For the most part, when we are traveling, most of our stops are at small communities that are reasonably easy to explore by foot. Almost every town we visited had groceries, laundry, restaurant(s), and a marine parts store within easy walking distance of the docks. The one exception to this is Juneau, which is a fairly large town by area standards, but also boasts a very good bus system providing access to all it's various amenities. Sitka also fits the bill as a "boater friendly" town, with groceries, laundry, restaurants and a marine store all within a few blocks of the marina. However, this becomes complicated when you add an employment factor to your needs, as I have, and suddenly there is somewhere you need to be at a certain time. Although Sitka is a fairly compact community, with only about 14 miles of road, commuting to work can be troublesome. My place of employment is only a few miles from the marina, and I thought I might be able to just walk back and forth to work, but this time of year the hours of daylight are exceeded by my hours of employment, meaning I travel to and from work in the dark each day. The weather is also an issue, with heavy rain, high winds, and snow, all at the same time recently, making walking a depressing option. Lastly, this is still wilderness, with the possibility (although thankfully not a probability) of encountering a nice big brown bear along the way. My solution so far has been to borrow a vehicle from a friend here in town (thanks Bob), but an early 70's Ford Courier in this condition can hardly be called reliable transportation. At least I carry with me the option to row to work if the truck dies somewhere close to the water.
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