Ketchikan, July 22-23rd

The next morning we had continued good weather so were a go for crossing the open water of the Dixon Entrance. We officially crossed back into US waters at 8:58 AM. We made it to Alaska in our own home built boat!

Approaching Ketchikan was a little nutty. Everything we read talked about the huge number of cruise ships rolling through this town, and they weren’t lying. There were four big cruise ships tied up downtown as we arrived at the waterfront. In addition, there were more tugs, barges, small passenger boats, seaplanes, etc. than we had seen throughout our trip up the inside passage so far. It was a bit overwhelming at first.

Berthing in most Alaskan towns is a very fluid thing. You usually check in on arrival and the Harbormaster will find you a space vacated by a fishing boat. Fishing boats come and go all the time so its an ever-changing situation. We called the Ketchikan harbor authority for berthing and were told “nothing available right now- go anchor somewhere and check back later”. Bummer!

We headed up the channel towards the North end of town and were calling around to some private marinas (one quoted us $5 per foot per night and said we would probably be rafted up to another boat) when the Harbormaster called us back and said he had a berth for us. We ended up on an end-tie at the North (quieter) end of town - worked out great as it was near a supermarket and laundry.

We also bumped into Farida, a local boat owned by Sue & Mike Proudfoot. We know them from our harbor as they sometimes stop by to visit friends. It was great to see a familiar boat & faces. They have been traveling around Alaska for awhile (they kept their boat up north for the winter) and gave us some helpful pointers. 

We spent two nights there and did plenty of walking into town and back for eating out and provisioning. We spent our first night at a restaurant watching a lightning storm, gawking at the cruise ships and watching locals catch salmon from a bridge. Very entertaining. 

Here’s Sues official report on our two days in the big city: Though the laundry was overpriced & crowded a large, fully stocked supermarket was a joy to see. We spent time at the Starbucks and met up with another cruising couple, Shellie and Randy on Moondancer. They had already been north and gave us some tips of places to stay and fish. Later they invited us to their boat for dinner which was quite a treat. They have a very nice sailboat and Shellie cooked up a delicious halibut dinner for us. The time flew by as we talked the evening away about all things inside passage and living the cruising lifestyle. We ended the night giving them a tour of Kama Hele. We might see them again back in Sausalito as they are headed south for the winter (they both just retired and are planning on cruising long-term, lucky ducks) & plan to stop in Sausalito on the way as Shellie has relatives there. Small world. 

Summer time and everyone brings out their toys:

Downtown is dominated by four cruise ship berths:

Good place for an oil change:

Great spot for lunch- no tourists!

Nope, not a decoy:

Overall, a good stop and definitely something different- but after all the chaos of the arrival, provisioning, and dealing with the crowds and mayhem, it was time to go.