Chronicle 7 Alaska...

This is NOT the entrance...

June 4th:  With Customs & Border Patrol’s permission, Greywolf spent her first night in Alaska anchored in our usual and accustomed spot in Foggy Bay.  The entrance  to this well-protected bay defines the word “intricate”.  On our first visit in 2007, we found the experience heart-stopping in Shaman, our C&C sailboat, with her 7'10” keel.  

Neighbors in the hood.  

All boats clearing Customs in Ketchikan are boarded by a Customs agent.  The agent who cleared us was complaining about the weather.  It was sunny.  It had been sunny for some time.  He had just transferred from the southwest boarder and was hoping to get away from warm weather.  

Wednesday night sailboat races on the 

Tongass Narrows

Before we left Prince Rupert, Doug had contacted a friend in Ketchikan asking for the name of a mechanic who might be able to repair Yanmar’s exhaust system.  Ken Worth is a diesel mechanic (what else could you be with the name 
“Kenworth?”) who is ALSO A WELDER.  We could not have asked for more expert care.   Yanmar exhaust was repaired and a couple of pesky small fuel leaks are no longer plaguing us.

Ken laying on his side tending to Yanmar (looking through the hatch 

in Greywolf's main cabin floor...alternate engine room  access.)

Johanna came with her dad on one of his mechanic trips.  
Allie was delighted.

Our Ketchikan mechanic-referral connection, Mark, and his wife, Leah, are bi-islanders.  Leah commutes to her Seattle job from their sailboat moored on our dock at Winslow Wharf.  Mark commutes to his Ketchikan  job from their house two miles from the (north) end of the road on Revillagigedo Island. They both spend a fair amount of time and money with Alaska Air;  Leah was in Ketchikan when Greywolf arrived.  We enjoyed a tour of Ward Lake, the Totem Park, Mark’s Ketchikan sailboat, and dinner at their house. Since the visit was not planned, they didn’t have time to cue the whales often seen from their waterfront home built on an amazingly steep hillside. 

Mark belongs to a group that has been instrumental in developing the Ward Lake Park, including making the entire trail, which circles this little lake, wheelchair accessible.  Isn’t that a lovely gift  to the community?  

This a beaver.  No, really.  It was late Sunday afternoon, but he was working. 

 Busy as a.....

Mark aboard his recently-acquired Ketchikan sailboat....moored in their driveway.  

Leah aboard our boat.  Moored in North Bar Harbor.

I think this was Grandpa taking the grandkids out for a boat ride. I love it 

that the little girl had her purse with her.  A girl needs to be prepared...

A brand new  seine skiff.  The skipper is counting on a good summer of 

fishing to make the payments.

I’m thinking that the guy on the lift is very likely the owner of the building.  

Southeast Alaska is not the kind of place where you hire someone to do maintenance.  

You can tell he is an older (wiser) man: he is using the lift.  Not a ladder.

This bumper -sticker-collector was delighted to come upon this truck.  The mother-lode!  

I saw another equally-stickered truck in Sitka, 

but the sayings were too violent to deserve reading, much less sharing.  

Some of these are offensive, but I overlooked that in my zeal to share the funny ones.

You don’t see any funny ones?  Or maybe you don’t see any offensive ones.

Something for everyone.

Tongass Trading Company allows dogs inside.  Allie loves to go shopping; shopping often involves TREATS.  She is shameless.  Tongass Trading had a better idea:  a squeaky dog toy (Allie’s favorite, next to TUG) in the shape of a Ketchikan Sneaker…local name for the seemingly mandatory rubber boot, footwear worn by everyone in Southeast.  Allie even got a  customer to play with her. The clerk told us  that we could buy the toy at their souvenir store across the street.  Alas, although it was only 4:00, the store was closed.  The cruise ships had departed.

Headed for Creek Street, to absorb the history, without the crowds. 
The former brothels have morphed into shops selling trinkets and art made in Alaska and China to visitors.  Times change.

View from the boat deck.  Barges offloaded and took on containers from morning to night (which is a long time in Southeast).  Generators powering the refrigerated containers belched soot 24/7.  Greywolf’s white decks took on a hue to compliment her grey hull.  Those yellow sailboats did not fare well.  I met a local boat owner who was delighted that he had recently been assigned a new slip in South Bar Harbor.  Not that far away, but far enough to keep his boat from turning black.

We did enjoy watching the tugs push and tug.

 

Boat deck view late at night...10:30 or 11:00.

Ramps are steep in Ketchikan.  Especially during “spring” tides.

And those of us with four small feet have to plan carefully.

Just because you live on a boat doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy hummingbirds.  

All you need is sugar water, a boat hook and a rod holder. 

Mark not only knows good mechanics, but as the head of Emergency Services at PeaceHealth Medical Center, he also knows good doctors.  The symptoms that sent me to the emergency room in Prince Rupert had not returned, but I was experiencing discomfort and/or pain; we were unwilling to travel without knowing what we might expect.  I made an appointment.  The doctor agreed that I most likely had an unhappy gallbladder.  HOWEVER, the hospital’s ultrasound tech had quit the week before.  No “elective” ultrasound in Ketchikan.  

At Mark’s suggestion, we would head for Sitka in search of medical help. We were planning to meet a friend there in July, so it was a logical choice.  Mark had worked with and respected the surgeon in Sitka and Sitka had an ultrasound tech.  We became Medical Tourists.

Greywolf heading  north (west), passing ships in Tongass Narrows.  

Same waters.  

Different experiences.  

All good.  

Most of the time.
M-I-C-K-E Y-M-O-U-S-E

Clarence Strait 

Not all logging companies use “best practices”.  I believe they 

are required to leave the area near the shore intact.

Alaska State Ferry Matanuska as seen in the flesh.

Below: our chart plotter displaying the Matanuska's “AIS” image--blue shape with orange name tag.  Greywolf is the blue triangle trailing a dotted black line,
our track through the water.

The Matanuska’s skipper radioed Greywolf requesting that we move to starboard so he could pass us on our port side, between us and the shore of Prince of Whales Island. Of course.  Doug took Greywolf in a circle so we could cross the Matanuska’s wake bow-on after she passed.  Shortly after she passed us, she headed north east, crossing in front of us.  We wondered why she didn’t head in that direction while she was still behind us.  I’m sure the skipper had his reasons.  He has undoubtedly made the trip before.

The price wasn’t too bad at the gas station, considering where we were.  

(Northeast side of Prince of Whales Island.  

You all KNOW how long it takes to get there...)

Saturday night at local (only) tavern

We planned to do more exploring in Coffman Cove (yes, there is more) in the morning, but slack water in Wrangell Narrows was mid-afternoon. If we hurried (a little bit of Nordhaven 40 humor there), we’d be able to “make the slack” and be in Petersburg that evening.