Day 17 - Brundige Inlet to Ketchikan

Pulled anchor at 8am this morning and it was stuck good! Very muddy bottom and we had some good gusts yesterday so it was driven into the muck. Had a relatively smooth crossing across Dixon Entrance all things considered. We got into some very large ocean rollers but the spacing was good and the ride was really as good as one could hope for, not nearly as intimidating as the Cape Caution crossing which turned out to be glassy smooth. It was pretty socked in this morning when we left and the radar was spinning, but we soon came into the clear and had great visibility with intermittent showers. The most exposed part of the crossing is only about 2 hours, then the seas gradually subsided as we reached the protection of some of the offshore islands. We pulled into Ketchikan around 1pm and decided to feed the beast before transiting on to our moorage for the night. After taking on 700+ gallons of fuel (gulp), we motored over to our moorage, a very small set of docks called “Ketchikan Moorage” which is right next door to the behemoth cruise ships docked at the cruise ship terminal. There were 4 docked here when we arrived, and now only 1 remains as they continue up to their next destination. Our marina owner told us that up to 14,000 people a day come in on these ships which is the entire population of Ketchikan. It is really pretty here actually, prettier than I expected. We are getting ready to head out for a celebratory drink somewhere and walk around town. Our marina is in the heart of the town so it’s great location.