Ketchikan – Alaska’s first city and salmon capital of the world – was another port we were excited to stop at. This was our shortest jaunt of the three Alaskan ports of call. We docked at 7:30 a.m. and all board time was 12:30 p.m. – a mere five hours to take in an excursion and explore the city’s offerings.
As fans of the Discovery Channel show “The Deadliest Catch” we knew we had to sign up for the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman’s Tour as soon as I read about it! If you’re unfamiliar with Deadliest Catch, it documents fishing for Alaskan King Crab and Ophelia (snow) Crab in the frigid and unforgiving waters of the Bering Sea. It is one of the world’s most deadliest jobs, but it also a great thrill and it reaps great financial rewards for the men brave enough to risk their lives out on her violent and icy waters to bring home an annual supply of crab. The crabbing boats are bare bones, the pods that they drop and pull to catch the crab in are heavy and slippery, sheets of ice form over the deck and machinery at an alarming rate and must be continually chipped off, the seas are rough and storms prevalent, and it is often snowing with temperatures of 20 below zero. In these conditions (before the rules of crabbing were changed) the men used to work, performing taxing duties, for upwards of 20 hours straight with perhaps only a 4 hour nap and meal time thrown in there somewhere and then they did it all again the next day until the crab season ended. Many boats sank and many men were lost. The boat we took our excursion on, the Aleutian Ballad, was overturned by a freak wave in season two of the show and somehow righted itself before sinking. Lots of excitement! So you can totally see why we wanted to check this out for ourselves firsthand, right?
Our crew were David, Terry, Derrick, and Brian – real crab fisherman who left behind their families every crab season to make a living and only hoped to be lucky enough to return home. At least one of our crew was even featured on seasons of Deadliest Catch. These guys are not only hardcore fisherman, but also really neat guys with big hearts, a strong love and sense of gratitude for what they do and the opportunity they have to share their passion with so many people, and a great sense of humor! In between pulling Alaskan King crab, Ophelia crab, Dungeness crab, Starfish, Rockfish, Crayfish, and Octopus out of the sea for us to observe and hold, they also explained fascinating history and facts about the ship with us, and entertained us with awesome stories – some funny, some unbelievable, some touching, some sad, of their years as crab fisherman. Though it was cold, windy and rainy, we loved taking in their tales, the boat trip out into Canadian waters, and spending some quality time with the sea life! And if there’s one thing I love, it’s animals! The octopus was kind of my favorite with the king crab coming in close second. Ted was pretty psyched for this trip as well since he’s big into Deadliest Catch!
When we returned from crab fishing we only had about an hour and a half left to see what we could of Ketchikan. I’d say Ketchikan is the middle ground between the touristy jewelry strips in Juneau and the great outdoors of Sitka. I’d really wanted to stop by the picturesque Creek Street, you know, this serene image of Alaskan city perfection…
…but we were short on time and the walk to Creek Street and back was a little longer than we could manage since the Oosterdam’s captain was sure to inform us that Ketchikan is the port that people most often get left behind at. Instead we opted to meander slowly and casually through town to explore the port area and seek out some reindeer and salmon jerky. It was also my 25th birthday so I was also pretty excited to head back to the ship, partake in the clam bake, enjoy a fabulous dinner at the Caneletto, and do some whale watching. We saw one and it was awesome!
There’s much more to Ketchikan we’d like to see, but that’s another trip! In the meantime, I found this picture from Glacier Bay that I forgot to post, so here’s one more for you. Are you sold on Alaska yet? We are!
Up next: Victoria, B.C.
