Next Steps

One of the most asked questions I have received since I completed the swim has been, “What was the hardest part?” The answer to this is becoming more apparent with each passing day.

Now Comes the Hardest Part
Following up the issues, getting out the information, keeping attention on the subject and getting people motivated to act is the next big step. This is the most important time. The swim brought a lot of attention to the Juneau Road. But now as the spotlight is starting to fade we have to keep working.

I urge everyone to write letters to the editors of all Alaskan papers. This is vitally important! The more we can reach out to our neighbors in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Ketchikan, Sitka, etc… the better chance we have of getting our government officials to listen.

The New Alternative
Ironically, on the day I finished my swim, DOT came out with a “new” alternative plan. This plan calls for cutting the road short of Skagway by 18 miles (seems there is some National Park land they can’t bulldoze through).

The Juneau Access Road was supposed to connect Juneau to the outside world. But all this plan does is makes for a farther, more dangerous drive to a ferry terminal. In essence, it connects Juneau to nothing while exposing it’s riders to dangerous driving conditions – let’s get real folks... who is going to feel safe driving this thing in the winter?

Now, the new route does cut the over all cost ($246 million vs. $276 million). So the Federal Government may be happy with that. But maintenance for this road (paid for by Alaska) will actually be more. DOT says this alternative will actually cost 31% MORE than the current ferry. This is “preferred?”

And for those who think this is going to make travel easier, think again. Even the DOT (notorious for bending stats in their favor) has come out and said the new alternative will actually be slower than the current system. Chances are when you drive the 90 miles from downtown Juneau to the new ferry terminal you’ll be stuck in a line behind dozens of RV’s. I wonder how patient people will be as they see ferry after ferry fill up before their eyes as they wait yet another 2 hours for their chance to get their vehicle on board?

At least now, when I go from Haines to Juneau for a doctor’s appointment, I can rely on the current ferry to get me there on schedule. The new alternative would be a first come first serve hit and miss game making it impossible for any pre-planning.

Folks, the road plan went from bad to worse. This new alternative is more expensive to maintain, slower to travel and just as dangerous. Let's keep the momentum going. Improved ferries are the future. Let's be sure to get our message out.

Nothing Left to Fear

Tomorrow, I start the swim. The planning, training, media and fundraising will all be behind me. I look forward to long swims devoid of emails, phone calls and appointments. Once I enter the water, there will nothing left to do but swim. It’s a challenge I am looking forward to.

Fire
The other day our neighbor’s house burned down. In a matter of minutes the entire home was up in flames – fast, powerful and scary. It was only 30 yards from our home. We were just about to leave our house for a safer place when the fire department showed up.

The next day, one of our friends wondered if someone who was pro-road set the fire and meant to get our house. He had said when the Bald Eagle Preserve (about 15 miles up the road) was being created, that the organizers actually received death threats.

Fortunately, I have only received support for this swim, but his comments made me realize just what a culture of fear we live in.

Fear
When I spoke at the Haines Borough Assembly, I asked if they would consider donating money to the swim or at least authoring a statement of support. The assembly has come out against the road in formal referendums, so I was hoping to get some sort of verbal resolution. In the end, they choose to “recognize” the swim (see “Fear Revisited” below).

In the latest Chilkat Valley News (Haines local paper) an assembly person, when asked about the recognition, said, “I just don’t know how a resolution (of support) would go over with the Murkowski administration when it comes to future funding.”

It was sad to read this. Are we now to the point that if we practice our freedom of speech we can be punished? Do the current leaders hold such power over us as to prevent us from speaking our minds? I don’t blame the borough assembly - chances are their fears our justified… it’s just a travesty to see that such fears exist in what is suppose to be free society.

Water
I once thought that the whales, sharks and sea lions were the biggest fear I had to over come for this swim. But now, as I embark upon this expedition, the water seems a welcoming source of reprieve.

In the water I am stripped of everything. I have no voice, I have no control and I have no choice. The ocean makes my decisions for me and I just react. It’s simpler this way - it relieves me of any need to act. Once with the flow, I let the ocean determine the day.

Earth
But once on land, I know that my actions and words determine who I am. I make the choice to be the person I am. I have a responsibility to my friends, neighbors and most of all myself to act in accordance with my beliefs.
This is the scariest part of all.

