Day 6 - Ketchikan

We started the day with a kayaking trip. This was my first time kayaking. We were in a tandem kayak, and I was responsible for controlling the rudder. Since it wasn't easy to take notes, I didn't. The kayaking was roughly what I expected. It wasn't too tough, although most of my exercise in recent years has been walking rather than paddling. We stayed relatively dry. I even managed to use my #2 DSLR a couple times. At one point, we found porpoises (actually, I can't be sure that we saw more than one) that really weren't that far from us. I stopped paddling, went full rudder to the right, and spun a little for a better view. Later on, we saw a few Orcas in the distance. The cetacean hat trick is complete as we have now seen Whales, Dolphins (remember that Orcas are Dolphins), and Porpoises. We were also shown an Eagle nest. Off the top of my head, the only other wildlife species that I can remember seeing are Crows and a Kingfisher. Now that I know how to kayak, I guess I can go again some century.

After we returned, we had enough time for another quick excursion. The only one that we found that would fit was the Duck Tour. This tour gave us a look around Ketchikan. A lot of their streets are actually sets of stairs. I have a feeling that the residents of Ketchikan are in much better shape than average. Of course, the Duck tour is amphibious. That means we spent part of the tour in the water. One of the big draws for the boat segment of the tour was Eagles. Those are common in Alaska, so this tour probably would have been better if it was at the start of the cruise. The funniest moment was probably when an old lady asked if the tour guide was married. This was followed up with a question regarding whether or not he was looking. The guide had his own share of jokes, including guests asking how they get totem poles to grow the way that they do. In case you didn't catch that plural, multiple guests have asked him that question. As a boat, the vehicle is slow. You really can't get far from town and still get back in a timely manner. In fact, we were running a little late, and we were scheduled to return roughly when we were supposed to be back on the ship. This is a big part of the reason that we booked this excursion through our cruise line. We wanted to be sure that the ship would wait for us.

Let me recap. The kayaking tour is based out of a boat. We were taken there by boat to another boat where the kayaks were waiting for us. After finishing the kayaking, we headed back by boat to the first boat. Then we took a tour where the vehicle spent a portion if the trip acting as a boat. We then returned to our cruise ship. I believe that totals six different boats today. Is that overkill?