METLAKATLA

We left Ketchikan around 9 AM, amidst a lot of traffic. There were three cruise ships at the berths, one was anchored out and shuttling passengers in on a bunch of launches, another was coming in to port, the whale-watching tourist boats were heading out, many charter fishing boats were leaving and the float planes, which land & take off in the harbor, looked like a swarm of mosquitos touching down on the water. We managed to get through the chaos and out of the harbor.

As planned, we were on our way to Metlakatla, an Indian Community about 14 miles south of Ketchikan. The route there took us through what is a popular humpback whale-watching area. The wind was reasonable and the seas were calm, so we idled our way south at a very slow pace. Unfortunately, we did not see any humpbacks, although we did spy a number of spouts and black fins, but we couldn’t tell if they were orcas or other whales.

As we got close to Metlakatla, I phoned the harbormaster, but got no response, I hailed him on a couple of VHF channels and got no response, so we went into the harbor, found a spot and tied up. Walking up the ramp to shore, we saw a sign stating that all visitors had to report to the Municipal Building. We went up to what looked like it could be a Municipal Building, but it ended up being the Artist’s Shops (more on that later). The one person there gave us directions, and we were off, walking pretty much the whole town to get to the Municipal Building. The clerk we talked with (Tim) was very helpful and very friendly, getting out all of the visitor forms and selecting the correct ones to fill out. Since we needed a sponsor to get our visitor permit, he kindly sponsored us, but he made us promise we would not rob any banks or run over any nuns. After we filled out the paperwork, he copied our driver’s licenses and suggested we come back in about 15 minutes, because he had to get the permits signed by an authorized council member. He thought it would be best if we walked up the hill to the Police Station, to let them know we had brought our boat in. We walked a block or two up to the Police Station/Jail, where the clerk phoned the harbormaster and made arrangements for us to meet him back down at the harbor. Back at the Municipal Building, we waited a short while for them to finish off the visitor permit process, posed in front of the City Totem Plaque while Tim took our picture, signed the guest book and were handed our official Visitor’s Permit to the Metlakatla Indian Community (valid until August 10, 2017).

We walked back down to the harbor and found the harbormaster who took down our name & phone number and apologized that we couldn’t get a better slip because the fishing fleet was in (our side-tie moorage was fine). We then went back to the Artist’s Shops, which was right next to the “long house” used for native dancing performances, and wandered through their “gift shop,” talking with one of the artists who ran it. The building was very nice, fairly new, and had workshop space for about 10 artists, only one of which was present. We learned that, until very recently, the cruise ships ran daily shuttles over here for passengers to view the native dance performances and view the artist’s handiworks. In what sounded like a one-sided explanation for some sort of political tiff, we were told that the cruise lines cut back their shuttles by about 80%, and that was the only source of business. Hopefully, things will get worked out, and their dancing, and economy, will rebound.

Phone service is marginal here, but I am able to keep up on the weather forecasts, and it still looks like at least a couple of days before we could attempt Dixon Entrance. We don’t really want to stay here two nights, and if we move further south we will probably lose cell service and not be able to get the weather forecasts, so we might go back up north tomorrow to Clover Passage, just the other side of Ketchikan, for another attempt at whale-watching…