MAY 17, 2022 - KETCHIKAN

Today we dragged ourselves out of bed at 8AM which was actually hard to do when all you can hear is pelting rain on our “roof”. We decided last night we were going to drive out to the hatchery this morning which is about 12 miles out, and see if any bears were on the beach at slack low. Loaded with our Yeti coffee mugs full of steaming coffee, and after a somewhat sleepless night for all of us with the wind howling and boats moving about, we drove out to see if we could glimpse a Grizzly. No such luck. But we didn’t care because the enticement of breakfast out was enough for everyone to get up today. Brunch at the New York Café was a warm interlude from the rainy morning, complete with cappuccinos, lattes, eggs benedict, chorizo scrambles, and such. Afterwards, the boys went back to the boat and Shannon and I visited just about every store in between downtown and the boat. It was marvelous to browse through all the stores, our favorite of which is Tongass Trading Company, arguably our most visited store here in Ketchikan. Like a giant REI and also a marine store with bait, fishing gear, camping gear, outdoor everything. Can spend hours in there. Shannon and David flew out this afternoon for a quick round trip to Seattle for business, while we remain tethered to the dock (thankfully) while the wild weather whips through the channel. I went to Walmart for some miscellaneous home goods, new area rug, and such. Along the way I found a food truck where this guy was selling chowder that was his mother’s recipe so I decided that was a fine idea for dinner tonight, both of us too weary to venture out in the rain to go to a restaurant. Tomorrow is actual provisioning day, fueling day (if not too windy), and preparation for Thursday morning departure. David and Shannon fly back in around 9:30am Thursday and we are all hitting the water on to our next destination. We are supposed to be heading to the outside of Baranof Island in about 6 days, and today’s weather report said it was 36 degrees for the high, 27 degrees for the low, and snowing. That’s not what we had in mind! John and I still recall a guy we met maybe 8 years ago in the Broughtons, he had just come back from Alaska and he said “it rained for 75 days straight, I’m never going back, and I’m selling my boat” which has always made us chuckle. We are hoping this year won’t be that bad for us, but if it is…oh well. It’s still an adventure and we are still having fun regardless. And yes, we’ve been at the dock here for a couple more days than intended, but when we look at what’s going on out in Dixon Entrance we remain thankful that we decided to push on and cross early.