A rainy day in Ketchikan
June 4, Day 4 of our trip and Day 3 aboard the cruise ship Nieuw Amsterdam, included an 8-hour stop at Ketchikan, Alaska. None of my family members had any plans for the day, and Cathy and I only went into town for a walk and a look through a couple of local art shops.
The blog post archives shows that Ketchikan has been the feature of 5 blog posts, most from 2010 when I was working on the Celebrity Infinity as Destination Speaker, then on the Coral Princess as Ship Naturalist. It’s also included in 4 cruises in 2005, 2006, and 2007, that were journaled at YourAlaskaCruise.com – I was also working on those cruises.
I shot my first photo of the day at 05:19 as we sailed north on Tongass Narrows towards the city.
Edging towards the dock at 05:27.
On the opposite side of that bridge are the historical homes along Creek Street, which all house tourism-related businesses now. The “street” is a wooden walkway on pilings along and above Ketchikan Creek and is worth seeing – it’s an easy walk from the main docks.
Some of the countless shops which line the docks and the streets near them.
On the hill is Cape Fox Lodge – it’s fun to ride the funicular up to it, or walk the historic Married Man’s Trail.
Dave Rubin’s bronze monument “The Rock” was unveiled at Berth 1 on Sunday, July 4th, 2010. It features 7 life-size figures from Ketchikan’s past: Chief Johnson, a logger, a fisherman, a miner, an aviator, a Native woman drumming, and an elegant lady in her 1890s finery.
Ketchikan has my favourite “Welcome” sign in Alaska. It actually looks better from a lower level or the street.
Tying up at 05:40.
The Sourdough Bar & Liquor Store.
Ketchikan City Hall “was built in 1925 by the private utility company Citizens Power & Light. At that time, the street level floor contained sales rooms for electrical appliances, and there were display windows facing Front Street, showing off the long-legged electric ranges, shiny toasters, maybe waffle irons and other necessities for the modern home. General offices were also on that floor. The second floor housed machine shops, supplies and equipment. The third floor had warehouse and drafting space, plus the small town’s telephone exchange of about 1,000 lines.” (SitNews)
It was a chilly, damp morning and few people were in a hurry to get off the ship.
The casino on the Nieuw Amsterdam is larger than on the newer Koningsdam we took to Hawaii last October, but casinos have to close while in any port.
A street-level view while walking to the main dining room for breakfast. Having breakfasts and dinners in the main dining room soon proved to be our favourite family activities and the dinners often stretched to nearly two hours.
Having navigation aids like this make getting around the ship much easier. We were going back to our cabin after breakfast when I shot this photo. The Nieuw Amsterdam is 936 feet long and 105.8 feet wide. At double occupancy she has 2,106 guests on board, but that can increase to 2,527 and there are also 929 crew members.
The Totem Bar – the apparel on the second floor hints that it might be home to a sex shop.
The view forward from the Crow’s Nest lounge on Deck 11 – we occasionally went there for lattes.
At about 11:30 we decided to go into town for a walk and to look through some of the good local art shops.
Here’s a closer look at The Rock.
A tunnel, built in 1954, takes Water Street north, but there is also still a road around it.
This wall of ships brought over 10,000 people to Ketchikan, which has a population of 8,068 (as of 2022), for a few hours. The aggressive hawkers in front of many shops, especially the flashy jewellery shops that come up from the Caribbean for the season, provide a strong disincentive to go for a walk. Skagway put in regulations to prevent their tactics many years ago, but Ketchikan and Juneau haven’t.
At 2:23 I posted the next photo on Facebook with the comment “Ketchikan can get really ugly, and has. High winds and heavy rain arrived about an hour ago while we were out for a walk. We sail for Juneau in an hour.”
When the storm hit, a lengthy lineup had quickly formed out in the wind and rain to get back on board, and we had gotten chilled, so headed back to the spa for a thorough warm-up. The next photo was shot in the men’s changing rooms.
We cast off a few minutes early, and at 2:55 were going past the beautiful Silver Nova, Silversea Cruises’ luxurious new (2023) 728-passenger ship.
The captain of the Majestic Princess was taking no chances with the strong winds and had two tugs helping him get the ship out into the channel safely. In the background is Jackpot, a 50-meter superyacht built in 2020 by Christensen Shipyards in Washington State – she’s currently for sale for $40 million.
The view up Tongass Narrows was certainly ugly. Rough seas don’t bother me, but that view must have been making some people anxious about what might be ahead.
Looking back at the Majestic Princess still fighting the winds.
Ketchikan must have one of the larger commercial fishing fleets in Alaska, which hundreds of boats in the various marinas.
The 198-foot ferry Prince of Wales is operated by the Inter-Island Ferry Authority between Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island. She can carry 160 passengers and 30 vehicles.
The Alaska Marine Highway System’s shipyard at Ketchikan can be a very interesting place to sail by, and there were four ferries there this day. First is the 408-foot Matanuska, first launched 62 years ago.
Next, the 280-foot Tazlina, which had her maiden voyage on May 7, 2019.
The 280-foot Hubbard, just launched last summer, was in drydock, with the 418-foot Columbia beside her.
Last but not least is the 116-foot Ken Eichner 2, built in 2013 at Alaska Ship and Drydock right here in Ketchikan, on the other side of Tongass Narrows. She runs back and forth to the airport.
Passing Ward’s Cove at 3:30.
By 4:25 the seas were rougher, but all the way to Juneau, we would be in the relatively protected waters of the Inside Passage.
The next day, June 5, we would have a 12-hour stop at Juneau, with nasty weather still forecast.
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