July 1, 2017

Happy Canada Day!

It rained pretty hard last night but took a break this morning. Shortly before we were to leave, the wind came up inside the cove which was weird. Not much, just 5kts, but we had seen nothing other than 0.4 so far. When we got out of the cove it started building up like it was some sort of storm and we had 20kts of wind. Whaaaa? Then we got out into the passage a little bit and it all went away, back to 2kts or something. We think it may have been more outflow from the bay further south.

We had an uneventful ride up to Tracy Arm Cove. There were icebergs out in Stephens Passage as we made our way into Tracy Arm. When we arrived in the cove, we were disposed to stay to the West, because apparently there is a bar into the cove and the big bergs are supposed to get caught on the bar and not go there. But of course there was a big berg on the west side and and nice calm spot on the East side, so we went there instead.

We had coffee and lunch and then relaxed in the cabin. It varied between sprinkling and pouring rain and Greg kept thinking he should go out in the dingy and do something, but it never did happen. We were visited by two young Forest Rangers to came over to say Hello and make sure we were doing OK and did we need anything. They were very friendly and talked about what they were doing there. They had just gone for a walk in "the nook" and had been collecting trash, and now they were visiting each of the boats that were anchored in the cove. They were on their way back to Harbor Island which is where their base camp is. Apparently, they also sometimes camp at the head of the arm where the glacier is as part of their job. One mentioned how loud the glacier is when you are camping. She also mentioned that there was a lot of ice and that it would be difficult to go past Sawyer Island.

Then about 4:00pm, the wind came up and whipped up the cove. It was coming from the south west-isa and so the boat was facing into it, but the chop was coming into the cove so we were getting it broadside and the boat was rockin'. Probably should have anchored on the West side of the cove, but it was hard to tell for sure. It was *not* fun, and quite uncomfortable and of course, not in the forecast. Bella was not happy. Fortunately, our anchor was set well and so we just waited it out. It calmed down around 8:30 or so and so we had a quiet night.

June 30, 2017

This morning, there was a National Geographic small cruise ship anchored near Spray Island. We had thought about anchoring there ourselves, ….., but didn't. We had planned on leaving early, but left later than we hoped, around 7:45. It took an hour to get out of Thomas Bay and into Frederick Sound. We had some rolly polly's initially, and then it flattened out again. We got a nice push from the Ebb and made good time. The Douglass book said to expect some mixed currents once we reached Cape Fanshaw, but it was just fine. Once out in Stephens Passage though, it got a little choppy, but not too bad. Although the forecast has been winds from the south for forever now, there was a small wind from the north. When we passed Port Houghton though, there seemed to be quite an outflow and we had small waves on our beam.

We thought we would check out Hobart Bay, specifically a small cove on Entrance Island. We had talked to Carmine on "Sleepless" in Petersburg and this is where he caught his inflatable dinghy on a metal something or another. But he said they had not seen the "right" float that they should have been at until after it was too late. So we nosed into the cove at low low tide to take a peak. It was dead calm and lovely so we inched our way towards the float. Initially, Greg thought it looks submerged, but it wasn't, it's just riding REALLY low in the water. We knew we couldn't get any less water under the keel so we just kept going forward towards it and watching the depth sounder. We stayed on the outside of the float and we had 5' on the depth sounder so it was fine.

We wolfed down some lunch as soon as we got there, say around 1:00pm. There is a house on land a stones throw from the dock. It was calm and still and quiet and really lovely. We watched the birds for a while and listened to the king fishers complain about the intrusion. We had another quiet afternoon on the boat as Greg had a nap, and I read and downed some Hall's cough candies.

Our anemometer has been only showing apparent wind and not true wind, so Greg messed with that a little bit. Then he went out for a dingy ride to take a look around. I thought about going, but Bella and I stayed behind to write a Blog and read. He found another boat inside the Bay and also found the "thing" that "Sleepless" had looked at tying up to. Dinner and some shows in a very cute lovely cove.

June 29, 2017

We wanted to wait until closer to slack to leave Petersburg, so we had some time in the morning. We headed back up to Java Hus to have a coffee and abuse their WiFi. Between the 2 of us, we downloaded the whole next season of "Orange is the New Black". There was an "American Cruise Lines" cruise ship in town so there were a lot of people around. We spoke to one woman and she said it carried 88 passengers. Apparently you can notice 88 extra people in Petersburg. We also had a rather talkative local tell us his life story. He used to fish full time until he retired, which is a good thing because now there are no more fish. It's the whales. Now that there are so many whales around, they are eating the fry and so there are no fish coming back to fish. Need to start hunting humpback whales again he says.

