mostly written for friends. Pretty rudimentary, since we just didn't feel like spending the time to update a website while out cruising! Plus, not having any sort of communications equipment on board other than a VHF radio, we would update our blog only when in the occasional town with Internet access --and there are very few along that coast.

Hopefully your weather will be good --we had one of the driest and warmest summers on record. (Usually the coast north of Vancouver Island is quite wet and chilly --we heard of various people the year before cutting short their cruises since they couldn't stand the literally almost nonstop cold, wet weather. We thoroughly enjoyed having a good diesel heater for many days at a time, especially in the spring, but even well into summer.)

BTW, if you were going to join a boat anywhere along the coast, I'd try to make it Glacier Bay. Sure, it's where "all" the boats go --but it's definitely a remarkable and beautiful place. But it might be hard to time it unless your friend has secured a time to go there (the Parks only allows a small number --10 or 15?-- of boats into Glacier Bay at a time, and only for 7 days or so. Bureaucratic regulations, but well designed to limit human impact on the wildlife there: birthing seals, feeding humpback whales, etc. etc. Many boats, like us, play it by ear to try to get in if they're not able to secure an entry permit ahead of time, since the park issues some permits on a last-minute basis --which makes it well nigh impossible for people to come visit while on board since that requires arranging transport ahead of time). Anyway, my two cents' worth. Ketchikan's greatest attraction is probably that it's easy to fly into on a major airline...other than that, well... But in a few weeks, you ought to be able to enjoy some of the area. If you like fishing, you'll like it up there...very rich waters!