Waiting out the storms...

We completed the last leg of the Predicted log race and will find out the results on the awards dinner. In the meanwhile, we have been poring over the Charts, the Predict wind and trying to out guess the weather guessers and exploring Wrangell.

In preparation for our departure to Ketchikan, we topped off our fuel. Alaska has huge tidal exchanges as evidenced by the steep ramp leading up to street level.

Ed and Barb hiked up to the top of one of the local hills. The took off early to avoid the rain and were fortunate to miss the worst of the rain. Jim read and rested. Stever rested or hiked around the community.

At Mt Dewey Trailhead, the Heritage Marina as viewed from Mt Dewey, Ed and Barb at the summit of Mt Dewey.

We all did laundry. Jim and Barb at the laundry room and the rest of us on the boat. Three loads of laundry is an all day ordeal. Small loads and lots of water. The water in our tank is very, very fresh because of doing the laundry and showering on board we have filled the tank several times in the past few days. We rested and enjoyed some down time.

Since I don't like to walk long distance any longer due to the pain in the back it induces, I have come to depend on the Lady Taxi Driver. Don't get me wrong, I still walk and then I regret it, and then I lay down and in a few hours I am up and about again. It was during one of those walks, with my fellow back pain sufferer that we discovered the community park and access to the beach, such as it is, with the above carved log. The beach is mostly rock and some grasses, growing in the tides area. The grasses seem to thrive well in the conditions.

I found a bear on the beach on one of my last walks to the memorial. The dogs raised Cain when they first saw the bear, but afterwards they simply ignored it. My walking companion for these walks is Stever. I am thankful for his companionship and taking the leash of one or the other of the dogs. He will also take the dogs out for a walk on his own. Walking the dogs can be taxing on our backs but they need to be walked for exercise, and to relieve themselves. During this past days, I have on several occasions met or exceed 10 k steps. I know I am more fit because of it...

Stever and I took the Lady Taxi to the center of town from Heritage Marina. It isn't that far a drive but too far for me to walk in one fell swoop. We explored the Museum, a couple of shops for Stever to by some new boots and had a very filling lunch at the Stikine Hotel Restaurant. I took the Lady Taxi back to the marina and went to bed beause of sever back pain. I got up and was getting ready for the Awards dinner when the pain in my back returned with a vengence. Sever pain puts me in a foul mood. I took the dogs for a walk and then came back to the boat to rest my back while the rest of the crew went to dinner at the Stikine Hotel Restaurant and met Stever, who had stayed at the museum after I left to go back to Magic Carpet .

The rest of the flotilla arrived to the marina and were fortunate to have found moorage available on the same pier where we were moored. Sunday evening the crew and flotilla crews went to the Stikine Hotel Restaurant for the awards dinner. There was an after party on M/V Liberty where we were introduced to Peanutbutter flavored whiskey. I am not much of a drinker and have an aversion to whiskey due to a bad experience with it as a teenager. Our host Ellen poured a Solo shot for each of us. I was surprised at the flavor, the smoothness and the number of shots I took. Suffice it to say, I completely forgot about my back pain. Please note that I do not advocate or endorse self medication with alcohol for the relief of pain because that is the road to alcoholism. I wondered if adding some orange schnapps would make the drink taste like a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich! You can let me know...

Awards dinner at Stikine Hotel and after party on Liberty

Recap of the Awards dinner: The second half race was decided by mere hundreds of a percentage or 4 seconds between all three competing boats. Each boat won one of the three legs Magic Carpet (Ed and I) the Prince Rupert day, Suzy Q won the Thorne Bay and first half of Eastern Passage, while Fidalgo won the second half of the Eastern Passage with 1, 5 and 2 seconds error respectively. And, although Fidalgo beat Magic Carpet on both the North section, and South Section, Magic Carpet took Second Placefor the entire race from Saratoga Passage to Wrangell because of how math works out with the two throw out legs, one in each section. For us on Magic Carpet, it was a huge challenge with the computer programs which we never did figure out. We are pleased withour improvement during the competition considering this was our first Predicted Log Competition in a boat that was new to us despite the fact we had owned it since 31 Dec 2024 and had maybe a total of 12 days use before we embarked on this journey.

The following day, Monday, we were surprised by the sound of a tank buckling/oil canning a then followed by a concussive sound that shook the boat. We all jumped up to look around the marina and the boat to see what had either hit us or exploded or hit another boat. The event will remain a mystery. Surprisingly, the sounds did not disturb the dogs in the least. The one firework explosion the night before had them barking up a storm.

We headed to bed early last night as this morning we took off early to return to Ketchikan. I was up at 4 am, took the dogs for a walk to the memorials for the last time. We headed out by 5 am and had a relatively uneventful trip to Ketchikan, arriving at about 1330 or almost 2 hours ahead of what I had predicted. Ed, Stever and Jim took turns at the helm. I went to the stateroom with the dogs and climbed into bed. Normally the dogs aren't permitted on the bed but when we are underway, we make an exception to the rule.We were able to secure a berth in Thomas Basin with 50 amp 205 volt electricity and a large seiner as a neighbor. Between them and us is about 4 feet at best. The finger pier is short and getting in was a challenge but in we got and in we will stay. Stever and I took the dogs for a walk shortly after docking and then got horizontal to treat our backs. We both crawled out of our beds in time for dinner. We took the dogs for an after dinner walk then joined the rest of the crew for desert and movie. Today was an over 7k step day.

The girls are a hit in the marinas and they are ice breakers. When not wrestling on the sunbed at the bow of the boat or doing laps around the boat, they are taking in the smells, barking at the other dogs or people on the docks. They love to stand at the rear of boat in the cockpit and get pets from folks passing by.