Wrangell to Petersburg

Saturday, May 21 was another sunny day in Wrangell.  Miriam and Patrick walked the mile into town and joined the throngs of visitors from the smaller cruise ship “Seven Seas Mariner”, which was tied up at the cruise ship dock.  There were lots of small stands selling various kinds of home baked goods and a local market in the Nolan Community Center.  The longhouse on Shakes Island was open, with flags on the bridge leading to it.  People were even on canoe and kayak tours of Reliance Harbor.

The Seven Seas Mariner dominates the harbor

Cruise Sip Guests canoeing in Reliance Harbor

Shakes Island Longhouse all decked out.

Downtown Totem Park

By 4 PM most passengers were back on board and the ship departed for the next stop.  The food stands disappeared and the town appeared almost deserted.  We had intended to go to the Stikine Inn for dinner, but it was closed for an outside catering event.

May 22, 2016 - Wrangell

Clouds had moved in overnight and the temperature had dropped by 10 degrees.  In the afternoon, after getting the salmon gear ready, Patrick and Rick Lennon took the Lennon’s Stabicraft tender fishing, waiting until the afternoon when the rain became steady.  Like most people that day they returned empty handed.  We went to the Stikine Inn for dinner with the Lennon’s and also met the people on the Seahorse 52 “Pacifier”, who also keep their boat in Wrangell year round.  The specials included a duck confit “Po’ Boy” and a BBQ Pork sandwich, both delicious.

May 23, 2016 – Wrangell to Petersburg

The tides are still large and high slack tide in Wrangell Narrows is at 1530, so that dictated we leave Wrangell shortly after 1100.  There had been light mist earlier in the morning, but we left under partly sunny skies and 10-15 knots of wind from the SW, saying goodbye to the Lennon’s until later in July when we begin our trip southbound.

The trip from Wrangell to Petersburg was totally uneventful, and one we have done countless times.  Our first trip we had the paper charts out and counted each marker as we passed.  Now we do not even get the chart out of the storage drawer, but still count the markers.  At 1630 we shut down the main engine in North Harbor, slip 35, close to where we have been before.

The main navigation computer started resetting again, and we found the CMOS battery had failed after seven years.  The local hardware store had a replacement, and by 1830 everything was back running normally, or so we thought.  Then the computer started resetting again, this time from power failures.  The UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) which supposedly provides for time for a graceful shutdown of the navigation computer and several other devices was itself have intermittent shutdowns, cause unknown.

As the sun set we feasted on a variety of leftovers from previous meals, making space in the reefer for more fresh foods for the next week as we head for Sitka.

Random Drone Shot of Spirit in Foggy Bay courtesy of Peter Geerlofs

May 24, 2016

Update, the local marine electronics store had a new UPS, it has been running all day normally, so we seem to be back in business.  We stocked up on fresh produce and are preparing to leave in the AM.  We will be out of contact until we arrive in Sitka in a week.