Alaska – Riveted

Anan Creek Bear Observatory

Laura Domela — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 23:33:25 +0000

We didn’t leave Thoms Place until around 8am this morning so we got to Anan Creek by about 9:30am. We anchored out in about 95 feet. By the time we backed up toward shore all the way to set our anchor we were in 20 feet (at low tide)…it shoals up fast! Here we are anchored near a big megayacht called Sin or Swim:

There’s a Forest Service cabin here (in the back, rented right now by a group of kayakers we met later while watching bears), and the ranger cabin on the floating dock.

When you’re ready to come ashore, you’re supposed to call the Anan Creek rangers on Channel 16 and get permission. We did that, and then dinghied over to the trailhead which is up at the mouth of the river.

Looking back at Airship and Sin or Swim with the space compressed like this makes Airship look almost as big as Sin or Swim. It’s totally not.

Ranger Mike, greeting us from the rock:

Since it was low tide, we beached the dinghy and then pulled a very long line from the bow up to one of the highest rocks, looped it around the rock and wedged the anchor in a good spot. We’d certainly be floating by the time we returned, as it was a minus 2.7 foot low tide this morning. (Dinghy in the lower left, next to the ranger’s skiff…)

Looking up river:

The information I read online said you’d be accompanied up the 1/2 mile trail to the observation area by an armed ranger…but you actually have the option to go up on your own. We opted to have Mike come with us, since there were only two of us (a larger louder group is better) and we have little experience with bears on trails (lots of experience with bears seen from boats though!)

Mike talked to us about Anan Creek, the bears, bear behavior, etc. The bears apparently also use this trail often, and there were signs of that all over the place. We stepped over many piles of bear scat just within the first 5 minutes or so of our hike. I’d JUST been thinking about how glad I was that Mike was with us, when we spotted a brown bear off to the right of the trail, down on the sandy shoreline area. The bear was headed toward where the trail curved around to the right. We kept an eye on her and Mike said he expected she’d be crossing the trail ahead of us, and just as promised, here she came.

(I took these with the zoom lens, don’t worry.) The three of us just kept talking, so she’d know we were there, and she wasn’t bothered or interested in us at all. She continued up the steep slope of the hillside and after she’d gone, we continued on. Mike radioed the ranger at the top and gave her the bear report. This brown bear might soon be appearing at the top of the hill near the observation deck (or in front of the outhouse!)

Fish hanging out in the shallows:

Soon we were at the observation deck (with maybe 6 other people). Gorgeous…and no bears (yet).

After maybe 45 minutes or so, here came one black bear down the side of the hill toward the stream:

He made his way down to a spot where some water peels off from the main stream and then he just stuck his head in the water, looking for fish. He had a couple of quick moves, but never caught a fish from here while we were watching.

Pretty soon, another black bear came climbing down the hillside. (Bear number one here was keeping an eye out the whole time. He must have been expecting him. I bet they know each other.)

Bear number two:

Bear number two first went to a completely different fishing spot, walked right into the water and seemed to be looking for fish rather passively. (Tiffani: if Lucy was a bear, she’d be this bear.)

But then, bear number two decided to go over to where bear number one was fishing. The first way he tried to get there was a short cut through a crevice between two big rocks, and bear number one just came over and growled at him and wouldn’t let him come through. Awwww.

Next, bear number two took the long, high road over the top:

This turned out about the same as the first attempt (in a growling, none shall pass kind of way):

Eventually, bear number one gave in and moved downstream a bit. He fished from in the stream this time, where he eventually caught a big salmon by the tail:

He took his catch up the hill into a little hidey hole to eat in peace:

Meanwhile, we spotted the brown bear again as she made her way up stream along the far shore. (She never showed up at the top of the hill apparently.)

She was walking along the rocks on the far shore of the stream and all of a sudden, spotted a fish and just went right in after it.

The ranger said she does that all the time, but never catches any fish doing it. Pretty funny!

Bear number two, in his highly sought after spot:

The ranger told us that bear number two has always loved this little spot, and that earlier in the season he fit into it much better (before he gained 200 pounds). He still works his way slowly, butt-first, into the cave, and eventually gets most of the way in there. He can’t really fish from this spot, but he likes it anyway. (This bear seems a little shy and insecure.)

