Day 54 - Thorne Bay to Ketchikan
24.07.17 // Categories: Alaska 2017
July 24, 2017
Not a great sleep last night, but the dock was fine. When we woke up, we decided to bail and head to Ketchikan and just start back towards BC. We didn't really leave early enough as it was close to 8:00, but we were at least able to pay the harbor master for the nights moorage and power and not just leave what we hoped was enough money! (No prices listed anywhere)
It was fine for the first few hours but the wind picked up steadily as did the current in the opposite direction. Tongass Narrows it got a bit choppy as we ended up with "wind over tide". We went all the way down to the fuel dock to fill up so we wouldn't have to deal with it later. We also filled up both the propane tanks, and the gas can. The whole process took some time and you can really get slammed there with not much protection from the wake or chop.
We called the harbor master and he said they were filling up. He directed us to Bar Harbor North and Float 13, slip 24. We are quite a bit further away than the last time we were here, also not as protected. We walked up to the harbor masters office with Miss B, and then walked north to look for Napa Auto Parts. Last night Greg determined that we had put 200 hours on the engines since we left Bham. He likes to do an oil change at 200-250 hours, and considers an absolute max was 300 hours. Doing the math, it's clear that we'll put more than 100 hours more on them between now and the end of the trip so we would blow by that 300 easily. Might as well do an oil change now, as it will only get harder to find somewhere to do it later. Here we have a place to dispose of the oil right at the top of the dock. But he wanted to get some new oil filters so that we weren't "using up" our spares. So, off to Napa Auto Parts which is where the fuel dock get's it's marine oil filters. OK then.
We stopped at "The Landing" which is a hotel right across from the local ferry terminal. It has a coffee shop inside and we got some very late lunch to go. We ate it outside in the pet area of the hotel which has a nice picnic bench. Although it is grey and cloudy, it's not raining and we can tell that the overall outdoor temperature has increased a bit, i.e.: we can stand to sit outside!
Turns out there is more than 1 auto parts store in this direction. So we hit both of them and learned more about oil filters and which ones are compatible with what. Also got a jerry can and we were able to get more diesel fuel additive. Success!
Back to the boat. Greg started pulling stuff out and found out that he only had 1 spare oil filter. So B and I stayed on the boat while he went in the other direction to the marine stores to see if they had any compatible oil filters. He returned with more information but no filters. We fed the B and hung out for awhile. Then we went back to "The Landing" and went up to the bar (Jeremiah's) to have beer and appetizers for dinner since we had such a late lunch. It is a bit breezy but it was nice to be able to walk outside and not be freezing.
Not a great sleep last night, but the dock was fine. When we woke up, we decided to bail and head to Ketchikan and just start back towards BC. We didn't really leave early enough as it was close to 8:00, but we were at least able to pay the harbor master for the nights moorage and power and not just leave what we hoped was enough money! (No prices listed anywhere)
It was fine for the first few hours but the wind picked up steadily as did the current in the opposite direction. Tongass Narrows it got a bit choppy as we ended up with "wind over tide". We went all the way down to the fuel dock to fill up so we wouldn't have to deal with it later. We also filled up both the propane tanks, and the gas can. The whole process took some time and you can really get slammed there with not much protection from the wake or chop.
We called the harbor master and he said they were filling up. He directed us to Bar Harbor North and Float 13, slip 24. We are quite a bit further away than the last time we were here, also not as protected. We walked up to the harbor masters office with Miss B, and then walked north to look for Napa Auto Parts. Last night Greg determined that we had put 200 hours on the engines since we left Bham. He likes to do an oil change at 200-250 hours, and considers an absolute max was 300 hours. Doing the math, it's clear that we'll put more than 100 hours more on them between now and the end of the trip so we would blow by that 300 easily. Might as well do an oil change now, as it will only get harder to find somewhere to do it later. Here we have a place to dispose of the oil right at the top of the dock. But he wanted to get some new oil filters so that we weren't "using up" our spares. So, off to Napa Auto Parts which is where the fuel dock get's it's marine oil filters. OK then.
We stopped at "The Landing" which is a hotel right across from the local ferry terminal. It has a coffee shop inside and we got some very late lunch to go. We ate it outside in the pet area of the hotel which has a nice picnic bench. Although it is grey and cloudy, it's not raining and we can tell that the overall outdoor temperature has increased a bit, i.e.: we can stand to sit outside!
Turns out there is more than 1 auto parts store in this direction. So we hit both of them and learned more about oil filters and which ones are compatible with what. Also got a jerry can and we were able to get more diesel fuel additive. Success!
Back to the boat. Greg started pulling stuff out and found out that he only had 1 spare oil filter. So B and I stayed on the boat while he went in the other direction to the marine stores to see if they had any compatible oil filters. He returned with more information but no filters. We fed the B and hung out for awhile. Then we went back to "The Landing" and went up to the bar (Jeremiah's) to have beer and appetizers for dinner since we had such a late lunch. It is a bit breezy but it was nice to be able to walk outside and not be freezing.