July 02, 2019 - Thoms Place, AK

Thoms Place is a undeveloped State marine park.  When we arrive we discover a crabber setting crab pots all over the bay.  There must be dozens of pots out greatly reducing our anchoring options.  We are entering at high tide and check the tide tables.  Tomorrow morning the water will be 18' shallower than it is now.  We decide we will anchor in nothing less than 30' to be safe.  We circle around, winding through the pots, and find a pretty good spot.  At this point we are very close to the crab boat.  The single man aboard holds up a crab and waves it at us.  I step outside and he says "do you want some?"  Without hesitation I yell back "sure!!!".  He says he will pull along-side.  As he gets closer he asks how many people we are.  I tell him 4.  He asks is I want him to clean the crabs.  I tell him I can do it.  He says it only takes him a few seconds per crab.  I let him clean the crabs.  To my surprise he cleans 8 crabs for us.  Wow!  He puts them in small grocery store plastic bags and comes over.  I offer to pay him for them and he declines.  What a nice man!!!!  Today is a good day.  This is the REAL Alaska.

Alaska crabber pulling crabs out of his catch for us.,

Cleaning one of the eight Dungeness crabs he gave us.  SO nice!

We then spend about 15 minutes finding a spot to drop the anchor.  We notice a shelf where it goes from about 30 feet to less than 20'.  We will need to anchor in front of this drop off or we will be grounded tomorrow morning.  We can't go too far ahead of the ledge though because of all the crab traps.  Or we can motor to the center of the bay and anchor in about 60' - 70' of water.  We decide to make a few more circles to survey the bottom and decide we should be good here.  But, we might be close to ledge at low tide.  We drop the anchor in 34' of water.  Backing towards shore to set the anchor we end up in 30' of water.  We predict we will have about 9' - 11' under the boat at low tide tomorrow morning.  We will get up and watch the tide drop in the morning.

I "detail" clean the crabs and then I boil them.  We spend the next hour+ eating and cleaning dungeness crab, fresh from our anchorage in Alaska.  What an unexpected treat!

Reebok sniffing fresh crab.  Mmmmm.  Meow mix,  Meow Mix please deliver.

A whole mess of fresh crab.  Yummmy.

After lunch we get two kayaks down and send the kids out exploring.  There are several small islands that we predict will  not be islands at low tide.  They paddle over and disappear behind the islands, appearing from time to time in the passages between the islands.  They are gone for an hour or more and we can hear them talking and laughing.  They are having fun together away from the boat, and us adults.

The boys disappear around the back side of an island

Just hanging out and talking.  Good times.

We watch several movies together tonight, and go to bed late.  First late night we have had together.  It has been a fun day.

The large sailboat from last night joined us as the only other boat in the bay
for the evening.  

I awake in the morning at about 6 and check our bay.  The tide is low and still dropping.  We have about 20' under the boat and the shoreline is still a good distance away.  Low tide is at 8.  At 7:00 the shoreline has gotten much closer, and it circles around us on both sides.  Pretty much what we expected, and our math was correct.  Boating is definitely more challenging here.  But also more rewarding.

July 01, 2019 - Meyers Chuck, AK

Meyers Chuck is a very small community.  There are only about 6 or 7 year round residents here.  But there are a lot of season residents.  There are many small cabins and houses scattered throughout the bay.  This tiny community has a post office, the smallest post office I have ever seen.

Typical homes in Meyers Chuck.  A very small community

Their post office

We enter the bay and find we are the only visiting boat.  We decide to anchor at the far end of the bay, where it gets shallower.  This is directly in front of the post office.  Get get settled and a woman hops in a small aluminum boat and motors from the community dock to the post office.  Then a man, who we think is her husband does the same.  He's got a small generator and a gas powered pressure washer in his boat.  They unload them, along with some gas cans and head up the ramp toward the post office.  About an hour later a float plane passes low over us.  He cirles around and does it again.  And then one more time.  We figure he is just sightseeing and they are taking pictures.  A few minute later a man motors out on his skiff and tells us the plane is trying to land, and we are in his way.  He tells us another spot we can anchor, or invites us to tie to the dock.  We pull anchor and move to the dock.  A woman comes over and tells us the float plane had her children and grandchild onboard.  The plane was coming back by right now and we were still in the way was heading back to Ketchikan with all 3 of them.  I felt terrible that we had anchored in the middle of a runway!!!

