July 27, 28 & 29 - Craig, Prince of Wales Island

Here is lonely Bojangles waiting out the storm with the entire Alaska fishing fleet

The famous (for Craig at least) Ruth Ann Restaurant, good food and great service

We left Calder Bay and proceeded down El Capitan Passage which like Rocky Pass required a careful watch of the markers and charts. In fact we found even at the end of El Capitan Passage that navigation through the various coves and passages was a challenge all the way to Craig.

As we fueled up and docked at Craig we considered ourselves lucky to be at a dock since a big time storm warning was up for the outside coast. The order of the day according to the weather reports was for 50 knot winds and 15 foot plus seas on the outside for the next day or two. It is blowing and rainy in Craig but at least it is a decent size town and we are securely tied to the dock.
We had a great meal our first night a Ruth Ann's Restaurant, which turned out to be excellent and crowded. Due to the weather there are a lot of boats in Craig so we were glad to get a spot at the dock and made reservations for the next night at Ruth Ann's. We watched the winds blow up to 50 knots in town and the rain just drove down today so we were really happy to be hunkered down with a Brad Pitt DVD about Jesse James tonight.

I am looking about this morning and the storm seems to have broken so we likely will be continuing today for a neat little native village further south called Hydaburg. As it turned out. democracy on our boat prevailed. I voted to go and Nance voted to stay so we stayed put for another day, as the forecast was looking better for tomorrow. I changed the oil and fuel filters on the boat and generally cleaned Bojangles up a bit as she is getting a bit trip dirty. We can't have that you know.

July 26 - Calder Bay, Prince of Wales Island

Here is a picture of the mother eagle feeding her young at water's edge

Calder Bay has a huge drying area at it's head so we had to kayak quite a way to the end

Will wonders never cease! We awoke this morning to what do ya know, sunshine. Now it was fairly short lived but appreciated nonetheless.

We started out down Rocky Pass so named because it is narrow shallow and rocky. The Alaska coast guard removed the markers from the passage some years ago because of the expense to maintain them but put them back in the early 2000's. The pass is well marked and if you are careful is quite doable. The advantage of taking the pass is that it cuts off a great deal of distance down to the base and around Kuiu Island. So we figured out which side we wanted green on and which side we wanted red and pressed onwards around Devil's Elbow and out.

We headed for Calder Bay on Prince of Wales Island as it represented a good location from which to tackle the narrow El Capitan Passage then next day. Calder Bay apparently was a location in which 7 bears were reported at one time but we saw none. We however got our kayaks out and played with a bunch of sea otters who were really curious to see blue bottomed kayaks floating around their home turf. They kept popping out to see who we were and followed Gord around the whole bay.

We also saw some eagles feeding their young on the shoreline. This looked pretty cool as we were quite close to them.

Well we will get some sleep tonight and tackle El Capitan in the morning.

July 25 - Big John Bay, Kupreonof Island

The entrance to Big John Bay in the relative gloom of the afternoon

We left Baranof early on a dark and rainy day, it does that in Alaska and headed out to Kupreanof Island across Chatham Strait and Frederick Sound. The sea was rough and it looked like we were running in the middle of December.

Our destination for the night was Big John Bay at the head of Rocky Pass which is so named for a reason. We intended to wait for the next morning as high tide would put a bit more H2O under the boat which is a good thing.

We hunkered down for the afternoon for some power reading and a nice rest as the anchorage was very calm and peaceful. We intended to get some sleep tonight to be sharp on the watch the next day.

July 24 - Baranof Warm Springs, Baranof Island

A real "bathing beauty" in a spectacular setting

The "old salt" getting the salt off do I look happy?




There are three metal hot tubs in sheds just above the docks fed by the springs as well

Here is the sign crafted by our friends at BYC immortalizing Shaman II, Oceanaire I and Sambuca

This is what the boardwalk up to the springs looks like

We left Appleton Cove a bit early which was not well received by the first mate as insufficient advance notice had been provided. The tide was rapidly receding and all boats in the cove with one exception, us had already left. As it turned out we would have been fine with the original schedule but you are never 100% certain in a new anchorage.

As we proceeded down Chatham Strait sea conditions were OK but visibility was very limited so we were watching the radar carefully. The closer we came to our destination we saw stretched in front of us what looked like the entire Alaskan fishing fleet. There obviously was an opening that day and everyone in the area seems to have a net in the water.

