FINAL DAYS IN ALASKA

Monday, August 7th  (Day 115) Ketchikan, Alaska

We had begun getting things in order for our departure from Ketchikan.
It was a beautiful day for housekeeping, fueling the boat and grilling steaks.

Tuesday, while shopping, I ran into Kim and Eric on Gladiator.
That evening, the six of us enjoyed a hot link dinner party on Pairadice.

The following day, the guys took advantage of the sunshine with fishing
 while awaiting parts for Alaskan Sea-Ductions windlass.

The consuming task of cleaning the catch...

The fish cleaning station at South Bar Marina, Ketchikan, Alaska.

Tom showing off his CoHo Salmon filets.

On to the packaging process.

That was a lot of salmon for one day! Yummy!
Hope there is still room in the freezer.

Kim and Eric hosted happy hour on Gladiator on Thursday.
They were to leave the following morning.

Our friends Kim and Eric from Portland.
Imagine running into them over and over traveling through Alaska and Canadian.

Another Alaskan sunset.

Our daily view from the stern at our moorage.

Friday, August 8th (Day 120)  It was rainy again, still waiting on parts, we decided to go downtown and visit the native Tlingit village of Saxman and it's Totem Row Park. The Park is cherished both locally and internationally. The Saxman Totem Park is on the National Register of Historic Places.

This is a Memorial Pole called the Sun Raven Pole.
The Sun Raven is at the top, the human figures are his children.
The round face is Fog Woman and below her is Raven and Frog.
The Sun Raven Pole greets you at the park entrance.

These are cenotaphs, a monument, marker, or headstone placed in memory of a
deceased person who was not found or whose body is buried elsewhere.
The red one in front is called Tired Wolf House Post.
These poles are fastened to the corner posts of the tribal houses and are made portable
so they can be transferred to a new house if the clan desired.
 These posts were carved in 1827 for members of the Kanagunt Island people.
They are not identical - the differences are in the eyes.

The Frog Clan House. 
The Moon Raven Pole, on the left and the Sun Raven Pole on the right are memorial poles.

Kats and Bear Wife Pole
This pole would have been set into the front of a Tribal House and on special occasions,
people would enter the Tribal House through this door. The opening also represents the bear den.
At the top, one of Kats Bear children. The man figure is Kats being held by his bear wife.
The face at the bottom is the human wife.

Eagle Beaver Pole

Inside the Edmond C. Dewitt Carving Center
The Frogs being restored are Totem Guards of the Frog Clan.

Edmond C. Dewitt is a master carver and is a descendant
 of other master carvers before him. The art is passed down
through the ages.

Kay and I took the short walk through the woods behind the Frog Clan House.

Back in Ketchikan we made are way to the historic Arctic Bar for dinner.
it is renowned as the "Home of the Happy Bear.

This picture was taken from the grocery store parking lot.

The rain let up long enough for me to tote the wagon for supplies.
This is a short cut from South Bar Marina to Safeway and the marine store.

Provisions to get us south through Canada.

A simple lunch out of the rain before working on Tom's boat.

Measuring the hole for the new windlass.

Bright and shiny new parts to figure out in the smoking lounge on ASD.

Out with the old, in with the new.

The whole had to be much wider.

A bit of a project.

As it turned out, the gypsy sprocket that was shipped was the wrong size for the chain.
That part had to be returned, the correct size had to ordered and waited on again.
The weather window was due to present the following day.
We would leave with Tom and Kay behind to finish the repair.
They cruise faster than we do, they would catch up with us in Canada.

John made final engine room checks prior to our next passage.

Rise and shine to blues skies, as predicted.

Saying goodbye to the crew of ASD (for now)
just didn't seem quite right... :-(