Friday June 28th, 2024
We left Petersburg at 5:45 am to catch slack in Wrangell Narrows at 6:45. If we needed to slow down we would but we wanted to get out before the fishing boats headed out around 6:30 a.m., specifically the fishing boat next to us that almost crashed into our boat yesterday returning after refueling and getting their shrimp pots. We watched the captain of the “very large” fishing boat try to enter his slip three times. It was clear he was not in control. The current was running and slack was about 45 minutes off. On his third attempt he gunned it for the dock and I saw he was in trouble. I ran out of our boat and went over to the other side of the dock to assist. His deck hand had this “deer in the headlights” look in her face. I asked her to toss me the line and then I yelled to the captain to cut his engine. His deckhand jumped off the boat and we both pulled as hard as we could to get the bow of the boat in, keeping his stern off our boat. Marlene was at the bow of our boat but there was no way she could prevent his boat at 20 feet above the waterline from crashing into our boat. Fortunately we were able to pull his boat in, though he crashed his stern into the dock. Obviously no bow or stern thrusters were available! He didn’t seem to be too concerned. When the boat was secure, he jumped off the boat, looked around, and his comment was, “Wicked currents, this usually doesn’t happen.” Oh joy for us.
The rest of the day was calm. Our plan was to leave early this morning for Thoms Place. A nice big harbor half way between Petersburg and Ketchikan. Unfortunately the limited information we had on the anchorage was in Navonics from a “Karen” posting that the anchorage was “inundated with crab pots and they would never come back here.” Marlene knew this but decided not to share the posting with me. (Do you sense a theme going here). It’s a bit tricky getting into this harbor, working your way through the tedious red and green markers, but once we were here settled I am happy to report its a big bay with good holding, appears to be protected (the night will tell), and a good stop off. As of 8PM we are the ONLY boat in the harbor, and although there are a few crab pots in the shallow areas, anchoring was a cinch.
We are off tomorrow at 5:00 a.m. for Ketchikan. If we run into nasty weather we will tuck in to Meyer’s Chuck about 3 hours out. Otherwise we will continue on for the 8 hour cruise to Ketchikan. We are waiting to hear from our weather guy Chris Parker, if Monday is a go for Dixon Entrance or if we are in place for the forth of July in Ketchikan. Stay tuned.