It had drizzled all night but slowed down by the morning. Under the trees we were reasonably sheltered but it was very damp. We reluctantly got out of bed and packed up, trying to keep the dry stuff dry and the wet stuff away from the dry stuff… A bit of a challenge but it worked out pretty good. The ferry terminal was just a kilometer from the campground and we got there in ample time, got checked in and waited in line. Once onboard they gave us a nice place to park the bikes with tie down points, we unpacked our necessary items for the 36 hour trip and Zoe went up to get our cabin keys. Since none of the ferry terminals seem to have any sort of food / coffee facilities (there is a business opportunity there) our first stop was breakfast. The ferry food is nothing to write home about but will keep us alive until our destination, Ketchikan.
M/V Matanuska, our ride from Sitka to Ketchikan
Departure from Sitka under a slither of blue sky
Drying our tent fly in the car deck
After an hour or so in the solarium (more like a rain shelter with heaters) we decided to disappear for a nap. A few hours of rest and a hot beverage later and we were back in Juneau. Our good intentions of going for a walk were quickly drowned by the weather… So we hung around for the 2 hours it took to offload and reload the ferry. We did however managed to pick up some books at the ferry terminal book swap that would keep us entertained for the rest of the journey.
Stop # 2 was Petersbourg at 03:30, needless to say we were fast asleep, unfortunately we missed the Wrangel Narrows that followed shortly after since it was way early and still dark.
We were up just in time for stop #4 in Wrangell. It was a very short stop during which we had a walk around the decks, looked at the small town from the boat and checked on the bikes. The weather was still grey, cold & damp with little visibility. We returned to our books in our cabin where we remained until our arrival in Ketchikan early afternoon.
Arrival in Ketchikan
TA
Compared to the 130 precedent days, this ferry-ride was quite un-eventful.
No wildlife mentioned, no scenery during a mostly night trip and no food.
Weather being bad, not even a walk through town.
Boy, must have been boring or relaxing due to nothing much happening!
Baci
I wrote a whole text and it disappeared so here I am again….
Rainy weather, no food, not even showers ? Sleep is the best option and in the mean time your back is at rest, the tarpaulin dries up and so forth…
At arrival, first thing you’ll do is get some food 100% sure 🙂
Ketchican the Totemplace to be huh ? Tongass National Forest. Have fun guys although the weather up there isn’t looking good, it says rain all over the week :(:(:(
Look for bears and send me one, I have a garden and a pond with fish ….Any postcards for my collection ?
Make the best of it and take care. Mum