We of course had "The B" with us, so sat outside. I think it was too soon for my cold to sit outside for awhile and I started feeling quite lousy. Back to the boat and we headed out around 11:45. Nice crossing over to Thomas Bay. Holy crap what a huge Bay. We cruised up to the northern section and took a look at Baird Glacier, and into Scenery Cove which was only somewhat scenic - it had an abandoned catamaran anchored in it, and you couldn't really see much. So back down to the south end where we had planned to anchor for the night. A small cruise ship boat was coming in as we passed the entrance, and it could have been the ACL boat but we're not sure. We decided to go right to the anchorage just in case it was also spending the night in there, and arrived around 3:00pm. Driving around the large bay, you could "feel" the water getting colder. We saw the temperature go from around 44 down to 36. It was quite "milky" with all the glacier runoff.

I was feeling pretty crappy and, oh surprise, it was raining out and so I didn't want to go anywhere or do anything. Greg put a crab trap in the water since the place was "filthy" with crab traps, and then we sat on the couch and I got out my blankey, coughed up a lung, and we watched television. (The ones that were about to expire). Just before dinner, Greg checked on the crab trap and got nothin'. We had some of the halibut on the BBQ for dinner which was lovely. Even some vegetables too.

June 28, 2017

A late-ish morning doing stuff on the computer - we paid for 24 hours of a WiFi hotspot here. Turns out it was probably not worth it. Today was errands and just walking around and soaking in Petersburg. We didn't really need to, but decided to do a bit of laundry at the laundromat. On the way up the ramp, we ran into Carmine from "Sleepless" who we had met on Stella Maris in Wrangell. It turns out he had damaged his dinghy after leaving here, so had returned to get it repaired. He was certainly going to need a dingy for the rest of the trip! Talked to some folks at the laundromat from M/V Cheryl Lynn who were with us in Wrangell and who also came up here yesterday. Fairly nice laundromat.

Then down the street to a Cafe for lunch. We had a cranky owner/waitress and absolutely wonderful smoked salmon chowder and cinnamon roll bread pudding! Then, along to the Java Hus for a coffee, but also to check out and use their WiFi. We were able to download some Netflix shows there! We saw a sign at the laundromat for a hair salon, so we walked to the courthouse building and Greg got a haircut. We continued walking down towards the South Harbor to see the town. Ran into Carmine there again and had a chat. Then walked up to the grocery store which is a bit of a hike. But the "mall" there is quite nice and the grocery store is fabulous.



Then a walk back to the boat for dinner. Some of our netflix shows are expiring (after 30 days) so we needed to watch a few of them before they did. Relaxing evening and a nice dinner onboard. We probably won't have cell/internet for awhile so no Blog updates either.

June 27, 2017

Well, it didn't rain today! It was grey and cool, but no rain. We cleaned up a bit in the morning and did email and blog posts and then went over to Stella Maris to look at their photos from a previous trip to the Anan Bear Observatory. They had had a fabulous bear experience there a couple of years ago, and so it was great to see what it *can* look like. We were just too early when we went, which we knew. So we have resolved to go again on the way back down. Ken and Kim and Emilie came over to say goodbye and safe travels. We got ourselves together and left with Stella Maris around noon.

Wrangell Narrows is a "right of passage" for mariners. And we passed. We had a nice cruise following Stella Maris over to the entrance and then up the narrows. It was pretty empty of traffic so a complete non issue. We did time it so that we arrived in Petersburg about the same time as slack though so that helped. We went into it for a while, and then got a big push going up the narrows.

The harbor master assigned Stella Maris to the South harbor, and we were assigned to the North harbor. We got in around 5:15 or so. There was still some current at the dock which seemed to come and go as we were approaching - just kept me on my toes. We walked up to the harbor office and checked in - we're not sure if we are staying 1 night or 2 so we just kept it open.

Back down to Spellbound where we fed Bella and then waited for John and Judy. They came on board and we chatted for a while and they made the mistake of agreeing to see photos of our "rebuild" project. They think we have a new boat. Up to Papa Bears for pizza for dinner. It was pretty good. Petersburg has a reputation of not having any restaurants for people to eat at - which is quite odd really. The population here is double that of Wrangell, but apparently no one eats dinner out

We think we'll stay a 2nd day here. We're probably not going to stop again, and so it just seems weird to be here and not actually see anything of the town. Maybe it's not worth seeing the town (!), but we'll have to find that out for ourselves

June 26, 2017

Fooled you. You thought we were going to leave Wrangell today. Well so did we! But we got a phone call from Ken in the morning. He had received a phone call from Rachel who said that they were planning a dance / presentation at Chief Shakes House at noon today, and would we be interested in going! There was a $15 each fee. Their next scheduled one was June 30th for the cruise ship and Ken would not be around then, so they wanted to go, and we did too as it was a great opportunity. The thought was that depending on how long it went and how we were feeling, we could motor over to Roosevelt Inlet afterwards. (Yah, didn't happen). We also asked if John and Judy from Stella Maris would be interested and could they come as well and that was all fine too.

