June 3, 2022 Day 7: Ketchikan to Kluth Bay: 51 miles, 883 total miles.
We stayed at the hotel right until check out time and headed out for some food before we headed out. We stopped at a crepe place. It was really yummy, but also our most expensive meal out so far.
After food we went back to the boat. I was getting in the boat to start loading up our stuff and we heard a splash-plop sound. We looked around and couldn’t tell what we dropped…then I realized it was my phone. I guess after paying for food I didn’t zip my wallet/purse up all the way and how I was angled to get into the boat it slipped right out. Super annoying. Of the things to lose it is inconvenient, but fully replaceable. I had just backed up all my pictures and we haven’t had service for a good junk of it anyway. We did try calling a phone store in Ketchikan and they only sold phones with a plan, and I didn’t need that, so I couldn’t get one there. We are thinking of maybe getting one sent to us in a town we’ll be in, but not sure about that. We may also just wait until we get to Juneau. Definitely inconvenient.
The hotel we stayed in was right by where all the cruise ships come in. There is another marina that is closer to laundry, groceries, etc. We boated over there and did a bunch of chores. We went to do laundry first, so that while it was going we could finish up our errands, but the machine that you could buy laundry detergent was broken. So we walked to Safeway, Chris bought the laundry detergent and went and started laundry while the kids and I kept shopping. He did a few more boat errands and met us at McDonalds. When laundry was done we went back to get it, headed back to the boat and headed out.
We decided that we wanted to explore Misty Fjords. Since we don’t get great gas mileage going fast we did a lot of this route going slow. We were able to see a humpback whale on our way out, and Ryan is pretty certain he saw a bear.
We left Ketchikan to the North and did the loop that way, we came out South of Ketchikan. The first night we didn’t get too far, since we had so many chores that day. We found a nice private anchorage and we even got to use a mooring ball. We didn’t leave Ketchikan until pretty late, so we didn’t tie up until about 10:30 PM.
Ryan’s Thoughts: I saw a whale. We woke up in a hotel and I saw a bear all by myself. No minecraft today.
Lillian’s Thoughts: Today was not much fun! Well, it was a little fun. We woke up in a hotel which was nice!
June 4, 2022 Day 8: Kluth Bay to Walker Cove: 55 miles, 938 total miles.
Today was actually the first time we had real rain this trip, we feel pretty lucky about that! Today we weren’t in a hurry with weather or tides or anything we let the kids wake up on their own. Ellen was able to sleep until about 8:00 AM which was great. I forgot my kindle at home, but since we had wifi in Ketchikan we were able to get Chris’ Kindle set up for me. I am able to stay in bed a lot longer with a good book, so it all works out! When we woke up there were Bald Eagles in the trees, a seal in the bay with us, and a perfect Alaskan mist.
Today was a slow day. We kept it at hull speed so for us we went about 3 1/2-6 1/2 knots. It was a perfect place to slow it way down. While we were boating through the fjords Chris and I both thought it reminded us of Yosemite. Huge mountains through a glacial carved valley, the difference was this valley was full of water.
We did see a humpback whale that swam on by us. It almost felt like passing a car going in the opposite direction of you. In the distance we also saw a few orcas. We were going to our place and they were going to their place.
We got to our anchorage site earlier than we normally do, around 7:30 PM. We made dinner there, cleaned up and got ready for bed. Everyone was tired and fell asleep pretty quickly. This anchorage was the most beautiful place we’ve anchored. We were in-between huge snow capped mountains with glaciers on them. Waterfalls just pouring off the mountains. So many waterfalls. There were two other boats anchored near us. It was just stunning.
Ryan’s Thoughts: We went very slow. I am making progress in minecraft, even though I hate it right now.
Lillian’s Thoughts: Today was fine, I didn’t have a good breakfast. Then when I was going to have delicious snow balls (packaged chocolate cake covered in marshmallows and covered in pink coconut) I hate coconut and guess what? Well, they were covered in coconut! Hmmmf! And we did not go on land and it is so cramped UGGG!!!!
June 5, 2022 Day 9: Walker Cove to Vixen Harbor: 125 miles, 1,063 miles total.
Today we finished up our slow trip around Misty Fjords. We pulled up our anchor and started off slow again as we cruised through this small natural canals. Once we were in more open water we picked up the pace until we made it to another canal. We stopped by Punchbowl Cove. Its a popular place for tourists from Ketchikan to come to. People will either fly through on floatplanes, or take a boat charter. Punchbowl Cove was more open than Walker Cove, but the mountains were bigger. It was all very grand. I guess there are hikes you can take up to mountain lakes, not a good fit for our crew, but I can imagine it would be spectacular.
After Punchbowl Cove we went fast the rest of the way. Along the way we did pass Misty Fjord National Monument. It really was a stunning trip. On our way into Ketchikan we saw several more dolphins that swam along our boat for awhile. Its always a highlight for all the kids, even Ellen. A bit after that we saw a pod of orcas hunting. They were in a few different groups around us. It even looked like an older orca was showing a few young orcas what to do. Ryan is bored of orcas, so he wasn’t thrilled we waited around so long, but everyone else enjoyed them.
We made it back to Ketchikan for some food and gas and back on land after 48 hours on the boat! We ran into the other c-dory owner we saw earlier in Canada. It sounds like he had a little worse weather crossing Dixon Entrance, but it made it through just fine. I wonder if we will cross paths again,
We did have to hurry to leave Ketchikan as a storm was picking up. We needed to go up Clarence Strait to leave Ketchikan. If we didn’t leave that evening we would be stuck for several days. The waters were getting rough, but nothing too bad and we made out it just in time. Once we left the strait we had more protection from wind and the waters calmed right down. We decided to anchor in Vixen Harbor. The Slowboat people talked about it, and it stood out to me. All the books and the Slowboat people mention that you don’t follow your charts on this one. Where we pass through looks too shallow on the charts, but is the least rocky option. Sure enough that’s how it worked out for us as well. It was another beautiful anchorage that we shared with three other boats.
I’m really glad we made time for Misty Fjords and I’m glad we were able to get out of Ketchikan while we still had great weather!
Ryan’s Thoughts: I saw some whales and dolphins that went with the boat.
Lillian’s Thoughts: Today was good! We saw orcas and I had eggs for breakfast! And we saw white sided pacific dolphins. Now it is AFV (America’s Funniest Videos) time.
