Day 27 – Wrangell to Pybus Bay

How many times do you wake up to the sound of a chorus of Eagles? I just never tire of hearing them. It’s 5AM and I couldn’t wait to get up and see my friends that line the harbor here in Wrangell. We are nestled safely inside Wrangell’s newest harbor, Heritage Harbor, with brand new sturdy docks, among all the working boats of Wrangell. A group of adult and juvenile eagles apparently call the massive breakwater that surrounds the harbor, their home. I believe the real reason they hang out here is that there is a drop off station for the fishing boats where they offload their catch and maybe even process the fish. I’m guessing they can count on getting fed most days as surely the fishermen throw them the a morsel or two. Daylight begins somewhere around 4AM so if we don’t shut our blinds in our stateroom, it is flooded with light in the mornings – makes it easy to get up. Today we are embarking on the next leg on our trek north to Juneau, our next major stop. It’s a few hours later and we are now transiting up the the Wrangell Narrows and it is simply beautiful. As the name suggests, it is very narrow with shoals on both sides to the extent that the entire length of the narrows (21 miles) has permanent red and green channel markers that you must stay between or it’s too shallow on either side. Remote homes dot the shoreline with increased frequency as you approach Petersburg. It appears there are lots of crab in the narrows from the piles of commercial pots that are stacked on the shoreline. Went by a group of fishing lodges (see picture) and lots of what appear to be native fishermen fishing these waters. They are clearly fishing for salmon although we’re not sure what type of salmon are running through here right now. This is a very serene journey winding through here, just loving it. (11am) Poked our head out the top of the narrows. We were headed to Ruth Island, but conditions were so favorable for crossing Frederick Sound, we decided to continue on another 5 hours to Pybus Bay. We anchored in Cannery Cove (one of the bays inside Pybus), where a mountainside and snowfield provide a stunning backdrop to our anchorage, although it also brings icy cool air off the hillside – thank goodness for our diesel heaters. John and I set out the shrimp and crab pots, not knowing anything about the area so we are crossing our fingers we’ll snag something. Shannon and David catch up with us again tomorrow night after we parted ways June 1 when they flew home for graduations and yacht club duties.