible to take some pictures. Words simply cannot describe how beautiful it is. You definitely can be "in-tune" with nature. Unfortunately, Mount Edgecombe was obscured with clouds so that you could see the bas rising up out of the water, and the rest was shrouded in mystery. However, I did get a postcard of what it looks like on a sunny day. On our way back it got really foggy, and it was kind of creepy flying through the water in fog. The cruise ship has gone through a lot of fog on our journey, but I don't think we were going quite as fast. Also on our way back, we cruised around the ship (Pulling some serious "G's"creating a huge wake and then skedaddled back to the pier to get one of the last tenders back to the ship.

Sitka doesn't have a deep sea port like many other cities, so the ship can't dock in the city because the water isn't deep enough. Our guide said that because of this Sitka only seems about 1/4 of all the cruise ship traffic because of lacking the deep sea port and also because it is on the ocean side of the Inner Passage, and not on the inner side which is easier to get to if you are traveling in the Inner Passage. In this case, the ship parked aways offshore, and then lowered the tenders/life boats to transfer us to shore. I thought it worked pretty slick. When we were done, they winched them back up and we continued on our way.

Mom & Dad went to the Historic Raptor Center in Sitka. They said they had a very nice time. They have also been going to the evening entertainment, which they seem to really like.