The outside of Baranof Island is something of a legend amongst Alaskan recreational boaters. Perhaps it is that they have never seen a wave higher than a foot, or that it is too close to Russia and they are afraid of the commies. But whatever the reason none of them see to have been there, and when we told them that we were heading around Baranof in kayaks they all looked at us as if we were either mad or just plain Australian.....

However the other alternative was an ocean rapid which can halt large power boats, and dictates the Alaskan Ferry service timetable, somethign that we were not particularly thrilled with.

So we decided that we would rather paddle along an open ocean coast line, something which we are both familiar with and do regularly back home.

The first night out of Sitka we headed for Goddard Hotsprings, about 17 Nm south. As usual we managed to spend at least 6 hours in the tubs just soaking away all our aches. However after 5 days off we didn't really have too many aches so we just soaked. Somehow we managed to tear ourselves away at about 1:00 in the afternoon and continued south through the final stretch of islands on the western coast of Baranoff. We camped just before the final point, in the only spot for the entire trip where we didn't have access to fresh water. This was something of a novelty, however it meant that we were a bit thirsty when we went to bed that night.

  The next morning

a transport barge at the ferry dock in Sitka

a transport barge at the ferry dock in Sitka	Lach arranging food for the next 2 - 3 weeks	Starigavin National Forest campground, Sitka	Paige adopted Lach and I in Sitka
views of Sitka from the water	more views of Sitka	Kim in front of the US Coastguard ship	watching the storm clouds brew
afternoon storm cloulds over Volcano, Mt Edgecombe	Mt Edgecombe	humpback whale	Kim paddling south towards Goddard
Goddard hot springs	sunset from the tubs at Goddard hot springs	the tubs at Goddard hot springs	meandering through a passage, north of Aspid cove
Lachie paddling through swell, west coast Baranof	unpleasent weather approaching	Lachie disappearing over a 3 m swell	west coast of Baranof Island
looking south along the coast of Baranof Island	it was a tough paddling day due to currents	approaching Snipe Bay	a small pullout in Snipe Bay
leaving Snipe Bay heading south	a humpback that breached right in front of us	still heading south on the west coast of Baranof	Surfs Up! Passing Byron Bay
the rugged coast of Baranof Island	4 days later, riding swells and fighting currents	the top of Lachie head as he disappears from view	Ahh the glorious coast, looking south
a lunch spot just inside Puffin Bay	overlooking tidal rips we just paddled through	an Australian made catamaran in Puffin Bay