Ketchikan

 

This is my 5th visit to Ketchikan, and I wanted to do something different. So I booked a Tatoosh Island Kayak tour that was recommended to me. I had a great sleep last night and woke up to a beautiful morning. Sunny and about 19C was the forecast, unusual for Ketchikan which is often wet. I went to the dining room for a hearty breakfast, as I'll be missing lunch. Then I popped in on an interesting talk about women in Alaska with non traditional careers before going up to the Crows Nest to watch the approach into Ketchikan. We are the 4th ship pulling into the downtown area, with one ship at Ford Cove so it will be busy in town!

The pier was a bit of a madhouse, as there were so many tours all departing around the same time. But there were lots of people to direct where to go, and I soon joined my group for the 30 minute drive north of Ketchikan. Once we had signed the waivers and used the composting toilets we boarded 2 zodiacs for about a 20 min journey out to one of the smaller islands. There, the kayaks were drawn up on the beach and we were issued with life-jackets, dry bags and paddles. Because I was by myself and had some experience I was in a single, everyone else in double kayaks. Many had never kayaked before but did really well for a first time. Especially as the wind had picked up and the first half of our kayak was into the wind. So we worked hard! A beautiful day but I was glad I had brought a jacket with the wind. There were lots of silver salmon jumping and eagles hunting them. The young guides were very enthusiastic and eager to pass on information about the environment and give tips about kayaking. I guess we kayaked for about 2 hours, with the way back much easier going with the wind! The ride back on the zodiac was very bumpy, and many people got splashed. Good thing it was a warm day!

When we got back to the ship about 4pm I was really hungry, so I went to the NY deli and had a pizza and a beer. I really felt I'd earned it! It was lovely and warm when sheltered from the wind, so I took the opportunity to have a swim in the aft pool and enjoy the sun. Then it was time to get ready for dinner which was in the Pinnacle Grill. Four of us from the group had dinner together, and it was a lot of fun with lots of stories told. Service was very slow, but the food was great. I had crab cakes, halibut and chocolate soufflé for dessert. It was almost 10:30pm by the time we finished. I stopped in briefly at the Orange Party, then to the Piano Bar to catch the end of the set. Clocks go forward tonight so at midnight new time I called it a night.