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Another Alaskan commute–this time around Point Gardner on our way to Kake–you’re looking west with Baranof Island in the distance. We’ve just finished an 11 day clinic in Angoon and have stopped for a couple of days in Baranof Hotsprings to warm up. Here Martina and I relax with our friends Clive and Barbara Evans–we fished with Clive in Antarctica. They are visiting us on their return from Brazil to Auckland where they live–it’s a small world:

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Baranof Hotsprings are located right on the edge of a waterfall and what a place to relax after a rigorous 11 day clinic in Angoon. We worked long days and found lots of dental problems so we need this break. Below we’re walking the Angoon Harbor shoreline–our tug Katahdin is at anchor in the distance:

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Kake is a similar sized town of about 450 with similar dental needs. The candy stores supply all the nourishment needed to keep a dentist busy full-time however we visit only about every other month. It is not uncommon to see shopping carts heaped full of hundreds of candy bars and soft drinks. Diabetes is on the rise here as expected.

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Here Dall Porpoises play off our bow wave as we enter Frederick Sound near Kake. Where Stephens Passage joins Frederick Sound, whales and porpoises are abundant.

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Here’s a scene of the Kake Harbor as we drive to work and below of our dock-space at the workfloat in the fog–you can barely see the Katahdin in the fog. Fall is approaching fast here at the 57th parallel. We are moored right next to a logging barge where the chef gives us fresh baked bread on occasion:

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Finally we’re back in Petersburg where we install our new boat cover and ready the tug for winter–

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This is the final scene right out of our pilot house of Petersburg on the day we left. We’re off to Seattle and Mesa Verde National Park for business. While Martina visits family in Munich, I will return to Prince of Wales Island south of Petersburg for a pre-Christmas clinic. After the holidays, we both will travel to Barrow, our northernmost town and Kaktovik near the the Yukon Territories–stay tuned for the Northern Lights!!