Day 04 - 15 July - Sitka

Most nights we sleep soundly through the night. But this was not one of them! At around 3:45am the first stage emergency alarm went off and at that hour it's loud enough to wake the dead. After the initial announcement, the Captain came on the PA system with progress reports. It seems that there was an overheated electrical motor that tripped the fire alarm. After getting it checked out and getting cleared, Captain Arno made the final all clear announcement and we could sleep the rest of the night. Later during the sail away he profusely apologized for waking us all up, but emphasized how important safety was.

Our arrival at the cruise terminal in Sitka was announced by the sounds of whirring of the motors of the mooring line machinery two decks below us. Then there were the strong vibrations from the thrusters. But there's no thud of the ship hitting the dock as the approach is carefully orchestrated to smoothly and slowly kiss the dock ever so lightly. That meant it was time to roll over and nod off as we didn't have to get up for an early morning shore excursion!  We're not early risers.

After a Lido breakfast we made our way to the town-provided shuttle buses for the 5 mile ride into town. We've been here many times, so we just walked around shopping and sampling local food such as reindeer hot dogs, clam chowder and salmon tacos. We ate at one place with some local ladies, one of whom was a student of one of my college roommates. It's a small world. From Castle Hill we could see the Crystal Symphony which was at anchor in the bay and their guests were tendering in. We also revisited the Miner's statute located in front of the Alaska Pioneers home. I wonder if I qualify?  

Angela also watched the Russian Dance show while I walked some more around town (I saw the show last visit) and visited the Bishop's House.  

During the walk around we met the Russian pair that we've sailed with on 2-3 other cruises and those who sailed on them with us will remember them as the couple who played very serious table tennis. It turns out they are father/daughter and live in St. Martens. It was fun to get to know them a bit better.

Some light sprinkles began to fall around 2:30pm so we made our way back to the shuttle bus and caught a ride back to the cruise port where we shopped and enjoyed a crab cocktail and watched a recently dry docked fishing boat get its hull cleaned.  

Back on board we went to the Crow's Nest to watch the sail away which started about 4:45pm after the last 4 guests arrived 10 minutes late. They all received a lecture from the security officer as they boarded.

During the sail away I spotted some splashing in the distance which with the aid of my binoculars determined to be dolphins or porpoises who were leaping entirely out of the water. This went on for at least a half an hour! Following a quick Lido dinner we attended Pete Neighbours' excellent jazz clarinet performance and Gloeta's high energy Evening Insight presentation on Sponges and Jellyfish. We wrapped up our evening watching the movie 'Free Solo' about a fellow who climbed El Capitan without ropes.

Tomorrow is a sea day and the schedule is totally packed with EXC lectures and events. Stay tuned. This cruise is approaching the quality of the inaugural EXC cruise we took last year from Ft. Lauderdale to Papeete.