Post # 3 Ketchikan, July 2, 2011

JACA Blog:  3^rd Entry.  Posted in Ketchikan, AK.

We are now in the land of Sarah Palin, although so far it looks a lot like British Columbia.  We left Prince Rupert around noon, after two nights eating out, loading up on good fresh fish, navigating a very nice Safeway store, and a nice long walk all through the town proper, on the first really nice sunny day so far.

Prince Rupert is a town with a lot of character.  It almost seems as if the folks who planted it there had a sense of self-importance that gives it some real style.  The public buildings are large and impressive, and the waterfront downtown has been nicely redone from a bygone era.  We had a particularly nice fish dinner in the fish market Dolly’s, a funky little place that ran a tiny restaurant on the side.  Our waitress, a “woman of a certain age”, was cheerful and wanted to know where we were from.  When she said Maine, she launched into the story of her daughter being wooed by a man from Portland, Maine, who is now her son-in-law, whom she adores.  She’s glad, however, that they now live somewhat closer to her, in Portland, Oregon.  We had another good fish dinner at a similarly basic spot, Smiles.

Given the late start from Prince Rupert, our plan was to do about 30 miles or so, heading part way up into the Khutzeymateen Inlet, with its famous bear conservation area at the head of the inlet.  We wound up having our first real sail, in Chatham Sound, and a good one it was. After dodging around a raft of gill netters with their quarter-mile long nets strung out in front of us, we headed up the inlet.  The scenery was spectacular, with snow fields and high peaks all around us.  So we just kept going, and arrived at the harbor at the head of the inlet well into dinner time.  No matter; as we came around the corner into the stunning anchorage a mother grizzly and her two cubs were ambling along the grassy shore.  Passing boats don’t faze these folks at all – their only dangers are from the land side.  That sight alone was worth the 55-mile day!

In the morning, back in the drizzle, we took the dinghy all around the estuary area, looking for more grizzlies.  Near the stream outlet was a large one, lazily gorging himself on fresh green grass.  It’s hard to imagine these great hulking creatures happily eating grass, but they apparently love the stuff when there isn’t much else around, such as whale carcasses, salmon swimming upstream, or some other unfortunate creature.  The park rules forbid landing the dinghy (good idea!), but you can get close just by rowing near the shore, and the bears pay no attention at all.  In another area we came across the same (?) mother bear and her two cubs, munching on grass.  She also spent some time digging up something, apparently showing her babes how to look for grubs, which are another bear tasty treat.  Although we were probably about 100 feet away, none of them paid the slightest attention to us, which meant that they didn’t know we were there.

We left the bears reluctantly, and headed back out to Chatham Sound, heading towards Alaska.  The forecast was for a light headwind westerly.  We found instead a stiff southerly, so out came the sails and we had a romping ride, zig-zagging back and forth across the border, finally winding up in a tiny protected cove (Wale Harbour) on the B.C. side.  For those two days we were sailing in tandem with a Hylas 49’, with her Canadian owners on board.  There were a couple of raucous dinners, full of politics, health care discussions and good cheer.  By now it was raining hard and it continued raining hard all the next day, when we headed out into a booming southwester which sailed us fast toward Ketchikan in a rising sea.  After 30 or so miles of that, we ducked into another completely protected cove (Foggy Bay Inner Cove), and let it pour while the heater dried us out and Pam made chocolate cookies.  These coves are amazing – even when it is blowing hard outside, we have yet to spend a night in anything other than placid calm.

We have been impressed with JACA’s sailing abilities, particularly once a little off the wind.  The Hylas 49 is an S & S design, with a medium displacement underbody much like Boheme’s.  On a close reach in 15-20 kts of wind, JACA nearly held her own – I thought we’d be left in the dust.  And then, in a somewhat dying breeze and well off the wind, JACA outfooted the Hylas, whose owner was somewhat chagrined by the whole thing.  Meawhile, the electric winch and in-boom furling are a true joy in a downpour and pitching sea.  No need to go anywhere but the cockpit to raise and lower the mainsail and get the jib in and out.  It almost seems sinful in comparison to Boheme’s old-fashioned rig.  The happiest camper for this part of the boat handling duty is Pam.

As we came up the channel to Ketchikan, two huge cruise ships came by us at very close range – it’s not a wide channel!  Two more monsters were at the large public dock.  The chief feature of the place, however, is the wild profusion of seaplanes of all sizes.  They seem to be the water taxis of the area, and their roar of take-off and landing is constant.  We are moored in the Bar Harbor boat basin, a little ways from downtown but still in the middle of a lot of activity.  Hundreds of fishing boats are around us; a large one next door is odiferous to say the least.  Given the forecast of a southeast gale, we’re glad to be snugged in, however.  Let it rain and blow! 

And rain and blow it has.  As I write this, the anemometer consistently registers well over thirty kts, and the rain is driving.  This means well over 45 kts outside.  We will likely be here for at least a day, if not two, more than we had planned.  So far we have visited the Totem Museum, which has a lot of history about these monumental artworks once found all along the coast, and the History of Ketchikan Museum, which has a lot to do with logging, sawmills, pulp making and fishing.  We’ve eaten well and walked and taxied a fair bit, but the driving rain is keeping us closer to the warm cabin than we might otherwise be.  More about Ketchikan in the next post, which will likely be from Wrangell or Petersburg.  Happy 4^th of July, everyone.