Ketchikan to Petersburg (rain, rain and more rain)

Bounty from the sea, capturing a brass relic from the bottom at low tide in Meyers Chuck

Waterfront property for sale in Meyers Chuck

The new air freight terminal

When the tide goes out!

The skunk cabbage could be the SE Alaska state flower they are so lush

The spider's web in Meyers Chuck

The Dall Porpoise under Spirit's bow

May 16, 2011

Monday morning the good weather had departed, and the rain was falling, heavy most of the time. We had arranged to share a car rental with Jim and Cheryl so we could not only see both ends of the road, but also the scenic spots too far to go on foot. Our first stop was Totem Bight, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. When we were last here the totems looked in need of repair, and now a major reconstruction and preservation project is underway, with many of the totems roped off from the public for restoration. The long house is still open and available to tour, but there were three sets of cruise ship passengers on tour while we were there.

From Totem Bight we continued north along the road to the end, which is Settler's Cove Park. The main attraction is Lunch Falls, which were running hard from all the rain. From Lunch Falls we retraced our path into the city center and stopped for halibut and chips at one of the dockside restaurants. We actually ate the meal at "Stan's Place", which had a liquor store and lounge, but the restaurant delivers food there all the time and it was a cool atmosphere.

After lunch we walked along Creek Street in a deluge, stopping to pick up a few souvenirs, and then drove to the other end of the road, which ends at George Inlet Cannery, closed to the public, but part of the cruise ship "experience". We stopped briefly at Saxman Village, another collection of totems and a longhouse, but by then it was closing up since the cruise ships were departing.

We headed to Safeway for fresh produce and when we returned to Spirit found that "Wild Blue", Pat and Alex Benson, had arrived and were tied up across the dock from us. We had met them last year in the Broughtons on the way north and again at the Selene Rendezvous. "Wild Blue" cruised the west coast of Vancouver Island last season. They joined us for dinner along with Mathesons and Hambletons at the Cape Fox Lodge. We had a great dinner with a crab and brie appetizer served with sliced Granny Smith apples, good steaks and great halibut.

May 17, 2011

The rain continued all night and we departed City Floats at 0900 in heavy rain. The first stop was Anderes Oil for fuel, and we took on 580 gallons which filled us completely. Fuel was actually slightly cheaper than in Anacortes. By 0945 we were done fueling and headed north up Tongass Narrows and into Clarence Strait to Meyers Chuck, one of our favorite stopovers. Sea Jay cruised slightly faster and reached the public float about 30 minutes before us. We docked in heavy rain and wind. Today's run was just a little over 35 nautical miles. About one hour later, we rafted a 48 foot sailboat "Sapphire" alongside Spirit since the docks were full and the bay in Meyers Chuck had gotten a little windy and rolly. We ordered fresh cinnamon rolls from the postmistress for the morning, but found out the gallery was still not open for the season.

We still had some fresh crab, so dinner was crab mac & cheese, followed by an evening watching "Over Alaska", since none of our satellite TV systems are working in the heavy rain and this far north.

May 18, 2011

The rain stopped briefly this morning, and at 0630 there was a knock on the hull. Our cinnamon rolls had arrived, still warm from the oven. It had been light, or nearly so, for three hours anyway. The tides are extreme this week, and at 0801 it was a minus 3.9 feet, preceded by a plus 17.8 foot the evening before for a total range greater than 21 feet. The rain held off while we took a brief walking tour of Meyers Chuck, which convinced us that skunk cabbage grows very well in this climate. The different shades of green were amazing. We watched several of the residents scoop treasures from the sea floor on the minus tide, including what looked like an old brass binnacle cover. The rain returned as we left at 0940 for the 22 mile run to Santa Anna Inlet in flat seas. Along the way we had several Dall Porpoise playing chicken with the bow of Spirit, crossing back and forth and swimming just ahead of the bow wave.

We rafted next to Sea Jay at the head of the inlet in light rain, but the skies appear to be clearing. After ensuring the two vessels were secure, and that we had properly accounted for a 20 foot tidal variation, both Mathesons and Gills put out two prawn pots, the first since entering Alaska.

When we checked the pots about 8 PM, there were only a few prawns, so we moved them into deeper water, about 350-400 feet and hoped for the best. After a potluck dinner on board Sea Jay we watched a very forgettable movie "Inception".

May 19, 2011

Checking the prawn pots this sunny morning brought some surprises. Not only did we have plenty of large prawns, but one of Patrick's pots had an octopus, which had eaten about 6 prawns, looking at the empty shells in the pot. The octopus was perhaps 2 feet across when stretched out.

We cleaned the shrimp and put the octopus is a covered pot with a weight on the lid to keep him from escaping and left Santa Anna Inlet at 0910 bound for Wrangell via Zimovia Straits. There were more Dall Porpoises playing around the bow. We arrived at Heritage Basin in Wrangell at 1345 under overcast skies, but relatively warm and no rain. Heritage Basin is about ½ mile from town, so we went via the Matheson's tender to register at the port office and look for a few miscellaneous items and then returned to the boats to prepare for Patrick's 64^th birthday dinner, which included a rib roast that we had dry rubbed with spices and then mesquite smoked on Matheson's Traeger BBQ. We also had baked potatoes, steamed broccoli, salad and a chocolate cake with ice cream that Miriam baked underway. Our appetizer this evening was the octopus, which we simmered Spanish paella style in a sauce of rice, tomatoes, onions, garlic, white wine and smoked paprika. It was actually pretty good, but cleaning an octopus was more work than we expected.

May 20, 2011

We awoke to sunny skies in Wrangell and did boat maintenance until 1130 AM, when it was time to depart for Petersburg via Wrangell Narrows. Conventional wisdom dictates entering either end of the narrows 2 hours before high slack tide, since the current flows into both ends and meets near the middle of the 21 mile passage. That technique allows a slow vessel to take advantage of a following current the entire way through the narrows. That is what we did, except for waiting about 30 minutes to allow the Alaska Ferry Matanuska to transit the narrowest portion before we entered. We did not see another vessel until we were nearly through the narrows.

At 1645 Spirit docked next to Sea Jay in Petersburg under mostly sunny and warm skies. The fishing fleet is mostly in, so the docks were fairly crowded for this early in the season. After a quick walk around town we enjoyed dinner at the Beachcomber Inn, where we tried the smoked black cod, the seafood chowder, and a drink call an "Uff Da", which is sort of like a vodka martini with a cinnamon gummy bear garnish instead of olives. To keep up a rain theme, a brief but intensive rain shower greeted us as we finished dinner. We returned to Spirit and reviewed the charts to get ready for a long day tomorrow.

Since leaving Ketchikan we have logged an additional 133 nautical miles for a total of 799 miles since leaving Anacortes.

On May 21, we intend to go directly to Tracy Arm Cove for the night, spend the next day going up either Tracy or Endicott Arm, depending on ice conditions, remaining a second night at Tracy Arm Cove, and then on to Juneau. We will be out of email and cell phone contact most of the time until Juneau.