Most of the boats were purse seiners on which the net is close to the boat and well visible so we were running a bit of a slalom course when suddenly we noticed floats on the water right in front of us. To our port side a fisherman in his dory was standing and waving his arms to get our attention. Turns out we were heading right for a gill net which stretches some distance astern of the main fishing boat. All things ended well as we stopped in time and got a nice thumbs up from the fisherman although I am certain he thought of perhaps giving us the upended finger.

We found a place at the crowded docks at Baranof Warm Springs and headed up the boardwalk to the famous hot springs. What a surprise when we saw right at a branch in the trail, a well crafted sign from our Burrard Yacht Club gang who had preceded us pointing to the springs. It looked really cool, well done you guys.

The springs at the top of the boardwalk are fantastic. They are stone pools of hot sulphur water lying adjacent to a waterfall rushing by. This is the most scenic hot tub we have ever been in and one which is very popular in the area. As we enjoyed it a gang arrived from the yacht Parafin which is about 175 feet and had been chartered by some wealthy Russians for an Alaska exploration. Nance tried to speak to them but the man thought she was calling him Canadian instead of the other way around so I don't really know how well the conversation went.

When we returned to the docks we were advised that the fishing fleet would all return to the docks that night. They would be rafted 10 deep or so and it is not unheard of for them to party. Lacking the stamina of our prior BYC group, we left the docks and anchored in one of the quiet bays across the harbour from the docks. In the morning as we were leaving, we looked back into the bay and you could not see land for fish boats. Quite the place really.

July 23 - Appleton Cove

Well what do you know, we are back in the Internet business. We just landed in Craig and found an excellent wireless connection which has allowed me to post the pictures I wanted to add to the previous text only entries. So for those of you who are interested you can you can go back and re-open the postings back to July 14 and see the pictures.
We left Sitka around noon after I went to an electronic store to get a new screen for my Espar diesel heater. The current version has become plugged up and as a consequence we blow partially burned diesel fumes out the exhaust for some time as we try to fire it up. We have solved this problem at docks by switching to a portable electric cabin heater but we would like to have the diesel heater working for running and at anchor. As it stands now, the heater still works albeit not well so the screen remains for a doomsday fix.
We met a couple in Appleton Cove who brought their 33 foot sailboat all the way from Hawaii. The passage took three weeks and according to the owner was a fairly easy crossing from Hawaii to Kodiak Island.
We anchored among a million crab pots in the cove which is really well protected from Peril Strait and enjoyed a quiet night before heading out the next day back into Chatham Strait.

July 21 & 22 - Sitka

The Local Sitka "old geezers home" Nance thought it appropriate I take a picture of this.

St Michaels Russian Orthodox Cathedral is pretty much a Sitka landmark

This is the bridge from Sitka to Japonski Island where the airport is located

The main street of Sitka where St Michaels is located

We moved through the narrow and winding remainder of Peril Strait today and finally arrived in Sitka. We found it to be a much larger and more highly developed place than we had imagined.
We found moorage in the new Eliason Harbour in some one's berth who is either fishing or out cruising. The berth is well equiped and has all the amenities.
Our first afternoon in civilization is spent doing laundry and getting groceries. The little portable carts we bought at Wall Mart turn out to be the greatest on this trip and we get comments from boaters everywhere on how useful they appear to be (thanks Betty).
We finally got to town for dinner and end up at the Westmark Hotel for the first and last time. Our dinner order was delayed by the fact that the chef would not start to prepare the food until our order was in the computer, and the computer would not work. As I take these sett backs so well, Nance fortunately took over and suggested that maybe they could write the order down and give it to the chef that way. What a radical customer oriented approach and it worked. Dinner was finally served and it was marginally better than the service. Oh well now back to the boat to work on the blog.
The next day we went into Sitka all day to sight see. The town is not as tourist oriented as Juneau or Ketchikan in spite of the cruise ships calling in to port. At least they can't land in Sitka but must anchor in the harbour and send passengers in by tender. The town just seemed more relaxed and less about the tourist $. We saw the museum and the first Russian Orthodox church. Sitka was the original capital of Alaska when owned by Russia so it still has a big Russian influence. In fact at the bishop's house a tour group of Russians were just arriving as we left. I called out "Pavel Bure and Alex Mogilny" to them as they went by speaking in Russian but I fear they just thought I was nuts. Maybe they are right!
We were docked next to some folks from Seattle who were great and suggested a restaurant to us called Ludwigs which turned out to be Mediterranean. go figure. We had one of the greatest meals we have ever had. It was really small and we were lucky to get in actually sitting at the bar but what food and we got to talk to the owner all night as he hustled around behind the bar.
We are debating as to whether to stay an extra day to see Sitka stuff but will likely pull out tomorrow. Nance is anxious to keep going so we arrive home at the appointed time and spend some time with Nick who will be off to Auckland for two years shortly after we return home.
So my apologies to our readers for no pictures but they would not load from the wireless service we had in Sitka, but beggars can't be choosy so at least I got the text of our travels on line. We will fill in the many pictures I would love to post when we get the next chance which will very well be Prince Rupert around a week from now.

