On Friday we said goodbye to our friends Justin and Jeff in Ketchikan. This may seem a surprise as our leaving the boat is earlier than Justin destination of Port Townsend, WA. Yet we feel it ethically inappropriate to discuss failures and issues publicly. Regardless of such things, we would not abandon our friend, but now that Justin’s father, Jeff, has joined the trip, our assistance has become substantially less necessary. On Friday we flew out of Ketchikan back to Valdez to resume our road trip to Kodiak.
We realize it’s probably a little easier to keep a new boat running and so therefore it takes guts to keep an old boat like the Mighty McClure Bay “swimming”. Although, she may be a little rough around the edges, there are some parts about her that we like and of which we would like to mention:
- Diesel stove: Sara had heard of folks cooking on a diesel stove but never had she even seen one. The first day or so was a bit of a learning curve because it takes so long to heat up. Once it’s hot though, your body temperature raises a degree. The wonderful dry heat does a great job of warming the cabin. We never turned it off, only opened the door to outside air to reduce the heat a little bit when desired. Lastly, and Wade’s favorite part, there was always on the stove a hot water kettle for coco and coffee on demand.
- Length: 76 feet of walking around room is really nice. On the aft deck we spread folding chairs and just enjoyed ourselves fishing or soaking up the sun.
- The bucket “head” (toilet) never clogged: It turns out that having only a bucket is not rare on fishing boats. To avoid the regulations of heads and “black” water holding tanks, some vessels choose the True Value Bucket method. Okay this really isn’t a highlight of a favorite feature but we did find it interesting.
Cheers,
Sara and Wade
