Still in Sitka

Well once again Ron's projected departure date leaves a little something to be desired in the way of accuracy and I find myself in Sitka with more time on my hands then I know what to do with. Having exhausted my rather meager list of phone contacts, but still yearning for some conversation I resign myself to the one sided blog banter.

So far this time off in Sitka has been in many ways a blessing and a curse. On the positive tip I made some friends when I bought a couple of underage deck hands a case of beer. They were both only shy a couple of weeks and it just didn't seem fair to deprive them of a little release as they had both just spent more than 20 days out at sea. Anyway there names were Cody and Kayla and they were both up from Port Angeles where Ron is from as well. We spent the evening on the rocks down in the harbor each of us going off in turn about our good and bad experiences with our respective skippers. In light of those two I had very little to bitch about.

Yesterday I rented a bike. I broke down and took out exactly the kind of bike I loathe, but it was a hell f a lot better than nothing. I rode up a gravel to the nether regions of Harbor Mountain just outside of town. It was a little more than 5 miles with a gain of about 2,000 feet, and my lack of time in he saddle was made quite clear. The views would have been killer if I hadn't been riding through a cloud the last 1000 feet or so. Despite the way up the way down was incredible. I moaned about the front suspension when I took the bike out, but flying down dirt and gravel roads at 20+ mph I was thankful. Needless to say I was thoroughly spent by the time I returned the bike to the shop. I thanked them for the opportunity to torture myself for a couple hours.

After falling asleep at 8 p.m. I rose early this morning and treated myself to a large breakfast at Victoria's, a pretty decent little breakfast nook in town. I eyed the eggs benedict but for some reason I just can't justify eating that much hollandaise sauce any more. Maybe I don't even like eggs benedict anymore. Following breakfast I spent a couple hours at the Backdoor coffee shop I have grown to love both for its coffee and the girls who serve it. I wrote some letters and took care of some bills that needed my attention. I still am not over the joy I get from not cutting a check to a landlord every month.

On the negative side I find that I am now happier at sea than on land. Perhaps in Sitka surrounded by people I am reminded of all those I miss and will not see again for many months. While on the boat this reminder is removed and I am occupied with the bushiness of catching fish. Still on the boat I spent most of the day wrapped in my own thoughts, but there I think more toward the future than what is lost to the past.

I have made the successful switch back to fiction and began Hemingwy's A Farewell to Arms. Several have old me that it was not there favorite of his many works, but I am going to give it a whirl regardless. I also picked To the Lighthouse on Alex's suggestion, and ordered Seize the Day by Saul Bellows on a tip from my friend Leslie Schaffer back in Texas.

Ron has us set to leave at three this afternoon. We will see.