Voice
In 10-days, I will come out of the ocean in Juneau and I will speak again. With your help, over the coming days, this voice will become stronger; write editorials to your paper, talk with your neighbors, call your representative. As momentum builds, our voice will be heard.

Count Down Begins

Just a couple days left until we start. Tomorrow we load the Arcturus (our crew boat) full of food, gear, water and fuel. This will be our home for the next couple weeks. It’s going to be nice to settle in once we start.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer
The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Cleveland is my home town) wrote an nice article on the swim. I was impressed with how well the writer (Donna Iacoboni) was able to capture the environment here as well as the issues surrounding the swim.

The article put me in touch with some old friends – in particular, my first swim coach Dave Abineri. His website (http://www.goeasyware.com) has photo’s of recent LRSC reunions (my old swim team in Lakewood). Very nostalgic to see names and faces of people I grew up with 25 years ago.

Alaska Pork - Unplugged
The energy bill passed through congress yesterday. This means millions of pork money for Alaska road projects. One project is the Ketchikan bridge which is being built to connect Ketchikan (pop. 16k) to its island airport. The $275 million bridge will be as long as the Golden Gate and taller than the Brooklynn Bridge. This replaces the publicly favored ferry that takes only 10 minutes to get to the airport.

So the question is why? Why build a more expensive road to replace an already existing transit system? Can you believe these politicians call themselves representatives of the people? We say improve the ferries and spend wisely. They spend millions on redundant projects that the people don’t want. Wouldn’t you like to know who their lobbyist are?

How can they sleep at night knowing that they sucked millions of dollars away from our soldiers safety, our health care, our social security and our education. Alaska will have some of the best roads (not to mention least traveled and most dangerous) in the country that will lead to the most outdated, dilapidated schools and hospitals in the North America. Yeah, that’s the way to represent the needs of the people… just who are your lobbyist?

Taking a Stand
Funny that the only way to make a dent in the political agenda of a tired-of-hearing administration is by NOT doing what they say (writing letters, speaking at hearings, calling your representatives, etc). When asked what they thought of my swim, Governor Murkowski’s spokeswomen said, “If we had a road, we could drive down and watch him."

Doesn’t that just sum up their attitude. No mention of the issues - the millions of dollars it would cost, the bulldozing of endangered sea lion habitat, the 60 avalanche areas and the public outcry against the road. Nope, just a flip remark ignorant of the sincere concerns of the people. Cute.

I have no choice but to swim.

Haines Brewery Names New Beer

It's the official beer of The Lynn Swim. Local brewery, Haines Brewing Company, named their latest batch of beer "Roadless Lynn Canal". One dollar of every purchase will be donated to The Lynn Swim.

This is great honor. We can't thank HBC enough for their kindness and support. Be sure to get your growler of Roadless Lynn while your at the South East Alaska Fair.

12 Days - Lots Left

Well, the anxiety and excitement is settling in. Less than two weeks and I'll be hopping in the water to start the swim. Part of me is really nervous yet, part of me just wants to get started.
There is a lot still left to do - more training, fund raising, media, crew training, event organization... it gets a bit over whelming at times.
I just got back from Juneau. I got to talk on KINY's Capital Chat radio talk show. I wasn't happy with my first few opening statements... it's hard to put all the reason for doing this into a few short paragraphs (hence the website full of info). But once I settled in, I starting to get the message across. At the end of the show, a listener called in and said it was one of the best shows she's heard them do... so it couldn't have been too bad.
The fundraising events went well. We didn't raise as much as we'd hoped (wanted $2000, received about $1200), but as with most things with this swim, it allowed me to deal with some of my own fears. In this case, my social phobia's. It's hard enough going to a potluck dinner when you don't know anybody, but when your the guest of honor too - oh my.

Still Time to Donate
In the end, what we hoped would be a 40 person potluck, turned out to be about 20. But don't you fear - there is still time to donate!
We are about half way to our needs, so please anything you can offer to help support the Lynn Swim and crew would be great. Donate at our support page.

