"The Salmon Capital of the World" or though the sign says. A bit pretentious if you ask me. But the locals certainly won't be asking me.

We refueled, another 260 gallons of diesel; 116 hours running our main engine; six hours running our heater and the same for the generator; we have traveled over 620 nm since leaving Anacortes. The Ketchikan diesel price, $5.40/gallon, is lower than the discounted price back in Anacortes, WA. Thank you, Alaska. Also, we are docked at Bar Harbor South, two possibly three days at $40 per night. Now I really like this place.

For those reading our blogs entries, Ketchikan may bring back memories of Alaska cruises. This town is the first stop upon entering Alaska, at least for cruise ships, not so much for us. We stopped in Foggy Bay, Alaska, about 35 miles south of Ketchikan. It was mid-day, and the current would have been against us most of the way dropping our average speed to 6kts or less. Not my cup of tea so we chose to bail out, good ole bailouts, they make cruising simpler most of the time.

Foggy Bay is a harbor many cruisers, like us, get authorization from US Customs and Immigration to stop prior to being granted permission to officially enter the US. There are two harbors, Outer and Inner. Looking at our charts and reading our guides, commenters suggested using the Inner Harbor. That looked a little iffy to this conservative captain. Several submerged rocks near the entrance. A sharp right turn to a very narrow passage and then an opening into a small but well protected anchorage. "Most cruisers choose the Inner Harbor" is what we read. Ok, but first let's check out the Outer Harbor. Not so good. Dropped the anchor in 36 feet and backed as normal, no dinghy this time, and the depth dropped to 86 feet; the anchor was bouncing on the bottom, rocks. I let out more chain, now getting close to 200 feet and it was a no go. Decision time, do we try the Inner? Just then the two sailboats that had been following us entered the Outer Harbor and proceeded toward the Inner entrance. Ok, if rag-baggers, that's what we power boaters affectionally call sailors, can do it I guessed we could too. No problem, 31 feet was the shallowest depth reading. For the night there were three sailboats and two power boats resting peacefully. I owe one to my sailing buddies.

Ketchikan is a fisherman's paradise. There are private and commercial fishing boats everywhere in this marina. Far more than local or transient pleasure boats. I observed that many fishing boats appear to need some tender loving care. I don't think many or any of our readers would want to venture out into open waters, but this is Alaska, and we are learning people live modestly and love their fishing.

While fueling, we had a chance to talk with the crew of a Seiner-type fishing boat. Seiner's use large nets, weighted at the bottom; they use a small auxiliary boat to close a circle entrapping any fish unlucky enough to be in the area. These men, no ladies aboard, looked seasoned. The boat Orca Song is owned by a First Nation person and receives a special license from the First Nation to fish in their waters. He also needs a license from the Alaskan government. With these licenses he gets only two days. On a good two days of fishing, they might board as much as 80,000 pounds of fish, again all types. At $2 per pound, that's not too shabby. However, that's only on very good two days. 20,000 pounds is more the normal. The owner pays his three-man crew $1,000 per person per day, maintains his boat, pays for needed fuel, license fees, taxes and what's left he and his family live on.

I'll end this after one more comment. Eagles are everywhere! They seem to be patient birds, sitting, waiting, and watching. We haven't gotten complacent watching these birds work; they are extremely effective hunters.