We Get Visitors

As much as we enjoy our wilderness solitude, the occasional airplane making a low buzz over us at anchor was a welcome sight. It’s a simple gesture but one that somehow makes us feel connected to the outside world. And most certainly, we especially enjoyed the surprise visit of Cindy’s twin sister Phyllis and brother in law Gary, who flew his float equipped Cessna out to check on us. They stayed overnight and brought us the joy that only family can bring. We celebrated with Margaritas, much laughter and broiled venison steaks. And, of course, we caught up on all the news.

But the one visitor that penetrated our souls the most was “Earla.” We named her that because of Earl the big male sea lion who visits us while in the harbor looking for handouts. We know we shouldn’t do it, but we try to feed him a bit of something when he comes. Earla surprised us. She came over to the boat as we were pulling into a new anchorage.

At first, we were too busy watching landmarks while getting into position to drop the hook but when the anchor was away, she got our full attention. Earla continued making nearby passes. First on one side of the boat then a shallow dive under to come up on the opposite side, where she would do a roll or some other exotic move all the while looking directly at us with those big brown eyes. When she took a breath, her big teeth reminded us that the name “sea lion” probably wasn’t by chance. A formidable creature for sure, and yet, now so gentle. She was definitely being the good neighbor saying hello, how are you, where did you come from? Etc.

“Give her something to munch on,” I yell to Cindy from the anchor winch. “What?” “Try a piece of bread.” Cindy returns with a chunk of our fresh sourdough and tosses it out the window. Earla sees it coming while looking back over her head, does a back dive, swims under water and comes up directly under the bread and touches it with her nose as she surfaces. Sea lions obviously don’t eat bread! She looks at us with those big eyes again, turns on her side and gently swims away. Maybe it’s best we didn’t have a fish or some meat scraps. Next time she may have surprised us while in the skiff. I remember about the sea lion we saw in Petersburg who came begging. He’d obviously been fed before and two weeks after we were there he came out of the water and landed on the dock cornering the person who was there from escaping. It cost him his life. No, we were happy the way things turned out with Earla. It was like she was making us feel at home in her home and we were. She never returned.

Winter Cruising l Starting Out l We Get Visitors l Winter Comes l A Windy Night l A Special Day
Rhythms l Back to Civilization

Skipper Ted Mattson is an Alaska sailor with broad experience in Bristol Bay and especially his home, the Alexander Archipelago, Alaska's panhandle.  Ted operates popular adventure sailing cruises with guests in the summer months aboard the Skookumchuck.