July 20 - Fish Bay

You would have thought that a beautiful scene like this would have produced wildlife sightings, but alas no

We made good time today on calm seas and arrived at a pretty little anchorage just into the mouth of Fish Bay about 2 hours from Sitka.
We just laid back and relaxed tonight after taking inventory of all the supplies we needed in Sitka since we were getting pretty near the bottom of the barrel being at anchor or away from any good supply point for the best part of a week.
I manned the binoculars all night looking for wildlife but found none so after an uneventful day we hit the sack and looked forward to navigating the tight passages into Sitka tomorrow.

July 18 & 19 - Tenakee Springs

The town's main store about to become "store/hotel again" has had only two owners in over 100 years

We told you Tenakee Springs was a funky little town, here is the "public loo"

Here is the main drag into town, also the reason why there are no cars in Tenakee

This is typical of the houses in Tenakee. the owners are a group of pretty independent thinkers

We opened the morning speaking to Nick our son and Lindsay, Darcy's girlfriend who was celebrating her 30th birthday today. It was great getting caught up on home stuff.
We left Hoonah in quite a blow into Icy Strait. The seas were not too bad until we turned the corner into Chatham Strait. At that point the southeast wind really kicked up the seas and before long we were looking at 7 ft seas opposing the tide flow. We throttled back a bit and tried to pick a line near shore to get a bit of protection but nothing seemed to really help much so we just motored on until we could swing into Tenakee Inlet and get a bit of relief from the worst of it.
As we proceeded up Tenakee Inlet we almost lost our starboard kayak as the wind was now pounding broadside and picking our kayak up and moving it around. I had to go forward and tie it down well before we continued.
We were pleased to arrive at Tenekee Springs dock and find one open spot on the transient section with many helping hands to catch lines as we docked against the combined wind and current.
Tenakee Springs is a funky little community with a bit of a 60's feel to it. Everyone says hello and is really friendly. Apparently now it is mainly a retirement community for professionals from Juneau so the ambiance is changing a bit but nobody seems too stressed out by it, they just all hang in there.
There is a wonderful hot spring bath house in the middle of town that is fed by a hot sulphur spring. This hot tub is nude only with separate hours for men and women. It is a really neat place mainly unchanged from the klondike days when old prospectors used to come to town to get their R & R. Apparently Tenakee Springs was quite the town in those days.
We awoke on the 19th to help some folks from Seattle get docked early in the morning. Apparently they had come in off Chatham Strait. The winds were blowing 35 knots and the waves were running very high. They advised that if there was no compelling reason to be out there that the dock was the place to be that day, We took their advise and decided to stay put with a better forecast on the horizon.
As luck would have it that was a great decision as there was a jazz concert schedules for the town hall at 7:00 that night. We took it in and joined all the townies who arrived on golf carts, atv's and bicycles since there are no cars in Tenakee, the roads are not wide enough. We enjoyed the concert and walked back to the dock with a solitary sailor from Hazelton, BC.
As the forecast looked more promising for tomorrow we intend to head for Peril Strait, our route to Sitka eventually.

July 17 - Elfin Cove

The community at Elfin Cove is really unique all on boardwalks

The boardwalk runs all the way around the cove and passes by each residents' front door

