Ketchikan's fishing fleet is stuck without showers in peak season

It's peak fishing season in Ketchikan, and the one thing a fisherman really wants after a long day on the water — a hot shower — is out of reach. The public showers at the harbormaster building above Bar Harbor North are closed: a drain pipe collapsed under the tiled concrete floor. And nobody's even pulled up the floor yet to see how bad it is. "Nobody's pulled anything up yet to really see," Port & Harbors Director Wayne Phillips told the city harbor board Monday.

The earliest fix is late July or early August, which means weeks of grimy fishermen in the meantime — and they've noticed. Board member Dave Kiffer said he got "an earful" from a fisherman who feels the fleet isn't treated well for all the business it brings to town. Phillips didn't argue. "I wish I could give them better news," he said, "but I can't."