The plane circled once and then came in for a landing.  Phew, we made it out of the way in time.  I apologized to several people there and the pilot.  They all said it was OK, that we wouldn't know we were in the way since it was our first time here.  I've never anchored in the middle of an airport before!

After blocking his landing when we anchored, the float plane lands.
We pulled anchor and moved to the community dock

Alex watches the float plane landing

The passengers have arrived to be reunited with parents and grandparents.

Taking off.  The post office in the background.  Tuesday is mail day.
This plane will land and tie up to the dock at the post office.

We went for a walk and explored this little community.  It is a small place, and it is beautiful!

Hiking around Meyers Chuck, AK

Alex catching up with the news in Meyers Chuck

Life is simple here

A very simple life....

Later we put the small dinghy down and motor over to the post office.  It is VERY small and the woman we saw earlier go over there was inside taking care of post office business.  We chatted with her for about 10-15 minutes.  The island has a land line back to civilization.  The have a radio tower but no cell phone coverage.  They have solar power.  We didn't ask how they get water, but we could see hot and cold water lines under a few houses, so they must have some sort of water system here. 

Beautiful location

xxx

People here mill their own timber.  You cannot easily bring in building materials.

The lumber mill in Meyer's Chuck.

Like Father, like Son.  Poor Kevin, he is doomed!

A huge sailboat arrives a hour or two after us and parks right in front of us at the dock.  It is 80' and Alex says it's worth millions.  It is stunning.  It appears that the owners are a couple from perhaps Great Britain.  They have a crew of two or three onboard, and they have a support boat with two people.  The support boat arrived about an hour ahead of them and surveyed the bay.  We suspect that this support boat scouts ahead for locations the massive sailboat can get into.  Then the crew of the support boat is there to greet them and assist as needed.  It looks like this couple must be paying for at least 4 other people full time during their Alaskan adventure.  Owning a big yacht can get quite expensive.

80 foot sailboat squeezes in just ahead of us.  Stunning!

After dinner we go walk the shoreline.  It is low tide and everything has changed.  The water is almost 20 feet lower now than when we arrived.  Large rock outcroppings have appeared in the bay that were not there before.  Islands are no longer islands.  It looks completely different.  You need to really pay attention to the tide levels in Alaska.  With 20' tide swings and rocks everywhere, it would be easy to make a mistake.  Plus, I'm sure there are plenty of uncharted rocks in these waters.  We will do a lot of scouting in every bay before we drop the anchor.

Quaint Meyers Chuck.

There is a heavy haze.  I've heard it is smoke from some forest fires.

Beach combing after dinner

The community dock and some of the houses.  Meyers Chuck AK

June 30, 2019 - Ketchikan, AK

We pulled anchor in Foggy Bay today.  The deer that greeted us yesterday when we arrived, came out to wish us well on our departure.

The deer was there when we arrived.  There when we departed.

It was an easy trip to Ketchikan.   We saw a few humpback whales off in the distance.  We also saw a boat I have a distant connection with.  Many years ago I helped deliver a Nordhavn 40 named "Rhapsody" from San Francisco to Seattle.  The owners had bought Rhapsody as a "filler" boat while their real boat was being built.  I helped get that temporary boat to Seattle for them.  The new, real boat, a Nordhavn 55 also name Rhapsody, passed us today as we neared Ketchikan.

Rhapsody, a Nordhavn 55.  I helped move their previous Rhapsody years ago.
The previous Rhapsody was a  Nordhavn 40.

Many miles from Ketchikan we could get our first glimpse of civilization.  At first it looked like giant buildings, perhaps warehouses.  Once closer we could see they were cruise ships.  5 of them.  They are monstrous and tower over this tiny town.  They range in size from 800-1000 feet.  Each carries thousands of people. 

The cruise ships dominate the Ketchikan waterfront.

