July 11, 2023
We left Petersburg this morning for Wrangell. We had a bit of excitement crossing through the Wrangell Narrows. As we mentioned before, these Narrows remind us of a larger version of the LaConner slough, but there is one big difference. In Wrangell Narrows larger container barges pulled by tugs come through along with all of the pleasure and fishing vessels. We had good luck coming North, only encountering a tug and barge as we actually entered Petersburg harbor. However, as luck would have it we came head on with the tug and barge seen below at a corner at one of the narrowest points in the slough.
Needless to say, Marlene was “not a happy camper.” She successfully navigated us through the point as we tucked in close to our side of the channel, passing this huge barge at what seemed like a very close distance. However, the captain of the tug waved to us as he passed so we must have done it correctly. We later heard him scolding another boat for “taking up the entire channel, pick and side”! The remainder of the journey was very pleasant, cruising through glass-like water until about an hour outside of Wrangell when we discovered we were in a race with a large Bayliner who was angling for a spot on the Reliance Public Dock in Wrangell. Unfortunately, this dock, which is supposed to be only for visiting transient vessels, is very poorly managed and more than 70 percent of the dock is taken up with derelict boats, leaving scant space for a pleasure craft like ours to find a place on the dock. Once we knew the race was on (we could see him on both AIS and visually) we put the pedal to the metal and the race began. The good news is: team Nordic Tug won and we literally got the last spot available at the dock. The other boat was relegated to the other marina about a mile out of town.
We did some laundry at the nearby laundromat although this year we have spent much less time in laundromats due to the addition of our small portable washer/spin dryer that we put on this boat just before we departed Anacortes. The unit is called Drop! It works great and other than sheets and towels is a very efficient washer, and the spin cycle is amazing. Clothes come out almost dry and after a few hours of the clothes hanging in the enclosed fly bridge the clothes are dry. If we have calm seas we can actually do this job while we are underway. The unit “lives” in our shower stall. It is not heavy so we can just lift it out when we shower. This has been a good addition to the boat!
OK, on to get a good but short nights sleep. We are out heading south at 0500 tomorrow!
When we were on a Rick Steves tour of Italy, Dave washed his socks, etc in a bidet. However they took forever to dry.
A cousin has a cabin on Quadra Is, looking straight across at Campbell River. It was fun to watch the parade of boats go by during the right tide change. We watched a guy, probably drunk by the way he was acting, who hitched a ride on one of those massive barges. His boat was so tiny in comparison and so close to the back of the barge. He unhitched when he got to the small harbor on Quadra.
I have been reading your blog in preparation for our own trip up to SE Alaska after the rendezvous in June. I have been so happy with the tips and tricks but the Drop! takes the cake. Worth every second just for that alone! We also have a Nordic Tug (39) “Miss Marlie” we are in Anacortes until mid-March then head out. Would love to meet up with you and Marlene and buy you some drinks and bend your ear if you are so inclined and ever in town.
Debbie, thanks for reaching out. we would love to meet with you for drinks. We live on Guemes Island and will be returning from California the middle of next week. Let’s look for a date to get together in Anacortes sometime in the next few weeks if that works out for you.
Sounds good! Email us when you are home and we can make a plan. Lucky you, you will probably miss this cold snap!