The docks at Elfin are not spacious as can be seen by Bojangles on the fuel dock

We left Glacier Bay in the fog and wind this morning with the radio predicting a pending storm with gale force winds at the entrance to Icy Strait. We watched the radar like a hawk and managed to reach Elfin Cove a really cute community all constructed on boardwalks. As Elfin Cove is really close to the outside ocean, it is a major sport fishing destination for Alaska. In fact one of the biggest lodges in Elfin is owned by a Vancouver family.
The weather forecasts are predicting winds and waves in the 17 ft range for the entrance to Icy Strait so the docks in Elfin are pretty crowded. We ventured inside through a narrow and shallow channel to get to the inside harbour with the locals but even the inside docks are full.
We are invited to raft with a boat from Anacortes who we have met before but we decide that we may as well move to Hoonah which is really well protected by a breakwater and also in the general direction we are headed.
As we move toward Hoonah we are again entertained by perhaps the same pod of humpback whales we encountered earlier in Icy Strait. They are bubble feeding and attracting quite a gathering of boats. As we watch a lone kayaker makes his way toward the whales to get a better view. Suddenly the whales change course and are now surrounding the kayaker about perhaps 100 ft away. I am certain that he will be telling this story to many people once he changes his shorts.
We arrived safely at Hoonah and settle in for a nice pork loin roast while shooting the breeze with many other Canucks from Whitehorse who spend a lot of time fishing from Hoonah. The wind is really howling outside so we are debating whether to run tomorrow or not.

July 16 - Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay

A typical scene in Glacier Bay, it is so beautiful particularly when the sun shines

Gord with the much photographed Margerie Glacier in the background

Not to be outdone, Nance with the same glacier but with more flourish

The Margerie Glacier is about 250 feet high and covers much of the head of Tarr Inlet

Here is a shot of the Margerie Glacier "calving" it is quite a sight

We shared the most northern inlet, Tarr Inlet in Glacier Bay with the Westerdam viewing the famous Margerie glacier. We drifted about the bay about one half mile from the glacier waiting for it to "calf" which is dropping house size pieces of ice into the water. As it is about to happen there is a rumble like thunder and then a crack like a shotgun blast. Then down comes the ice and up goes a plume of water. It is really impressive.
When we had seen enough we reluctantly turned south and began our voyage home from above the 59th parallel. We motored down the full length of Glacier Bay which about 60 miles. We arrived at Bartlett Cove in the afternoon just as a southeast blow started to happen. We dropped the anchor and let out a bunch of chain to st up for the night. Then we jumped in the dinghy and went over to the Forest Service wharf where we headed up to Glacier Bay Lodge for dinner.
We had an excellent dinner at a fine lodge that is only open three months of the year. They had a museum up stairs which was also really well done. Nance wants it known that she really pigged out at the lodge on a desert called the queen which was quite amazing. She ran a zig zag pattern on the ramp coming down to the wharf to get rid of the calories but I fear to no avail.
Back to the boat and hopefully the wind will die down later during the night.

July 15 - Reid Inlet, Glacier Bay

To prove that the sun actually does shine in Alaska from time to time here is Nance about to visit the bears

This is a shot of our own private glacier at the head of Reid Inlet, where we anchored for the night

Here we are on the beach to prove that we were walking with the bears even though they thankfully were "no shows"

We motored all the way up Muir Inlet on the east side of Glacier Bay to see three major glaciers including McBride which is about 250 feet high and right down to waters edge. It was really impressive. We had to dodge floating ice as we neared the glaciers edge but it was not as extensive as up Tracy Arm, nor as big so Nance was happy about that.
We left the east side of Glacier Bay and headed for the west arm which reaches furthest north and contains the glaciers most often seen in the tourist brochures for cruise lines. Our intended anchorage for the night was Reid Inlet which has its own glacier at the head of the bay. As we arrived, we saw an amazing scene unfolding. A sailboat was slowly motoring into the inlet while a huge Holland America cruise ship passed by all against the backdrop of the inlet and the glacier. It was a scene right out of a travel magazine.
The other really amazing thing was that the sky did not have a cloud and the cobalt blue was so deep it made for memorable pictures. The other unusual thing was that it was warm as I just wore a tee shirt for the first time. Here we were with our own glacier in the sun and warm, it just doesn't get any better than that!
We kayaked ashore despite some trepidation from Nance who had seen some pictures of bear tracks in our cruising guide in this inlet. We were working our way down to the glacier at the head of the bay when we noticed that the wind had really picked up off the glacier and was stretching our anchor chain really tightly. So we returned to the boat as waves were coming over the bow of our kayaks and before Nance got eaten by a bear.
Luckily the anchor was down solidly and the wind died down later in the night so we had a relaxing night.