Bear number one finished his first fish and headed back down to the water for more:

Here’s the observation area:

There’s a photo blind down some stairs and closer to the river (all covered in camouflage tarp…you can just see the top of the stairway on the right, with tarp). People can sign up to use the blind for an hour at a time…which could be pretty cool. More people were arriving now that it was just after noon, so after watching the black bears a little longer we headed back down the trail with four others from the kayaking group. We spotted the brown bear out in the shallow area (not near the trail):

This was SUCH a cool thing to do and we’re so glad we were able to get a permit and go (and that there were bears!) Last year we called when we were in Wrangell and the ranger said there hadn’t been any bears there for a bit…there was one that occasionally showed up, and that the season was kind of “over” so we didn’t go. Anan Creek gives out permits for 60 people per day from July 5 through August 25, and they have 4 last minute permits per day. During the height of the season, the ranger said there can be a dozen bears there at the river fishing. It’s fantastic to get to watch them do their thing from such a great vantage point. If you don’t want to take your own boat and anchor out in a marginal anchorage, you can take a tour from Wrangell via Alaska Vistas or Breakaway Adventures. (We did a Stikine River tour with Breakaway last year and it was fantastic…even though the weather was seriously crappy!) Also, regarding the Anan Creek anchorage, conditions were super calm when we were there and we felt good about our anchor set and holding, and therefore didn’t feel the need to leave someone on board as a watch like a lot of the guidebooks say you should do.

Anyway, super fun day at Anan Creek! We highly recommend stopping here if you’re in the area (and it’s during the bear-eating-fish season).

Wrangell to Thoms Place

Laura Domela — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 21:21:43 +0000

We left Wrangell and headed down Zimovia Strait to Thoms Place. We hadn’t been to Thoms Place before, but heard there was good crabbing so we figured it was about time to get some more crab! (Plus, we had a day to kill between Wrangell and Anan Creek.)

I love this photo:

We fished for a while but didn’t catch anything, so eventually went in to Thoms Place and anchored, then got the crab traps ready to put out. It was high tide, so after setting the crab traps, we explored a bit in the dinghy. We were able to go way back in through and around all these little islands that aren’t islands except at high tide…it was so cool! We saw a black bear sow and her two cubs, but I didn’t have my camera with me, so no photos, boo.

Later in the afternoon Kevin went out in the dinghy with a beer and his fishing rod and fished around for a while, while I read a book. He caught a couple (okay four) too-small something or others…he hasn’t identified what kind of fish they were yet. Here he is, heading out (note the Xtratuf coozie on the seat next to him…nice!):

UPDATE: The fish were Slimy Sculpins.

Here’s what Thoms Place looks like:

Shoreline reflection totem, turned sideways (so many faces in this one!):

We had a permit for Anan Creek Bear Observatory for Friday morning, so we got up fairly early to check the crab traps (22 crabs!!! 6 keepers…the rest too small or females, but finally…some crab!)

Next up: bears catching fish!!

Peril Strait Anchorages | Deep Bay and Half Tide Neck

Laura Domela — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 17:15:05 +0000

We left Sitka on Tuesday morning and once through Sergius Narrows we decided to stay in Deep Bay. We put out crab traps and made dinner and didn’t really take any photos. The weather looked like this:

Inside Deep Bay:

No thanks, I’d rather be in the boat:

We fished a bit and caught one black rockfish but no salmon, so we made rockfish tacos for dinner.

On Wednesday morning our crab traps collectively had 20 crabs in them! Twenty! But guess what? Nineteen of them were females and we had only one male keeper. One out of twenty!! Apparently this used to be a great crabbing spot earlier in the season. We took our one crab and headed out. Still pretty rainy and cloudy. We decided instead of Appleton Cove we’d go someplace new, and anchored at Half Tide Neck in Hoonah Sound. Cool spot! (We caught another black rockfish on the way from Deep Bay to Half Tide Neck. Still no salmon.)

We set the crab pots out again (come on, one more!) and then did a little exploring.

Half Tide Neck panorama:

For dinner tonight I made rockfish cakes. (Same method as crab cakes, but with rockfish…and a tiny bit of leftover salmon…and I added some diced jalapeno.)

They turned out great!

There’s a mooring ball at the Half Tide Neck anchorage, and a little cabin. At first I thought it might be a forest service cabin, but I think it must be private. Sweet location!

This morning the clouds had lifted a little and we decided we’d forego Appleton Cove and go all the way to Takatz Bay in Northern Chatham Strait. The conditions were forecast to be good in Chatham (15 knot winds and 3 foot seas), so we’d make some miles and go to another new (to us) spot. We saw a couple humpbacks, and some more Pacific White-Sided dolphins. Boy do those guys move fast!

