Wake-Up Call

Wrangell Narrows

The alarm went off this morning at 3:30 AM.  We are headed to Petersburg and to get there we must navigate the Wrangell Narrows, a narrow 21-mile passage with the tide entering from both ends and meeting in the middle.  This passage is sometimes referred to as Christmas Tree Lane because of the 66 red and green aids to navigation that keep boats in the channel and off the shoals.  Our plan is to arrive at the entrance to the Narrows an hour and a half before high slack tide (also referred to as TTE – Turn to Ebb).  We will ride the last of the flood for the first twelve miles and with a bit of luck arrive at Green Point just as the tide changes so we can ride the ebb tide the remaining nine miles to Petersburg.   

Petersburg Harbor

The last challenge of the day will be to successfully dock in Petersburg Harbor at the north end of the Narrows.  The current in the harbor can be very strong making docking dangerous.  The charts indicate that at the time of our arrival (7:30 am), the currents will be 2 nm/hr and will require careful attention.  We once tried to depart the Harbor in currents that were almost 4 nm/hr and vowed not to do that again.  Have I said – Live and learn?  We are assigned a slip that will allow us to enter bow-in with a starboard tie which is our preferred configuration in these conditions.  Since we will be here for several days, when the water is slack, we will turn the boat around and re-tie on the port side stern-in for easier on/off access.

We walk to the Harbor Master’s office to register and along the way take care of garbage duty and stop for a fabulous breakfast at the Salty Pantry.  Barrie says the food was to “die for” (crab and bacon quiche, homemade cookies, etc).  Back at the boat, Barrie calls the Post Office and learns that his package with the water-maker membrane is here.  Amazingly it was shipped Express Mail from San Diego last Friday and arrived in Petersburg on Monday,  Knut Frostad offers to drive Barrie to the Post Office.  I remain on the boat and try to catch-up on the blog.

Viking Influence

We walk back into town to go to the Visitor’s Center and pick up a few items at the store.  I make an attempt to register for the 5K race on Saturday.  Then back to the boat for lunch and to continue working on the blog.  Unfortunately, we are having difficulty getting wi-fi access on the dock, so I will not get this posted until later.  At least it is written.  We will remain in Petersburg until Sunday afternoon.