Tracy Arm Cove to Tracy Arm Cove 44 miles 4 hours

There are heavy clouds but we decided to head into Tracy Arm and look for the glacier.  The icebergs aren’t as big as we have seen in the past, but there are sure a lot of them.  We have had to dodge of lot of “bergie bits”.  About half way in during a moment of inattention…we hit an iceberg.  Not the Titanic size but enough to cause an abnormal vibration.  !@#$ we are pretty sure we bent a prop. Fred checked below and we aren’t taking on any water.  Well, the fun just went out of this trip today.  We could actually see Sawyer Glacier in the distance.  We found a good place to turn around and headed back to Tracy Arm Cove.  The cove was empty when we arrived and we could pick anywhere to anchor.  We chose the far western corner near the outlet of a stream.  This is a beautiful spot but when we hit low ride we were touching the eel grass below.  Way too shallow.  We could pull anchor and move or pull in some anchor chain to pull us further out.  We chose the latter.  All in all, not a fun day.

Tracy Arm Cove

Fred woke me up to see a brown bear (grizzly bear) walking on the beach near where we are anchored.  If it weren’t raining we might have taken the dinghy over for a closer look.  He was huge and didn’t look like he missed any meals.  This is why we are here. Our very own National Geographic Tour.

Fanshaw Bay to Tracy Arm Cove 4 hours, 41 miles

We had a noisy, rocky rolly night last night.  The tide just rushes through this bay.  Merlin kept wanting to get in bed with us (this is a no no).  I was up several times with Merlin and Fred was up to do anchor checks.  With all the wind (up to 28 mph) and current, we didn’t move an inch.  We are more and more pleased with our Rocna anchor.  http://cruises.about.com/od/alaskacruises/ig/Tracy-Arm-Alaska/

Petersburg to Fanshaw Bay

3¼  hours    38 miles

Wrangell to Petersburg 4¼ hours, 43 miles

We started out in some fog which was a concern but it lifted by the time we neared Wrangell Narrows.  We saw many fishing boats but our course was clear. Wrangell Narrows is a narrow passage through which most of the north-south traffic flows.  One can encounter the Alaska Ferry or a log boom.  We were lucky to see little traffic.  One must maneuver and stay between the red and green buoys.   This would be rather dangerous in the fog.  In clear weather it is rather fun.  Petersburg is called Alaska’s Little Norway.  http://www.ci.petersburg.ak.us/
The Norwegian flag is flown next to the US flag all over town.  Petersburg has also one of Alaska’s most prosperous fishing fleets. This is evident in the majority of boats in harbor are fishing vessels. 

Wrangell

It has rained hard all day.   Instead of taking the dinghy over to town or going for a cruise we just did projects around the boat.  When we decided to put the dinghy back up, we noticed a rusty colored dust on the swim platform.  Fred thinks it is metal shavings from when he cut the old lock off of the chain to lock up the boat.  We scrubbed with soap but the discoloration is still there.  Something else to worry about.

Wrangell

It sky is a bright blue and the water is aquamarine, just like the gem stone.  It is amazing. After taking Merlin for a long walk, we left him on the boat so we could go into shops. We decided to put the dinghy down and motor over to the float at the foot of the main street.  We have our starboard to the dock.  We were starting to lower the dinghy from the starboard side of the boat when we realized that the davit doesn’t extend far enough.  I had a bright idea. Fred went on the dock and loosened the mooring lines so we could move the stern of the boat away from the dock so we could lower the dinghy between the boat and the dock.  After it was in water I was able to swing the dinghy to the stern. Fred tightened up the lines again.   We went into town and sat out on the deck looking out at Frederick Sound at the Stikine Inn Hotel.  The food was great even if the service wasn’t.

Meyers Chuck to Wrangell 5 hours, 53.7 miles

We had a lovely trip up Clarence Straight is bright sun.  Wrangell is one of our favorite destinations in Alaska.  http://wrangell.com/
They have resisted being a cruise ship destination.  There isn’t a single high end jewelry store here.  When I called the harbormaster for a slip assignment I was told to check out the new marina just south of town (Heritage Harbor).  We entered and indeed there are two 350’ docks with power and water.  There is plenty of room on the dock and several folks came out of nearby boats to catch the lines.  When we got settled we wanted to go into town.  This is when we realized that this is a great marina but it is over a mile to town.  We headed out anyway and were pleased to see things haven’t changed.  After wandering around we found our usual latte place and called for a taxi.  When Fred told the cab people that we had a dog with us they weren’t going of take us.  However, Fred assured them that we had a small dog which would sit on a lap.  It cost $9 for that mile trip back to the marina.

Ketchikan to Meyers Chuck 3 hours, 37 miles

Everything looks so beautiful in the sun.  Meyers Chuck is a cove off of Clarence Straight.  We’re not sure of it’s origin but there is a community here of about 20-30 homes. They range from clapboard shacks to very nice homes with walls of windows facing the water.  They have a small dock which is open to anyone with no charge.  There was room on the dock but we decided to anchor out.  Fred installed the new battery in the dinghy before we put it down to go to shore for a walk. Fred tried to start the outboard but it wouldn't start.  We were afraid that something serious was wrong when Fred checked and saw he had hooked the battery up back wards.  After he figured this out and corrected it we were on our way. There is a well worn path that follows the shore and reached most of the homes.  Some of them can only be reached by boat.  At the head of the dock there is a bulletin board, phone booth, and a mailbox. Fred was reading the bulletin board and of course picked on the notice of a women there that bakes sticky buns and will deliver to your boat. She is also the local post master. Yes, they have there own zip code. Mail twice a week via float plane. She was telling us several families order groceries to be delivered on the float plane. Pretty cool.  Apparently local calls from the phone in the booth to local homes are free. Fred called and will have sticky buns in the morning. There are colorful wildflowers everywhere and Merlin is having a great time.

Ketchikan

We decided since we were hanging out here that we would do a tourist activity, Bering Sea Crab Fisherman’s Tour.  http://56degreesnorth.com/
The Aleutian Ballad is docked near us in the city Floats. This fishing vessel is a little over 100 feet long and was used during the second season of Deadliest Catch. We have never watched it but it follows crab fishermen in the Bering Straight of Alaska.  These fishing boats go out for weeks at a time and can be caught in winds of 50-70 mph and 20-30 foot seas.  This is said to be most dangerous occupation in the world.  The Aleutian Ballad has been re-fit to function as a research and education vessel.  There is stadium seating and glass tanks in front of us for them to place the creatures brought up in their pots.  It is literally raining side-ways but that is no deterrent.  We were the first to board because everyone else was coming off a cruise ship.  Initially a huge cage was pulled up containing several Alaskan King Crab and an octopus. A fellow picked up the octopus for us to see and then it was placed in the salt water tank in front of us.  As the octopus hit the water it let go with a huge stream of ink.  Poor thing.   Each member of the crew held a crab for all of us to see closely (well, not too closely). These Kinjg Crabs get as big as 4-5 feet from tip to tip. The crabs were then placed back in the cage and sent back down into the sea.  The crew members were all professional fishermen.  There talk was not scripted and all of our questions were answered as well as some wonderful anecdotes.  Next a pot containing Dungeness crab was pulled onto the deck.  We weren’t allowed close to these fellows because this type of crab in so combative.  Apparently a Dungeness can kill a King crab.  These crabs in the pot were again placed back into the sea.  The last pots pulled looked like a barrel with holes in it. This is an octopus trap.  There is a very small hole that the octopus from fit through.  We were told that an octopus can fit through any space that its beak (mouth) can fit through.