Where Peril Strait meets Chatham Strait:

Nice to see some blue sky, finally!!

Once out in the strait the conditions were more like 20 knot winds with 3-4 foot seas, but whatever. It was bumpy, but it was sunny!

Elfin Cove and Pelican

Laura Domela — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 21:16:28 +0000

We left Glacier Bay National Park on Sunday (July 31) and headed to Elfin Cove (through South Inian Pass in Cross Sound). It was nice and calm as we left Glacier Bay, and we even got a little humpback breach on our way out.

A humpback near shore, closer to Elfin Cove:

We were excited to revisit Elfin Cove and Pelican this year with Tiffani and Deke and Sam and Anna. We tried the inner harbor first but there wasn’t enough room for both boats (and maybe not even for one boat), so we ended up on the outer dock (rafted like good visitors, so we took up less dock space in this busy place).

(Just going in and out of the inner harbor is so cool though…it’s very narrow and shallow, and feels like a special place you aren’t supposed to be.) The entrance is up ahead on the right of the photo, by the vertical pilings in the distance:

You can kinda tell from this photo of our walk to the market (later) how narrow the entrance is. (That’s it on the left!)

Elfin Cove’s inner harbor:

The gang, watching the float plane land and take off at the end of our dock:

We walked around town, reprovisioned a little bit at the general store, and then made pizzas for dinner. (Tiffani made the dough, and Deke made the delicious red sauce, and we all made personal pizzas from a variety of toppings…so good!) We hung out on the dock talking to a troller named Joey (F/V Silverlance) about fishing and boats and Elfin Cove…he was really nice and fun to chat with!

Anna bought some coho from him because she hadn’t caught any fish yet and wanted to be sure the freezer on Safe Harbour was stocked!

Our route from Shag Cove in Geikie Inlet in Glacier Bay National Park to Elfin Cove (43.4 nautical miles, 5 hours 49 minutes):

In the morning we went up to the Coho Bar & Grill for breakfast, did another loop around town, and then took off for Pelican. Another gorgeous day!

Here we are rafted on the dock, after all the fish boats left for the day:

Great view of the Fairweathers!

We had no trouble finding dock space in Pelican. Once settled, we walked the boardwalk a bit to explore town.

Totems in front of City Hall (which is where you pay your moorage, by the way).

Springy dolphin in front of the Pelican school:

At the south end of the boardwalk, this area is called “Whiskey Flats”:

Where the river (and the bears) join town. There were quite a few salmon in the stream here, but no bears.

Before dinner we all went up to Rose’s Bar for a beer and some local color.

Rose’s finally has (soon-to-be) new owners! We talked to them quite a bit about their plans for a few upgrades, and how they really want/need to walk a fine line when making changes to this place. It’s got some serious history, and they know the regulars won’t deal well with too much change. They sound excited and like they have some great ideas though. It’ll be cool to see what they do with the place.

From one of the regulars (Bill Pierre, of Bill Pierre Ford), we learned about a place called Radioville, on a small unnamed island on the outside of Chichagof Island (where we plan to go next). Bill Pierre kind of sort of pointed it out on the chart to us, and told us it was a radio station run by a retired signal corps operator to deliver messages from the outside world to the gold and silver mining village in Klag Bay during the early 1900s. Apparently this retired signal corps operator drank quite a bit, and Bill said that the beach is covered in glass from this guy’s broken booze bottles, and for us to look for a red shack and the blue and purple sparkling beach in front of it. (We are of course intrigued by all of this and may try to find it!)

In the morning we walked up to have breakfast at the Lisianski Inlet Cafe. The two specials of the day were biscuits and gravy (really good) and corned beef hash (amazing).

After breakfast we stopped in the gift shop (next door, and part of the cafe) and Tiffani and Anna bought a couple Eric Bealer prints (Alaskan artist/printmaker who lives just outside of Pelican) and a tshirt, and Anna stopped at Yakobi Fisheries and stocked up on some more salmon and halibut. (At home in Portland as part of our weekly organic veggie delivery–Organics to You–we occasionally add a pound of salmon to our order, and guess where it comes from? Yakobi Fisheries in Pelican! Pretty cool.

