The marina was well built. They do “hot berthing”, meaning visiting boats can use vacant slips on long term leases. Below is the north part of the marina.
This shot of our slip was taken late in the day when our neighbour boat had vacated.
The tides have a huge range, about 6 metres, so the ramp gets very steep at low tide. Below, high and low tide.
It was May 5th. We wanted to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, an annual celebration to honour Mexico’s victory over the French in 1862. We found a restaurant with a diverse menu which included Mexican dishes. We headed there with Al and Irene by taxi as it was too far to walk in the pouring rain. The restaurant didn’t celebrate the occasion like we do in Canada, but they were happy to take an order for a margarita!
The next morning, we walked about 15 minutes to the Safeway and then took the free shuttle to downtown.
We stayed on the shuttle passing downtown and it took us to Saxman Totem Park. We were bundled up for the drizzle and cool temperatures. Only a few other couples were there when we arrived.
Then the cruise ship tours arrived and the park filled up. We leant an ear to a few tour guides tell the stories and history to their cruise ship customers. The guide book was quite informative so a tour was unnecessary.
Each pole had a story. A few white people were on the top of poles, like Secretary of State, William H. Seward, who was ridiculed for not returning the honour by giving gifts to the Tlinglit people when he visited in 1869. They painted his nose and ears red signifying stinginess.
Abraham Lincoln at the top of this pole represents the US Revenue Cutter “Lincoln” which was instructed to finalize the peace plan between the Raven and Eagle Clans, two rival Tlingit Tribes. The figure of Lincoln was used as the top of a pole must be an animate object, not a ship. A bust of Lincoln was used for the carving, so they did not know he was a tall man.
The downtown has a creek running through it. Many touristy shops line the creek. They are only open when the cruise ship passengers are about.
Another older section of town has many souvenirs shops.
Numerous passengers, like this fellow in his striking outfit, were checking out the tourist attractions like the lumberjack show.
Our tour of the town had another goal, to find a boat fender. Somehow, we had lost a fender. Though I could not recall, it was concluded I had untied it and it fell off before I got back to retie it! A blonde moment! More on this coming up. I found a suitable replacement, though not as good as the lost one, at one of the chandleries and lugged it back to the boat.
Always observant, Monty remarked there were numerous old police cars in Ketchikan. It must be a dumping ground for them.
It was evident that the town has a homeless problem. We were informed that many were given one way ferry tickets to Ketchikan from other states. Must be tough for them in the Alaskan winters. This explains why our marina locks up the washrooms and showers when no one is in the office.
On our last day in Ketchikan, we went to Totem Bight, another State Historical Park. No one was there but us and a few other couples while we visited. It was after the cruise ship tours had been. There were some impressive poles and a long house.
In Ketchikan, you can’t miss the omnipresent eagles. This pair put on a display and let everyone know they were together with a lengthy screech.
Next up, Meyer’s Chuck.