July 14 - North Sandy Cove, Glacier Bay

Up Muir Inlet our first day in Glacier Bay to view the impressive Riggs Glacier

The colony of stellar sea lions on South Marble Island in Glacier Bay

The welcoming sign on the very complete and modern docks at Bartlett Cove

Well our goal to take Bojangles to Glacier Bay was realized today as we left Hoonah and ran for a couple of hours to the entrance of Glacier Bay at which point we had to radio ahead for permission to enter. As luck would have it our permit secured 60 days ago allowing us 5 days in Glacier Bay was duly recognized by the powers that be and we were into beautiful Glacier Bay. Even the weather was cooperating and we had something which almost looked like sunshine.
We headed over to the National Park office for a mandatory orientation session which is conducted for all those who enter. We are advised that only 25 pleasure boats and two cruise ships are allowed into Glacier Bay at the same time. This for a bay which is roughly 60 miles deep and around 15 miles across contributes significantly to a wilderness feeling which is quite unique to our boating experience.
We left Bartlett Cove after our 2 PM video and briefing and proceeded to South Marble Island where we viewed a whole colony of stellar sea lions which call it home. Some of the bull males are absolutely huge. They looked more like walruses.
We anchored in North Sandy Cove just in time for a kayak trip around the anchorage visiting two other boats already secure in the bay for the night. We had just launched the kayaks when we looked up and saw a small local cruise ship saunter into our bay looking for wildlife. Evidently not much impressed with Nancy and I it soon left leaving the bay quiet and very peaceful.
As we prepared dinner we noticed quite a stir on the foredeck of one of our neighboring boats. We soon discovered the reason. A black bear had come down to the beach for dinner. Apparently around North Sandy Cove this year there is a closure in effect for camping as the bear population is really quite large in the immediate area.

July 13 - Hoonah

The town of Hoonah

Our friend on his way at last

One of our friends at Retreat Point

Whoopee, I have an internet connection again in Sitka so I will attempt to get caught up on what has been a really entertaining week.
We left Juneau this morning and proceeded around Point Retreat at the head of Mansfield Peninsula. We noticed several boats in a holding pattern proceeding slowly and realized that they were following a pod of humpback whales bubble feeding on krill. It was an incredible sight to see all 6 or 7 of these huge whales break the surface at the same time to stun their prey. Then they all dove and ingested great amounts of water with the krill in it. Next they surfaced again and blew all the water out their spout and retained all that was not water. I had heard of this bubble feeding before but had never seen it up close. The whales were only about a couple of hundred yards away and we could here all their calls and communication with each other. They sounded like very new trumpet players, not much melody but lots of enthusiasm.
We eventually arrived at Hoonah which is the nearest main centre to Glacier Bay. Hoonah is a native community which has really got its act together. It is now visited by cruise ships and has constructed one of the longest and highest trip lines in the world. Apparently riders approach 60 miles per hour running from the top of the mountain to the beach. Unfortunately they only run it when a cruise ship is in town so on the Sunday we arrived it was not happening. You may well imagine Nancy's disappointment in not being able to jump on and go for it.
As we were intending to head in to Glacier Bay first thing in the morning so we turned in early with visions of glaciers dancing in our dreams.

July 11,12 - Auke Bay, Juneau

The State Governor's mansion, even in Alaska politicians do not seem to "rough it"

A beautiful old riverboat sternwheeler we have seen in various ports in Southeast Alaska

Nance in front of the famous Red Dog Saloon from the old Juneau gold rush days

Mendenhall Glacier above Auke Bay

We left our secure cove this morning to venture further up Tracy Arm but concluded about halfway up that at the speed we were able to make while looking for icebergs that we were going to have to be satisfied with half way and we would wait to see glacier faces in Glacier Bay later in the week.
As it turned out with the excursion up Tracy Arm, we did not arrive at our Juneau destination until 3:00 and we were lucky enough to be shoehorned into the last available spot on the dock. The facilities at Auke Bay are really cool and there are some mega yachts on the outside breakwater from all over the world costing the equivalent of many countries GDP I am sure.
We intend to spend a day or two in Juneau which is about 15 minutes by taxi or bus from Auke Bay so we will have more to say about the town itself once we have had a chance to explore some more.
We did see the amazing Mendenhall Glacier on our arrival in Auke Bay. By the way it was partially sunny and warm both unusual conditions for Juneau. But the glacier is a mountain of pure greenish ice. It is remarkable so we intend to go up and see it close up by road today.

We took the bus to Juneau which was quite an experience. It took an hour and we saw every possible stop between Auke Bay and Juneau. The bus was mainly filled with locals, many native American and a strange crowd they were, although I expect they thought the same of us.

Juneau has some interesting sights but is quite a bit like Ketchikan in its unrelenting focus upon the cruise ship passenger dollar. There were some cool shops but mostly stuff I wouldn't think you could give away but they sell by the carload. We had a great meal with both Nance and I having Alaska king crab at the Twisted Fish restaurant.

