Alaska     96

 Well I did quit, on my birthday, and got prepared to go Alaska, charts,
radio, GPS, and all the little things you might need on a 2 month cruise. 
Now the boat I had left in Seattle was waiting for me, and she needed
some help before it would be ready to do the Inside Passage, on the 
way to Alaska. After a little over a week I decided it was seaworthy
enough to get me there even though there was more to do. The first day
was the biggest of the trip as I made it all the way to Friday Harbor.
Then it was up into Canada and new territory before me. There was a 
battle going on this whole time with the teacher/tormentor. Once 
underway there was to much time to think and listen to him. Like how 
upset they were that I was going and that very bad things were going 
to happen to me. So watching for deadheads took on a heightened 
urgency. Deadheads are logs in the water that are partially sunk
with just a little bit showing as they bob on the surface with one
end up. The beauty of the inside passage is hard to beat with all 
the waterfalls painted high on the mountain sides or tumbling into 
the water. When your motoring along at 5-6 knots you are able to take 
a lot in, but finally I made it to Prince Rupert. 
 
Then a big storm blew in and I had to wait a few days for it to blow 
over. It had been raining almost everyday on the way up but that first 
night in Alaska at Foggy Bay the clouds parted and it was a beautiful 
evening. The Big Dipper was prominently displayed in the sky so I 
was reminded of who gave me all that I have, as I dined on Sockeye 
and other things that had been given to me along the way.

 At a quiet moorage came the dream of the rabid dog. I had captured 
the dog and given him to the authorities with a warning to be careful 
as this animal was very dangerous. While they were driving away the 
dog broke free and he killed his captors and then morphed into the 
Persian and turned and gazed at me with an evil glance as the van 
sped away. 

 The last time I heard Shekhina's voice was in a dream about my 
death. Suddenly I was in a heap and I knew I had just been shot when 
she came from behind and she put her arms around me and picked me up 
and as I left where I had fallen I thought about looking down at the 
scene but decided not to and that I wanted to see her face. Like I 
might then know who she was, what an idiot. Well we struggled for 
awhile and then she whispered in my ear, ... , and not long after I 
was allowed to turn to see her face. She had a mask on though and 
looked like a Gargoyle from a medieval building. Not long after this 
it was over and I wished I had looked down to see if I would have learned 
more, instead of fighting the spirit.

 I would recommend going to Glacier Bay, for anyone who makes it to 
that neck of the woods, as its beauty is spectacular. While I was 
there, I saw calving glaciers and went fishing with the bears. That 
will get your blood flowing. I have a good picture of my boat pushing 
its way as slow as I could go through a loose ice pack. I had spent
the night at Reid Glacier, which is a deep blue color, it was 
calving all night, which sounds like thunder. In the morning I 
could hear crunching on the side of the boat and got a little
worried, but it was just a layer of skim ice on the surface as the
bay had frozen over that night. But it was a gorgeous day and we
headed for the end of the bay. This was the only day I traveled
with the life raft in the water, as we rounded the last corner 
there was Mt. Fairweather shooting up over 15,000 ft. with a
huge tidal glacier at the end over a mile wide and 10 stories
tall. It had a large ice pack in front of it, but I spied a 
little opening up close and the ice pack was loose up to it.
So we headed in, the boat was bouncing off ice chunks, some 
the size of a sofa, and the whole boat would shutter. I had 
beefed up the boat for this reason and was praying for no 
wind to pick up because that would have been it. Behind the 
boat, the ice filled back in our path, like we had never been there.

 Now as I left the rangers said there was a storm coming and to find
shelter. I had hoped to make it to Tenekee to ride it out in the hot 
pool. Well someone had other plans and I spent the night in a cove 
along the way. The next day the storm still hadn't shown and though 
it was windy it didn't seem that bad as I started out. I had just 
started and gone about 100 yards when the motor failed and I started 
drifting towards shore. I threw my anchor in quickly to stop myself 
until I could get things together. The wind was really picking up and 
I was getting a little worried. The voice said not to worry the hand 
of David is holding your line. I went, oh yea, well I think I'll throw out
the storm anchor anyway. So as I rowed away from the boat with 
the brand new anchor and rope, I felt better not listening and playing 
it safe. While listening to the voice say I didn't need it, I threw 
the new anchor and rope over the side of the dinghy and watched as
they sunk out of site, because I had never used it before and it 
wasn't tied off, so it was gone. Now I was worried, as the wind 
picked up even more with 90 mph gusts the boat was getting hammered. 
 
The voice said, just read your Bible, for the hand of David is upon 
your line. I cried a little and said but you lie so often or bluff 
as they prefer it to be called. I put everything by the door just in 
case I had to make a quick exit. Then I settled in and began reading, 
I was supposed to be reading the Old Testament but hadn't been doing 
a good job and was at Samuel. So as I read the voice would say things 
and I could feel the spirit of David and he was so proud and I was 
so scared. I kept looking out the windows to see if the boat was 
dragging the anchor as we were getting pounded and the boat would 
lurch violently and shudder and shake. This went on for 2 days until 
the storm finally past. I took the dog to shore for the first time 
since the storm started and was amazed at her control, but she 
didn't waste any time once we got to shore.
 The trip wound down and after a few days at Warm Springs Bay  
watching a big Brown Bear feeding on salmon, it was time to head to 
the boats harbor. On the way I passed through about 18 Orcas heading 
north, it was the first I had come across while cruising. Back at 
the harbor I put the boat to bed until the next time and headed 
south and back to what I had tried to forget about. When I arrived 
home I pulled out what I had written before I left, and there was 
little doubt that the next few years were going to be interesting, to 
say the least.
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