Here we are in Ketchikan! As I (Conni) said when we hoisted our cocktails after tying up the boat, "This is our last stop in Alaska!" Wow! Bill: She's right and it does give me pause. I've decided that it's more just anxiety about what's in store than a desire to forego the trip and return to Seward. It's the BIG step for us; leaving the state and, in a few days, leaving the US, although we'll re-enter in Seattle. It's a big occasion for Wings as well; she's been an Alaskan boat since 1989, when her former owners Tom and Nicola Clark brought her up from San Diego.

It was a beautiful morning - we awakened to calm weather and full-on sun. The other vessel with which we stayed in Vixen Harbor was Escape, a Westsail 32. The delightful owner, Mark, took a spin around the tiny cove in his kayak, and when we hailed him, came by to chat. We learned that he's an electronic engineer who lives in Sandy, Utah but works, on occasion, in the San Francisco Bay Area. He's made the trip in S/V Escape up from SF to Alaska more than once, and has sailed extensively around the Southeast, often single-handing. He's sure got our respect. His flight attendant wife joins him when she can.

I (Conni) picked his brain extensively about where he stops along the West Coast. Interestingly, he also harbor-hops, after a fashion, when sailing up and down the coast. We've encountered two schools of thought about the trip from Seattle to San Francisco: one group say go 100 miles offshore and stay out there until abreast of the Golden Gate (Bill's choice); the other group (which Conni inclined toward) stops where possible, in places like Tillamook Bay and Newport, Oregon, in Crescent City, Drakes Bay and Bodega Bay, California. As the resident California girl who's also lived in Oregon, I love that beautiful (but admittedly rugged) coast and don't want to miss seeing it from the water. Notwithstanding the potential for a rough ride around Cape Mendocino, I'm lobbying for the scenic route. Bill's concerned about the lee coastline.

We pulled the hook at 11 AM or so and slowly motored out of Vixen Harbor, Conni at the helm. We managed to leave at absolute low tide and consequently we DID touch bottom once as we left. Just a little bump, but yikes, that got our attention! So did seeing 5.2 ft on the depth sounder.

We motored most of the day, through rain squalls and periods of sun. Bill was able to prepare most of the teak cap rail for varnishing: scraping off old varnish and sanding the teak. In the brief periods of sun, he even got a coat of varnish on most of it.

We visited a tiny place that has been on our list since the start: Meyers Chuck. What a cool, incredibly picturesque little village! The harbor entrance is well marked with day markers, but quite difficult to make out until you're very nearly past it. The community has, perhaps, 50-60 residents, and most are seasonal. There's a state dock so we had a place to land. It's quiet: only a few trails snake along the harbor with lovely hand-made homes hidden in spruce forest. There is a lot of whimsy apparent, so we know that the residents love the place. Some one had created a spider web of cord and placed an iron spider in it: creative and clever. The art gallery is mentioned in several guide books but unfortunately wasn't open.

When I (Conni) nudged us up to the small dock, we noticed an impressive and beautifully kept motor cruiser tied up as well. Although M/V Invictus was every bit as large as the big motor yachts we're used to seeing in Cabo San Lucas, she was not festooned with fishing gear but rather looked well-outfitted for serious cruising. While we were strolling the walking path through town, we happened across the owners, a lovely couple who have cruised the West Coast and southeast Alaska extensively and were headed north. They told us their boat was a Nordhavn, which is one of the finest (and most expensive) of the production motor yachts. Okay, I'm impressed. I prefer sailing, but M/V Invictus is sure a pretty, pretty power yacht.

We'll meet with our friends here tomorrow and we hope to start and complete some important projects before leaving.

From here, it's the crossing of Dixon Entrance, followed almost immediately by the border crossing into Canada. We've got our courtesy flag for Canada and the "Q" or quarantine flag for entering into the country. It will be our first international boundary.