|
Back again with more fun and frolic on the
water. This time in Ketchikan.
The weather is keeping us here so my travels
and pictures are rather city-centric. However,
I went zizzing around in the dinghy yesterday
and found some interesting things.
The cruise ship Norwegian Star definitely gets
the prize for being the most colorful of the
FOUR cruise ships that are currently in port
here.
A
little later in the day the ship departed and
I got this "smiling" view that
I hadn't quite noticed in the previous picture.
Lots
of boats are on the water in Tongass Narrows.
This looks like a squeeze play by the AK ferry
and the cruise ship. See the poor little sailor
in the middle? But, not to worry. The squeeze
play is just an optical illusion as the cruise
ship is anchored and the ferry and sailboat
are not on a collision course.
Here's
that same sailboat later in the day furling
his main sail right around the mast.
One
of the docks is currently under construction
here. It was called the City Floats and is
now being called the Casey Moran harbor. The
area is completely blocked off to recreational
boaters due to the construction. But what's
that I see? Cruise ship tenders can use the
little harbor to transport their passengers
back and forth. See the long line along the
dock?
So... my guess
is that recreational boaters have seen the
last of being able to tie up here. With the
cruise ship dock being lengthened way into this harbor's area (to
accommodate three ships at the dock instead
of two) and with two more ships anchored
out, this little area looks like it will
be all sewn up by the cruise ship companies.
I
was very surprised to see this cruise ship
anchored as far north as the south breakwater
entrance at Bar Harbor Marina. It's really
getting crowded in Ketchikan.
Here's another kind of
boat that caught my eye. I think the name is
a bit of an oxymoron.
And here is some
more whimsy for you. These are dock carts.
Ketchikan style.
(Yes, it's OK with Safeway to take your groceries
to your boat and leave the carts here. They
come down and pick them up.)
This
is actually the real life along
the docks. This long-liner deck hand is
faced with untangling four fishing lines that
are hundreds of feet long. He was at it for
half a day.
And here is the final
series of pictures. I came around a corner
in the dinghy and
stumbled upon the Empress of the North in dry
dock. This is the beautiful paddle-wheel style
boat we have seen on the water in previous
years. Just a few weeks ago it hit
some rocks somewhere in Icy Strait.
It
was up high enough for me to tweak the dinghy
right in under it and take some close-up pictures.
You can see the two 360 degree V-drive engines
under the stern that give it incredible
steering flexibility. (There are two more of
these at the bow.) The paddle wheel does turn
and actually gives the boat some of its propulsion.
How
about a closer look? Here are the
port propellors. Not too bad.
But
look at that starboard set of props. (See the
picture after this one for an even
closer look.)
Here's
the real close-up.
Curled up, broken off. Ouch. It's a mess.
There you have it folks. Life in Ketchikan.
I'm off to go visit a new boating friend.
Linda
& Dave
M/V Royal Sounder
|
