PETERSBURG TO SNUG COVE, GAMBIER BAY

Thursday, June 11^th

Hit the water highway this morning around 8AM for our 6 hour run over to Snug Cove in Gambier Bay. Hard to say goodbye to Petersburg, friendly people and beautiful town. The weather gods were with us today as we entered Frederick Sound and eventually Stephens Passage, just a glassy smooth ride all the way. The other boats had multiple whale sightings but we were last in the lineup and didn’t see anything! We arrived in Snug Cove and I did a recon in the whaler as this is one of those places with a drastic shoal. It goes from 100’ to 7’ in a matter of a few feet, it’s quite something! The first anchor drop resulted in us being a little too close to some 20’ water, and with the tide swings of 17’ we decided to move out a bit to be safe. Because no wind was in the forecast, we all rafted together off our anchor. We had a minor emergency which was that we forgot to fuel up the whaler before leaving Petersburg and it was running on fumes! We tow our tender and the other two boats carry theirs on top of their boats, so ours is more frequently utilized for exploring or fishing. We are headed out for 4 nights on anchor before heading to Juneau June 15^th so it is critical to be fueled up! Luckily Greg and Bill had gas cans onboard and John was able to fill up the whaler with about 15 gallons. Whew, we will make it now. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny afternoon and we decided to have a happy hour gathering, which effectively changed everyone’s dinner plans – we were all full from appetizers! When will we learn? It’s one or the other, not both. We were planning to just eat leftovers anyway so no harm. A beautiful but uneventful day. Tomorrow, our exciting and challenging entry into Ford’s Terror. Am slightly “Terror-fied” as there is said to be a 5 minute window of slack before the current starts running again, so we need to be all queued up and ready to transit without delay. I already mentioned in earlier post that we have to navigate between 2 sandbars and over a charted rock that doesn’t exist, supposedly. The destination is worth the effort we’ve been told by everyone. Excited to see this place!

Anchored in Snug Cove, looking north

Below is the map of today's journey

PETERSBURG ON THE DOCK, SIDE TRIP TO LeCONTE GLACIER    

Wednesday, June 10^th

Today we booked a tour to the LeConte Glacier which is just southeast of Petersburg. We went with SEEK ALASKA tours and we highly recommend! We met them at 10am at the head of the dock and boarded a 30+ foot cabin jet boat with bench seats and tables and best of all a heater and a head! Dan was our captain and Stephanie our deckhand. This was a fast heavy aluminum boat making it possible to quickly get into the far reaches of the inlet where the LeConte Glacier hits the water. It is the southernmost tidewater glacier of the Northern Hemisphere. Dan gave us a thrilling ride as he raced along right next to the shoreline visiting waterfalls and looking for bears (none) on the way up to the glacier. Eventually the icebergs were choking the bay which made maneuvering a bit more challenging as he navigated around the bigger bergs. Seal Moms and Pups were everywhere, they come up to the icebergs to hide from predators so they can safely birth and raise their pups until they are old enough to venture out to more exposed waters. The occasional Eagle was perched on a berg or on shore as well, but mostly we were there to see the magnificent glacier and it did NOT disappoint! Ultimately, Dan had to bring the boat to an idle and snow plow his way very carefully through the bergs and ice bombs to get us closer to the glacier. He cut the power so we could listen to the glacier as it creaks and groan, and we broke out our sack lunches to watch for calving. There were a couple of small chunks that dropped but nothing significant, until Dan started the engines to motor away and then KABOOM a huge chunk from one corner of the glacier came crashing down! So thrilling and we were a safe distance away so it was all good! Finally, it was time to head back and as if it couldn’t get better, as we neared Petersburg we were rewarded with a Humpback show! Got some great tail shots. While at the glacier, Greg and Bill had collected some chunks of glacial ice for our celebratory cocktails which we enjoyed on the back deck of our boat before heading up to pickup our takeout pizza. Just a fantastic day all around!

Big Berg

Close up of the ice patterns, so cool~

Another big BERG

Gorgeous glacier bowl with falls everywhere, the colors!!

Mom and Pup

That Face!!

Choked with Ice

LeConte Glacier, it moves 60' per day!

BRRRR....

Another shot of LeConte

Cocktails with Glacier Ice!

Careys and Abells

All of us with Glacier Cocktails

Bill and Lorraine with their Glacial Cocktails

And us with ours....

