On to Ketchikan

Day 13     58nm 

Oh my, be careful what you wish for. The weather gods might have heard my earlier offhand remark that I didn’t care what the sun did when I wished for less wind and flatter water. A thick blanket of fog hid the sun completely, but there was no less wind or flatter water. We had a slow, lumpy crossing from Dundas Island, BC, across East Dixon Entrance and the International Border to Ketchikan, AK. A series of very high tides this week, whoppers topping 19 feet, eased a lot of big logs off the beaches, carrying them out into open water. That kept us on our toes, continually scanning the water ahead. Log watch!

We moored just inside the breakwater entrance, near the outboard end of Ketchikan’s newly-replaced Pier 9. With a great view of the Tongass Narrows traffic, we enjoyed the parade of tugs, barges, fishing vessels, sailboats, powerboats, ferries, workboats, duckboats, cruise ships, kayaks and everything else that passed by. The floatplanes… not so much enjoyment there. Dozens of them land and takeoff constantly while the cruise ships are in the harbor, zooming about overhead like annoying swarms of pesky mosquitos... really big, noisy mosquitos.

The weather gods chuckled again, gifting us with yet another early-morning departure in dense fog. Winding our way down an often busy channel, keeping an eye on the radar screen, hearing the deep-throated blast of cruise ship foghorns somewhere in the distance, and scanning the shore for the fuel dock made for a quick transition from sleepy to full alert status.  The fog lifted, we headed north with no fog-related drama to report, and that’s a good thing.    

Occasionally a cheeky bird decides to hitch a ride along the route, hopping from rail to rail and squawking noisily for miles as we cruise along at 9 knots. Did this crow mistake us for a fishing boat and land, hoping to find a snack?