July 23, 2013 Tuesday
Day 16
Breakfast and wifi at Cowpuccinos, then we
headed to the ferry, very early; we were first in line, but this allowed us to get through customs and people-watch for awhile. I had to give up some limes, oranges and a red pepper as these aren't allowed from Canada- who knew? Oh well, the customs agent said that they donate confiscated food items to nursing homes, the hungry, etc. so that is good.

Our ferry, the Matanuska, departed Prince Rupert, BC at 4:00pm (Pacific Time). We officially entered Alaska at 5:45pm Alaska Time. We are now in the Alaska time zone, (4 hours earlier than Eastern time). WOO-HOO, we made it!!

This ferry is quite nice, has several comfortable, spacious levels with heated outdoor & indoor observation decks, a dining area, a cocktail lounge, a reclining lounge and sleeping berths for those who want them. There weren't too many people and we had lots of room to spread out.

We spent time in all areas, (except sleeping berths) resting a bit, had a couple of beers in the cocktail lounge, dinner in the cafe, then we walked a mile (7 laps around the ship). For today's sailing we were in a pretty wide channel lined on both sides with the Tongass National Forest, our largest national forest at 17 million acres. Saw dolphin, jumping silver salmon and some loons. Kind of a gray, drizzly day.
Sail time today: 6 1/2 hours

Arrived in Ketchikan at our campsite, Clover Pass Resort
at 9:30pm; we set up camp, in the pouring rain, then called it a night in our toasty warm, dry camper