We got back to the boat around 9:00 PM and will hit the sack early since we intend to head for Hoonah, a native Tlinglit community which we gather is quite with it. This town is very close to Glacier Bay and our permit for entry is the next day, July 14.

We won't likely be able to post until we get to Sitka about a week from now thanks to our friends at Telus so keep checking and we will get caught up as we can.

July 10 - Tracy Arm

Ocean birds hitchhiking on the bergs

The beautiful and dramatic colors of the icebergs

Nance "aka Nanook of the North" in our dinghy

Yours truly "lookin good" in the land of bergs

As we cruised up Stephens Passage we were accompanied by a pod of humpback whales frolicking in the waters around us. One actually breeched and came down with a humongous splash. As always though it is a real challenge trying to capture anything other than a tiny spec on the camera. I will try and blow some of these up when I get home.

As we turned through markers into Tracy Arm we saw the most amazing sight, icebergs drifted everywhere. Tracy Arm is celebrated as having the largest icebergs in Alaska coming off North and South Sawyer glaciers at the head of the arm. The colors of the icebergs were really dramatic ranging from white to a deep cobalt blue. No two are alike and the shapes remind the viewer of all sorts of things, much like clouds.

We anchored in a "cove with no name" generally referred to as Tracy Arm Cove since it afforded some protection from the flotilla of icebergs due to a shallow shelf running across part of its mouth. We tucked in behind the shelf and anchored deep in the bay. We did not relish having to do battle with a floating iceberg the size of a large house in the middle of the night. I found some consolation in seeing that I was one of the deepest boats in the cove by virtue of my early arrival time and there were some really huge yachts between me and the ice.

We bundled up and jumped in our zodiac to go see the icebergs close up. We even managed to pick up some glacier ice out of the water. Nance gave me specific instructions as to how close we were allowed to pass by each iceberg and the distance actually receded as we became more comfortable with their presence. It was amazing though to watch one particularly large berg completely topple over as the wake of a passing boat moved the entire berg. We would not have wanted to be too close to that one!

We retired for the night watching a huge berg drift by the opening to the cove keeping our fingers crossed that it would keep moving down the arm to the open ocean to melt.

July 9 - Sandborn Canal

A waterfall just outside the entrance to Sandborn Canal


Our first iceberg sighting upon leaving Petersburg

On the afternoon before we left, we looked off the stern of Bojangles in our mooring at Petersburg and saw our friends from Burrard Yacht Club cruise in. Betty and Mike, Wayne and Cathy and David and Penny had finally ended up in the same marina as us. It was great to see them all and hear of their fantastic adventures. As we left we left Petersburg however, we ran smack into a grazing herd of icebergs drifting out of LaConte Glacier. The channel was filled with blue-white icebergs and the smaller almost transparent "bergie bits" which are really hard to see but would give a nasty bump if struck. Luckily these icebergs were isolated in the initial stages of Frederick Sound so we managed to navigate through this maze unscathed.
We found our destination for the night to be a really well protected canal with no other boats so we anchored in the middle and settled in for a lazy afternoon of reading in the rain. Did we mention it rains up here from time to time? Two other boats eventually came in so we shared our solitude with these boats we had seen earlier in Petersburg.

July 7 & 8 - Petersburg, Mitkof Island

Gord with the largest chinook salmon ever caught in the Petersburg museum

Petersburg has a rich Norwegian heritage with many of the town's original inhabitants from Norway

Here is a scene of the fishing harbour with one of the processing plants in the background

This is the dock where Bojangles was parked for a couple of nights, just one of the "fisherboys"

We made it through the Wrangell Narrows unscathed and arrived at the really neat Norwegian background fishing town of Petersburg. The town was originally founded by Peter so it became "his town".
Petersburg is another major fishing port in Alaska. It is really natural and not a cruise ship destination although the Alaska ferry services the town on a regular basis. We did a big time laundry, shower and shopping day and are now free to do a bit of sightseeing.
We are in the main fishing harbour but have our own slip so things are good. All the docks are in really good shape with way better power options than in BC. We are looking around for a restaurant for tonight but are not certain one exists.
As we exited Wrangell Narrows to swing into the Petersburg harbour we saw three glaciers spread out ahead of us in the distance. What a sight, our first glaciers. Tomorrow we leave for Frederick Sound which will put us among the glaciers and are looking forward to seeing them closer up.
More to follow in a few days when we get to Juneau.