Trip to Homer, Alaska

Still stymied in our construction efforts by the continuing rain, we decided to take a day off and go to Homer. Homer is about 50 miles south of where we were and is a well-known sport fishing town. It has a five mile gravel spit protruding out into the Kachemak Bay. On the spit is a collection of tourist shops, fishing outfits, and a nice marina.

This display of halibut from one of the sport fishing boats gives you an idea of why Homer is famous for its fishing.

Past the tourist shops was a camping area on the gravel bar and there were several tents facing the Kachemak Bay and the mountains beyond. It was quite cool and windy at this point.

These two ladies certainly had reason to be proud of their catch as this large halibut is weighed in by one of the crew of the boat. I looked at the scale and it read 120 lbs! The fishing boats did their weighing and display right on the boardwalk as celebration for the fishermen and advertising for their fishing trips.

The boats going out from the marina certainly had a picturesque background on the Kachemak Bay with the mountains beyond.

We decided to book a short boat tour out to the islands where so many birds nest. Warren and Sue Woolf are on board our small tour boat, the "Rainbow Connection". We had a 1.5 hr tour of the Kachemak Bay and Gull Island. The young crew was very knowledgeable and it was an enjoyable trip.

We were delighted to get to see puffins fairly close up as the captain edged the boat up close to the rocky ledges of the small islands. Brenda and Rod had seen puffins in Wales, but never very close up. We could see their little burrows under the tufts of grass on the rocky cliff sides.

The rain that had held off during our boat trip now set in in earnest during our supper at the Soudough Express Bakery in Homer. On the return trip we dropped off for a look at the Russian Orthodox Church at Ninilchik.

The hard rain put the damper on more sightseeing. Upon our return to the church location, Jeff checks out the bluff view across from the church one more time. His dress was appropriate.