Alaska P 7

Up about 5:00 AM this morning to see it raining — not heavy and the temperature was mild and no wind. Shortly after we got dressed, we noticed cabins and buildings along the far shore (we are on the port side). Going up one deck, we went out on the ”weather deck” on the starboard side and saw that we were coming into port in Ketchikan. We watched the berthing of the boat and then got on our jackets (I had forgotten to get the umbrella out of the car last night, but I retrieved it this morning, but couldn’t find my poncho.)

We debarked and walked in a sprinkle about two-tenths of a mile to a Best Western motel, which had a nice little coffee shop where we had a very good and not expensive breakfast. Many others of our group were there. Don Knight was able to get a WiFi connection in the terminal building, but he said it was too slow to upload any of his pictures in the limited time we had on shore.

I am sitting in our cabin while waiting to leave port and there is heavy seaplane traffic on the water right outside our window — all takeoffs. The landings must be taking place well beyond the bow of the boat, for I have yet to see one.

The rain continued the whole day in varying degrees, which not only limited visibility, but also made it impossible to get any good pictures through the forward windows. We attended lectures by the woman from the Forest Service about the Bears of Alaska and the navigation through the Wrangle Narrows. This stretch of the Inland Passage starts just north of Wrangle and extends up to Petersburg. It takes about two hours to steam this distance as the boat must navigate these waters very slowly because the passage is so narrow and shallow. In the 20-some miles there were 76 marker lights to indicate the swiggly path that the boat had to take. We watched from the forward lounges this fascinating ballet which required a crewman on the bow the whole time as a lookout. During a portion of this passage, we were in the dining room and saw the results of the bow wave rushing up on the shore only a few yards out from the stern and without pause come tumbling back into the narrow water of the Narrows. What a pity that the weather was too poor to record this properly. With any luck, maybe we can fare better on our return voyage.

The diner tonight in the dining room was very good. Not being too hungry, Jo and I split a very good Alaska Halibut diner. The rest of the evening was taken up in small talk with our traveling companions.