As typical, tho i sleep with a blindfold, awoke ~4am sky is already lite. Back to sleep, woke 5am, back to sleep, woke 6am, ok got up, out on the so-far-quiet street before 7. Working people about, getting their coffee, lining up the vans & busses.
Did the local coffee place for breakfast, it was nice, normal, til the hordes started to arrive (again, 3 cruise ships today, >10k people, to a town with a winter population of 800).
Today i did Park Service ranger talks, the movie, and walked the restored homestead on the edge of town.
Then per Cathy suggestion i went to Ace Hardware and bot a For Sale sign for the boat. The Ace is in a historic building downtown, and, surprise, was overrun with tourists. Why would you go to Alaska to shop in Ace? The ForSale sign was upstairs. No tourists up there. There was 1 clerk re-stocking. I mentioned how quiet it was upstairs. "O YES', she said. She much prefers it.
Having, i think, done it all in Skagway, other than shop, it was time, mid-day, to leave.
I was undecided & conflicted, but now it seems clear what to do: simply head back the ~way i came. No problem.
Further, i don't feel afraid anymore. I know how to do this. I know what to expect. I know how the boat responds to the wind&waves. I know that it does start in the morning, mostly, & when it doesnt i know to prime it with some starting fluid and then it does start.
So i talked to some Coast Guard guys hanging out on the transient dock (Coast Guard has the coolest boats!), got fuel (no one there, had to phone, wait for the guy to come, no problem, nothing to do, and we had a good conversation about skagway when he arrived), and i'm off.
There's really no way to know what it's doing out there from inside a harbor. They put harbors where they are because it's sheltered already, then add breakwaters & such just to make sure. Clearing the breakwater, i was instantly surprised by the waves. But whatever. I'm not afraid anymore. It was rough for awhile, then better so i could go full-speed despite disturbance, then rough again, slowing to 8 or 10 or 12. I'd thot that if it really was too rough i'd detour back to Haines, but it wasnt that bad so i went on. (OMG over at Haines i could see a cruise ship!) Along the way there were dolphins and whales. Some of the dolphins ran alongside briefly, and 1 whale surfaced quite close. But then ~5pm all the splashing did really seem just too much trouble for what it was worth, so i pulled off into a bay, calm, anchored amidst awesome view.
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