I promised you a story last time. We were out getting our 10k steps on a blustery day. At the waterfront park by the museum, Jim noticed a small fishing vessel hauling anchor. He was struggling in the rough water.
Later that evening, we looked out our back door and that same fishing vessel is anchored in the marina. However, the spot he chose was very shallow and he would be aground by low tide. It is late and we figure he knows what he is doing as his hailing port is from Wrangell.
Sure enough, next morning we get up at low tide and the fishing vessel is laying on its side – completely out of the water. We thought, well that must be uncomfortable sleeping and the captain must just be waiting for the tide to come back up and off he’ll go. Except, as the water came in, the boat was NOT righting itself, the water was filling the vessel and all sorts of debris was floating out and into the harbor.
Soon, a harbor authority boat comes to the scene and puts a boom around the vessel to capture any fuels or oil coming off the boat. About that same time, the mariner pulls up in his skiff and starts picking up all the debris that is floating around. That vessel sat all day in the seawater, just a bit of pole sticking out. We figured by the next low tide, he surely would be out there getting the boat righted. Nope. The poor vessel lay there through the whole next cycle, covered in seawater.
Finally, the next day, at low tide the mariner brought a couple of friends and they pumped the water out and stayed with the boat and helped it float as the tide rose. I’m sure every electronic is destroyed and the boat is a huge mess. The three guys towed it off later that day.
Jim and I rented a car to run a few errands before we leave THIS SUNDAY! Woot. This has been waaay too long for folks that have been traveling non-stop to sit somewhere folks. We are B-O-R-E-D out of our minds.
Anyways, we have to explore the 14 miles of road if we have a car! So, we take a spin and there is that same boat that sunk anchored out in the channel! I’m sure it has probably gone to die there. We’ll give a report next spring.
We asked the harbor office about the boat and why in the world didn’t he just tie up at the transient dock? It’s a law in Alaska, you cannot deny safe harbor. She couldn’t fathom why either, speculated that he didn’t want to pay for moorage and rolled her eyes.
So, there you have it. You know everything that we do.
We are cooking up some very fun travel plans for this winter, so will continue this travel blog. I have asked chatgpt to keep the Musing and Miss Marlie, just swap out the aboard to give the gist that we are away. Here are its suggestions:
- “Musings Beyond Miss Marlie”
- “Musings Off Miss Marlie”
- “Musings from Miss Marlie”
- “Musings Away from Miss Marlie”
- “Musings Beyond the Deck of Miss Marlie”
Jim and I like the first one, so look for that soon! Unless, you have a better idea and then do tell! It will probably take us a bit to get our plans together but it’s exciting folks.
Update: A neighbor stopped to say hi on his way to his boat. Guess where he is from? Drummond!! (a small Montana town 50 miles from Missoula)
The best meal we had in Alaska, we cooked last night. We used a recipe from a cookbook Jim Cearley bought us in Ketchikan and the halibut from our neighbor. We could eat that every. single. night. Wow. We’re going to have to ask our neighbor, Larry, to teach us how to halibut fish next season. He is an avid fisherman. Us? Um. Not so much.
I’ll probably chat at ya one more time before we blow this pop top. See? That really should be a thing. Jim still says no.
Update: We have been super busy getting ready, so this is actually the last post for a bit. We’ll visit for a few weeks at home and then we plan on doing some camping (remember our goal? stars, bicycles and campfires) and then …. drumroll… ITALY! Woot! We were stationed there for 3 years before the internet and have always wanted to go back. We have decided to pull the trigger while we still have our health. You just never know. Schengen rules only allow 90 days and we are going to take advantage of every last one of them. We’ll visit our old haunts and make some new ones.
Talk Soon.