Snettisham 2009-1

Beaching It
July 4, 6, & 7

chris
Floating in Stephen's Passage

The summer of 2009 was fantastically beautiful. Clear and sunny weather began in April and occurred repeatedly through August. Long stretches of days with temperatures in the 70s and 80s left sweating, seasoned Southeast Alaskans clamoring for clouds and rain. Not so with me! This summer I embraced the heat and learned to cool off like millions of other Americans--on the beach.

Growing up in Juneau and spending most of my summers up the Taku, I never developed a relationship with beaches for the purpose of lounging around and swimming (save for tropical vacations). The beaches here are, well, rocky for the most part and the water is cold. I like to think I have a tradition of wading at Sandy Beach once a summer on a hot day, but the truth is I've only done that twice. As for swimming...well, I've swum in the ocean a lot, but usually encased in long underwear, double layers of polar fleece, thick neoprene, and hand warmers, and even then I come out agonizingly cold. So when Chris suggested we hit a beach after watching the 4th of July parade, it sounded like a novel idea. We stopped by a liquor store on the walk home and picked up a six pack of Rainier, my chest and ankles already bright red from the morning's sun burn sitting on the side of the street. At home we picked up towels, Chris's camp chair, some snacks, and the dog and headed out the road for Sunshine Cove. Despite the heat and the popularity of that area, there were only about six families along the wide, crescent beach, widely spread. They occupied the prime sandy areas, but we found an acceptable spot on a cobble beach on the far left. The sun was brilliant and hot in the sky to the north and we baked in it. I gave Nigel one of my towels to lay on and let him drink from my water bottle. It was sweltering and still. We finally decided to wade in the ocean and crept our way over the rocks and barnacles (the tide was dropping) to the edge. The cool water was wonderfully soothing, and wading immediately turned into one of the most delightfully refreshing swims I've ever had, the cold water luxurious. I'd never felt so good emerging from the ocean around here, and it fueled my interest in further beaching it.

Nigel at Sunshine Cove, July 4	Chris swimming at Sunshine Cove, July 4	Floating out the road, July 6
Alone on the beach, July 6	Chris plunging in, July 7	Floating in Stephen's Passage
Debbie swimming to shore	Chris and a seal	Chris and the seal observing one another

The weather held, so Chris and I headed out the road after work on Monday (the 6th), stopping by the store to pick up a camp chair for me and two "floaties." I'd never used a floaty before! This time we stopped at a smaller beach shy of Sunshine Cove and had the entire beach to ourselves, looking over the ocean to the snow-capped Chilkat Mountains. This beach was all sand and we set our chairs close to the water, two small lumps in a wide, empty beach (see video to left). It didn't take long before we had those floaties blown up and ready to mount. My first floaty adventure was a little tense for me, as I felt pretty unsteady and didn't want to fall in (although the sun was equally bright, a light breeze kept us just cool enough to discourage swimming). I floated around a bit, delighted by the floaty, then returned to shore to warm up. Chris stayed out, looking picturesque with the green water all around and the mountains in the background. (The photos are all backlit, and don't do the day justice.) Finally, I steeled myself and committed to swimming out to Chris, but with a little extra help. I'd brought along my dive mask and fins, and practically flew out to where Chris was floating some distance off shore. The water was a bit more of a shock, but once I adjusted it felt wonderful to swim. I held onto the edge of Chris's floaty and gave him a ride all along the beach. I snorkeled a bit as we passed the vertical rocks to the south of the cove, but saw nothing in the green water. When I emerged, leaving Chris to float on his own, I was deeply chilled, and found some large rocks to lean against to absorb some of their heat while I took photos of the beach. We left at nine, the cove still brightly lit by the mid-summer sun.

The next day we decided to try a new approach--beaching it by boat. Kellee was in town, so the three of us loaded up in the afternoon (we left work a little early) and headed out in the Ronquil on a flat calm sea. We left Gastineau Channel and turned around Pt. Tantallon to cruise up the back side of Douglas Island looking for the perfect beach. The back side of Douglas has many prospects, one lovely sand or gravel beach after another, each bordered by rocky points and most facing west toward the afternoon sun. We found a lovely beach bordered on the north by a large rocky point and decided to set up shop there. Offshore, Chris jumped in with his floaty. Kellee and I brought the boat up to the beach and unloaded everything. I left Kellee there and motored over to the edge of the point, thinking to anchor the boat to the rocks and let it drift while we played. Unfortunately, this maneuver took place just as the wake from a ferry hit the beach and I had to struggle to keep the boat from crashing against the rocks. Finally Chris suggested that I just anchor it and swim or float to shore, which was a much better idea. I quickly anchored and plunged in, reveling in the cool water. I was having such a good time that I managed to cajole Kellee in for a swim too. Then I grabbed my fins and mask and went free diving, again seeing nothing, then swam Kellee around a bit in her floaty. Just as I got out to warm up, a sea lion came by, so I hurriedly returned to the water and swam around the boat in the hopes that he would stop and play with me. No luck there, so I cozied up in my camp chair and enjoyed the view. Kellee and Chris floated around for a bit longer while Nigel and I stayed on shore soaking in the fantastic day. A large, heavily spotted seal hung around Chris for some time and a whale blew in the distance. A couple of boats passed on the other side of Stephen's Passage, but other than that we saw no one. As far as we could tell, we were the only people on the back side of Douglas, on a perfect beach on a perfect day in the summer sunshine (see video above by Kellee).

Kellee	Kellee and Chris on the back side of Douglas Is.	Debbie and Kellee swimming
Debbie, Chris, and an anxious Nigel	Nigel in his hollow	Kellee, Debbie, and Chris

Eventually we all crawled out of the water and the tide dropped enough that we could walk to the boat. Somewhat reluctantly, we packed up for the 40 minute ride back to Juneau, tanned and happy, my hair bleaching blond from the sun. We didn't make it back out with the floaties, but other sunny days saw us adventuring elsewhere; I don't think I've ever been so tan or my hair so light!

Nigel, Debbie, and Kellee on the back side of Douglas (Admiralty Island across Stephen's Passage)