So we worked on the computers and did some boat stuff and oh surprise, it was sprinkling. We met Reiki Master at the top of the ramp and Ken drove themselves to the Harbor and we started walking. Then he came back and got the 4 of us and drove us the rest of the way. Some other folks from a B&B joined us, and then another woman joined us as well for a total of 10. We listened to Arthur, Virginia, and Lou take turns telling us about themselves, the Tlingit history, and the house. There was a small short dance and song that was part of one done for the recent re-dedication in 2013. We learned that it took 3 woman, 3 years to "adze" the boards needed for the sides. 22,000 strikes per board. It was a great presentation and everyone really enjoyed it. They stopped and took questions all the way through so it was quite interactive. A lot of times, a question resulted in answers to many other things!

We went our separate ways afterwards and the 5 of us went looking for lunch. We tried the "new" pizza place but there was no where to sit down. So we walked over to Zac's Cafe which Ken and Kim had never been to either. It had tables and was warmer and was fine. It was close to 2:30 and so we headed over to the "Nolan Center" which is the museum. Ken went back to the boat but the 4 of us wandered through. We were all surprised at the number of people that were in there. The town was less "ghost town" today and stores were open. For the size of the town, the museum was quite incredible. Everything was quite new and so you could tell that they were investing in the community.

Back to the boat around 4:00 and it's still sprinkling. We started planning "The Narrows" trip so we were prepared for the next days travels. And we had invited the Reiki Master folks for dinner, so we started preparing that. Our classic standby - Turkey Burritos. We opened some wine and had a nice visit. A relatively early evening for everyone. Sure nice to have internet!

June 25, 2017

We spent another day here in Wrangell as we hadn't really seen anything of the town yet. One of the attractions here is the petroglyph beach. The best time to see them is a low tide, as they can get covered at high tide. So after Ken, Kim, and Emilie went to drop off some fish at the cold storage place, they came back and picked us up at the boat around 9:30.

The 5 of us and 2 dogs piled into Ken and Kim's 2 seater truck and we headed down to the beach. There are personal homes right next to the entrance and the deck and walkway was littered with small children's toys. We wandered around and found as many as we could and spent time trying to figure out what they represented. Ken saved the "orca" one till last. It has been moved up above the high tide area so reduce the erosion on it.



Then we headed back into town and parked at the Stikine Inn. Greg and Ken headed off to the hardware and marine stores to replace the bilge pump we gave him. Emilie and Kim and I wandered the town. Pretty much everything is closed on a Sunday so it was a complete ghost town, however the main store, Angermans, was open and we were able to shop a bit in there. They had a great selection of clothes and gifts, but surprisingly, I didn't buy anything.

We continued to walk through town looking in the store windows and to catch up to Ken and Greg. We stopped at the cultural center to admire the small totems outside that were being worked on. There was a woman inside doing some sewing on a sewing machine, however it looked pretty much closed. But she ended up opening the door for us and welcoming us all inside for a look. She introduced herself as Rachel. The building is new and was built to house and cover some other totems that had been taken down. They were in various places but were rotting and needed to be taken down as they were a safety hazard. It was great to be able to look at them up close and to see the different "forms". They had modern ones as well as old ones.

There is a cemetery near the harbor where the white folks are buried in rows in a grassy area, and the natives are buried in the adjacent forest. Kim and Ken end up walking there with the dog fairly often. At one point, Kim asked Rachel if she knew anything about a grave site that Kim was fascinated with there, "Emma", who had a lovely frog engraved on her tombstone. It turns out that Emma was Rachel's Grandmother! Ken also mentioned his book and how he had dedicated it to the local Tglinkit (sp?) tribe. Rachel asked if they had ever seen inside Chief Shakes house (a longhouse in the harbor) and they had not and of course we hadn't either. So she offered to meet us there and open it up for us.



So we walked back to the truck and then drove over to the harbor to meet her. It has be restored many times and was just restored again in 2015(?), so it was really lovely. The inside totems and the artwork stored there and the stories were fascinating. My favorite where the hanging lamps that used "hooligan" oil to burn (a small fish).




OK, gotta move this Blog along! Then we drove back to the Stikine Inn and had a late lunch. The portions are huge and the food really good. Then back towards the harbor with a stop at the most recent Chief Shakes grave. Parked at the harbor and walked over to the cemetery so that the 3 of us could also see "Emma's" grave. Cool frog.

