Those aboard: Steve & Linda Hulley, Liz McLoughlin and Tom Hall

Leg 4, exploring the Ketchikan area! The Hulleys joined us on schedule courtesy of the Alaska State Ferry Taku, down from Juneau. Steve is professor and chair of the UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and a long-time friend and colleague of Tom's at the medical school. Linda has been a private label garmet manufacturer and is presently taking care of family business.

This leg provided us with an opportunity to visit three wonderful islands, Prince of Wales, Annette, and Revillagigedo. We did not revisit any of the anchorages of our previous leg. As the pictures will tell, we had a wide variety of experiences.

Anchorages: Blessed with a new windlass, we were prepared for everything. We found lovely and for the most part very secluded anchorages, including three different USFS mooring buoys (Marguerite Bay in Traitors Cove and Icehouse Cove, both in Revillagigedo Island, and Karta Bay on Prince of Wales Island). In Kina Cove, our anchorage swung close to an active log boom. In Saltery Cove, an occupant of a converted tug watched us slowly search for a good anchoring spot, and warned us of an uncharted rock in the cove. We were grateful for local knowledge.

Clarence Strait and Nichols Passage crossings: Though both of these bodies of water were wide and exposed to the Pacific, the winds were moderate and the waves never more than two feet.

Hiking: Three extended hikes, including one to a Haida long house surrounded by large totem poles, one to beautiful Karta Lake, and one to Snag Lake out of Icehouse Cove. This last trail was by quite a bit the worst so far on the whole trip, with lots of roots, muskeg, and bogs.

Logging: We visited a saw mill at the native community of Kasaan where Steve had a chance to control the saw making very large beams for Japan. We spent hours watching log booming in Kina Cove, and had a chat with the crew of a 3000-hp tug that was to tow a huge log barge to Olympia, Washington. They gave us a complete tour, top to bottom of the vessel, and shared with us the life of tug boat work.

Fishing: We saw lots of fishing boats and watched a large fish supply boat unload King and Chum salmon onto the dock of the Annette Island Packing Company. The boat, the "Island Dancer", goes out 11 months of the year to collect fish from the seiners (it transfers many of the fish by suction) and brings them into the packing company. In the winter, it has experienced winds exceeding 100 mph. We had a complete tour of the plant, visiting all phases, from off-loading the fish, sorting fish into four grades, removing heads, gutting and cleaning them, removing and processing the roe, and freezing some fish for shipment in 1000 lb. boxes. They filet prime King salmon for an evening flight to West Coast cities - less than 24 hours from live fish to the fish market.

Weather - Once again, we were blessed with very good weather. We had several initial days with light, intermittent rain, and then lovely blue skies and moderate or light winds. On three days we were able to spend substantial time on the fly bridge enjoying the open air, with a 360-degree view of the Alaska scenery. Most every evening we had great sunsets and sun streaming in the windows. The temperature was mild and on the 4^th of July, even hot!

People: In most of our activities we had an opportunity to talk with locals. Fishermen, tug boat crew, saw mill operators, the mayor of a small native community, a bush pilot who just the day before took possession of his 48-year old DeHaviland Otter 9-passenger float plane, and in the native community of Metlakatla, the chance to participate in their very lively 4^th of July celebration. This last experience was quite something! A parade followed by games all day long. They started with short foot races, first for 2-year-old boys, then 2-year old girls, then 3-year-old boys, then girls, and on up by age groups until men and women over 30. Then three-legged races, egg tosses, races on roller blades, tug of wars, etc., etc., etc. What a wonderful display of community, with opportunities to involve everyone. Throughout our trip, we have been met with wonderful hospitality and kindnesses of a sort not often encountered in the big cities. Enough prose, let the pictures tell the story!

Leg 4 itinerary

Total travel = 164 miles

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