Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Homer Spit

The town of Homer, Alaska lies on the shores of Kachemak Bay, a sheltered arm of lower Cook Inlet on the southeastern tip of the Kenai Peninsula, and is “famous” as being the halibut capital of the world. But we didn't come here to go fishing!

Sue, Fred and I are sharing a campsite on the Homer Spit, which extends 4.5 miles out into Kachemak Bay. When we arrived in early afternoon (August 12th) the campground was nearly empty. By evening it wasn't completely full but it was highly occupied. Huge RVs pulled in all around us!

As you can see, the skies are rather cloudy. It has been a wet summer here - if it rains in each of the next two days it will be a record for the Homer area – 28 days of rain! Of course, it wasn't a steady, consistent rain for all those days. We can only hope for a dry day on Saturday for our little excursion.

A few hundred feet away from the campground is the Seafarer's Memorial, of which this is a part. The inscription reads “This Bell Tolls for all the Souls Set Free Upon the Sea.”

The Harbor at Homer Spit. Even on a gloomy day, it is beautiful.

The tides of Kachemak Bay are the second largest in the world. The average vertical difference between high and low waters is 15 feet, with an extreme of 28 feet. During low tide the angle of the portion of the pier sloping down to the boats can be as much as 45 degrees! The piers and boats moored in the bay all rise and fall with the tides. A short but fascinating movie shown at the Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitor Center in Homer revealed the dramatic differences between high and low tide. It was amazing. These pictures of the marina area were taken when the tide was higher (though I don't know whether it was at high tide or not).



All kinds of rules and regulations must be strictly followed!

The little shop along the waterfront for the “Time Bandit” which is one of the boats (they hunt for Alaskan King Crab) that has become famous (or infamous, depending upon your point of view) locally due to the series “Deadliest Catch” on the Discovery Channel.

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