Alava Cove

0900 position 55-13N 131-09W. At anchor in Alava Cove

Ketchikan was going to be our last major provisioning port before Thankful gets back to the lower 48, so we did a cart's full of shopping at the Safeway next to the harbor yesterday morning. We filled water, took the boat down to the fuel dock, filled diesel, outboard gas, propane, and got some engine oil for the next scheduled change. At 11AM we were underway headed south just ahead of one of the cruise ships that departed Ketchikan right after we did.

It was blowing about fifteen knots from the northwest, directly behind us, and Thankful had a further assist from the ebbing tide, so we zipped along heading for home. Signs of civilization slowly disappeared as we worked south, and thirty miles later we were at our planned stopping point for the night.

We picked Alava Cove to overnight in because Matt's "Alaska Fishing Atlas" showed it to be a known halibut catching area. We stopped just outside the anchorage to try our luck. Once again, the rock fish were practically leaping on to our hooks. We caught a couple of flounder too, but no halibut. The highlight of our fishing exercise came when Matt and I both hooked into something substantial at the same time. We fought our beasts up to the boat to find that we had crossed our lines and were fighting each other. Sigh.... "Team Thankful, where the beer is cold and the rock fish are scared." That's the current leader in the lobbying for a cruise motto.

Alava Cove turned out to be a peaceful if popular anchorage. We shared it with two other boats, a nice looking forty plus foot cutter that sailed down from Ketchican next to us under spinnaker, and a sport boat that was using the Forest Service cabin in on the beach.

Thankful will make one more short jog south today before making the dash across Dixon Entrance tomorrow. Dixon Entrance is one of the few areas where we will experience full exposure to the wrath of the Pacific on the voyage south. Matt has been timing our crossing to coincide with a favorable weather forecast, and Tuesday is the day.