Wrangell Narrows to Petersburg

 

Goodbye Wrangell as we leave you in our wake.   Today, we head north through the challenging Wrangell Narrows to Petersburg.

Wrangell Narrows is a shallow, narrow, twisty channel between Mitkof and Kupreanof Islands.   Petersburg is at the north end of this channel; Wrangell is near the south end.

The channel itself is approximately 20 miles long and features 63 channel markers, 3 ranges, fixed and floating Aids to Navigation (ATON), numerous shoals and rocks, and loads of free-floating seaweed!  Oh, and lots of boat traffic too.

Today, we had to pull over at a slightly wider spot to allow a tug and barge to pass by us (and 4 other boats).

The write-up on it makes it sound really challenging and scary.  In reality, if you pay attention, always know where you are going, and read the ATONs - it really isn't that big of a deal.   I am extra vigilant any time we are in narrow channels.

For the newbie, it is a rite of passage.   This was our fifth transit.






Oh, I forgot to mention seaplanes too, so add them to the mix.

There are a number of fishing lodges along the banks, so the seaplanes ferry the guests in & out.









Chasing Daylight was overtaking us at a high rate of speed.   They called on VHF16 and asked us to kindly make room so they could zoom by.   Man, they made a big wake.
This is the barge we encountered just before the really shallow/skinny portion about midway through the Narrows.
Fishing boats fishing in the narrow channel.   Really, they have to fish in the channel?

Eagles watching the boats go by and ignoring them.  Really, I think they are watching for fish.

And this channel was chock full of fish.
All of the orange blobs on the lower screen, behind the 30.7 depth, represent fish.   This went on for miles.  Lots of fish.   My uneducated guess is that they are salmon.

Bill, Jerry, Ross you should have been here!
Finally, we are nearing the north end of this channel.  Note that our sun departed, the clouds and light rain moved in.
We made it!   We are at the dock, but we have no shorepower.   One leg of their 240V circuit is dead, so we are OOL.

We may move to a different slip tomorrow.






So, we did the sensible thing and went for a walk around town.   This is Eagle's Roost Park at the north end of downtown.   We are overlooking Wrangell Narrows as it opens out into Frederick Sound.






This is looking across Frederick Sound to the glacier-filled mountains.  Those aren't just snowfields, much of that are mountain glaciers.










You can see more in the picture, below.   I think (and I could be wrong), but glacier on the left side is the LeConte Glacier which comes all the way to the sea.  We visited that last year and wrote about it in our blog, cleverly titled: LeConte Glacier (LeConte Glacier).  The LeConte Glacier is growing and is quite a sight to behold.

This is what happens when our erstwhile photographer can't operate the "flip" button on the iPhone camera.

This old boat has seen some rough times.   She is moored only a few slips down from ours.

This boat is still in use as a collector/processing boat for the commercial fishermen.

She sure could use some new wood and a coat of paint!

And that's a wrap for today.   Tomorrow a new adventure awaits!   Maybe we will get electricity!!!

Good Night.


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