Ketchikan to Foggy Bay (and More Aurora Borealis!)

Airship Goes to Alaska

I'm just gonna start with this: "Holy crap it's so amazing!!!"

Okay now, continue reading. There will be more candy later.

Downtown Ketchikan from the water:

On Thursday morning we ran a few errands in Ketchikan (more Ray Troll shirts for friends, picking up some tax docs at Frontier Shipping, mailing tax docs from Frontier Shipping…that kind of stuff) before heading out to Foggy Bay. We stopped to have lunch at Alava's Fish & Chowder, right across the street from the city dock. I'd seen the good reviews last time we were in Ketchikan, and wow, they weren't kidding. The halibut fish 'n chips was so delicious! Actually, instead of chips, I ordered asparagus with mine, and it came crispy and perfect with a sweet chili dipping sauce. I would order this every single time instead of fries if I could…it was fabulous! (They sometimes do zucchini and peppers, but honestly if they have asparagus, get the asparagus.)

I know, this photo has all sorts of crazy lines, but this is what the place looks like. Don't let its unassuming presence fool you…it's way better than the touristy cruise ship spots out on the waterfront:

We were filling our fresh water tanks and getting ready to go, when four people up on the boardwalk said hi and said they were admiring our boat. We chatted with them for a few minutes from 20 feet below, and they were super sweet and really interested in our boat, so we invited them down to see it. They were thrilled, and came down and they were lovely. Two couples, both from one of the cruise ships (but they just met on this trip), one couple from Perth and the other couple from Minnesota. We spent about an hour (or more?) hanging out and talking boat stuff and Alaska stuff. So much fun! 

We said goodbye to our new friends and then headed out for Foggy Bay (with a stop at the fuel dock first to re-up on diesel, gas (dinghy), and propane. We left the fuel dock around 3pm, which meant we wouldn't be to Foggy Bay until right about sunset (7:30pm). The water was calm and the weather was still gorgeous, so no matter.

Well, except for all the LOGS in the water.

Beautiful calm cruise to Foggy Bay:

Sunset as we arrived at Foggy Bay and anchored:

View from last night's anchorage:

The sky was clear and there was a pretty good chance we might get a little show from the Aurora last night, so after dinner we headed outside and yep! There they were!! They started slow and set new records in our brief, Aurora-viewing history. All you folks who have solid ground and tripods can probably get much better photos, but hey, these aren't bad for "handheld on top of rocking boat" are they? 

Such a good show on our last night in Alaska (this summer)!

Here's our route from Ketchikan to Foggy Bay (about 35 nautical miles):