Hanging in Wrangell, AK

Laura Domela — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 12:57:00 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska

We left Petersburg on Wednesday morning, timing our departure so we could arrive at the middle of Wrangell Narrows at slack tide, thus riding a favorable current in and a favorable current back out. The weather was gorgeous and clear and it was a smooth and lovely cruise to Wrangell.

Passing Two Tree Island again (last time we came through here was June 14):

Arriving in Wrangell:

The last time we were in Wrangell we stayed in Reliance Harbor, closer to town, but this time the harbormaster put us in the newer Heritage Harbor, about a mile and half from town. We got a spot on the transient dock right in front of S/V Delphina.

We met Richard and Tracy on S/V Delphina when we were in Taku Harbor the very first time, and they were super cool, so it was fun to meet up with them again. We've passed them a few times and seen them on AIS, but never managed to be in the same place at the same time until now.

We took the dinghy over to Reliance and made a quick stop at the market for a few things we forgot or couldn't find in Petersburg (salsa, green onions, rosemary, wine).

That evening, Richard and Tracy came over and we had a little top deck party with wine and snacks: ikura we made from some sockeye roe and some good cheese and crackers.

View from the top deck:

We had a great evening catching up and telling stories about our respective summers in Alaska. We made a plan to meet up for dinner over at the Stikine Inn the next night and said goodnight at around 10:30pm. The sky was nice and clear so we kept checking to see if we could see any Northern Lights and it turns out that at about 11pm, we could! We sat out on the bow and watched for a bit, and I texted Tracy so we all got to see 'em. This is the only photo I got (with my iPhone) but trust me, it was pretty dang cool!

Yesterday afternoon we did a jet boat tour up the Stikine River, but I'll post about that separately. I took a ton of photos and a fun video so I'll give it its own post.

Dinner at the Stikine Inn last night was quite good. Kevin and I shared some seared ahi tacos (delicious), a caesar salad, and the most popular thing on the menu, the Crispy Chicken Chop. The Crispy Chicken Chop is a tenderized chicken breast, coated with Panko and fried 'til crispy, served over a bacon cream gravy and some mashed Yukon Gold potatoes. It was very good, and we brought about half of it home with us.

The weather forecast for Clarence Strait (our next bigger body of water) through Tuesday is as follows, as of yesterday at 4pm:

CLARENCE STRAIT-
400 PM AKDT THU AUG 27 2015 

...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...
.TONIGHT...S WIND 20 KT INCREASING TO 25 KT LATE. SEAS 5 FT. RAIN.
.FRI...S WIND 30 KT. SEAS 6 FT. RAIN.
.FRI NIGHT...SE WIND 25 KT DIMINISHING TO 20 KT LATE. 
SEAS 7 FT. RAIN.
.SAT...SE WIND 15 KT. SEAS 4 FT. SHOWERS.
.SAT NIGHT...SE WIND 20 KT. SEAS 4 FT. SHOWERS.
.SUN...SE WIND 30 KT. SEAS 8 FT. 
.MON...SE WIND 20 KT. SEAS 6 FT. 
.TUE...NW WIND 10 KT. SEAS 2 FT OR LESS.

I think we'll be hanging out around Wrangell Island until things calm down a bit…it's looking like Tuesday is a good day to be in the strait. We may head over to Berg Bay (back side of Wrangell Island) and also check out Thom's Place (south west corner of Wrangell Island). Both bays have good crabbing, so maybe we can replenish our Dungeness supply.

Here's the Petersburg to Wrangell track (about 41 nautical miles):

Wrangell to Petersburg

Laura Domela — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 01:11:15 +0000

Last night's sunset in Wrangell:

Nice view just outside the breakwater this morning:

We left Wrangell this morning at 8am, allowing three hours to get to the south entrance of Wrangell Narrows. The tide enters Wrangell Narrows from both ends, so you want to enter from the south at the end of a flood tide so you can ride it in, arrive in the middle around slack tide, and then ride the ebb up to Petersburg. We texted back and forth with our friends on Cabernet, who were staying the night…somewhere else…I forgot…(Hi Lanette and Ron!) and decided to meet them at 11am near Point Alexander and Midway Rock.

More nice view:

While we were passing between Vank Island and Sokolof Island, we noticed a ton of bait fish jumping, so we turned on the sonar and whoa there were a lot of fish showing up down there. We did a little turn around and decided to drag a line through 'em, but no luck. (We didn't give it that long, since we had an 11am meeting to make.)

The aptly named Two Tree Island. (What happens if more trees grow??):

Hey, it's Cabernet!

We both followed this fish boat through the narrows, and noticed one of the crew members riding an exercise bike. Nice! I think he was on that bike for almost the whole 22 miles! (I noticed when he slowed down, the fish boat slowed down though….hmmmmmm, curious.)

Eagle on Marker 14 with snowy backdrop:

The scenery just keeps getting better!

Approaching Petersburg (that tall spire mountain is called Devil's Thumb):

Petersburg:

We're here at the North Marina for the night, just past the cannery:

We wandered around town a bit, but it's mostly closed up because it's Sunday. We stopped for a late lunch at El Rincon. I know, Mexican food in Alaska, but (1) it was pretty much the only place open, and (2) it was fantastic! We had the rockfish tacos and the tacos locos (chorizo, cilantro, grilled jalapeno). The salsas are spicy and delicious. Definitely a sweet little spot…and busy! They were about to run out of food at 4…so go early!

There are several boats from our flotilla here in Petersburg today and we randomly met up outside of El Rincon just as we were heading out. Everyone seems to be having a great time! We thought we might stay here two nights, but I think we may head over to Thomas Bay in the morning to do some fishing and some glacier viewing, and then anchor over there for the night. Oh yeah, the WEATHER! It's 70-something here and sunny. What the heck, Alaska?

Here's today's track (40 miles, about five and a half hours):

And here's a map of our whole voyage from May 17 in Anacortes, WA until today in Petersburg, AK (click to enlarge):

Wrangell Narrows – Riveted

Hanging in Wrangell, AK

Wrangell to Petersburg