Elfin Cove to Pelican (19.6 nautical miles, 2 hours 55 minutes):

We left the dock in Pelican and are headed forLisianski Strait. The weather looks good for doing the outside of Chicagof Island to Sitka, and so that’s our plan.

Gustavus, Flynn Cove, Hoonah

Laura Domela — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 18:19:47 +0000

Tiffani and Deke’s flight (referred to locally as “The Jet”) arrived in Gustavus on time and they were at the city dock via TLC Taxi in no time!

We took off for Flynn Cove, across Icy Strait, to meet up with Sam on Safe Harbour.

In the first hour of Alaska for Tiffani and Deke, we saw giant steller sea lions flinging salmon around, many rafts of otters, and a whole bunch of humpbacks…tail slapping, fin slapping, and a few full breaches. I guess that’ll do!

Beautiful out on Icy Strait:

Flynn Cove, with just one other boat:

We rafted with Safe Harbour in Flynn Cove and had dinner together, and in the morning we headed for Hoonah where we were not really counting on our scheduled flightseeing trip to Glacier Bay to happen due to the less than ideal weather, and we were correct. They called at 10am and said they had to cancel. We arrived in Hoonah and took a walk out to Icy Strait Point for lunch and some touristing, then to Hoonah Trading Co. for some groceries. We showered and napped and worked a little back at our boats, and then walked down to Icy Strait Brewing that evening to grab a beer and some dinner from the Thai food truck next door (Srisa…so good!)

View from the deck:

Yesterday in Hoonah, Sam had us over to Safe Harbour for breakfast (delicious waffles!!) and then we did a little last minute gathering of a few more groceries at what we call the “Tiny Expensive Costco” … I can’t remember the name of the place (Colleen’s Cupboard maybe?) but it’s basically a Costco resale store. Great when you need it, but you pay about double the Costco price. Considering they’ve got to get all that stuff up here from Juneau, it seems pretty fair.

Oh yeah, we were able to get a last minute permit for Glacier Bay (for both boats!) for the 27th, so that’s what we’re doing next. We stayed in Sawmill Bay in Excursion Inlet again last night since we had a day to kill. We fished on the way in and caught a nice big coho, so we had grilled salmon, risotto, and asparagus for dinner last night. Crab traps had two big Dungies in ‘em this morning, so we’ll probably have some crab leg appetizers tonight, and maybe salmon tacos.

One black bear in Sawmill Bay:

We are now headed for Bartlett Cove and into Glacier Bay National Park for a few days. The weather isn’t great, but maybe things will improve a bit once we’re further into the park.

White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad

Laura Domela — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 22:32:48 +0000

We left Airship in the marina this morning and headed for the train station.

I called yesterday to make a reservation for the 8:15am ride up to the White Pass summit, but the ticket seller talked me into the steam train excursion that went a bit further out to Fraser Meadows, BC, and…well, steam train!! (This particular steam train excursion leaves at 8am on just 7 Mondays over the summer…and today was one of those Mondays.) We’re so glad we stayed and did this. The chances of getting to Skagway again with weather this perfect, well, I don’t know what they are but it seems like it could be kinda rare.

Here comes our train!

We rode in Car No. 216, one of the earliest cars built. The White Pass and Yukon Route railroad was constructed between September and December 1898. [See the “History” page on their website for more details.]

The original Klondike Trail of 1898:

They don’t allow anyone to hike this trail anymore because this area is all a protected park now, but there are spots where you can still see the narrow remains.

The old trestle bridge that we did not take:

White Pass Summit:

The United States/Canada border:

Up in subalpine land:

Remains of an old snow drift fence:

The views are just spectacular.

You can see all the way back to Skagway in this shot:

A map of the railroad route:

I really wanted (and expected to find) this t-shirt in the gift shop, but apparently they don’t make a shirt like this, which is really a shame, don’t you think?

The logo looks so great on the black train car…how could they NOT have designed a shirt to match?

Skagway, AK

Laura Domela — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 01:56:42 +0000

Another gorgeous day in Lynn Canal and up the Taiya Inlet to Skagway! Here’s our new view, at the Small Boat Harbor:

Skagway, Alaska is pretty much the furthest north in the Inside Passage that we can travel by boat. I’m so glad the weather was great and we got to come all the way up here. It’s beautiful! Blue dot on map is us:

There’s only one cruise ship here today, so the town is pretty quiet.

