Posting 4 - Travels of Moonraker

 

Arriving in Ketchikan on Thursday afternoon in clear weather was a highlight. The previous week the temperatures were in the 80’s, now mid 70’s and clear skies. A Border agent greets all boats entering Ketchikan, I-68’s and Nexus are not accepted. They claim that I-68’s are not being renewed for next year and Nexus is a land based entry form that cannot be used in Alaska, no computers have access to database. Since we had all our paperwork and tags the process went fairly quick, no searching of boat was done, all our food supplies were safe.

 

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The 1.5-mile walk into town and the quick tour made us realize that we needed to take advantage of the local bus system. The 3 buss system run every half hour and cover almost all points of interest and cost only 50 cents. Friday was laundry day and fish licenses. We got the local info on where to catch the king salmon and were anxious to try our luck. Saturday we headed out expecting to bring back our limit, 6 Kings per license only for the next couple of weeks in a certain area. However, a pod of 6-8 killer whales in the area spoiled our day, although we trolled in the area for over 4 hours nothing was caught. We ended back in town visiting the local culture of Creek Street and Dolly’s House. Since most the cruise ships leave in the evenings this was a good time to see Ketchikan’s most colorful attractions.

 

Sunday under bright clear skies we took to our buddy boat, a 47’ Riviera, out to Misty Fjords and Punchbowl Cove. At 20 knots and 45 gallons/hour the 50 mile trip was made in a mere 2.5 hours. Diesel prices are $2.16/gallon here in Alaska, what’s up with that Jimmy? Many faster tour boats and floatplanes are available for the tourists but having a personal boat to visit at a more leisure pace was worth the price. We cruised all the small fjords hoping to catch a bear on the beach but all we saw were magnificent waterfalls mile after mile. Misty Fjords is one of nature’s most spectacular creations 2.3 million-acre monument, second only to the Amazon in size as a rain forest. The New Eddystone Rock, a picturesque volcanic core, thrusts high into the air near the entrance to the monument.

 

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The Punchbowl gets it name from the ice carved features
of the surrounding mountains.

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Waterfalls are at every corner as you
wind your way through the fjords.

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Monday with the busses again running we headed out of town north to Totem Bight, a totem pole exhibit. We merged in with a tour group and managed to get a guided tour at no cost. The cost to the cruise tourists was $60/person but included a private tour bus. For us the 50 cents city bus was just the ticket and fit into our cruising budget. 

 

Saxman Native Village and Totem Bight State Park display poles and clan house that have been either gathered from abandoned villages or recreated from local heritage Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian tribes’ memory. The poles display much about how the residents lived and their beliefs.

 

 

 

 

 

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The native clan houses were assembled like Lincoln Logs to be moved from one location to the next; only the large support beams are left to be used again when they their return. 

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Inside the small entry women guards were stationed to keep out unwanted guests, in this case the entry has been made slightly larger to accommodate the tourists.

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Although we planned to leave tomorrow we decided to stay another day and try our fishing skills once more. It would sure be nice to have a freezer full of salmon to carry us up into Wrangell our next stop. The latest on fishing is to go out 2 hours before low tide and wait for the kings to travel in by Herring Bay. Last time we went out on slack high tide, which is not recommended. It’s raining now so whether we travel or fish it’s going to be a relaxing day.

 

Bob & Tracie