Documentary Crew On Board
Big news - we have a documnetary crew coming on the swim. In fact, filming has already started. Steve Kroschel and his crew will be filming the swim and interviewing people about the cause in hopes of producing a TV documentary. Steve has done films for PBS, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, etc. We are really excited to have his expertise on the crew.

Welcome New Sponsor
Thank you Clif Bar for sending us cases of your product. It is an honor to have you on the team supporting a clean safe environment.

Fear Revisited

As I swim longer in the ocean, I am getting more comfortable. I am acclimating to the temperature and not as concerned as I have been about marine life.

I have talked with Dena Matkin, an orca expert in Glacier Bay. She said I shouldn’t be too concerned. The resident orcas are fish eaters (I am not a fish). The pups may come over to me out of curiosity but shouldn’t be a threat. The transient population, the mammal eaters (I am a mammal) will most likely stay away because of the expected boat activity around me. When pressed, she finally said,

“If they begin to approach you just get out of the water and watch what they do. Then call me and tell me what happen."

We do have sharks.Hmmm... Dena is contacting people in Juneau who study sharks to see if there are any concerns. Especially for the night swims.

I've had a couple porpoise encounters. A couple times they were so close I could hear them under water (sound just like dolphins – obviously). I poked my head up and Alain, my kayaker said, “They are all around you."
"How close," I asked.
"Within 20 feet.”
To my amazement I didn’t panic. Of course my rational mind knows porpoise won’t hurt me but it doesn’t always prevent the feeling of vulnerability. Anyways, I actually started peering under water to see if I could catch a glimpse of them. This is a bit of a break through for me - only a month ago I didn’t even like having my eyes open under water.

As for the cold temps, I am adjusting well. I went for a 2-hour swim today and as long as I kept moving I felt fine. Unfortunately, I had just washed my moldy (like you needed to know) water bottle and left some soap in it. So my carb drink tasted awful. I came out of the ocean a bit dehydrated, but at least I wasn’t hypothermic.

Oh, another point of interest. I spoke at the last Borough Assembly meeting to ask them to support my swim. I mentioned our monetary needs, but also left open the option for a statement of support. We didn’t get any money from them (which is probably the most politically correct thing to do), but we did get this:

The Haines Borough Assembly recognizes the determination of Steve Vick to bring attention to the potential affects of the proposed eastside Juneau-Skagway Road on the people of the Northern Lynn Canal.

If anything, it is nice to be recognized. I appreciate them taking the time to unanimously come up with a statement.

Hey – Lynn Swim is in the news. Go to Goggle and type, “Steve Vick Lynn Swim” and you’ll get plenty of hits. This swim is making waves! (Links to news article also our home page.)

Crew Practice

Well, we spent saturday on the water practicing kayak rotation on Jim's boat. The Lutak Cat (Jim's boat) is well suited for the needs of the kayakers. The 29' catamaran has a lift in the front that was designed to drive 4-wheelers off when on shore. This lift is ideal for kayakers to get on and off the boat, as it lowers right into the water. With just a few rotations Alain and Tania (our kayakers) were pretty comfortable with the system.

But, it hasn't been tested on rough water yet. I am learning that my ability to handle rough water can sometimes surpass my kayakers ability to do the same. Thus we will most likely be using a zodiac to pace me when the conditions start to get rough.

We all got a look at the Arcturus. This is Terry's boat. It has room for 8 in the lower area of the boat. It has some large deck space and a large galley area. So I am hoping that Terry will commit to the entire trip. Right now it seems he is about 75% committed.

Between the Arcturus and Lutak Cat, we should be set on meeting the needs of the crew and the safety of the swim.

We had Matt Davis (local photographer) and some high school students (shooting video) along with us. It was nice to have everyone out together - made the upcoming swim all the more real and served as a good motivator.

I reckon everyone was waiting to see me swim. I can see how it would be exciting, but after an hour or so, I figured their enthusiasm would wear off. I swam for almost 2 hours while we were out. When I got out of the water everyone seemed pumped up. I guess the realization that this is really going to happen is starting to sink in. It's only 3 weeks away.

Boy do we need funding. The Lutak Cat burns alot of fuel. Hopefully we'll be able to conserve as much as possible, but it is still going to take some money to make this swim happen. If you'd like to help go to our support page to donate.

Well, lot's to do in the coming weeks. I will keep you posted.