Chronicle 11 Departing Alaska and Entering A Different Foreign Country*

*Alaska is not actually part of the US, is it?

In Meyers Chuck, we found a mega-yacht filling more than half of the state dock, leaving no place for a Nordy Forty.  We thought that was rude—taking up more then her fair share of dock space.  That took us to the question of what is fair...an interesting question for two healthy senior citizens and their Dog cruising in beautiful country.  That sounds like it is more than fair. We gratefully anchored in the small, calm bay.

 Meyers Chuck at low tide.  At high tide, it looks like you could go
out this way.  The chart says “no".

Meyers Chuck, about 40 miles from Ketchikan, is home to a number of vacation cabins, a Post Officer (really), and a handful of full-time residents.

View from Greywolf's stern at sunset.  
This IS the entrance, high or low tide.

  Heading for Ketchikan.  From where?  

The wind picked up as we entered Tongass Narrows. 

Ketchikan looks the same each time we visit.  And I take a picture each time we visit.  Why is that?  Oh.  Sometimes it is raining.

We stopped to take on fuel.  Greywolf can make the round trip without refueling, but she rides better with more weight., unlike the rest of us. This fuel dock is set up to service the big fishing boats; as we got underway with a 15-20 knot breeze blowing us on to the dock, the tires/bumpers grabbed the all-ready ailing side gate and gave the injured hinges another twist.

View from Greywolf’s stern.

Docking in 15-20 knots of wind is nor our favorite activity; we asked the Harbor Master if there was room for us in Thomas Basin.  The cruise ship made a good breakwater.

Allie and I walked up the HILL from the boat basin to City  Park. I think that Ketchikan speaks HILL better than any town in Southeast, even Juneau.

Allie tried her paw at fishing.  No luck.

Ketchikan is a Tree City USA, but that doesn’t explain   why this particular tree had to be  encased in a fence with netting.  Maybe it tends to wander at night.  If I’d gone into the adjacent fish hatchery, I might have found an explanation, Dogzz cannot go in fish hatcheries...especially  Dogzz who fish.

Dogzz also cannot go in Totem Heritage Centers.  On our next visit, Doug

 and I will leave Dog on the boat and become tourists. 

Greywolf’s Ketchikan Angel, Ken Worth, showed up the next day to operate on her askew side gate.  The new hinges we ordered had not arrived, so Ken took the gate to his shop and did some blacksmithing on the hinges.  It’s not perfect, but gate the does close.  Greywolf will get her new hinges installed when we get back to BI.

Leaving Ketchikan

Coming into Prince Rupert, Canada  two days later, we noticed what looked like an oil tanker tied up to the cruise ship dock.  We learned the ship was a coal carrier and heard the Amakusa Island’s story: carrying a full load of coal two weeks earlier,(cue The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald), she hit a reef outside the harbor entrance, with the pilot, who is supposed to know the dangers, on board.  We’re assuming that the pilot is now polishing his resume.  

In addition to coal, the Amakusa Island is now carrying a pronounced starboard list.  Down by the bow, as they say.  (Yes, this IS the stern...)  Did you know that it is possible to weld underwater.?  We were told that it is.  Maybe we look gullible. 

A controversy has been brewing for years over liquid natural gas carriers coming into Rupert in the next few years.  I’m not sure where the permitting process stands a this time for the 900-kilometre natural gas pipeline project. If approved, Many tankers will be plying these waters.

There is an also a controversy farther south in BC, concerning oil tankers transiting Douglas Channel to Kitamat.  The holing of the Amakusa Island  will undoubtedly give ammunition to those opposed to these two proposed projects.

Playground totem pole.

This handsome tug came close to our stern to get her photo taken.
 (She was actually headed for the fuel dock adjacent to our moorage.)

Grenville Channel.  We timed it right this time and did not have the tide against 

us in the 40 mile channel.

At Buttedale, the falls indicate how dry the summer has been.

We stuck Greywolf’s nose into Buttedale to see if we wanted to spend the night at the certifiably ancient docks.  Decay is doing a fine job of turning the former cannery into peat. As we looked at the logs and rotting planks barely above water, Greywolf said, “I’m not going there.”

But Cory and Buddy appeared.  Cory pointed to the left.  “I think you’d like it better down there.”  “Down there” had some solid pieces of planks, and the logs holding the planking were floating on the water. 

Cory said the two tree trunks under the planking were over150 feet long/tall. Impressive.  You can see the base of the trunks behind Greywolf’s stern. 

Cory is the pro tem caretaker.  Lou, the almost-elderly (our age) caretaker who has greeted us in previous visits, comes down occasionally from Kitamat to take over . The property has been purchased by someone from Kitamat who has “deep pockets and big plans” to make Buttedale into an actual marina.  With docks.  And cleats.  And a solid ramp to shore.  There are many other amenities planned.  Cory, who had seen the plans, said that permits were in the works. 

The anchorages on this part of the coast are marginal and far apart.  A marina would be great, but how do you make money in a three month season?

The four or five gentlemen in this sailboat and canoe, Chief of the River, were part of The Spirit of the Coast, a group that is: about awareness, education, culture, environment and, most of all, bringing attention to our beautiful BC Coastline and to share with Canadians what an amazing place we have. It is not a protest.  I didn’t talk with them about the current environmental/jobs issues

The two Spirit boats had left lower BC June 1st and were headed for Prince Rupert, stopping at many First Nations villages along the way, with different individuals signing on to do various legs of the trip.

Photo, as we are leaving. Note the Rotting  Ramp.  

It was steeper when Allie and I negotiated it.

As Allie and I walked up the decrepit ramp, I found myself thinking maybe I shouldn’t be doing this.  Allie was on her leash in case she spotted A Critter.  On the way back to the dock, she spotted Cory’s cat.  THE BEST!   CAT was sitting to the side of the ramp near the top.  CAT did not move. The old woman had quite a time negotiating the steep,  treacherous ramp with Poodle fixated on CAT.  The ramp and shore explore are off the list.  It is easy to wash dog pee off the deck.

Walkway at top of ramp and run-off from lake water.  The walkway 

is in much better shape than the ramp.

Lou’s house

In the evening and early morning, this little bird and all of her friends darted and swooped around the ancient pilings enjoying the smorgasbord of bugs. Greywolf was adorned with the little birds (and their droppings) as they found her rails and rigging ideal places to rest during the hunt. The bugs that avoided becoming bird protein tried to explore the interior of Greywolf, eagerly sampling the crews’ blood supply. 

 Cory is from Ottawa.  He started the care-taking job last

 November and loves it, but family and friends in Ottawa don’t know 

what to think of his new career in the wilds of British Columbia.

 Reuse.  Recycle. Rooms with a view. Close to shopping.
(Those white clumps are birds.  Now you recognize them, eh?)

All kinds of vessels come in to scoop out Butedale.  Only the  crazy ones stay.  When Lou was here, some of the cruise ships would stop, and he’d go out to tell the passengers the story of the cannery.  They still stop occasionally to drop off  bottles of vodka for him.