There are roads that lead from both Haines and Skagway to other places in Alaska (unlike all other SE Alaska towns we visit by boat), so we’ve met several sets of folks from Whitehorse and other towns in Alaska, Canada, and the Yukon Territory. Whitehorse is only about 90 minutes by car, so maybe next time we’re here, we can rent a car and do some land exploring.

Skagway is actually pretty charming. Yes, it’s a cruise ship town (of only about 900 people), but they’ve done a good job with the vibe of the place…it doesn’t feel all cruiseshipppy. I’m not sure if it’s that the buildings all mostly match and have that slightly Old West look and there aren’t A TON of tanzanite and cruise ship jewelry stores (there are still a few), or that there was only one ship here today, but it was quite nice walking around town. We had lunch at the Skagway Fish Company (a salad with king crab, and halibut fish & chips, to share). The food was solid. Not amazing, but solid.

But OMG the weather!! Today was probably up near 80 degrees…tomorrow is supposed to be 87 (the harbormaster says that’s the hottest he’s ever seen it). We were originally thinking we’d just explore for a couple hours today, have lunch, and then head back out to fish and maybe back to Haines this afternoon, but we decided to stay the night and head down to Haines tomorrow afternoon instead. Guess what we’re doing in the morning?

Haines, AK

Laura Domela — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 00:46:23 +0000

We left Bridget Cove yesterday morning around 7am. Here’s the Eldred Rock Lighthouse (a good place for current weather observations on Lynn Canal):

The blue dot on this map of Lynn Canal is us in Bridget Cove:

Haines is about 39 nautical miles from Bridget Cove so we’d arrive in Haines around 12:30pm…just in time to meet Sam and his friend (also named Sam) for some exploring! The weather could not have been better. Lynn Canal was completely calm and a little cloudy, but the further north we went, the more blue sky we got.

This area is gorgeous. Lynn Canal is lined with glacier after glacier after waterfall after waterfall. The more it cleared up the more spectacular the scenery.

Just before we got to Haines, we noticed a weird thing on the horizon…the water up ahead was apparently VERY calm and reflecting the landscape above it. From where we were though, it looked a bit like a giant hole in the water, along the lines of Niagara Falls. Kinda cool!

Approaching the harbor in Haines:

Those mountains!

We got a slip right across from Sam and then we all headed into town. Not a bad view from the marina:

Cute harbormaster’s office with salmon shutters:

We couldn’t pass up going into North America’s only museum devoted to hammers: the Hammer Museum (where the soundtrack included gems like “Workin’ on a Goldmine” and MC Hammer’s “Hammer Time.”) Apparently they have two full CDs of hammer- or tool-themed music that they play in the museum. Cheesy, but fun!

There were about 2,000 hammers on display from the entire collection of ~7,000 hammers. History of the Hammer Museum here, if you’re interested to know how something like this happens.

After the Hammer Museum, we stopped at Haines Brewing Company, where Paul (the owner and maker of beer) served us some of his delicious brews. We tried Captain Cook’s Spruce Tip Ale, Lookout Stout, and Black Fang (also a stout…super tasty!) We sat outside on the back patio with this view:

Downtown Haines:

Continuing on around town, we detoured into the Port Chilkoot Distillery (because…great logo!) and tasted their spirits, hoping we liked something so we could buy a bottle and a tshirt. They make Icy Strait Vodka, 50 Fathoms Gin, Green Siren Absinthe, 12 Volts Moonshine, Boatwright Bourbon, and Wrack Line Rye. All were good, but we thought the gin and the absinthe were most like nothing else we had on the boat, so we got a small bottle of each of those, plus some local-made bitters by Moxie Bitters (orange, spiced pear, and spruce tip bitters).

Back on the dock we sat on the top deck of Sam’s boat and had some snacks and enjoyed the incredible weather. For dinner, Sam made some potato croquettes in his waffle iron (Costco re-hydrated hash browns cooked in the waffle iron with parmesan cheese added…super creative and delicious!) and I made a bolognese sauce to go with some pasta. I used my regular recipe that normally takes 2-4 hours to cook after all the first steps, but instead of the 2-4 hours, I put it in the pressure cooker for 12 minutes and it came out really good!

View of the moon, 10pm, from the top deck of Safe Harbor:

This morning in Haines, taken from Airship:

We all really loved Haines. I know, the weather helped, but it’s a cool town. Only the ferry and the occasional small cruise ship stop here, so it’s got a more authentic Alaska feel to it than the towns with all the shops geared for cruiseshippers. We’ll definitely be back!