WRANGELL TO PETERSBURG

Tuesday, June 9^th

And off we go to Petersburg at 5:30am! It’s a clear and gorgeous day, overnight the temperatures were so moderate that I had to throw covers off in the middle of the night. Had both portholes open and there was no airflow! Dead calm. I have a very first world problem and that is I have a big bowl of crabmeat that I need to do something with. So enroute I made some crab stuffed mushrooms for appetizers tonight, followed by crab cake mixture – I will fry them up tomorrow. It’s my night to host dinner so I have a lot to get done today. Our mutual friends Brad and Leslie are flying up today and staying with Connie and Greg for a week – we are all excited to have them along on our adventures! The trip up to Petersburg was calm and beautiful as we motored over to connect with Wrangell Narrows or Christmas Tree Lane. It’s always so picturesque and so vibrant with life. The fishing boats, big and small, are buzzing up and down the channel next to us, tiny homes dot the shoreline where people live on and off the grid, fishing lodges, and beautiful homes. But our big excitement was a huge tug and barge that pulled in to transit right behind us. We saw him maneuvering outside the entrance to the channel and it was pretty impressive. He was following our path west towards the entrance but just before he turned the corner to go up the channel he took this big ole’ barge on a supercharged 360 to get it lined up correctly to up the channel. I guess you can’t just turn 90 degrees without some sort of drift. Anyway, pretty impressive to watch. Then he hailed us on the radio and said he thought he would be overtaking us so we needed to find a suitable place for him to do that. John assured him we were traveling at the same speed or faster and that we’d be fine, but that we would stand by if things changed. Of course we would yield to a tug and barge if necessary, he can’t stop that barge on a dime after all! We did just fine and stayed ahead of him the entire way. Petersburg is one of the most beautiful little towns in my opinion. I love the harbor activity with all the freshly painted fishing boats getting ready to go out, crews working on the nets and preparing their equipment. The stunning mountain range that frames Petersburg is really magnificent. Leslie and Brad finally arrived around 3:30 injecting a heightened fun factor into our group. We had a lively dinner on our boat and just to take it to the next level, all of a sudden the eagles were swarming in front of our boat, diving into the water for scraps! I guess the fish processing plant has a hose into the channel where they dump the fish guts and pieces. It was quite a fun show with juvenile and mature eagles diving and grabbing bits from the water, interspersed with seagulls all competing for the food fest. So incredible! Another great day in Alaska.

Beautiful skies as we leave Wrangell this morning, 5:30AM

Tug and Barge that followed us up Wrangell Narrows

Flotilla ahead navigating the red and green

Petersburg on the right, not the greatest light but that mountain range!! wow

I take a picture of this stranded old boat every time we come through Petersburg

The crew working on the nets getting ready for opening of fishing

One of the many little homesteads along the Wrangell Narrows

Lastly, a picture of the dinner I made before it went in the oven, Braised Chicken Thighs with Lemon, Oregano, Olives, so good.

THOM’S PLACE TO WRANGELL

Monday, June 8^th

Today is a relatively short run up to Wrangell all on very inside waters, protected and calm. It’s a gorgeous morning even with light rain. The reflections are stunning! It is so hard to stay asleep when it gets light at 4am, it’s always a tug between having the portholes open so we have the fresh air vs. covering them to keep out the light so we can sleep later! The water was smooth today and we easily got into Heritage Harbor in Wrangell which is a first come first served moorage, no reservations. We are just ahead of most people traveling to Alaska this year, mainly because we take an aggressive approach to getting up here, long running days until we get across Cape Caution, and this year we had to outrun weather all the way past Dixon Entrance. Now we are at the point where we don’t have to do that as often and can enjoy shorter run days and a more leisurely pace as we enjoy the beauty of Alaska.

We had a super fun afternoon exploring the town of Wrangell, which is about a mile walk from the harbor, and walks are welcome when we are otherwise too sedentary. The boys had some marine and hardware items to track down, and we had some shops to investigate. Being Monday, a lot of places were closed, but we managed to find some souvenir sweatshirts and other things. Of course we found time for a stop at the local watering hole, Rayme’s Bar, where we chatted with a lot of locals quizzing us on our journey and welcoming us to their town. Everyone is so friendly here! Connie and I wandered off to the grocery store later on and bought more than intended so were each weighed down with two heavy bags of groceries. We decided to hitchhike back to the harbor and after several rejections, a nice young lady picked us up and got us to the harbor. She was born and raised locally, working as a tour guide part time and the rest of the time in her family’s fishing business, crab, salmon, etc. Again, such a sweetheart and so friendly. Tonight we don’t have to cook! Yay! We got to go out to dinner at the “Stik” or Stikine Inn for dinner and this time instead of walking we took the tender over to the city dock right below the Stik and enjoyed a wonderful meal, their menu is outstanding. Our server Krissy was just delightful and made our dinner so fun. We finished off with their signature dessert which is a family style mud pie creation that was over the top. And no, I haven’t set foot on the scale yet, scared. Going forth there will be no scale reports either.

Beautiful reflections inside Thom's Place this morning

Thom's Place

Enroute to Wrangell, UnforgetAbell on the left, Huntress ahead

This landslide on Wrangell Island killed several people a year ago, just wiped the face clean. So sad.

Greg and Bill on the dock at Wrangell

Crazy Pirates on display outside a gift shop, they look like they are from Disneyland, Pirates of the Caribbean exhibit

Cute little chapel, Wrangell

Construction and recycling Alaska Style, this stilt house on the waterfront utilizes a barge for a foundation

Couple small skiffs clearly disappearing in the bushes

On the way to dinner! It was a bit rough and I think Connie is worried I might fall in, because I almost did taking this pic

THOM’S PLACE AT ANCHOR

Sunday, June 7^th – D DAY

I recently read a really interesting book called “Family of Spies” which is a mostly factual (only because she relied on interviews and accounts of third parties) account of a woman who discovered her grandparents were actually spies for the Japanese when they lived on Oahu as a family. Apparently they helped the Japanese with recon on the number of ships in port and the routines and activities on base, which helped the Japanese execute their attack at the most vulnerable moment. For that treason her grandparents served very little time. It was a great read and I recommend checking it out. We honor those lost souls today.