The Reiki Master gang went back to have a nap, and we headed back to Spellbound. But we had exchanged some text's with our new friends John and Judy on Stella Maris. They had arrived on the dock yesterday and we had said that we would try and catch up with them today. So we walked a few feet down the dock to say hello to them. They had met some other people at church that morning and so we also met Carmine and Carol on "Sleepless" who came over as well. We all talked boats and routes and waves.

Back to Spellbound to make some salsa to take as a appetizer over to Reiki Master where they again served dinner. But it was also movie night, so we watched "The Hundred Foot Journey" which was great. Probably should have done better than it did, but it's a "feel good" movie so …..

Back to Spellbound after another surprisingly busy day given that it was supposed to be a bit of a "down day". Our plan is to move to Roosevelt Bay tomorrow.

June 24, 2017

At dinner last night, we all talked about what everyone was doing next. I had mentioned that I really wanted to do a Stikine River tour while we were in Wrangell. It turns out that Ken and Kim had not done one yet, and Emilie was interested as well. There was a sign on a boat at the end of the dock that advertised jet boat tours, so Ken called and the 5 of us were set for today. It was $175 each but I figured …. when in Rome right?

We met at 9:00 and helped him get some fuel and then went to the Stikine Inn dock and picked up a 6th passenger, Kyle, who works for the forest service and who we had met at the Anan Bear Observatory. He had the weekend off and was also interested in the tour. Oh, of course it was raining.

It turns out that this morning was a fairly low tide, even by Alaskan measures. And the delta where the river flows into the ocean is *really* shallow. So Mark (and others) have a "track" that they follow on their chart electronics that they know was deep "enough" the day before. Mark hadn't been out for awhile and so was planning on going out and making a new track today or the next anyway, so he would have one for the next tour. Suffice to say, even Mark was a tad …. mmmm … mindful of the track we were taking. He requested that we all wear our seatbelt's in case we did find ground unexpectedly. It's rather odd to be traveling around in a boat in the wide wide open space of brown water, and see your boat zigzagging through some "imaginary" path. But it wasn't imaginary. The boat draws around 1' when it's going fast, and 2' when it's going slow. So contrary to my boating style, when it get's shallow you speed up. The operator all talk to each other and it wasn't long before we heard and then saw one of the other operators high and dry (without passengers)

About half way through, he pulled up to the sand bar above and we "borrowed" the pit toilet from a USFS cabin there. It's their "administrative" cabin. Hah! The boys used the tree's.



Then we keep going up the river towards the Chief Shakes Lake, where the Shakes glacier is. The ice bergs have floated down and are sitting where they can't go any further down the river. Apparently sometimes there can be so many that it kinda "blocks" the area - not getting in, but getting out! Not so today. Mark grabs the obligatory small berg and places it on the back of the boat so we can all touch it. Traditionally you take it back to have ice in your "cocktails", but … it was a little early.



Then on up to the glacier itself where we spent quite a bit of time hanging out, looking at the scenery and taking too many photo's of the ice and each other. The air coming off the glacier was much cooler - very Thankful for the heater on the boat at this point. Would run in and out of the cabin to not get "too" cold.



Back down and then Mark took us to an area where there was a river running out and an area where campers or someone had lit a campfire. It was mostly a leg stretching exercise but it was a cool location.



Moving right along! We got the bow of the boat all muddy so then Mark took the boat right up to a small waterfall and ran the front of boat right into it to wash it off. I got video! Then a bit of a long ride back, but at this point the tide was up so we only had to follow the "track" back out again for a short while and then we could just zip right over the delta back to the harbor(s).

No one had eaten yet and it was about 3:00pm. The Reiki Master crew decided to head over to the Stikine Inn for a big late lunch, however since "Miss B" had been locked up along for so long, we decided to pass and just have lunch on the boat. It was rainy and grey. I had woken up this morning with a stuffy nose and a sore throat and cruising around in a drizzle had not exactly helped. So I wrapped up in a blanket and we hung out and worked on email and read a bit.

Around 6:00 we walked over to Reiki Master to say hello and catch up. We found Ken buried in the bilge trying to figure out why his bilge pump was not working properly. Like many things, it kinda worked but really kinda didn't. And in the rain, they get fresh water in their bilge. And their "high water" alarm had gone off that morning and they ended up "bucketing" a bunch of water out before leaving on the jet boat. Fixing the bilge pump turns into a "project". Greg goes back and forth to Spellbound a couple of times to get more tools, and eventually a new spare pump. With the alarm going off periodically, Bella turns into an anxiety mess, so I brought her back to Spellbound for dinner and to stay again. Kim and Emilie were watching a movie, "Becoming Jane" and so they graciously restarted it so I could catch up. Kind of a chick flick, but Ken and Greg ended up only watching the last half hour or so. Back to Spellbound for a late light dinner and then to bed.