5/26

Silent nite. Sky was clear for a change, i got up a couple times to look for Northern Lites, but none.

Woke ~6am, prepped, headed out. Sea surface was glassy and i'm hoping to get past Cape Fox, the 2nd true ocean contact on this epic journey.

Initially it was smooth as it could possibly be, so i risked it and took a shortcut across Portland Inlet [obviously not Portland Oregon].

It got worse & worse.

Continuing on my intended course felt dangerous, so i headed more into the waves (only 3' hi, but 'boisterous'), which felt more stable. Finally in the lee of the land...

Cathy, following progress at the real time progress map advised i would reach Alaska any minute, then the cell coverage died.

So, Portland Inlet crossed; now the question was Cape Fox, also ocean-bordering.

Compared to Portland Inlet, the rounding of Cape Fox was nothing, well, little, and i was surely bound today for Ketchikan.

It continued easy, the only ~distress a stern-quarter swell that caused an alarming vibration. An adjustment to RPM and trim, and it went away.

I saw numerous ~splashes, which i think were from dolphins or porpoises of some type which i havent previously encountered.

And then woohoo WHALES, ~5 altogether, spouting, humping, tail displays. Finally.

I'd had some trouble with the Lowrance GPS thruout, but today, as yesterday, it was flawless. And now out of Canada, i was back on NOAA electronic charts. The paper charts are like 3' x 4', very hard to deal with while trying to steer, and i have to take my glasses off to put eyeballs right up to 'em to read the fine critical print; they're extremely detailed. [Last nite i planned my anchorage behind a single ROCK shown on the chart. I truly dont know how the surveyors & cartographers achieve that level of precision. Especially when much or all of the time, what theyre showing is under water.] Easier i think to balance a laptop on my lap, adjusting the magnification with 2 fingers on the mousepad.

Approaching Ketchikan.

Where to go? I call the googled Harbormaster, who tells me call on the radio. I much prefer private phone conversations, but harbormasters prefer radio it seems, so that everyone out there can hear what an idiot i am. So we go back&forth in public, he tells me go to "float 7" in "Thomas Basin". OK can you give me some landmarks to Thomas Basin? "Well where are you?" "Coming from south, i see a giant Cruise Ship." "Which 1?"

OMG as i come around the corner there isn't 1 giant cruise ship, but 3!

Anyway between his ~directions and my iPhone, i'm entering Thomas Basin, passing, as he advised, floats [their word for 'docks'] 5, 4, 3... then more but unlabeled.

Why do marinas never have good signage that can actually be read from boats? Finally i just dock somewhere in desperation, which turns out to be the right dock/float, which turns out to be labeled only with a small sign visible only from the land side.

It is a hot sunny day in Ketchikan, 3 cruise ships worth of tourists wandering, and me still in long johns, filthy from days out there, requiring bath, a proper toilet, & beer.

To my surprise i've been directed to a marina sans showers. I guess because i told em i didnt need power. That must be the code.

A young gentleman is tending his sailboat at the 'float', and helps me dock. Turns out he sailed the boat from Washington, WITHOUT A MOTOR. I think he said it took 9 weeks! With the common strong currents, he could actually lose progress in the course of a day. On final arrival here, he bot a motor.

Now he cooks at the New York Cafe, which he assured me is the "best restaurant in town", and conveniently located at the very head of the 'float' to which i'd currently committed.

Of course i had to try it. Enroute i talked to a young native man, cleaning someone else's boat, who advised me "Be sure to keep your boat closed up." Else MINK (yes i saw them slinking around later) get in and leave piles of... well you can imagine, in compartments.

At the restaurant, chowder, and the staff and i commiserated about the damn tourists. *i* look like a bum, so clearly i am not a tourist. Or something.

And it turns out that, upstairs, the restaurant building is a hotel. I need a shower. I need order, ~normalcy (tho i do really like my boating bed). They give me a deal, then an 'upgrade', either because i am very nice, or it's not yet The Season. I am all a-glow. The woman, escorting me upstairs to the room, "Are you able to handle the stairs?" "So far", i say. An incredible beautiful perfect corner hotel room, overlooking the harbor and indeed my boat, for ~US$130, includes tax. Map....