A Social Event

Clarence Strait

Arriving at Thorne Bay located on the east side of Prince of Wales Island along Clarence Strait is always a delight.  

Approaching Thorne Bay

The bay is well protected, peaceful, and scenic but it’s mainly the friendly people here that make this such an enjoyable stop.  Shane and wife Sheila who run the marina are always very welcoming as is everyone in the village; and Gary Anderson and family can help you with items in their marine supply store or provide diving services.  

Thorne Bay

The well-stocked grocery store in town has most everything a boater could want.  You can also rent a vehicle here and drive to the El Capitan Caves located at the northern end of the island or boaters can access the caves via the El Capitan Passage along the west side of the Island.  

Village of Thorne Bay

Thorne Bay also offers a hiking trail to one of the local mountain tops but Thorne Bay is best known for its iconic “Claw,” the world’s largest log-handling grapple from its earlier logging days. Our visit this year to Thorne Bay turned out to be a fun social event.  We had the opportunity to meet an interesting couple, Christine from Switzerland and Knut from Germany, who arrived at Thorne Bay in their 47 foot Nordhavn.  They live in South Africa and have also lived in Florida.  

Knut's and Christine's Nordhavn

They previously owned a sailboat and have been cruising with their current power boat named Wofanu for the last four years.  They have traveled the world and have many interesting stories to share.  Keeping with the German culture of detailed storytelling, we were able to contribute to the on-going conversation, drink, and merriment.  Knut also shared with us a computerized weather program used for off-shore cruising called “Predict Wind.”  The program appeared to have in-depth detail which is very useful for long-range planning.  

Gary, our local Diver

Later we mentioned that we were going to have our zincs checked by a diver and Knut mentioned he wanted an inspection and cleaning on the bottom of his boat as well so we decided to share the expense.  Divers normally charge for time spent on the boat plus a “one-time fee” for getting in and out of the water.  Boaters can save some money by sharing this one-time fee.  We scheduled time with Gary to dive our boats and he was very efficient, charging reasonable prices.  Another unexpected treat at Thorne Bay was the arrival of a small tour boat out of Ketchikan with a couple dozen people onboard who were on a tour of several town sites around Prince of Wales Island.  We were invited by members of the Thorne Bay community to join the group for a walking tour of Thorne Bay and its history.  

Grapple used to pick up huge bundles of logs

It was fascinating to learn that there was nothing at Thorne Bay prior to 1961, at which time the Ketchikan Pulp Co. brought a floating logging camp here.  During the 1960’s and 1970’s, Thorne Bay was one of the largest logging camps in the country with the world’s largest log-handling grapple now preserved for historic purposes.  

Floating Logging Camp

Even until 1991, Thorne Bay was still primarily a logging camp but has since evolved into a small town or village.  Logging still goes on in the area but under more restrictions and requirements for the planting of seedlings.  We noticed on our AIS that a big freighter from China was anchored in one of the inlets within Thorne Bay near a logging area, most likely to load raw logs for overseas shipment.  

Thorne Bay Café

After our group tour, Shane invited Leonard and me along with Knut and Christine to join with his family at the local café for lunch – another opportunity for a lively round of conversation.  

Shane with daughter & wife; Christine & Knut on right

We all made a great time of it and the food was excellent for such a small town.  The Café is owned and staffed by the local school, providing jobs for the older school children, an innovative way for students to gain some work experience.  Later that evening, our friends Jim and Anita arrived on Spirit Quest and another Kadey Krogen vessel named Defiance had also arrived at the docks adding to the party atmosphere.