A thing as simple as stopping for fuel can really make or break your day. Why not stop and be certain you have enough.

Check out the story here http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=8825404

A cessna 210 ran out of fuel a few miles short of the Ketchikan runway last week. Ditched at sea and survived thanks to a local beaver pilot who landed next to the folks. If your flying over extended bodies of water, invest in some life vests. These folks survived the impact and egress but had nothing for flotation.

Looks like a good article for that fella who seemed determined to try and fly a similar coastal route to Ak.

I would STILL rent a boat!
Actually, if I really wanted to see that country, I would buy a ticket.

For anyone trying to fly the inside passage near Ketchikan, this is the weather I go by. Some days I don't even bother looking at the wx because it's too depressing! http://www.srh.noaa.gov/zhu/main/tda_page_pacific.php

Just type in AKT after the P and click local time so you don't have to convert from Zulu.

And I too would be in a boat or floatplane

A friend of mine was in the air (IFR) talking to the same controller(s)
this guy was talking to. From his description of what he heard
going on, perhaps a lack of proper prior fuel planning wasn't his only
mistake....

This is another tragedy, August always is a busy month for them. Lost a good friend this time last year. And they are still looking for a floatplane flown by a man and his son missing from Juneau since Saturday.

I don't understand the "lack of available fuel in Gustavus." That's where I live and get fuel here regularly. There is a keylock for account holders, and a hotline phone to the attendant for the transient fuelers. The agent gets there within 20 minutes or so. I've lived and kept airplanes here a long time, and the bulk tank has never been empty that I can remember.

My condolences to the family. Seems that both led a full life and perished doing something that they wanted to do.

gb

GB,

was that a father and son in a 182 (on floats)? Heard from some folks on Saturday at the north end of POW island that their were some folks missing in Juneau area. It just seems like a bad year over the entire nation for aircraft accidents.

Yep, that's the same ones, Brian and Brandon Andrews, reported to both be pilots. Brian is a Deputy Commissioner for the Alaska Dept. of Revenue according to the news. I don't think they've been found yet. Been overdue since Saturday.

gb