I called the Ketchikan harbormaster on the cell phone and was instructed to call on VHF when were closer so we could get a slip assignment in a marina.  There are very few vacant slips in Ketchikan, so they work on the "hot berthing" principle.  When a permanent boat leaves for a few days or more, they tell the harbormaster who then puts that slip on the available list.  Transient boater's like us then get to use that slip while the regular tenant is gone.  The fishing fleet is leaving today as a fishery opens at midnight tonight.  So there are plenty of slips.  We choose one in the Thomas Basin marina which is very close to an IGA grocery store and adjacent to the cruise ship terminal.

I feel insignificant looking out my pilothouse windows,

As we get next to our slip and start turning into it, a local guy with a great big bushy grey beard in a group of guys yells "Welcome to Ketchikan, SUCKER!".  They are huddled in a group on the breakwater behind us.  They are drinking, and obviously have been for a while.  After we get tied up I call the customs office and they say they will send a customs agent right down.  He arrived about 15 minutes later and checks our paperwork.  15 minutes later we are cleared into the US.  Ah, home gain :-)

Those drunk guys are still carrying on, yelling at another boat as it arrives.  They are ignoring us.  We pull our blinds down so they can't see into the boat.  We leave and go for a walking tour of Ketchikan.  There are tons of little shops selling trinkets, jewelry, furs, art, etc.  We walk through a few.  There are hundreds of these little stores all within short walking distance of the cruise ships.  As we are walking around, a boy in a passing car full of teenage boys (locals, I assume) yells out in a cartoonish voice "Welcome to Sitka, enjoy your visit".  I'm still not sure what to make of this, but it was interesting and thought provoking.

Almost every street and sidewalk are under construction in Ketchikan

Kevin at the famous Ketchikan Salmon Capital sign

The "Duck" tours are here now.

Adagio tied up in one of the Ketchikan marinas.

The streets were pretty crowded.  Restaurants were full and some had lines out the door.  We wandered for a few hours.  Alex and I both agreed that most of what we see here has been manufactured to suppoort the cruise ships.  All the streets are getting new sidewalks.  The streets are being widened and repaved.  Many of the buildings are new, but made to look like gold rush era structures.  It's sort of like going to Harry Potter World.  It looks real, but it's all an illusion.  As we head back towards our boat we stop at a restaurant that had a line out the door before.  It is almost empty now (two cruise ships are departing).  We have lunch there.  Great salmon burger, and salmon and chips.  Fresh Alaska seafood!

While back at the boat I have a conversation with the fisherman in the boat next to us. He doesn't have much good to say about the cruise ships, and the changes that they have brought to his town.  I cannot repeat the language he used, this is a family friendly blog.  Alex goes walking the docks and a local gentleman tells him "Ketchikan is a drinking town with a sidewalk problem."  A variation on the old saying "we are a drinking town with a fishing problem".  It seems that many of the locals have opinions they want to share about what is happening to their small town of 8000.  It will never be the same, that is certain.  The cruise ships and the 10,000 - 15,000 they bring every day have forever altered this town, and their way of life.

A tidal grid.  You pull your boat in at high tide.  Tie it up.  Then as the tide falls
your boat is left high and dry.  You can then work on the bottom of the boat.
These are very common in Alaska with it's 20 foot tides.

A cruise ship terminal, complete with new shops for the passengers to visit.

Those drunk guys carry on well into the evening.  Alex witnesses a drunken fist fight.  A firetruck shows up.  A drunken woman joins them.  There is yelling and swearing for hours.  I think that guy on the dock may have been correct.  Ketchikan is a drinking town with a sidewalk problem.

We untie and leave early in the morning.  Two new cruise ships have arrived overnight, and the other three are gone.  One of the new arrivals is the biggest cruise ship I've ever seen.  AIS reports it at 1094 feet.  I look it up and it is the 10th largest in the world.  3,800 passengers.   As we leave Ketchikan behind us we encounter 3 more cruise ships heading there.  There will be 5 cruise ships full of people in port today, just like yesterday. 

1094 foot cruise ship in Ketchikan, along with a 900 foot ship.
You can see the ship's pollution filling the valley.

