Weather gods look kindly upon us with Ketichikan in our sights

Our crossing of the Dixon Entrance was epic, in that, we had light winds and flat sea the entire time. Consulting the weather forecasts the night before, we didn’t believe it could be as good as forecast. It was actually BETTER!

Two of the flotilla at the moment they crossed the "disputed" USA/Canada border

One by one, the yachts in the fleet crossed the wide open expanse cleared back into the USA mostly using the ROAM app (very convenient). Many fueled up, as did Ciamar. Our first fueling since Anacortes, with still 25% of our tank remaining. Also nice to enjoy Alaska diesel prices, versus California or Canada.

After tying up at the Bar Harbor Marina from the long trip, we rested that night and went to explore the town a bit during our full day layover. There is no doubt that we’ve left Canada and we’re now in Alaska. I can’t put my finger on why, but I was surprised at how friendly people are here. It was also really great to stay somewhere two nights in a row. I got up to Cape Fox Hotel for a brunch and strolled Creek Street – the former brothel/speakeasy district turned tourist trap.

The town had a few cruise groups of cruise ships come and go while we were there, and you can definitely tell. Not only do the streets fill up, but the cell service/data bandwidth slows to a sippy straw when thousands of cruise ship passenger cell phones come within sight of the Ketchican towers and connect en-masse.

The entire group had a Waggoner hosted Arrival dinner on day two to say goodbye to those separating from the group and discussion of our plans ahead for those continuing to Juneau. Its pretty amazing how close this group has become on this trip, starting out in Anacortes as total strangers.

I’m looking forward to visiting Ketchikan again on our way back and hanging out in the town a bit more.