Wednesday June 21, 2023
Today was a day when we didn’t set the alarm for a 4:45 am wake up call to check the weather conditions for a journey that would start by 6:00 am. Today, we sat back, drank coffee, caught up on news and emails and planned a day of leisure—no checking the weather conditions whatsoever.
Ketchikan is a cool town with a great vibe—very different from what I expected. In my mind’s eye I thought it would be just another fishing town with a few knick knack shops for tourists, a small grocery store, a fairly large alcohol store, and cruise ships—with lots of cruise folks running around the town frantically buying stuff before they have to get back on the boat in time for the evening meal. (Often there are bells involved so you have to listen for your bell and time for dinner. Very Pavlovian).There are definitely large cruise ships and the tourist shops, but away from the cruise ships there are great restaurants and some very interesting museums.
Last nights we dined at The New York Cafe. The restaurant was named by the original owners, the Shimizu family who were recent immigrants from Japan when they opened their first business on Front Street in 1901. In 1924 George and Yokohama Shimizu bought a plot of land and build the current New York Hotel and cafe. The food is fantastic. I had a fresh salmon burger and Marlene had a delicious lamb burger. Their selection of wine is good and reasonable. A very interesting side note is the mural that hangs off the main wall of the restaurant.
This is a mural created by the Northwest artist Ray Troll who is best known for his colorful and humorous tee shirts of animated fish and animals. I was first introduced to Ray in the early 80s by my late artist friend, Kent Lovelace. It wasn’t until I entered this restaurant when I discovered that Ray had moved to Alaska quite a few years ago. (We moved to London, England for over 10 years so we lost contact and context for many of our friends). Put this place on your must list for breakfast or dinner.
After breakfast Marlene and I took a short 15 minute stroll to the Totem Heritage Center. It’s a museum dedicated to the artistic traditions of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian tribes who created amazing totems, tribal masks, and weavings. It’s well worth a visit.
Tonight we are dining with our friends Rob and Barb who have been to Alaska 16 times in their Nordic Tug. They are a wealth of knowledge and entertaining with endless boat stories. We are having drinks on their boat tonight and then walking up to the Fish Market restaurant.
Final word: a couple of updates on our “boat problems.” The depth sounder—as I reported yesterday—appears to be working. (We are keeping our fingers crossed that it remains that way). But to be safe I purchased a back up “in hull” depth sounder that I will pick up at the Fed Ex store tomorrow and install it. Then, really, really, crossing my fingers, I found a potential mechanic who is going to see if he can fix our bow thruster. He will be on the boat either tonight or tomorrow. His question was, “what is your schedule? We told him “whatever his schedule is,”
Stay tuned.
We read your trip reports and marvel at your adventure – tides, waves, wind, depth finder, single screw, bow thruster. Gives “where to park” a different perspective to us without navigation knowledge.
fog we recall. We never saw the sun on our ferry ride from Seattle to Skagway in 1978. Ketchikan sounds like it has matured a bit, but in a nice way?!
And seeing friends along the way! We look forward to your next entries.
Bob and Anna, glad you are enjoying the blog. With our “boat issues” hopefully behind us we are ready for the next cruising adventure—we think🙏😀