January 30, 2024, by Lisa Teas Conaway

After Hours 3 Part Series | Thursdays at 5:30pm starting February 1st, 2024

It’s just about impossible to live in Sitka without making a journey from Washington to Alaska. We usually make this journey by plane, or sometimes the ferry. But in 1929, Jack Calvin and Sasha Kashevaroff made the trip from Tacoma to Juneau in a 17-foot wooden canoe. They spent their honeymoon paddling up the Inside Passage, and Jack Calvin later documented this journey in a 1933 article for National Geographic.

Starting this Thursday at 5:30pm, we’ll go on our own journey through history, literature, and art inspired by this story of love and adventure at sea. Join us for Canoe Odyssey, a free three-part After Hours series at the Science Center.

This week, we’ll begin with the story of Jack, Sasha, and their bohemian circle of friends. We’ll go behind the scenes at the Science Center to check out the canoe and other artifacts, read excerpts from the National Geographic article, and compare Jack’s account of a journey at sea to Homer’s Odyssey. Across time and cultures, we’ll see how the excitement and uncertainty of voyages at sea never fail to captivate us.

Stay tuned for the second and third installments of this event series, taking place 5:30-7:00pm on February 8 and February 15.

For more information reach out to Lina Kapp lkapp@sitkascience.org