Mid morning in between squalls we ventured out to pull our pots and this time rewarded with 25 prawns! Which is not a big haul, but enough for appetizers tonight. Clearly this isn’t a prolific prawn area or I just didn’t choose the right spot! They were big though, huge I might say. The crab pots yielded 5 more nice big males, we are set for crab meat. After killing and cooking my haul and tidying up the gear, another break in the weather told me it was time for a kayak ride. We had launched the kayak yesterday then the wind came in and the rain, and I didn’t get to go. Today it is a beautiful break in the weather, calm waters and no rain. As I paddled back into the nooks and crannies of the shoreline, a mama duck and her babies were cruising right next to the shoreline as well, and she seemed alarmed by my presence. I paddled wide away from her to give her some space but she had her babies tucked up on her back – teeny tiny little heads, must have been really fresh. I kept my distance and let her escape into the inlet. That was my only wildlife sighting other than one eagle that flew over, and maybe a crow or two. No bears or deer today. Yesterday there was a deer grazing on shore among the purple lupine, making for a pretty scene. Spent the rest of the day cracking crab while watching the “Life is Short” documentary on Martin Short – very good! What a lovely man and great talent. Dinner tonight was on our boat although Connie cooked it all, yummy baked pork chops with a delicious grilled pineapple salsa, wild rice, and salad. Topped off the meal with NY TIMEs Chocolate Chip Cookies, a recipe not to be missed if you’ve never made them. They are the bomb! Afterwards we played another game of 5 Crowns and there may be some marriage counseling sessions booked real soon, it was a fierce competition and the barbs were flying among spouses! All good natured of course (I think), we laughed our way through the game. Great FUN! 

Today's Prawn Haul

Happiness is a bucket full of Crab

Now that's the way to crack crab! Overhead heaters and chilled white wine!! Bill and Lorraine 

Connie and Greg headed out to pull pots

Bill and Lorraine with their haul of crab! Limited out!

All our pictures seem gray most of the time, and that is the prevailing color up here. But believe it or not it's still beautiful and serene.

THOM’S PLACE ON ANCHOR

Saturday, June 6^th - CONTINUED (Afternoon Report)

Upon arrival we found a nice spot in Thom’s Place way back in the bay where Bill/Lorraine put their anchor down and we rafted off of them on one side and Abells on the other. With how protected this bay is, we should be fine with all three boats on one anchor. It was a massive deployment upon arrival, John wanted me to expedite dropping of prawn and crab traps so he could take the whaler and go fishing, and the other two boats launched their dinghys as well, anxious to get the crab traps down. The rain squalls come and go giving us periods of clearing here and there, but we have to remember that….we are in the Rain Forest. You just deal with it, suit up in your rain gear with lots of layers to ensure you stay warm and go enjoy the outdoors! During squalls, I spent the afternoon watching videos about the Kasaan totems, and the Haida reclamation of Queen Charlotte Islands, known as Haida Gwaii. The last Ice Age did not cover Haida Gwaii so it allowed unique species of plants and animals to evolve. And there is evidence that the Haidas have occupied those islands for perhaps 13,000 years, being one of the earliest humans on the Northwest Coast. The logging industry on Haida Gwaii was a ruthless business, clear cutting and destruction of artifacts found in the process. One logging industry guy interviewed said they would find ancient Haida dug out canoes in the process of being carved, (because they carve them in the woods where the tree is felled) and the loggers were ordered to haul them out to the burn pile. He said they did that with 100s of canoes. The Haida built massive canoes capable of holding up to 60 people. Anyway, what a tragedy to lose all that history. The Haidas took a stand in the 80’s and demanded they have a say in what happens to the land to protect the forest and salmon which resulted in part of the islands being protected by formation of a conservation. However logging continued elsewhere on the islands and the Haida kept up the protesting, finally receiving recognition by the BC Government that Haida had title to all of Haida Gwaii in 2024. Anyway, that’s how I spent the afternoon! When John returned without so much as a nibble, we set out to go check our pots. The first prawn pot pulled resulted in 2 Prawns so we threw that one back down and decided to not even check the second pot, just leave it overnight and see if we did better. The crab traps yielded two nice big males so that was a win! Tonight was dinner on our own, so everyone pretty much kept to themselves, hunkered down inside our respective vessels for the night. OH, almost forgot! Today Connie and Greg had the first bear sighting of our trip! Two black bears on the beach. None of the rest of us were so lucky.

Huge Prawn!

Coiling while John is using Pot Puller to pull the trap

Not sure why the gloomy face but maybe I was concentrating on docking it back up alongside the mother ship

View from the boat of neighboring peak, note low snow level, despite that temps nearly in 60s