If we pass through here on our way home at the end of summer, we will stay at one of the other marinas, a few miles away from the cruise ship portion of town.  Maybe the experience there will be more "authentic".

RV, Alaska style!  Now this is unique.

Today we are headed for Meyers Chuck, a small remote village far removed from the cruise ship world.

06-30-2019 - Kelp Passage BC & Foggy Bay AK

The past two days have been very easy with light winds, calm seas, and still no rain.  The clouds have now settled in and the temperature has dropped.  We had been in the mid 60's and low 70's for most of the trip.  But now we are in the mid 50's.

Alex has now taken part of my role onboard.  Zappa is now coming to Alex sometimes on his hourly "give me attention" cry.

Zappa has a new best friend

We did have one little bit of excitement as we made the passage to Kelp Passage.  A large Canadian Coast Guard vessel showed up on AIS quite a distance away, long before we could see it.  Eventually it came into view and slid past us.  But, their small tender was out zipping around and came sweeping by us, then stopped, and came along side.  They wanted us to stop.  We did and they asked for all of our paperwork.  It was a routine stop.  But, there was some confusion from the Coast Guardsman over Alex and Paulo.  You see, in Brazil people do not have middle names.  Instead they take each parents sur name.  So Alex (Dad) and Paulo (Son) have different last names.  Alex's sur name is derived from his parents last names, while Paulo's is derived from his parents last names.  It took a minute to explain this.  Once this difference in cultures was cleared up they wished us a happy trip and were on their way.  They were VERY nice.

Stopped the Canadian Coast Guard.  Everything onboard
Adagio was in order, and it was no big deal.  It took
about 20 minutes.

Being a lighthouse tender seems a very lonely existence to me.

Canada has very nice lighthouses.

Zappa getting as far away from us as he can. 
At anchor in Kelp Passage, BC.

We crossed the border around noon and reset our clocks and watches.  Alaska is in it's own time zone, one hour behind the Pacific timezone.  We arrived at Foggy Bay and found one other boat there.  It's a great anchorage with complete protection from all weather.  There is a small passage out into Dixon Entrance where you can observe the conditions out there before pulling anchor.  It also has a great holding mud bottom and our anchor set instantly.

On the border.  The bow in Alaska (USA), the stern in BC (Canada)

Now in Canada.  You can see the various engine and transmission
temperatures I keep on eye on.  They are coming from sensors on
the NMEA 2000 network.  Engine Room.  Stabilizer oil.  Both exhaust risers.
Both transmissions.  And then some other random stuff.

A few other boats arrived through the afternoon.  One is a large Selene that we have seen a few times in previous anchorages with us.  Alex and I explored by dinghy.  This is a great place with some interesting shoreline to explore.  It would be great kayaking this place.

The narrow entrance to Foggy Bay's inner anchorage

We are greeted by a deer in the narrow entrance.

Adagio at anchor in Foggy Bay, AK

Starfish and colorful sea weed.  The tide is low. 
Daily tidal swings are now in the 20 foot range.

Zappa was mesmerized by the jellyfish in Foggy Bay

Peaceful Foggy Bay, AK.

I changed fuel filters (first time in the trip) and cleaned the sea strainers for the both engines and the stabilizer cooling pump.  This is the first real maintenance I have had to do so far, other than adding a little oil to the motors every few days.  I also switched to the aft keel fuel tank, away from the forward two fuel tanks.  The forward two tanks still had fuel from Mexico in them.  We have finally burned off all that old Mexican diesel and are now running on fresh fuel, purchased just a few weeks ago in Anacortes.  Adios Pemex diesel!   We also took down our Candian "Courtesy Flag" today.

We have traveled about 650 miles from La Conner to Foggy Bay AK, and put about 90 hours on the engines.    Absolutely trouble free, I might add.  All that hard work getting the boat ready is really paying off.  We have used just over 1/3 of our boats fuel capacity.  In theory, we could likely make it back to La Conner, after spending a month exploring Alaska without ever needing to fuel up.  But we will probably take on some fuel here in Alaska before heading for home in about 5 weeks.