Sunday June 29th, 2025
Your first reaction is going to be there is nothing amazing about this picture. And you would be correct, however, for the past 5 days we have not been able to see land on the other side or even the channel. It has been a socked in, misty haze, filled with non-stop rain. It was so bad yesterday the rain literally “shut down” Ketchikan. It was raining so hard people on the cruise boats stayed on board and the shops were closed. It was kind of eerie walking the streets of the city with no stores open. We did wander into the historical museum which we would definitely recommend. It’s a great photographic review of Ketchikan’s mariner history complete with artifacts from the past. Marlene was quite taken with this tablecloth. Apparently is was a local tradition to have anyone who ate with you at your table, place their signature on tablecloth. The woman of the house would then embroider over the signature and the cloth would be a reminder of the good times spent together. This cloth has 1093 embroidered signatures on it.
This placard says it all. Ketchikan residents are hale and hearty built on a “confluence of rain, rock, and character.” We find locals to be very friendly and industrious. Not the place for everyone; but definitely the place for those who choose to live here.
As most of you know, Marlene will NOT let me fish off the boat. In her defense here are her concerns: fishing is too messy (we really don’t have any place to gut and filet the fish on the boat and the process is MESSY) too expensive (equipment and licenses cost a lot of money) and all too often, nothing to show for the time and money spent. Honestly, she has a point. And to that point this is the way we fish in Alaska. Fresh off the boat, King Salmon, $8.00 a pound and they fillet it for us.
We will be eating fresh salmon for the next two to three days.Yummm.
Marlene and I both laughed when we saw this poster. We would have loved to see the product change color—but there was no sun to see it with. Ha, ha.
Tomorrow we are off to Pond Bay on Duke Island to stage our departure through Dixon Entrance on Tuesday July 1st, Canada Day. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it will be a celebratory cruise south.
Haha. Marlene is right. We have spent ALOT on fishing gear, licenses etc. But, wrong in one aspect, as we have yet to have a fish to clean! Good luck on your crossing!