Throw in a day-long tour of Kachemak Bay with three lodge stops, and we’re not just talking decadent-decadent. Try “otterly” decadent.
Visitors and residents looking to stretch the shoulder season can get one last weekend of bay fun with the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies fourth annual Otterly Decadent Marine Migration Tour.
“It’s an all day event with amazing food,” said Christina Whiting, the Otterly Decadent organizer.
Tickets are still available at $150 a person for the center’s premier fund-raiser. An associated on-line auction ends at 8 p.m. tonight, with a live and silent auction continuing through the migration. The fund-raisers support the programs of one of Homer’s oldest environmental education organizations, one year shy of its silver anniversary.
Whiting described the planned tour.
First, guests meet at the center’s yurt on the Homer Spit by the harbormaster’s office for a noon departure. Dan Pascucci, a naturalist at the center’s Peterson Bay Field Station, greets guests with his mandolin music.
Next, guests go across the bay in the M/V Discovery to Peterson Bay Oyster Lodge, one of three lodges donating its space and services for the day. As they sip champagne and eat fresh oysters, guests listen to Berkeley Davis on guitar.
From the oyster lodge, it’s a short trip to the center’s Peterson Bay Field Station. Staff run a guided tour of the field station. Guests might check out the center’s yurts for a future overnight visit for four — one of the auction items available, Whiting said.
Although it’s possible to walk to Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge from the field station on a minus tide, a 22-foot high tide prevents that this Saturday. A short boat ride around to China Poot Bay takes visitors to the lodge for dinner. Nathaniel Talbot, another center naturalist, plays guitar. Following the dinner is a live art auction. From Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge, guests then go to Halibut Cove Lodge for dessert and another live auction, with guitar music by Nikos Kilcher. The boat returns to the Homer harbor about 8 p.m.
Only 60 tickets will be sold, Whiting said.
“We want to keep it a nice, intimated experience,” she said.
Live, silent and online auction items can be viewed at www.akcoastalstudies.cmarket.com. Items marked “live” will be sold on Saturday. The online auction closes at 8 p.m. today. Whiting said if people are interested in live auction items but can’t make the Saturday event, proxy bids can be made through the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.
“If there’s an item you absolutely have to have, we’ll bid for you,” Whiting said.
Items for sale range from cards and books to weekend lodge stays. Unusual items include golf with Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, a private performance by Tamba! Marimba and a guided wildflower tour of the Carl E. Wynn Nature Center by executive director Marilyn Sigman — including her Aunt Doris’ world-famous cheesecake.
For more information and tickets, call the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies at 235-6667, or stop by its office on Lake Street near Smoky Bay Way.
Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.
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