Petersburg to Thomas Bay

We post every few days so note that this one is from Thursday.

 

We left Petersburg at 4:30 AM to beat the wind in Frederick Sound and beyond. Just opposite the Petersburg harbour we had a glimpse of this glacier.

  

 

The entrance to Thomas Bay

We came into Thomas Bay early enough to go to the far end to get a peek at a glacier. Only bits of the glacier were visible but we were excited to see our very first 'iceberg', a rather unimpressive lump of rotten ice.

 

We'll wait until we find a more substantial iceberg before harvesting the traditional ice for cocktails.

 

At the other end of Thomas Bay there were several salmon seiners at work so we stopped to watch. 

 

In this picture you can see the seine skiff that is used to control one end of the net.

 

The net is stretched out perpendicular to the shoreline when first set. The net is allowed to sit for twenty minutes of so until (hopefully) a school of salmon have come along. Then the net is circled, the bottom edge is 'pursed' and the net is drawn to the boat to concentrate the catch. You can see here that they have 'pursed' the bottom edge of the seine and are drawing it gradually to the boat. 

 

That was a lot of work for relatively few salmon. It's hard to tell the species but I am pretty sure they are chum salmon. When I zoom way in I can see dark vertical bars along their sides and prominent hooked jaws.

 

Oblio was interested too.

 

 

After we dropped the hook in Ruth Cove we had G&T on the roof. Out of respect for our host country, accepted protocol is to fly the US courtesy flag amidship, our Canadian flag is flying further back.

 

 

 

Wrangell, AK

 

Wrangell, (pop. 2,000) is a friendly, small town, with some interesting history.

 

The main street in Wrangell is quaint with a number of small businesses. There were numerous flags and bunting displayed in the store windows in preparation for 4th of July celebrations.

One stop not to be missed when visiting Wrangell is the Nolan Museum and Visitor Centre - amazing!

 

 Cruise ships visit Wrangell and there was one occupying the only berth, 

with two more waiting their turn to come in.

 

 

Alaskan lawn ornament.

A stack of old crab pots, Peter Shaughnessy for scale.

The majority of the vessels in Wrangell harbour are fishing or work vessels,
and most are huge. This one is a crabber.

Alaskan crabber boat.

Invictus looked like a bath tub toy in comparison to the work vessels
and pleasure yachts in the harbour.
In each of the 3 days we were there, three huge blue boats tied up behind us.

Big blue #1, Nordic Valor

Big blue #2, Bear Paw

Big blue #3, Alaska Quest

We visited the cemetery next to the harbour and the Canadian flags at this headstone caught my eye.

Almost side-swiped!

 When we came out of Meyers Chuck this morning we noticed three Orcas about 1/2 mile ahead in Clarence Channel. They were moving fast in our direction so we got our cameras ready. It appeared to be an adult female with a calf and another young adult.

The largest whale dove a 100 meters or so away from us and then suddenly appeared within a few feet of the boat.

It's difficult to get good sharp images when things are moving fast. Roma captured a brief video that shows how close the whale came.

Shelter from the storm - Meyers Chuck

Meyers Chuck - what a great name... and what a great place.

We left our anchorage at 4:30 AM this morning with the intention to beat the wind in Clarence Strait. It didn't work! 25 knots on our aft quarter made for some very challenging conditions. A sea like that is uncomfortable at a minimum, and dangerous if things get really bad.

When a following sea pushes on the aft quarter, the opposite front quarter is pushed sideways down the face of a swell. This causes a loss of buoyancy on that side. The boat will turn to port and the bow will dig in at the bottom of the trough. In the extreme, the boat can actually tip over on its side. Not nice. We had about 2 hours of these conditions. The autopilot can handle a moderate following sea but when conditions get like they were this morning, the autopilot can't keep up. In that case, the steering response has to be anticipated ahead of time, which requires a human.

Thank goodness for Meyers Chuck, a small bay on the east side of Clarence Strait. The guide book told us as much, that cruisers are often thankful for this respite. We certainly were. The place has a rich and long history as a cannery and anchorage for commercial fishermen. The dock, which is beautifully built, is public with no fee to tie up.

This place is visually rich. My camera and Roma's phone were in constant use. Here's a selection of photos that may give you a sense of this cool place. Each pic has a caption. Enjoy!

Peeking out through a gap in the rocks to Clarence Strait rockin' at 25 knots. Nice to be inside.

The eagle is watching this sailboat as it makes it way to Meyer's Chuck. This sailboat came into the harbour a half hour later.

The Post Office is accessible by boat across the harbour.

The International Air Terminal is comfortable but security is lax. Groceries and mail come by in float plane weekly.

This is the International Freight Terminal.

 

 

 

Cute.

Most of the homes along the shoreline are perched on steep rock and have stilts to account for the extreme tidal ranges found here - up to 35' from low to high.

Everything here has a bit of flair and creativity. There are no roads, only well maintained trails between homes.

The community bulletin board, the news, and a mail box in one.

A bench heavy enough to stay put in a strong wind.

Oblio enjoyed the shore break, chasing a stick and seeing other humans.

Out of the Wilderness

Sailing! After 5 days of being completely alone in the wilderness we headed for Prince Rupert and soon started to see signs of civilization, such as this beautiful sailboat!

I think this ship is loading wood pellets.

 

 

 

This type of lifeboat looks like it would be fun to be in a shipwreck. Or maybe just to test it out. I am guessing that there are seat belts!

We stayed at Prince Rupert Rowing and Yacht Club docks. HRH Oblio was pleased with the easy and frequent shore access. We treated ourselves to several meals at restaurants, did our laundry, emptied the trash, and did a bit of sightseeing.

A tourist!

 

Full-on international commerce is the first impression we got as we pulled into Prince Rupert. The port was hopping and has obviously become a major trade hub. Many thousands of containers were in huge stacks. Trucks moving containers passed along the waterfront every 60 seconds. Trains, grain terminals, and commercial tugs, pilot boats, and fishing boats were everywhere.

The Coast Guard's Captain Goddard was fueling up.

Kissing tugs. The one on the right was pulling the one on the left.

We stayed two nights in Prince Rupert before casting off at 4:30 AM this morning to get ahead of the wind in Dixon Entrance. Next stop is Dundas Island for tonight. Tomorrow we cross the border into Alaska.

Passing Campania Island shrouded in dark clouds.

It’s day four and we are cruising in new (to us) territory, a day beyond our furthest north excursion to date, which was Camapania Island. The landscape and the seascape appear about the same – just as beautiful as our usual hangouts around Spider, Hakai and Goose Group.

Last night we dropped the hook in a place called Ethelda Bay. The guidebook almost convinced us not to try the tricky entrance channel. But then it baited us by saying there was an old NORAD radio array there with associated ruins, and that prawns were plentiful. We decided to try it. Navigating the intricate entrance at low tide was challenging but we pulled it off.

Once inside we dropped two prawn traps in 280' of water and explored a bit of the ruins. This morning we pulled the traps and had 26 spot prawns and two coonstripe shrimp, just right for cream sauce on orzo for dinner tonight. 

There were two fish and a really cool octopus in with the prawns taking advantage of the captive prey. I asked Roma to hold the octopus for a portrait. Roma asked me if they bite. I said no. At that moment the octopus bit. Go figure. He and the two fish were released with full bellies and unharmed.

Bitey octopus

26 spot prawns and two shrimp

NORAD antenna array above Ethelda Bay