Greywolf’s Chronicles: Chronicle 8 Petersburg and Surrounding Waters

‘Way back on June 16th, we were greeted by 20 knots of wind and 4 foot seas when we left the shelter of Coffman Cove headed for Petersburg. Forty minutes later, the seas and wind abated as we entered a group of islands near Sumner Strait.

Doncha’ love the names Bushy and Shrubby??? ALL of the island in

this group were bushy and shrubby.

Chart plotter photo: You’ll notice that I took Greywolf through fairly shallow water, avoiding the deeper water, indicated by white on the chart. (The numbers represent fathoms, not feet. We draw 5 feet, a little less than a fathom.) Why would I do that? We were bucking a strong tide and I was hoping that the more shallow water would result in a weaker current. I’m not sure that was the case. At one point we were down to 2.6 knots. I stopped watching the speed readout and just watched the islands to see if we were starting to go backwards. Greywolf eventually crept out into deeper water and slowly picked up speed. ‘Won’t be doing that again.

On our first trip in 2007, our GPS could not find a satellite that it liked in this area. No data. We left our anchorage using a hand-held GPS, paper charts and our compass. And it was foggy, not that it made any difference. I was more than a little miffed that while the chart told us the names for the many little islands, not one single island had a sign identifying itself.

An hour later, after turning into Sumner Strait where the incoming tide was with her, Greywolf was doing 10 knots, That nice lift allowed us to arrive at the entrance to Wrangell Narrows on the last of the incoming tide, taking us north to Petersburg.

Small cabins and sports fishing lodges dot the shores of Wrangell Narrows.

The currents in the 21 mile long Narrows meet at a point about two thirds of the way from the south entrance. If you time it right, you “ride” the incoming tide and reach that point where the tide changes at the time it is turning to outgoing. You then ride the outgoing tide into Petersburg. We always try to time it right.

All manner of craft use Wrangell Narrows

Opps. We’re on the wrong side of the channel. Not to worry. You can see traffic coming for a long way and most skippers don’t go very fast. Greywolf's triangle is not in proportion to the size of the channel; it is not THAT narrow. The red marks represent navigational aids.

Poor old #58 had an unfortunate encounter with…something.

Petersburg...just around the bend!

Doug and I both suffer from
an unfortunate addiction to work boats. And boat harbors. Pretty much all things Boat. My addiction is compounded by a compulsion to take pictures of it all. So many boats. So little time.

You’ve heard of Love for Sale. Would you settle for “Romance”?

She even looked good in the morning, as you can see.

During our Petersburg's stay, we once again missed visiting the museum, so we’ll have a reason to return. My hair salon, "Locks by the Docks," has been replaced by an in-line skate supply shop. I didn’t think to ask, but there must be a skate park somewhere. ‘Didn’t see anyone racing down the main drag.

Petersburg has some fine old houses…

and some relics like this one on Sing Lee Alley. It may not be here the next time we are. The building next to it IS occupied with an cafe that always has customers, although, when it is closed, it looks like it, too, is abandoned.

Medical Tourism Update: While in Petersburg, I got July 2nd appointments for an ultrasound and a consolation with the surgeon in Sitka. Although that was about 10 days away, we decided to head east, passing up side trips to Ford’s Terror

and Red Bluff Bay. You’d pass up Ford’s Terror,

too, I suppose.

Leaving Petersburg...