Foggy Bay to Ketchikan
With just about 40 miles to go today, we had a later start, up at 7:00 am or so. Most of the other boats had already left the anchorage before us, and there were only a few boats left in the bay when we pulled out. We’d been out of the anchorage for 15 minutes or so when we heard one of the participants yelling into the VHF. Our hearts stopped. We waited to hear what had happened. After a good deal of waiting, we found out that two of the boats had hit bottom. One sustained serious damage, the other just a deep scratch.
The more damaged boat began to take on water. When this was communicated with the fleet, everyone flew into action. One boat pulled up along side the damaged boat and got a high speed pump on board to help pump out the water. Our Service Genius got onboard to assess the damage. Another participant has scuba gear on board and he offered to dive and do some reconnaissance.
The Service Genius (Larry) impressed the heck out of me. He was on the boat immediately. He made a immediate assessment of the problem. It was not possible for Larry to find the damaged area because it was behind built-in cabinetry but he did see that the pump was keeping the water under control. Larry then went on to skipper the boat so that the owner could work on keeping the water pump working.
It was decided that the boat was stable enough to continue on to Ketchikan. Buck had made calls to a shipyard to see if they could haul the boat out as soon as it arrived. He also lined up a diver to look at the hull of the other boat. Eventually, the group decided to contact the Coast Guard to see if they could help expedite the haul out of the boat. The Coast Guard responded immediately and had an escort boat up from Ketchikan in less than a half hour. They accompanied the boat the rest of the way in, and consulted with the skipper every five minutes. Once they arrived (around noon) the boat was taken to the shipyard but had to wait until 3:00 for haul out.
In the meantime, most of the fleet was directed to Bar Harbor Marina, one of the three marinas in Ketchikan. As soon as we had cell phone coverage, I was able to make a bunch of calls to be sure that our events were all lined up. Then I headed up to the hotel where we were hosting the evening’s event. We also had media checking in up there and were expecting a large shipment of materials. Chef came along to help me, and within short time we had our ducks in a row. We had about one hour before our event so we strolled around town. I found a coffee shop and had my first double mocha in over two weeks. We found a Kavu store and bought some new shirts. We’ve been wearing the same clothes day in and day out and we were so excited about the thought of wearing something new.
I didn’t end up taking many pictures in Ketchikan. Something about the town felt very artificial to me, a little like being in the Alaska Town at Disneyland or something.
We got back to the hotel early to greet our guests as they arrived. We had a simple cocktail party set up. The Ketchikan Visitors Bureau had arranged for a woman from a bird sanctuary to come and talk with us. They also lined up the Mayor, so he came by and welcomed all of us. We also spent some time talking about the boat incident in the morning. We learned that night that the boat’s propeller had been taken off by a rock. The boat would stay in Ketchikan for the next few weeks in order to have parts sent out and to have the damaged fiberglass repaired.
After the cocktail party, people headed out in their own direction for dinner or walks. I got to work on details for the next day’s events. Later, the staff and I had a drink and a relaxing night together.
The more damaged boat began to take on water. When this was communicated with the fleet, everyone flew into action. One boat pulled up along side the damaged boat and got a high speed pump on board to help pump out the water. Our Service Genius got onboard to assess the damage. Another participant has scuba gear on board and he offered to dive and do some reconnaissance.
The Service Genius (Larry) impressed the heck out of me. He was on the boat immediately. He made a immediate assessment of the problem. It was not possible for Larry to find the damaged area because it was behind built-in cabinetry but he did see that the pump was keeping the water under control. Larry then went on to skipper the boat so that the owner could work on keeping the water pump working.
It was decided that the boat was stable enough to continue on to Ketchikan. Buck had made calls to a shipyard to see if they could haul the boat out as soon as it arrived. He also lined up a diver to look at the hull of the other boat. Eventually, the group decided to contact the Coast Guard to see if they could help expedite the haul out of the boat. The Coast Guard responded immediately and had an escort boat up from Ketchikan in less than a half hour. They accompanied the boat the rest of the way in, and consulted with the skipper every five minutes. Once they arrived (around noon) the boat was taken to the shipyard but had to wait until 3:00 for haul out.
In the meantime, most of the fleet was directed to Bar Harbor Marina, one of the three marinas in Ketchikan. As soon as we had cell phone coverage, I was able to make a bunch of calls to be sure that our events were all lined up. Then I headed up to the hotel where we were hosting the evening’s event. We also had media checking in up there and were expecting a large shipment of materials. Chef came along to help me, and within short time we had our ducks in a row. We had about one hour before our event so we strolled around town. I found a coffee shop and had my first double mocha in over two weeks. We found a Kavu store and bought some new shirts. We’ve been wearing the same clothes day in and day out and we were so excited about the thought of wearing something new.
I didn’t end up taking many pictures in Ketchikan. Something about the town felt very artificial to me, a little like being in the Alaska Town at Disneyland or something.
We got back to the hotel early to greet our guests as they arrived. We had a simple cocktail party set up. The Ketchikan Visitors Bureau had arranged for a woman from a bird sanctuary to come and talk with us. They also lined up the Mayor, so he came by and welcomed all of us. We also spent some time talking about the boat incident in the morning. We learned that night that the boat’s propeller had been taken off by a rock. The boat would stay in Ketchikan for the next few weeks in order to have parts sent out and to have the damaged fiberglass repaired.
After the cocktail party, people headed out in their own direction for dinner or walks. I got to work on details for the next day’s events. Later, the staff and I had a drink and a relaxing night together.
posted by OCD at Sea at
11:20 PM
