July 15 – 18—Petersburg, Alaska

We spend another day in Wrangell, catching up on emails and blog, then leave at 0800 to catch the right tides for transiting Wrangell Narrows, a very skinny and scenic pass between Mitkof and Kupreanof Islands. We meet one of the Alaska State Ferries but fortunately there is a wide spot where we can pull over and let her pass. The red and green markers all along the 20-mile passage remind us of the Intra Coastal Waterway on the US east coast.

At the north end of the narrows, we arrive at the busy town of Petersburg, home of one of the top fishing fleets in the world. Cruising and fishing boats are interspersed at the dock, and we find ourselves between a nice sailboat we met in Wrangell and a working fishboat which arrives later in the day. Large fish processing plants, where the boats come to unload, are on either side of the marina. There is definitely a fishy smell in the air, and the water around us is yucky, to put it mildly, but we have seen many dead and dying cannery towns along the way, so it is good to see a healthy economy built around this natural resource.

We plan to stay just one day in Petersburg, but next morning we discover an electrical problem which requires an extra day at the dock. A well-stocked marine hardware store at the top of the dock has available all the supplies we need, so Petersburg is a convenient place to do the repairs.