The magenta line (can you even see it?) is our transit from Prince Rupert, crossing the Dixon Entrance in calm weather and spending the night at Foggy Bay with El Buccanero. You can’t see the majority of the Dixon Entrance, the open water between Tree Point and the Queen Charlotte Islands, carefully hidden under the title. The yellow line is our transit to Ketchikan the next day. You can’t see the rain and snotty weather on that part of the trip. It never shows up on the charts.
We cleared Customs in Ketchikan on June 17th…not an easy task. We forgot that Alaska is not actually part of the United States and does not necessarily share information with our government. A polite Customs Official came down to the boat (after a wait of almost two hours) to look at our passports and write things on a form. Our very official-looking Nexus cards might as well have been Kitsap County Library cards. He only inspected paperwork and, upon leaving, did not see Doug kicking himself for throwing two bottles of expensive Canadian wine (there is no other kind) overboard to avoid a Custom’s problem.
Between the Customs experience and difficulty communicating with the harbormaster, we were not feeling too welcome in Alaska as we sent off on an explore to a nearby hardware store in search of a hand drill. At anchor one evening last week, we needed to drill holes to mount a replacement light fixtures in the head (that is where the potty is, in case you don’t speak Boat). ‘ Could not find the proverbial current bush for Mr. Dewalt Drill, so we rowed over to El Buccanero to use his inverter. Doug has long wanted a little hand drill he could use when we don’t have AC power and that was the excuse he needed.
Nice hardware store. Helpful people. No hand drills. One of the helpful clerks DID know what we were talking about, but after searching, concluded that Madison Lumber and Hardware did not carry antique tools. We thanked him and as we wandered toward the door, he reappeared with.....
Nice hardware store. Helpful people. No hand drills. One of the helpful clerks DID know what we were talking about, but after searching, concluded that Madison Lumber and Hardware did not carry antique tools. We thanked him and as we wandered toward the door, he reappeared with.....
in his hands. “Just how badly do you want one? This has been sitting on my workbench for years and none of my employees know what it is.” We paid the $5 asking price and went on our way, happy little consumers. Ketchikan looked much friendlierThe following (SUNNY!) day, we took the city bus to Saxman, an Indian community south of town with impressive totem poles. The driver was chatting with two passengers from New Mexico who mentioned that they had lived in Seattle for number of years. Our driver had grown up in Seattle and graduated from Rainer Beach High School. (Don’t you love public transportation, and why am I telling you this? Be patient.)
After the cruise ship passengers got on in town, our driver became a tour guide: There is very little topsoil on the island. The horses that you see in town hauling the tourists around go to Spokane for the winter because there is not pasture land here. There is only one Indian reservation in the whole state…Metlakatla on Annette Island. We learned other interesting tidbits, but you have those socks to sort, so I will go on to the next piece of trivia.
After the cruise ship passengers got on in town, our driver became a tour guide: There is very little topsoil on the island. The horses that you see in town hauling the tourists around go to Spokane for the winter because there is not pasture land here. There is only one Indian reservation in the whole state…Metlakatla on Annette Island. We learned other interesting tidbits, but you have those socks to sort, so I will go on to the next piece of trivia.
When we got off the bus, I asked the driver where she had lived in Seattle, because I grew up at Rainier Beach. The world is very small, or at least Seattle it. She lived on the same street Doug lived on and three doors down from his best friend in high school. Well, we thought it was interesting. 
Mike Hughes, former fisherman who went to art school and is now working with a master carver. We noticed that the cruise ship tours did not come into the carving shed but those of us who were allowed out without an escort wandered in to watch and ask questions.
No butter for him. Salmon preferred.
Doug couldn’t get him to smile.
Doug urging me to come into the long house for a performance that was about to begin. We blended in with the cruise ship passengers and attempted to take pictures.
Well, that didn’t work, but can you hear the drums and the singing?We hope so. The show by the Cape Fox Dancers was impressive.
This totem pole was outside the totem park. It seemed very much at home.
How do these guys do on a barge trip to Seattle and then a truck to Spokane??? ‘Seems like a tough way to get a vacation.
We liked his doggz.
Cheeseburger in Paradise. We stopped here last year and returned because of the great slogan. Check out the name and see below…
. They were probably right.
. They were probably right.
We love boat names: Recess Time, Empty Pocket, and Piggy Bank are some names we saw on pleasure boats. Then there are the fishing boats...
We parted company with El Buccanero and her crew on June 20th headed for the Behm Canal and Misty Fiords National Monument. (That is the way it is spelled in the guidebooks.) 'View of Ketchikan and Revillagigedo Island from Tongass Narrows southbound, port side.
View of Gravina Island from Tongass Narrows, southbound, starboard side. Which Alaska do we like the best?
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