Ketchikan--A Very Crabby Day

We arrived in Ketchikan at 8:00 am. After our breakfast, we gathered our things and headed off the ship. Brian had forgotten to pack his black dress slacks, so trying to find a store that sold men’s clothing was our first order of business. Apparently, men in Ketchikan only wear jeans or track suits because we had no luck finding Brian’s black slacks. 

Our tour for the day was scheduled for a 9:00. We found our guides onshore and were directed to the Aleutian Ballad down the docks. Being a huge fan of the TV show “Deadliest Catch”, I was very excited to go on this tour. The Aleutian Ballad was a commercial crab fishing boat that fished on the Bering Sea. It was featured in season two of The Deadliest Catch and has been transformed into a tour boat. We were on the boat for three hours where we were taken on an amazing adventure, one that we will never forget. 

Once we were on the boat, we found seats. On our way out into the waters, the captain and his crew told fascinating stories of their times crab fishing. They explained the equipment and showed us around the boat, including footage of video from Deadliest Catch when the boat was capsized by a rogue wave. Pretty interesting. 

One of the crew members was preparing frozen herring as bait, just like they do on The Deadliest Catch. While he was doing this, I was taking pictures and mentioned that I was a big fan of the show. He then made a general challenge to anyone who would be brave (crazy) enough to bite the head off a herring like is seen on the show. Why, I’ll never know why, but I volunteered. I know that he didn’t believe that I would do it, but….I did. It was pretty funny. The strangest part of the whole thing was when I looked up and saw about 30 cameras pointed at me. Oh brother! LOL 

We stopped at one point where they had dropped a “long-line” for fishing. They pulled up the line and showed us the catch which included a ratfish, a huge halibut, and some rock cod. While they were explaining the fish, we all spotted an eagle flying near the boat. Exciting. Soon, there were two or three eagles. Of course, the crew completely lost our attention as all eyes were on those eagles. This was expected by them, or course. It wasn't too long until there were nearly 20 eagles flying around the boat as the crew threw pieces of fish out for the eagles to catch and eat. It was a spectacular sight which brought tears to my eyes. Absolutely amazing. 

After the ‘eagle show’, we moved on to where a crab pot had been placed. It was pulled on board and we all took turns holding the crabs and learning about them. There were box crab and snow crab in the pot. Very interesting and fun, indeed. They also pulled up one of the crab pots that are used when fishing the Bering Sea. Larger, heavier. They use these to catch king crab and snow crab. They had king crab replicas in the pot which was also a memorial pot that people could buy tags for and place a message or remembrance of a passed loved one. Very nice and moving. 

After this wonderful tour, we headed back to Ketchikan. It was a lovely day, overcast but no rain, which is very lucky for Ketchikan which gets 200+ inches of rain each year. 

While we weren’t able to find any black slacks for Brian, we did, however, find three (yes, THREE) whale tail necklaces for Sharon. One is hand carved of mammoth tusk, one is gold, and one is silver with mother-of-pearl inlay. I love them all! We also did some shopping in the Christmas Store. Of course, anyone who knows me knows I was in heaven and did buy a few ornaments and a wall hanging. Fun times shopping in Ketchikan!

By now we were very hungry, but also wanted to visit Creek Street which is a fun, picturesque are of town with little shops, museums, and restaurants. We made our way to the area and found a funicular that took us up to a restaurant where we had a most delicious lunch. After lunch, we worked our way back to the ship in time for sail-away, very happy with the great time we had in Ketchikan. This was our third visit here and we have always loved this little town, but today was extra fun and interesting. 

After our busy day in Ketchikan, we were ready for our daily naps. Always welcomed. Dinner was in the main dining room and, as always, delicious. After dinner, we went to the ship's theater and watched the charming Disney movie, Bears. Very enjoyable. 

The rest of our evening was spent in the cabin, enjoying some reading time and video watching. We are very boring in the evening, but we enjoy this quiet time. 

Tomorrow, cruising Tracy Arm.