Next stop: Skagway (because we’ve come all this way…why not go as far north as we can?)

Helm Bay to Meyers Chuck

Laura Domela — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 05:22:58 +0000

It rained for a while this morning in Helm Bay, but when it stopped it was so still and quiet.

After a little while, the sky cleared a little bit, the sun popped through, and it was just spectacular.

Kevin fished off the dock a little bit with the new collapsible fishing rod with spinning reel that his mom bought him at Tongass Trading in Ketchikan while I made breakfast and coffee. We all oooh’d and ahhhh’d at how beautiful it was here and then left the dock heading for Meyers Chuck. We weren’t very far when I thought “Wait a second! We should get some drone photos!” so we turned around and did a quick flight for some aerial photos. Don’t know why we didn’t think of that before we untied, but whatever. We got some really nice shots!

Just before we turned into Clarence Strait we came upon some humpbacks hanging around near the shore.

A mother and calf:

Humpback fin slapping near Bittersweet Rock:

A few more random fins:

While we were watching whales, we noticed a couple Pacific white-sided dolphins splashing up ahead, so we sped up and went over to play with them. Or, went toward them hoping they’d come play with us, and they did! They always do…I LOVE these guys.

They surfed our bow for about 20 minutes. Kevin’s mom was out on the bow with me watching them too…such a great show!! I hope they know how much we love them.

We continued on to Meyers Chuck and arrived around 2:30pm. We walked up to the gallery and looked at (and bought) some of the cool stuff in there, and then hiked the rest of the way out to the beach. Gorgeous!

Up these stairs is a little house! What a spot, huh?

After we got back to Airship, Kevin took the drone up and we got some aerial photos of Meyers Chuck. Weather doesn’t suck, does it?

The conditions forecast for today in Clarence Strait were NW wind 15 knots, seas 3 feet, but we had none of that. Wind was maybe 5 knots and waves were none.

Tomorrow, it’s on to Wrangell!

Today’s route: 31.4 nautical miles, 4 hours 21 minutes:

Another Day in Ketchikan

Laura Domela — Wed, 25 May 2016 21:52:58 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016

Last night's sunset from Airship:

We originally thought we'd leave town today and head around to Misty Fjords and Behm Canal, but we got focused working for quite a few hours this morning here on the boat and decided we'd wait and leave tomorrow morning instead. Around noon we took a break for lunch and a little exploring, and headed across the street to a very well-liked local spot called Burger Queen. It's tiny, and doesn't look like much from the outside, but whoa! What a great burger! (The fries were perfect as well.) All the tables inside were filled by noon, so we sat outside. This'll give you a feel for the unglamourousness that is the Burger Queen outdoor seating (two picnic tables on the side of the road):

No one cares. The burgers are amazing. We both got Sriracha bacon burgers and shared some fries and…well, just go there if you're in Ketchikan and you want a burger. You'll be glad you did.

Next we thought we'd hop on the bus and go down to the Saxman Totem Park to look at some totems. I went to Saxman last year while I was hanging in Ketchikan and Kevin went to San Jose for business, and I thought he should see it. Plus, it'd be a nice outing…the weather was mild…gray but not raining. We missed the bus by about 5 minutes, and the next one wasn't due for another hour, so we decided to walk (about 2.5 miles further down the road). This was fine, since we'd just had burgers and fries for lunch.

By the time we arrived, the guy at the booth where you pay your $5 entry fee said they were just closing up (there was no one in sight) and that we could wander around for free. Sweet! I only took a couple photos, because pretty soon two tour busses full of people showed up.

The clan house:

Aw, I didn't mean to cut off the halibut's head:

We caught the bus back downtown (I'm breaking in my new tennies at a frantic pace!) and are now back at Airship doing…you guessed it…a bit more work. We'll cook up some salmon for dinner tonight and head out in the morning.

Oh yeah, this was a funny scene yesterday morning. This is the Ruby Princess (the giant cruise ship the Orange County couple was from)…that yellow/orange vehicle backed up to the entrance is the Duck Tour.

If you were following our trip last year, you might remember we were docked RIGHT next to the boat ramp where these babies launched, playing (loudly) the theme from Hawaii Five-O and then Gilligan's Island…over, and over, and over again. Anyway, they pull RIGHT UP TO THE CRUISE SHIP DOOR. How perfect.