And Willie Said: Eagles Song and Ketchikan -- 6/27/2015

The sound I hear is a float plane at 5:30 this morning. Hmmm…they start early here in Ketchikan; in BC the first ones flew at 7A. It’s OK – I’m awake and feel very rested after the long day yesterday. Activity soon increases with more and more planes landing and taking off, sometimes with several in the air at one time. I suppose they have to coordinate with the cruise ship schedules.

Several times a day we see the small boats come in and clean their fish and crabs at the cleaning station, throwing the carcasses into the water by the shore. The water is so clear that you can see many, many of them piling up below on the bottom.

This is opportunity day. It is laundry day! It is provisioning day! It is a day to catch up on eMail. So I first investigate the laundry room and choose a triple load machine to do my three loads for $7. Not a bad deal. However, the cost of using the dryers would be a down payment on a larger boat that has a washer and dryer aboard, so I take advantage of the lines in the cockpit that hold our sun blocking curtains.

I get most of the laundry pinned to the line (we do have clothes pins), then set out to Safeway with my shopping list, while Herb is busy shopping for marine things. As usual, I get more than my list tells me, so limit my purchases to what I can carry back to the boat.

Did I mention it is warm here? The sun begins to dry the clothes and I re-position the items to maximize the process. Then back to the store for more provisions and I manage to get everything but one. I forget to check my list and check it twice.

When Herb returns from shopping, he adds another clothes line for me by rolling off clean never-used stern tie line diagonally across the cockpit. Now I can hang the sheets. Wow! You should see! I re-position the clothes as the sun moves across us, and many are already dry.

My third trip to Safeway is with our little blue West Marine dock cart to restock the bar and get any last minutes items we think of. Chocolate. We visit the AT&T store in the Plaza mall for a 12 volt power point for USB port, and get two, taking advantage of their 30% off sale. Then to Safeway’s liquor store, where Herb decides to add a case of Alaskan Beer Samplers. With our Safeway Shopping Card, we get a discount. Nice.

A door leads into the grocery department and we continue our shopping. Then the nightmare happens – the loaded cart tips over and we hear a heart breaking crash. I fetch an employee for a ‘cleanup on Aisle 4.’ We find two bottles of beer no longer intact, we apologize to the employee, then laugh about our discount dwindling.

Herb makes one more trip into town for a backup dinghy motor, as there is no Torqeedo available to be shipped according to our travel plans. He finds a Yamaha that he is pleased with and the store clerk gives him a ride to the marina with his heavy purchase. Retrieving the fuel can from Willie’s Tug’s lazarette, he hikes back to the service station for fuel and a fishing license.

I tend my drying clothes a few more times and enjoy hearing the sounds of the float planes and fishing boats moving about. There is no mistaking the hum of the cruise ships’ engines, but at low tide I can’t see over the bulkhead. No sooner said, I look up to see the rooftop of a Norwegian drifting by. Gotta love it!

Miraculously, the laundry is dry by Happy Hour time and the cockpit once again is available for Attitude Adjustment. I tell Ray and Herb my laundry room story: A lady asks me which machine is more cost effective, as she has two black garbage bags full of clothes to wash. She further laments that a friend came to sleep over and was found to be a host for bed bugs, so she has to wash all her clothes and bedding. The story is much more detailed, but I don’t even want to think about it. I think I must have told the lady something like, “I believe I hear my Mother calling me,” and make a hasty escape. I am glad we did not shake hands and that my wash has already been done and removed!

An eagle comes to sit my favorite wildflower, fire weed, on the breakwater right by Willie's Tug, and I consider this my reward for the long day at the laundry!

As I watch spell bound, the Duck tour boat cruises our fairway and I hear the guide point to the eagles and say that when they mate, it is for life. This one's mate flies in and they sing their song together!