Clueless in Alaska: Kayak Alaska? Are You Crazy!!

By Leslie Ann Braun

Sea kayaking on lakes or in protected waterways can be somewhat of a challenge. Taking this sport to a wilderness area elevates it to a much higher level with its own unique set of circumstances. Kayaking in Alaska when totally "clueless" tests your physical prowess, your courage, your ingenuity, and your spirit. This is a true story of fun, challenges, strength, endurance and creativeness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728350257

Leslie Ann Braun

Leslie Ann Braun was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but raised and educated in California. In her late 30's, she went through a metamorphosis and made a life-altering decision by taking a different path in her life. She had a need to venture out of her comfort zone and learn more to become one with nature. To acquire the skills that would move her forward, she immersed herself in various outdoor classes and activities that taught her the skills she would need to survive. She was introduced to whitewater kayaking and then graduated to sea kayaking, having many kayaking adventures with a group of friends. She met her current husband, life partner, and soul mate in one of these classes. From that moment on she was propelled forward to newer experiences and adventures. She and her husband have done extensive traveling throughout the United States and in several foreign countries. She has written extensively about these travels, but only for friends. This is her first work as a published author.

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© 2020 Leslie Ann Braun. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-7283-5026-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-5024-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-5025-7 (e)

Published by AuthorHouse 04/30/2020

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Acknowledgements

I give thanks to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the gift of life and for saving it numerous times.

I give thanks to my wonderful husband, John Braun, for his spirit of adventure without whom this trip would never have taken place, and for spurring me on to write this adventure story for you to enjoy (hopefully).

I give thanks to my mother and my father, Onerine and James Khoury, both of whom have passed from this Earth, for believing in me and putting up with a willful daughter.

I give thanks to all my whitewater kayaking buddies who kept me from drowning, and my instructor, Bill Webb, for teaching me the skills to keep me upright and going in the right direction.

I give thanks to my cousin, Mary Mureau, for providing us a place of respite prior to and after our journey, for allowing us to invade her peace and quiet, for being a gracious host, and for her willingness to help us in so many ways.

I give thanks to Brian McGillvray who provided friendship, a safe haven, and life-saving wilderness instruction.

I give thanks to Scott Roberge from Tongass Kayaking Adventures who was instrumental in our trip planning and for allowing us to participate in his activities.

I give thanks to my friend, Pam Hunter, who put up with us for two weeks while we invaded her property with all our kayaking gear, for her most gracious hospitality and for being a wonderful friend.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1     Cause and Affect

Chapter 2     North to Alaska and Parts Unknown

Chapter 3     Water Logged and Ready to No Avail

Chapter 4     The Moment of Truth

Chapter 5     Our Saving Grace

Chapter 6   Decision Time – Success or Failure

Chapter 7     Learning Stage Never Ends

Chapter 8     The Cost of Wimping Out

Chapter 9     The Best Laid Plans are Not Always

Chapter 10   A Whale of a Tail

Chapter 11   New Adventures and New Friends

Chapter 12   Something New

Chapter 13   Something Blue

Chapter 14   Nature’s Surprise

Chapter 15   Paddle of Our Lives

Chapter 16   The End and the Beginning

Chapter 17   Kayak Trip Advice

Chapter 18   Final Words of Wisdom

Addendum 1: 1994 Kayak   Trip Expense Summary

Addendum 2: 1994 Alaska   Kayak Trip – Food List

Addendum 3: 1994 Alaska   Kayak Trip – Clothing List

Addendum 4: 1994 Alaska Kayak   Trip – Equipment List

About the Author

Introduction

I am out of here! If you don’t want to come, that’s okay, but I can’t do this anymore! Those were the words of a desperate man in the midst of a California traffic mental breakdown! Those words disrupted my very being and sent me into a tail spin, until I finally came to my senses and became subservient to his need. He opened a door through which we both walked; and once closed, we never looked back.

On May 12, 1994, my husband, John, and I left California for good to begin an odyssey that neither one of us had ever expected to take, or even thought possible. The desire to be released from the madness of this world was strong enough to spur us forward.

Here we were, two middle-aged people heading for the wilderness, totally clueless. The spirit of adventure was shimmering in the back of our minds accompanied by great trepidation. Could we possibly pull off a four-month kayak journey from Ketchikan to Juneau, Alaska in our Wilderness Systems Sealution kayaks?

This question was yet to be answered, and little did we know what this journey really had in store for us.

The experience of being surrounded by Mother Nature at her best and worst instilled a sense of gratitude for life itself. The songs of Eagles, the honks, growls and grunts of seals, the flutter of water fowl wings, and the roar of the ice calving off of the icebergs would set our souls spinning. We were the audience watching as life moved all around us and at times took us by surprise.

I envision that our story will transport you to another dimension, a place and time that will captivate you or propel you forward on your own journey into this great wilderness before it is lost to us all.

My hope is that you will transport yourself away from the city noise, polluting vehicles, loud radios, distracting televisions, cell phones singing and ringing, people screaming and yelling, bad news, worse politics, and all other characteristics of living in this crazy world so you can enjoy this journey vicariously through us.

Chapter 1

Cause and Affect

On December 25, 1992, my mother presented me and my husband with a gift for a cruise. She gave us the choice between Alaska or the Caribbean. We chose the former — a 7-day Alaskan Inside Passage cruise on the Princess Cruise Line. This gift would affect our lives in unimaginable and unexpected ways.

On May 18, 1993, we flew from LAX to Vancouver, British Columbia to meet our cruise ship, the Regal Princess. This ship was only three years old, having been commissioned in 1990, and was a palace in the eyes of someone who came from a middle-class family, and had never been aboard a cruise ship before. For the next seven days, I would be that regal princess, being waited on hand and foot, and loving every minute of it.

We cruised the Inside Passage, drinking in the scenic wilderness in 80-degree weather with fair skies and calm seas. We enjoyed many of the amenities the ship had to offer, met wonderful people, and watched the wilderness go by while enjoying one of the many hot tubs available to us. We ate and drank ourselves silly on the exquisitely prepared edibles and beverages presented to us. In our caloric and inebriated stupor, we jokingly said, We need to kayak this place and see more of what Alaska has to offer. With weather like this, it would be a piece of cake! The seeds of illusion and delusion were planted.

Prior to our embarking on this cruise, we were advised to take cold weather clothing. This advice seemed to be out of proportion to what we were experiencing. We had no clue that Ketchikan alone held the record for rain, averaging 141 inches a year. Yet, here we were in bathing suit weather.

Upon arriving back home from this magnificent cruise, the bubble was popped, and we were faced with the dubious reality of our lives once again. We pushed the ridiculous idea of kayaking in Alaska aside and jumped back into the daily routine of surviving in this crowded, noisy, and smoggy city known as Long Beach, California. We felt as if we were drowning in a sea of humanity and the inherent pollution of industrial over-kill. John went back to work as a commercial Journeyman Carpenter, scaling high-rise buildings; and I went back to Long Beach Memorial Hospital as a Medical Transcriptionist working a mind-numbing, 8-hour night shift.

The thought of getting out of California plagued us daily. Kayaking in Alaska seemed extremely farfetched and totally impossible, so we set it aside. We turned our attention to the possibility of traveling around the United States for a few months. Could this be possible for the not so rich and famous? What would we do about our jobs and our home? Why were decisions like this so hard to make? Did any of this really matter?

Three months after our cruise, in August of 1993, on a bright, sunny and smoggy California day, we received our next issue