Alaska

16th May 2010, Petersburg AK, USA

After leaving Port McNeill we stopped nearby at Port Hardy to allow Susan to fly out to Vancouver.

We anchored out a few nights to get to Ketchikan to clear US Customs, and await Veronika's arrival.

Whilst here we bought a SPOT tracker to allow our family and friends to track us from a signal to a satellite and overlaid on Google Earth. Every morning I hit a button on the device and it places a waypoint that can be seen by everyone. It also has an emergency distress and a 911 button if ever in any trouble.

Falls at Butedale, BC

At Ketchikan harbor I saw an Aussie flag flying, and went around to meet Phillip and Bev Walshe originally from Sydney who were cruising north as well on their trawler style Kadey Krogan.

Phil and Bev have been based in the US for 27 years and professional mariners running large motor yachts around the world.

Phil is a licensed ice captain and skippered a 240' boat two years ago through the North West passage. We are looking forward for catching up with them further north.

SKIE in typical water skiing conditions if in Bass Strait, Tassie.

Leaving Ketchikan early in the morning our little convoy of Skie and Serendipity was joined by Stan and Dianne Heirshberg on their N50 - Crossroads.

Stan took the point as he doesn't like the sun being blocked out by the other two boats, but at only 5' longer we are easily twice the size and with our flybridges almost reaching to the sky.

After a night at anchor at Roosevelt Harbor on Zarembo Island we left at 0500 on a beautiful sunny day to set us up to enter the Wrangell Narrows two hours later which from the south entrance, is 21 nm to Petersburg.

This challenging channel is the lane for all shipping with hardly any room to pass and enormous tidal currents on a spring tides. We went at around low springs which the Douglas guide doesn't recommend, but we knew we wouldn't run into and serious big shipping because of the limited depth.

On arriving at Petersburg we had a chance to meet up with Henry and Janice Trembecki on their N55 Cloudy Bay. Also this is the day of Petersburgs street parade which is a highlight of their Little Norway celebrations to mark the Norwegian heritage of this little fishing town in a beautiful mountain setting.

Petersburgs street parade - Herring throwing competition

I would have entered the herring throwing competition but recall the last time I participated in such foolishness I shattered my arm and a 7" titanium plate is still embedded.

Internet broadband connection is available here so a chance to catch up on some business and make a post to this site.

I have been troubled with my new MaxSea Time Zero navigation programme because it won't give me correct tidal and tidal current readings. I will fiddle a little longer. I think somewhere its only the wrong time zone in the system as I had it installed in Australia , but don't know how to change it.

I have arranged for the Nobeltec programme to be installed when I get to Juneau, which will give me four independent nav solutions on the boat so we shouldn't get lost I expect.

It is raining today (Sat 16th) so Marg and Veronika are rearranging all the cupboards, freezers, and pantry.

The scenery is spectacular and the people are so very friendly.

Our next guests (Cox'n) Iain & Ros Couper from Coffs Harbour will meet us in Juneau in a couple of weeks and we are really looking forward to it.

It will be nice to share the helm and skippering with my old Cox'n, and down a few Grant Burge Filsell shiraz's for old time sake.

Iain, Marg, and I support the same football side (Brisbane Lions), and I need a robust explanation as to why when we left we had won our first three games for the season, and after leaving we have lost six straight. May have to get Vossie on the Sat blower for a little pep talk.

Bought 2 kg of fresh prawns of a boat close by just this morning, and still our freezer of Costco meat remains dormant in the freezers.

From now on we are seriously fishing and crabbing, and expect my little QLD dillies will do the job for me as well as the new US type I have bought. Not sure whether my Barra lures will work up here, but will give them a flog.

Onwards & Upwards

The Pacific North West